Good morning joyful ones!

James 1:2-4 (Amp) says,

• Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.  Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith brings out endurance and steadfastness and patience.  But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.

If you are having tough times today, that is because God knows you are a tough person. He knows there is a lot inside of you. God is growing you and you are going to come out of the trial stronger. I like it to say it like this: Extraordinary people have extraordinary challenges.

So, if you are facing some big problems today, it is because you are a big person. Look at it this way: The enemy always fights you the hardest when he knows God has something great in store for you. And, it is always the most difficult when you are closest to your victory. That is when the enemy turns up the heat to see if you are going to give up, but I know you guys ~ You are people of faith ~ You are going to get up each day, no matter what it looks like and say, “This is another day the Lord has made. So, it does not matter how someone is treating me ~ It does not matter what is going on in the natural ~ I KNOW God always causes me to triumph in Christ Jesus!”

I want to encourage you that just because there are forces that are trying to keep you from your destiny, the God Who is FOR YOU is greater than the little god (satan) who is AGAINST YOU. 

Sometimes we go through things because God wants to show us His favor in a greater way.  You may be in a storm, but remember, God is greater than all the storms of life, so stay in peace.  James 1:12 says,

• Blessed (happy, to be envied) is the man who is patient under trial and stands up under temptation, for when he has stood the test and been approved, he will receive [the victor’s] crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.

We need to be like Daniel ~ they threw him into the lion’s den and came back to check on him the next morning, fully expecting him to be torn apart. Do you know what they found? Daniel was over by the water, sound asleep, right next to the hungry lions. Daniel was not worried ~ He was not taking tranquilizers ~ He was hiding in the corner ~ Daniel was in peace. He knew he was “lion-proof.” He knew the storm could not take him.

Maybe you feel like you are in the lion’s den ~ Maybe a fiery furnace ~ all stressed out ~ all worried. God is saying, “Come back to that place of peace.” Family, He has you in the palm of His hand.

1 Peter 1:6-7 says, 

• [You should] be exceedingly glad on this account, though now for a little while you may be distressed by trials and suffer temptations, so that [the genuineness] of your faith may be tested, [your faith] which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fire.  [This proving of your faith is intended] to redound to [your] praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) is revealed.

See, what is now your TEST will become your TESTIMONY. You will be able to help other people going through the same thing. God’s ways are not always our ways. When we go through tests, we trust God in ways we never trusted Him before ~ Some things you can only learn going through the storm.

When the battle is raging ~ When you do not know how you are going to make it ~ That is when you will experience the faithfulness of God like you have never experienced it before.

Now I can tell people with confidence, when it looks impossible; When it looks like everything is against you; When the financial situation looks bleak ~ When your own thoughts are saying, “You’re not going to make it!”, let me tell you first hand – The God we serve can make a way when there seems to be NO way. If He did it for us, He can do it for you.

1 Peter 4:12-13 says,

• Beloved, do not be ashamed and bewildered at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test your quality, as though something strange (unusual and alien to you and your position) were befalling you. But insofar as you are sharing in Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, so that when His glory [full of radiance and splendor] is revealed, you may also rejoice with triumph [exultantly].

Let me conclude with this:  2 Corinthians 1:3-5 says,

• Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.  

In life, I exhort you to not just look for your miracle, but to become someone else’s miracle. As you reach out to others in need and as you encourage others who are down, that is when your breakthrough will come. James 5:16 declares,

• Pray for one another, so that you may be healed.  

Be blessed today family!

Triumphantly yours,

Lisa Gordon

Gordon Ministries and Jesus City Church