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CURRENT RADIO SERIES Songs of Encouragement   CURRENT TV SERIES Songs of Encouragement

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel…. -–Philippians 1:12 Have you ever faced adversity, pain, or a terrible situation that you couldn’t understand and from which there seemed to be no escape? Maybe you’ve had trials, tests, and tribulations? Of course you have; it’s called life! I know people who are disappointed with the Christian life because they thought faith promised an easy road or that it would exempt them from life’s hardships. But faith promises you and me no such thing. What faith does, however, is help us handle our problems and adversities. Often we can’t  change our circumstances, but we can change the way we respond to them. In fact, if we live in obedience to God, he’ll use adversity to move us forward. God uses adversity to accomplish his will through us! You see, adversity produces possibilities that we may not see at the time. But God is behind the scenes working creatively and constructively in our lives for his ultimate purposes. For instance, why would God allow the apostle Paul, who was traveling the world spreading the gospel, to go to prison? While in prison, Paul wrote two-thirds of the New Testament! And concerning his prison experience Paul said, “What has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel….” Don’t despise adversity when it comes, but consider how God is at work. Your suffering today may advance the Kingdom tomorrow! GOD USES ADVERSITY TO ACCOMPLISH HIS WILL THROUGH US! Reasons to Refrain from Wrath by Dr. Paul Chappell “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” James 1:17–20 There are not any new problems in our day. There may be new forms and methods of doing wrong, but the basic underlying temptations and sins are the same as they have been for thousands of years. The same sins of the heart—envy, lust, bitterness, and anger—that spurred the evil in the days of Noah that resulted in the destruction of the world by the Flood are still with us today. And of all the sins that bring destruction and damage to the world, few have a deeper impact than anger. This was just as true in the day when James was inspired to write his epistle as it is in ours. James gives us two powerful reasons to refrain from wrath: First, James points out the purpose of God for our lives—that our salvation produces fruitful lives. God is not just interested in our eternal destiny, but in how we live here on Earth. Being quick to anger, “flying off the handle,” and losing our temper hinders fruit bearing. If we are known as angry and wrathful people, who will want to listen to us proclaim a message of peace and hope? Second, we see that anger left unchecked always leads to further sin. Those who have wrath in their hearts will soon have evil in their deeds. We cannot be the righteous children of God we are called to be if we are angry all the time. Today’s Growth Principle:  If we long to be like Jesus, we cannot allow anger to rule unchecked in our hearts.