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And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 1 Peter 5:10 Are you struggling today? God never tells us that we won’t experience grief or sorrow in this life.  There will be tears.  And, to be honest, sometimes life will just suck the air right out of you. But we must remember that trials do have a purpose.  Trials can fortify us.  They can prove us, test us, and prepare us. As today’s verse says, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” The fact is, if you’re a Christian, you’re in a spiritual battle.  Which means you have a very real enemy.  And trials prepare you for this battle and make you stronger.  In fact, you may be going through a spiritual boot camp of sorts today, which is preparing you for the battle ahead! Think about it this way.  When gold is made, all the impurities must be removed.  The same process of refining takes place in our lives before genuine gold can come forth. Whatever you may be facing today, keep in mind that God is forming your character, bringing out the gold in you.  Everything has a reason.  You may not see it… you may not understand it… but God isworking in your life. Remember that no matter what you may be going through, you can build your life on the certainty and confident expectation that God is in the midst of it.  Rejoice because He is working in your life and your future! THINK ABOUT SOME OF THE TRIALS IN YOUR PAST.  WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THEM?  HOW DID THEY PREPARE YOU FOR WHAT WAS AHEAD? The Sinful Census Monday, July 01, 2019 by Dr. Paul Chappell “And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it. And Joab answered, The LORD make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel? Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.” 1 Chronicles 21:2–4 David largely followed God during his time as king, and as a result he was blessed and Israel became more powerful. It appears that for a time, however, David became somewhat proud and self reliant, rather than depending on God as he had before, and that is why he decided to count the number of people in his kingdom. Despite receiving good advice against the plan, David insisted on having his way…and brought death and destruction on Israel as a result. While we are supposed to count our blessings, we should never make the mistake of counting on our blessings as our source of security or as the result of our own doing. When we lift up ourselves in pride, we miss out on God’s grace: “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:6). We are utterly and completely dependent on God for every good thing in our lives. Whatever we have and accomplish is not to our credit, but to His. Jesus made our dependence on Divine power clear when He said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). Today's Growth Principle:  When we exalt ourselves rather than glorifying God, we risk losing the blessings of which we are so proud.