Not Alone in Suffering, written by Basilea Schlenk,
brings a joyful message of hope for those
who are burdened with illness.
Prospering, blessed pain, Glory is final aim, Loaded
with gold is the cause, Bringing great holy
song From heaven's highest throne, Prospering brings us
peace.
Could we say these words for ourselves?
Prospering, blessed pain, Glory its final aim, Loaded
with gold is the cross.
Or perhaps as we look back to times
of illness in our lives, when there seemed
to be no escape from the pain and
difficulties, we can't say this.
Perhaps right now you're in a hospital, and
it has been some weeks now since you
were with your dear ones.
At night you lie on your bed, awake
and sleepless, unable to escape the temptations and
worries that descend upon you.
Alarming thoughts rise up from within, refusing to
leave you in peace.
Or perhaps you feel misunderstood by your relatives,
or your friends, or those in charge of
you.
You sense that you're being drained visibly of
your strength.
You don't know whether or not you'll be
able to take up your career again, which
gave you such satisfaction.
Mother Basilea once told us about a similar
time in her life, when she was very
ill.
She has written about this in her booklet,
The Blessings of Illness.
She writes, For weeks on end I was
separated from my loved ones.
Even when I was an invalid at home,
I seldom saw my spiritual daughters.
Then, when I had to go to the
hospital, the doctor ordered complete rest, and I
was allowed no visitors.
So most of the time I was quite
alone.
And yet, I was not alone after all.
I would like to share this secret with
those of you who are in the same
circumstances.
One day a nurse brought me a cross
and hung it up on the wall facing
my bed.
It was a great help in reminding me
of the suffering of our Lord Jesus.
He, who is love itself, suffered endless pain
beneath his crown of thorns out of love
for me.
My faith was greatly strengthened, and I realized
anew, Jesus is with me.
He loves me more than anyone else could.
He has done more for me than anyone
else has.
And he has also wept more and suffered
more.
He continues to suffer with me today, for
he is the living Lord by my side.
Since I wasn't allowed to have visitors, I
could meet with Jesus instead.
I could talk to him at any time
and could pour out my heart to him.
Yes, I could bring him all of my
needs and the questions that troubled me.
Jesus understands me best of all.
He can answer all of my questions better
than anyone else.
Yes, I was allowed to look to him
who bears God's image, Jesus.
He is entirely merciful and humble.
He is peace.
As I looked to him, I experienced the
truth of the words of Psalm 34, verse
5.
Look to him and be radiant so your
face shall never be shamed.
A deep peace entered my heart, and I
was richly comforted in the knowledge I am
not alone.
No, I am in the hands of my
Lord Jesus who loves me so deeply.
He is truly able to comfort me.
Yes, the Lord blessed me and I was
able to yield completely to his will and
to speak the words, Yes, Father, thy will
be done.
So the misery of my illness was changed
into blessing, peace and joy in him.
I rest in peace, O Father.
Your hands are holding me.
All is by you erected.
You lead me tenderly.
I rest in you, safe, hidden.
O Father, I yet may
find peace here.
My heart in fear or sorrow may dwell
in quietness.
I trust in your willful holiness.
But this was not all.
Mother Basilea continues, I actually experienced that if
I turned my heart to my Heavenly Father,
I was inwardly strengthened and filled with joy.
Isn't it in times of illness and suffering
that the Father gazes upon us with a
special love?
For the Bible says, The Lord disciplines him
whom he loves.
Hebrews 12 verse 6.
And the reason why he chastises us is
that he has our eternal salvation in mind.
He wants to make us beautiful for eternity.
He wants to prepare us, especially by leading
us along ways of illness.
In these times we may lay all our
longings and wishes in his hand and say,
My Father, do what you want with me
in my illness.
And as long as you want, I know
that you will only do good.
To thee, Father, I surrender and my helper
and advisor, my whole self in all eternity.
I will trust, though fears surround me and
my cares pile up around me.
Yet, O Father, I can trust thee, who
doth help and deal so justly the weak
land with thy shore.
So I thank thee now already for thy
promise sure and steady cannot fail to come.
Later, when Mother Basilea was allowed to receive
visitors again, she was told about the glories
of the woods and meadows.
All of nature was decked in her summer
finery.
How she was pitied, for she couldn't enjoy
the outdoor beauty due to her confinement to
her bed.
Yet she writes, allegorically speaking, I felt like
a happy young woman engaged to be married.
Normally, such a young woman loves with all
her heart the beauty of the world.
But strangely enough, ever since she has become
engaged and come to love her fiancé so
deeply, she scarcely notices her surroundings.
She only knows that he is with her
and that this is her entire joy.
This is exactly how I felt.
Jesus is my friend, and indeed, he loves
me more intimately than any earthly bridegroom could.
Yes, he is so lovable and dear that
I have to love him above everything else,
with all my heart and with all my
strength.
Yes, with all my soul.
So I also love his wishes and will,
even when I am ill and he says
to me, Stay in this room.
Lie here until I lead you elsewhere.
You are not alone.
I am with you.
Yes, during these weeks of illness, I was
truly happy in my imprisonment, for I was
bound all the closer to Jesus himself.
This experience was in fact an answer to
prayer.
How often in the last few years I
had prayed, Draw me nearer, my God, to
thee.
Now I experience this never before.
Whoever has Jesus is content and at peace.
He who clings to him in spirit can
long for nothing more.
Jesus came to give us a full life,
abundant life.
This I learned during these months.
His love can make us completely happy so
that we need nothing but him.
But times
of illness contain particular valleys as well, suffering
and disappointment.
Perhaps the results of the medical examination don't
show any definite end to the illness.
Then our patience is really put to the
test.
But if we don't lose patience, if we
bind ourselves ever anew to Jesus, who never
lost his patience, then he will grant us
his patience.
Even when it doesn't look like it, Jesus
gives us only his very best.
How could he do otherwise?
Yes, we're not alone in suffering.
Jesus can change all trials and troubles into
blessings.
If only we trust in his love.
If only we accept his will and follow
his way.
The misery of illness will be changed into
a blessing for us according to God's plan.
If only we will accept the suffering.
If only we will rest in God's hands
when he strikes us down with illness.
If we let it, times of illness can
teach us much about God.
It will teach us not to worry anymore.
We will learn to leave it to the
Father in his love to decide what's best
for us, both today and tomorrow.
It will teach us to be dependent upon
Jesus, who is our only help.
It wants to teach us the mightiest prayer,
which is highly honored in heaven.
My Father, thy will be done.
It wants to teach us to humble ourselves
beneath the hand of God because we recognize,
I, a sinner, need this.
Therefore, I would like to appeal to those
among you who are suffering from illness.
Don't despise this illness which the Lord has
brought upon you.
Instead, realize that God has something wonderful planned
for you.
He'll transform you into the image of love,
patience, gentleness, and humility, and prepare you for
eternal glory.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord Jesus, give us the strength which
we now need, the strength to suffer.
We open our hearts to you so that
you can fill us with your love.
We surrender ourselves to follow in your footsteps
along the way of the cross, the way
you are now leading.
Fill us with words of deep gratitude for
all the good which we're receiving through our
illness.
Fill our mouths also with words of trust
in your love.
You will never give us more than we
can bear.
Your love has measured and chosen this cross.
Amen.
This message was taken from the book The
Blessings of Illness by Basileus Schlink of the
Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary in Darmstadt-Eberstadt, West
Germany.
Everyone knows the saying, if it doesn't cost
anything, it's not worth anything.
But what has it cost us to follow
Jesus?
Following in his footsteps by Basileus Schlink will
give us the answer to this question which
is of utmost importance for our spiritual lives.
The Christian College student group was holding a
meeting in Hamburg and Mother Basileus was to
lead this meeting.
She writes about this time.
I was supposed to speak about the following
text.
All who desire to live a godly life
in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
2 Timothy 3, verse 12.
But I was at a loss as to
how to interpret this verse.
Up until that point in my life I
had never been persecuted.
What was I to do?
This Bible verse states very clearly and definitely,
all.
In other words, all those will be persecuted
who truly desire to walk with Jesus.
And that's what I really wanted to do,
to follow in his footsteps.
But so far, this way hadn't cost me
very much.
I'd never been ridiculed or scorned.
Did I actually belong to those who truly
desire to walk with Jesus?
This disturbed me.
Jesus said that a servant is not greater
than his master.
If they persecuted me, they will persecute you.
But as I've already mentioned, that wasn't the
case in my life.
And besides that, I'd never yearned for this.
Instead, I was happy when I didn't offend
anyone.
When I finally realized this, something else became
clear to me too.
Then I didn't belong to those whom Jesus
mentions in the Sermon on the Mount either.
Blessed are all who tread Jesus' way.
Twice blessed indeed with the joy of today
and glory awaiting in heaven.
Blessed are they who their rights never claim,
who give away all, even gifts, for peace
is their gift and protection.
Jesus, your way is the life, without whom
it's all...
Yes, blessed are you when men revile you
and persecute you and utter all kinds of
evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is
great in heaven.
Matthew 5, verse 11 and 12 I recognized
that the way of discipleship wasn't costing me
anything.
And therefore, it wasn't something valuable in my
life.
What a sad state of affairs.
Perhaps some of you are in the same
situation.
Don't we all find it hard when our
superiors or our colleagues look down on us?
We can't bear it when someone questions our
reputation or says something bad about us and
puts us in a doubtful light.
It really hurts us when we're not taken
seriously or when others treat us as an
outsider or as a bit strange.
There are those who by nature enjoy being
contradictory and offending others.
But most of us want to live in
peace and harmony with our fellow men, whether
at work or at home.
By no means do we want to create
a disturbance.
Back at that time, when I was perplexed
about the Bible verse about persecution, Jesus' verdict
in Revelation 3 applied to me.
Because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor
hot, I will spew you out of my
mouth.
But then Jesus brought about a new commitment,
a real battle against my sins, and I
experienced how Jesus granted me a new inner
life.
Then suddenly this verse from the second letter
to Timothy, all those who desire to live
a godly life in Christ Jesus will be
persecuted, became a reality.
For years we had prayed for a revival
in our girls' Bible studies, and then it
came.
After a short while, a real campaign of
slander began against us.
The malicious gossip spread, and we soon belonged
to the outcasts.
Even when God awakened people who testified that
Jesus was at work in our group and
that everything was sensible and biblical, the poison
continued to spread.
How were we to cope with this false
gossip and the suffering it brought us?
Weren't we in danger of becoming bitter and
retaliating against our opponents?
Don't unjust slander and disgrace arouse the belligerence
that's in a person's heart?
Yes, it does.
So the attitude we take determines whether we'll
be thoroughly defeated or come forth as victors.
For me, the danger was especially great because
I had a deep sense of justice.
Even when I was young, nothing could get
me more upset than when I or anyone
else was blamed unjustly.
There was nothing I abhorred more than untruthfulness
and injustice.
But now, the Lord allowed both of these
things to enter my life.
Didn't God know that this was the most
difficult thing for me to cope with?
Certainly He knew.
That's exactly why He wanted to deal with
this hard spot in my heart that always
demanded justice.
The Lord didn't spare me.
He led me according to His wise plan
of discipline.
During the battle that now began to rage
in my heart, this knowledge was a great
help.
I had prayed for many years that something
of the love of Jesus might begin to
shine in my life.
But this love is completely different from the
usual human love and kindness.
The love which filled Jesus' heart and determined
His life and actions was the love for
His enemies, for those who responded to His
goodness with hatred and in the end crucified
Him.
Looking back, I am really grateful that Jesus
kept me from deceiving myself on this point.
For through the slander and attacks of my
enemies, I realized how little I was able
to love.
But that helped me.
Now I could completely accept the fact that
arrows were flying at me from all sides.
I knew they were helpful instruments in God's
hand.
Through them, the Lord was working on my
soul, molding it into the image of His
love.
Because I had to admit how much I
needed these blows from God, I humbled myself
beneath God's hand and opened myself to the
arrows.
In my heart, there was only one prayer.
Lord Jesus, no matter what it may cost,
imprint Your image of love upon my soul.
Yes, the blows of God serve to remove
something from us.
They are like a chisel that scrapes out
something of our old nature and then engraves
in us the image of God.
Yet while the Lord was working on me,
I could only feel the blows of the
chisel and couldn't see anything of what would
come.
Every day I had to fight a battle
so that I could lie in spirit at
the feet of my opponents and bless them.
As the Apostle Paul urged the early church
to do.
Now it was costing me a great deal
to go Jesus' way.
But I also experienced that He did not
tempt me beyond my strength.
For it was along this way that Jesus
came so close to me as the one
who bore the cross.
I experienced that carrying the cross is blessed
suffering and that it brings us great happiness
and glory now and later for all eternity.
One day I wrote a poem about this
truth.
Cross-bearing blessed pain, glory its final aim
loaded with gold is the cross.
Bringing grace all its own from heaven's highest
throne, cross-bearing brings us bliss.
Bearing the cross of Christ, who can such
grace assess?
Glory enough is such lot.
Sharing with Him the weight, oh what an
honor great, reaping eternal bliss.
Yes, what a blessing it is when following
Jesus costs us something.
What a blessing it is when we fall
down and realize how much bitterness, lovelessness and
criticism there is in our hearts.
What a blessing it is when this way
teaches us to humble ourselves beneath the mighty
hand of God which is justified in applying
the chisel to our lives.
Perhaps some of you may be in the
same school of God's wise discipline now.
Let's begin to give thanks for this.
Those who laugh and sneer at us or
spread bad rumors about us because we're following
Jesus are doing us a service which even
our best friends cannot do for they show
us what we're really like.
We have to realize how little we can
love.
But this in turn drives us to prayer
and into the battle of faith for true
love.
The love that doesn't become embittered or keep
an account of evil.
I am redeemed.
To love you sets me free.
I am redeemed.
You won the fight for me.
Redeemed from heartless envy, pride, and death.
The foes of love must flee.
Now, Father, great, I am redeemed.
Yes, that which costs us a great deal
actually brings us the greatest gain for all
eternity.
But even here on earth we discover, full
of thanks, how happy and free this love
makes us.
Yes, here and now, this love which makes
us endure and suffer brings us into the
intimate communion with our Lord Jesus Christ.
When we go His way, we will never
be deceived.
And in heaven, we'll scarcely be able to
comprehend the glory that Jesus has prepared for
those who share His way with Him.
Then, in the words of the psalmist, our
mouths will be filled with laughter and our
tongues with shouts of joy.
Who can measure the great pleasure, suffering, and
grief, and thought?
Who has got value,
suffering, sunshine, rain, wind, and the cross of
Jesus?
Text and songs by Mother Bathilea Schlink of
the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, Darmstadt-Eberstadt, West
Germany.
Stop your machine now, and turn your cassette
over.
So much depends on our learning to master
our future today.
I Am Not Alone by Bathilea Schlink will
help us to take the right attitude towards
fear.
Today's darkness is covering the nations, and all
of mankind is threatened more than ever before.
Insecurity and fear of riots, crime, catastrophes, and
nuclear war are ruling most of the people
today.
Because God the Father loves His children, He
doesn't want them to be tormented with fear
or despair in the horrors of the coming
time of destruction.
Therefore, He is urging us to prepare ourselves
now for such a time, so that then
we can richly experience His help and comfort.
He wants to help us overcome our fear
now.
He wants to strengthen our trust in such
a way that we'll be hidden, as it
were, in a strong fortress, in the midst
of danger and anxiety.
That's why He shows us how to handle
fear.
But perhaps you're frightened and are saying, Fear
is devouring me.
It paralyzes me.
Fear, how can I master it?
It's like a disease which is almost incurable.
It keeps creeping up on me and won't
let me be happy.
What should I do with it?
Is there any way of getting rid of
it?
Yes, there is one who understands our fear.
Our Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the one who bears and suffers
it with us.
For in the face of all the threatening
horror, He says, In the world you have
tribulation.
Yet He says more.
He says, Be of good cheer.
I have overcome the world.
And with it, fear.
He has won the victory over fear.
What a prospect!
What a possibility!
Here is the one to whom is given
all power and authority in heaven and on
earth.
Here is the one about whom can be
said, There is no problem greater than the
Helper.
No problem, not even the problem of your
fear.
Jesus can cope with it.
When we call upon Him, He helps us.
He conquers our fear.
The important thing is to come to Him
with our fear.
And this means to always proclaim His victorious
name over our fear in steadfast, unwavering faith,
knowing, Before this Lord my fear has to
give way.
He is greater than all the horrors of
this earth which fill me with fear.
Before Him, wind and waves had to and
still have to abate.
He is the one who can help.
As we call upon His name again and
again, He makes fearful hearts confident and peaceful.
O name of purest wonder, the loveliest, dearest
name of Jesus, my sweet Saviour, from whom
my ransom came.
In death's dear name be glory or sorrow.
Then sailing may make stalling all paths that
once are easy.
Still in your name of power a wonder
science can found.
For you are still men's helper, the seed
of evil's fount.
To that strong name of Jesus the devil
must give way.
For all his evil...
But our fear won't be taken from us
in a single day.
Just because we've called once to Jesus, please
take away my fear.
It depends upon persistent prayer and battling in
faith.
And if perhaps I have to wait a
while, one thing is certain.
Jesus is always victor.
That means that He always comes with His
help.
He always fulfills His word.
No one who waits for Him will be
put to shame.
This refers to those who persist in prayer
and faith.
Jesus will always prove to be the greater
one, the helper who is mightier than my
problem and my fear.
We mustn't pay attention to lost battles in
the fight against our fear, even when we
are aware that fear has gripped us again.
Instead, when we look at the accomplished victory
of Jesus, we'll experience Him and His help
also with the problem of our fear.
We'll experience, even if we lost fights in
the battle of faith to overcome our fear,
we'll nevertheless win the war because Jesus, under
whose banner we're fighting, is victor.
There was one who came to pass who
trusted in the Father's hand that did His
own to promise He'd bring us all the
things we need from ancient spheres we...
Let's make deliverance from fear a firm aim
of faith in view of the time of
destruction that lies before us and say, I
believe you, Lord Jesus.
By the time the catastrophe comes, you will
have conquered my fear.
I will not let go of this aim
of faith.
I shall tell you this every day in
my prayers.
How can He not do it?
Jesus has come to save us so that
we might serve Him without fear.
Whoever the Son makes free is free indeed,
also from fear.
In the midst of danger, we are in
His peace.
Yes, Jesus has power to transform our hearts
so that they will be filled with peace
instead of fear, resting comforted in God's love
and care.
Then we can have the firm assurance, the
Father is taking care of me.
He is watching over me.
His love and care belong to me.
He hides me in His arms, in His
shelter in the day of trouble.
Yes, He commands His mighty hosts of angels
to stand guard around me.
My heart in fear or sorrow may dwell
in quietness.
I trust in Your will, Holy, and let
it be so.
So trust Him.
Yes, you will experience miracles of His protection
and His goodness if you continue in the
battle of faith against your fear by proclaiming
the victorious name of Jesus and by trusting
in the Father's love.
He surely fulfills His promise.
God delivers the needy when He calls, the
poor and him who has no helper.
Psalm 72.
Yes, in Jesus' wondrous, mighty name all fears
must melt away.
They have to break and flee before the
victor, Jesus.
The powers of fear are broken now.
I praise aloud today the Lord has fully
conquered fear and trod it underfoot.
I trust that Christ will make me free
from all anxiety.
This miracle He will perform.
It brings Him glory.
One name there is, one name in earth
and heaven, one and all, with glorious power,
with joyous might, it is the name of
Jesus.
Let praises ring along this day.
Let Jesus' name be called.
Let praises ring along this day.
Yes, let us in this hour bring our
fear to our Lord Jesus Christ and to
God our Father and let us pray together.
My dear Father, I thank You that I
can come to You with my fear for
You are the best Father there is.
Therefore, You understand Your child and have compassion
on him when he is afraid.
My Father, I thank You that I know
as my Father You will help me.
You will strengthen my soul and take away
my fear.
I thank You that as Your child I
belong to You.
No catastrophe can separate me from You.
Led by Your hand, I will be brought
through the tribulation.
I thank You and praise You that as
a Father You always have help prepared for
Your child.
I cling to this promise in my fears
and troubles.
You will not disappoint me.
You will never forsake me.
I thank You and praise You.
In all my fears, I will come to
know Jesus as the victor who commands my
fear and says it must give way.
My peace be with You.
I thank You that when riots, rumors of
war, and the thoughts of a terrible nuclear
war want to frighten me, You will let
me experience the reality of Your Word.
I will be a wall of fire round
about.
Then the fear cannot seize me.
I thank You that I can firmly count
on this fact in the time of great
distress when I will lack everything, one thing
will remain.
You, my Father.
You are the Lord to whom is given
all power in heaven and on earth.
You have everything in Your hands and You
accomplish everything.
Therefore, with You I too have all I
need.
Abba, dearest Father.
Amen.
To Thee, Father, I surrender as my helper
and advisor, my whole self in awe.
I will trust though fears surround me and
my cares pile up.
O my Father, Thou dost lead me from
all dangers Thou hast freed me Never left
Thy child alone.
Like a Father all-providing wisely and in
love is Thine.
Yes, O Father, I can trust Thee who
dost help and deal so justly firmly planned
with Thy sure aid.
So I thank Thee now already for Thy
coming sure and steady cannot fail to come
to pass.
There is power in hope.
By Basilea Schlink will tell us about a
living hope that will give our lives strength
and power and that will help us all
to become more than conquerors.
There is no hope for him.
If a doctor were to say this about
someone we love dearly we could lose all
courage.
These devastating words can have a paralyzing effect
on us.
If the patient himself hears that there is
no hope for him he may lose the
last of his strength.
But on the other hand new hope can
give such a powerful upsurge of strength to
the seriously ill that they sometimes even recover
completely.
What power there is in hope.
This trust, this power of hope is what
we need today.
That is what will help us live through
even the most difficult years.
For hope not only gives us wings to
fly through physical difficulties but also for emotional
and spiritual needs.
For instance, what can it mean when we
have to say goodbye to someone we love
if we have the hope of seeing him
again soon?
Perhaps God has led us into serious temptations
or given us disappointments or problems.
Perhaps he has even led us to the
edge of death.
At such times the Father in heaven calls
to us My child, I will give you
a precious gift.
I will give you hope.
And with this hope you will be able
to go through all suffering, needs and temptations.
Grasp the anchor of hope that you will
not be tempted beyond your strength.
Believe that I have prepared an end to
this suffering.
This hope is anchored in the rock of
his promises.
God is calling to each one of us
personally Have faith in me when you have
problems.
Yes, he is actually pleading with us.
Have faith that affliction will really end in
glory.
If you trust me, affliction will open the
door to the city of God where pain
and tears will disappear for all eternity.
And you will be filled with rejoicing.
Yes, you will begin to experience this already
here on earth.
Who can measure my hope?
But there is one person who begrudges us
this hope.
It is Satan.
He knows the power contained in hope.
He knows how invincible we will become in
spite of our problems, temptations and suffering.
So he tries to whisper to us, There
is no sense.
Everything is lost.
It's hopeless.
Everything will stay miserable.
Your prayers for other people or for your
own problems won't be heard.
Give it up.
It's useless.
We all know such situations.
Satan shows us a picture of ruins.
He shows us the ruins of our hope
and he whispers all these things to us.
But at such times, we simply mustn't listen
to him, not under any circumstances.
Rather, we have to say, Yield from me,
Satan.
I know what you have in mind.
But I have a hope, a sure hope
in the fulfillment of God's promises for my
life.
I know that the love of God will
never let suffering be the end.
He has prepared a way out for me.
He will let me experience His love and
omnipotence.
I wait in peace, O Father, Your hands
are holding me.
All is by You directed, You lead me
tenderly.
Rest in You, safe, hidden, O Father, peace
here.
I rest upon Your bosom, Your heart be
spare for me.
It knows full well, it's love.
I know that You directed all that will
come to me.
Each day You give me strength.
My heart in fear or sorrow may dwell
in quietness.
I trust in Your will only and that
is best.
In Hebrews 6, the Word of God encourages
us to hold on to our hope until
the end.
Never get tired.
And in 1 Thessalonians 5, Scripture tells us
to put on the helmet of hope when
we fight against Satan.
Yes, in the midst of all our problems
and also in the midst of horror, we
can live from hope.
Those who trust the Lord will experience that
He is faithful.
The day will come when God will prove
His faithfulness and all our problems will be
solved.
Or if He leaves us in a difficult
situation, He will change our hearts so that
it will be filled with peace and comfort.
For God has promised us this.
God's promises come true.
Whatever He says, He'll do.
My heart, no doubt, cares.
I know Your word is sure.
It is a rock where His
help He may delay.
So I from day to day in love
and trust, I will rise.
Yes, everything depends upon whether we listen to
the voice of Jesus more than Satan's whispers.
For in Scripture, the Lord speaks of sure
hope.
We do not have a faith that leads
us nowhere.
To have a sure hope means that I
have a sure promise from God that I
can hold on to.
It will give me the strength to endure
to the end in all temptations and problems
and all types of suffering.
This sure hope will give me the strength
to remain true to God and His word
no matter how much the storms of life
may rage about me or the waves of
trouble and suffering break over me.
Therefore, when you have problems, praise God as
the God of hope.
That means that the great, eternal God Himself
is hope, the hope for your life and
for a world heading towards destruction.
As one of the guidelines for life on
our little land of Canaan says, in times
of distress, when there seems to be no
way out, whether the struggle be inward or
outward, wait expectantly for the hour of help
and rescue.
Blessed are those who wait.
Their waiting will be turned into joy.
Those who persevere will see a blessed fulfillment
of their hopes, both here and to the
fullest extent in heaven.
For God does not let our hopes come
to naught.
Yes, God has hope for each of us.
That is the overwhelming thing.
And this hope contains all the comfort for
our lives.
God will not give you up.
He will not give me up.
That is why people who surrender their lives
to Him completely are people of hope.
They have a living hope which no one
and nothing can take away from them.
God wants to make you into such a
person of hope, no matter how many problems
you have or how big they might be,
and no matter how great your suffering is.
It all depends on whether you trust Him.
I have often found that there is no
type of suffering, no problem, that God does
not have a ray of hope for.
Yes, we have a hope which no one
can take from us, no matter what the
future might bring.
It is Jesus Himself and the power of
His love.
My thankful heart...
O Jesus, Lamb of God, most faithful...