Help for Adversity - Pt. 6 - Possible Reasons for Adversity

Happpy Monday Sweet Friends,

Here's hoping you had a Fab Friday and
 a Westful Weekend!!  lol


Have to say our Friday wasn't Fab, but it was good,  and our
weekend wasn't Westful but it was Fabulous!
I will have to tell you about it tomorrow tho, cause this
post is already gonna be long!

This week I will continue and hopefully finish the

possible reasons for Adversity.

Another reason I believe we suffer adversity is we
 are being tested and I feel testing can feel just like discipline
 or pruning........ it might be a painful experience, as well.
  Many times it is a very frustrating experience, I've found.

  I truly believe God's reason for testing tho is to show us

and others what we will do in a given situation...........

After all, He already knows, since He knows everything!!

I think of the apostle  Peter and how he told the Lord he

 would die for him,  and I think he truly meant it, yet when

put to the test he denied Jesus not once, but 3 times!!

and Jesus even told him beforehand what he would do.

Here's what Matthew 26:31-35 says,

 Then Jesus told them, "This very night you will all fall

 away on account of me, for it is written: " 'I will strike

 the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock

 will be scattered.

 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.

 Peter replied, "Even if all fall away on account of you,

 I never will.

"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "this very night,

 before the rooster crows, you will disown

 me three times.

 But Peter declared, "Even if I have to die with you,

 I will never disown you." And all the other disciples

 said the same.

Now read on...................

Matthew 26:69-75 states,

 Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a

 servant girl came to him. "You also were with Jesus

 of Galilee," she said.

 But he denied it before them all. "I don't know what

 you're talking about," he said.

 Then he went out to the gateway, where another girl

 saw him and said to the people there, "This fellow was

 with Jesus of Nazareth."

 He denied it again, with an oath: "I don't know the man!

 After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter 

and said, "Surely you are one of them, for your accent

 gives you away.

 Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore

 to them, "I don't know the man!" Immediately a rooster crowed.

 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken:

 "Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times,

 And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Personally,  I think we can have a lil bit of pride lurking

in us, and we get to thinking a lil more highly of ourselves

than we ought,  and sometimes the Lord has to show us

what we are made of without Him being in control.

Have you ever said I would never do that,  when maybe

you saw how someone else responded to something,

when maybe you have never been in that situation

before, but yet you think you would do thus and so.

I certainly have had those thoughts at times..........

well...........that is thinking more highly of ourselves

that we ought,  cause truthfully none of us really

know what we would do in certain situations,  we

might think we do,  but when it happens we might

just be surprised,  for the good or for the bad!!

I have had times when I responded way better in a 

situation than I ever thought possible but then I have

 had times my response was not at all what I thought

 it would be, and I was quite taken aback by it.

Ever had one of those experiences???

I believe they are testing experiences and when

we fail the test,  I think the Lord wants us to take

a good look at why...........sometimes it might just be

 something in our belief system, where our thinking

 and truth is not lined up with God's word.

This example just came to mind about the thinking.

God helps those who help themselves!

I am sure you have heard that said,  and maybe

even believe it....

But do you know, it is no where in God's word,

the Bible.  I had heard that and believed it till I was
 in my early 30's,  but it wasn't true...

in fact the opposite is true,

God gives grace to the humble,  but resist

the proud.  God wants us to depend on Him,

and that takes humility to admit we need Him.

It's not,  that we are never to do anything,  but

 the truth is..........we can never do anything of

any eternal value apart from knowing and

depending on Him.  Our first dependence

needs to be on Him,  and what He can do

through us,  not what we can produce.

Now......do you see how believing this unbiblical

supposed truth could really mess you up in your

 relationship with the Lord.  I have seen that believe

really mess up people's lives because they felt
they had to do it themselves, and they never
looked to the Lord at all.

  So God has to allow us to be tested so that he 

can show us what we really believe.

Cause many times what we believe does not

match up with how we live,  and I think many

times, it is because of falsehoods we believe,

and if we are gonna grow and flourish God has

to get the junky thinking out!!

God also provides a model of this in the

tempting of Jesus in the wilderness,  and he

also shows us how to defeat Satan.....

Matthew 4:1-11 says

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be 

tempted by the devil.

 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son 

of God, tell these stones to become bread."

 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread

 alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. "

 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on

 the highest point of the temple

 "If you are the Son of God,"he said, "throw yourself down.

 For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you,

 and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will

 not strike your foot against a stone. " 

 Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord

 your God to the test. " 

 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed

 him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor

 "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." 

 Jesus said to him,"Away from me, Satan! For it is written:

 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. " 

Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.


Then again we could also reference the Job story,
Job did nothing wrong according to the scriptures
he was a righteous man, but he was still tested.
Read Job chapter 1,  if you don't know the story.

So Tip

#8

Remember that everything that happens to us down 

here is a test of our attitude, dependence and

 devotion to Christ.   Personally,  that really helps

me to know that... and makes me want to pass

the test.  We can pass the test the same way

Jesus did,  when he was tested in the wilderness.

By using scripture!!!

That is the reason we sooo need to be in our

bibles reading daily, cause over time those

verses plaster themselves to the walls of your

 mind and God can pull them up just at the

time you need them.

I am reminded of a story that a dear lady who was 
the Director of Womens Ministries at our church told

us years ago.  She and her husband were missionaries
 in Irian Jaya for years before her husband passed away
 and she came to our church..

Anyway,  while in Irian Jaya (think I am spelling that right)
 she contracted Malaria,  and came very close to dying 
but the thing that sustained her was a scripture that
 God kept running through her mind. 


 Later when she was well, she was going back thru 
some journals she had  written..... and she came
 across the day, that she had read the scripture that
 kept running thru her mind when she was sick.

Her journal entry read.

Didn't get much today!!

Her point in telling the story......................

Read your bible,  cause even when you think

you aren't getting anything..... it is going into your

mind whether you realize it or not.

So I will leave you with that thought........

and the thought that whatever happens 

might just be a test,  so be on guard 

Sweet Friends,

Sorry this is so long........ I am actually 

cutting it short cause I could go on and on,

but know one can only absorb as much

as their bottom can stand to sit!!  lol

Thanks for coming by and hope you 

will come again next Monday as

we talk about Romans 8:28.

Just in case you missed the last post

on reasons for adversity, just

click here.

Have a Mighty Good Monday!

Love, Hugs,  and Blessings Galore,

Nellie