Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle. (Napoleon Hill) Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. (Hebrews 12:3-5 NLT) God's discipline may not seem like a good thing, but it is always based in love and fully cushioned with his grace. We struggle with sin - he provides a bit of correction to get us back on course. We get lazy in our walk with him - he calls us to attention through circumstances we never expected. We drift a bit in our focus on what he has called us to do - he puts a bit of a roadblock in our path, so we are forced to turn around again. God's discipline is always meant for CORRECTION. It is hard to believe that correcti...
Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains. (Proverbs 14:13 NLT) I have been around some pretty jovial individuals and wondered how they could be so genuinely happy in the midst of great times of struggle in their lives. There seemed to be a fountain of joy that came from deep within that just kept on giving. I have also been around individuals who are laughing, making light of circumstances, but who do not have any genuine joy in the moment. Their laughter does little more than conceal their true feelings. They are experiencing grief, sorrow, and pain - yet they mask it with laughter and lighthearted joking. What is the saddest part of it all is that when their laughter ends, they still have all that pain. It has taken me years to learn to 'read' the emotions of those around me. Learning to discern the 'true heart' of an individual is not something to be taken for granted. When God reveals something about the struggle another per...