W@W WRAP – Week 331

Turning Trials into Triumphs!

Read:

Act:

Let us remember this week:

Despite the trials we face on the outside and the temptations we navigate on the inside, through steadfast faith in Christ we can experience victory! When changes or challenges come at us, may we hold on to these truths: God is our constant; He knows every detail of our lives. He knows the beginning from the end. He is always with us and loves us even on days when we don’t understand what is happening around us. God is always in control! Because of this confidence in Him, we have access to peace, victory, and the maturing of our faith. Inspired by James 1:1-11, let us add the following to our everyday living: A Joyful Attitude; An Understanding Mind; A Surrendered Will; and A Heart That Believes! May we welcome and keep on asking God to help us through whatever we are facing. Let us trust Him for the victory available to us through Jesus, the one who loved us first! Paul’s writing in Philippians 4:6-9 (NLT) is a great reminder, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” How exciting to know that as we follow God’s instructions, despite our challenges or anxious thoughts, we are surrounded by the ‘Peace of God’ and the ‘God of Peace’!

When we don’t know what to do, we can ask our Heavenly Father for wisdom, and He will give it to us generously, without rebuke or blame! Let us ask our Lord firstly, to sanctify our hearts so that we can stand before Him – redeemed, accepted, loved and holy. Secondly, let’s affirm His unconditional love. Remember that in His eyes, we are valuable and worth far more than our circumstances or the things that are weighing us down. Thirdly, let’s trust Him to examine our hearts and show us where the direction we are pursuing is wrong. We need to avoid paths where His truth does not govern our thoughts, and where we are not obedient to His calling and instructions. May we walk in faith and obedience with our hearts set on Jesus. May we choose victory over our trials, life over death, and blessings over cursing. May this choice not just be for us but for our descendants and for those who are observing our words and our deeds. We need to watch what we speak over and into our lives and the lives of others, because from the content in our hearts (and the abundance in our hearts), our mouths speak. May our hearts be filled with the love of God, and may our lives reflect how we listen to, obey and cling to Him. In so doing, we will indeed turn our trials into triumphs for the Lord!

Pray:

Father thank You for Your Word that is alive and active in our lives. We ask today that You will give us wisdom – because we cannot face the trials and the challenges of life without it. You promise us that when we need wisdom and we ask for it, You will give it to us. Thank You for the spiritual resources that we have available to face each and every challenge and trial. May You always be glorified through everything that we do and say. In Jesus’ name.

Father, we come before You and thank You that we can approach You because of Jesus. Otherwise, we could not enter into Your presence. We ask Lord that You will cleanse our lips and that our hearts will be Holy – a sanctuary for You. In Jesus’ name.

Father, we cannot express our thanks enough for how You love us as You do. We are so humbled that You value us beyond our comprehension. Help us to remember this when we are struggling to believe and when the world’s value system is weighing heavily on us. Help us to look at others the way You do and to express how much You love them. Thank You for redeeming us and allowing us to be reconciled with the Father. We thank You Lord.

Abba we just thank You for who You are. Thank You for Your love for every one of us. Thank You that You first loved us and thank You that You gave Yeshua. Thank You that we can believe in Him and thank You for Your Holy Spirit. When You speak to us we will listen and we will obey, so that we experience the blessing of doing what You tell us to do. I thank You for this in the name of Yeshua.

Lord Jesus, how special it is that we can come before You despite the changes and the challenges in our lives. May we always remember that You will never leave us or forsake us as we go through them. You know every detail of our lives, before it even occurs. We praise You Lord that You know us so intimately and love us so much. As we have talked about the privilege of knowing Christ as our Saviour, we would be amiss if we didn’t give every listener the opportunity to accept You personally. If they have any doubt regarding their standing before God, may they pray along with me now: Lord Jesus, I know that I have made mistakes in this life, and the penalty for those mistakes is an eternity without You. At this moment, I ask You to forgive my mistakes, and make me clean before You. Help me through every change, every challenge, for the rest of my earthly life. Thank You Lord that at this very moment You have heard my prayer, forgiven my sins, and become my Saviour and Lord. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.