“Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20 – King James Version) My genuine hope and primary purpose for the Ephesians 3:20 Faith Encouragement and Empowerment Blog is to assist all people of faith, regardless of your prism of experience, to grow spiritually toward unconditional self-acceptance and develop personally acquiring progressive integrity of belief and lifestyle. I pray you will discover your unique purpose in life. I further pray love, joy, peace, happiness and unreserved self-acceptance will be your constant companions. Practically speaking, this blog will help you see the proverbial glass in life as always half full rather than half empty. I desire you become an eternal optimist who truly believes that Almighty God can do anything that you ask or imagine.

Friday, January 7, 2011

The Quiet Crucible of Your Very Personal and Private Sufferings

The Quiet Crucible of Your Very Personal and Private Sufferings

The gospel singer and recording artist, Wintley Phipps, offers a very encouraging word prior to singing an inimitable rendition of my most favorite hymn, “It is Well with My Soul.”  “In the quiet crucible of your personal, private sufferings, your noblest dreams are born and God’s greatest gifts are given in compensation for what you have been through.”  As the profundity of this quote negates any need for additional commentary and elaboration, I simply suggest that you meditate upon it.

As you begin a new week, I pray that you will proceed confidently to handle your myriad affairs with the blessed assurance that each circumstance affords you another opportunity to experience the existence and presence of God as revealed in His undeniable faithfulness.

As I reflect upon the previous quote, I think of the author who suggests ‘pain is the touchstone of all spiritual progress.”  When I consider it in the context of Ephesians 3:20, I imagine that it is possible to enjoy a totally free life!  Whereas the Lord assures us that we will have trials and tribulations in this life, it is possible to experience God’s peace, joy and liberty.  Mysteriously and majestically, God transforms our pain and fear, anger, and resentment that usually accompany our injuries.  Chances are most of us negotiate a truce with perpetual pain in our lives.  Counselors characterize this tendency as a willingness to accept the “pathology of familiarity” which translates practically into daily dealing with “normal sicknesses – mental, emotional, spiritual and psychological” without any expectation of healing, resolution or wholeness.  The promise of Christmas assures us pain possesses spiritual and personal purposes.  The gift of our Lord’s coming yields encouragement and empowerment that we can live to the fullest of creativity and abilities.   Awaking daily to a life that is “happy, joyous and free” probably seems unimaginable and unachievable.  Yet, Christmas assures us that Almighty God offers this miracle in the gift of Emmanuel, God with us, who comes and dwells with us.  Literally, this means that the Lord Jesus Christ tabernacles with us. He practically joins us in the wilderness of life, sets up a tent and journeys with us as we travel our path.  This Christmas, I pray that we will allow the Holy Spirit to begin the work of a miracle within each of us.

As we progress in the 2010 Christmas season, let us ponder the unimaginable while considering the Incarnation of Christ, the blessedness of Advent and the gift of the Son of God as points of reference to substantiate the biblical claim of Ephesians 3:20.


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