Dealing with Adversity

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20 

I was born with sickle cell disease, and daily deal with chronic pain. This week I battled pain crises, which are spikes in pain caused by a lowering of hemoglobin count. (Today I feel much better, I'm almost back to normal!) it is not God's will that I be healed from this disease, at least not thus far. Maybe you deal with another physical ailment, emotional issue, a disability, etc. and maybe people have told you that if you have enough faith that God would heal you. There are two scriptures in the Bible that I hold dearly when it comes to healing. The first says, "By His stripes we are healed". Isaiah 53:5 The second one says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Cor 12:9 

So, which of these is true? Well, the answer is both. But, both are subject to God's sovereignty. If God decides to heal you from an ailment or disease it is so that He gets the glory by your telling everyone that God has healed you. But, what if He doesn't heal you? How then should you live?

God uses the things that hurt us. The enemy will attack, but if we persevere through the power of Christ we come out of those trials with testimonies. 
God uses testimonies so that people can see His great works through the lives of ordinary men and women like us. 

My prayer is that through my walk, my lifestyle, people will see that despite being in pain that I am still, to the utmost of my abilities, serving the Lord Jesus Christ. And that someone would be inspired to follow Him also; that they may recognize that it is not by my might, or a stubborn will, but rather by His grace being sufficient that I persevere. I want people to understand that God's strength is made perfect in my weakness. 

It is my firm belief that being SALT is mostly about how you live among those who are not believers-as an example and living testimony, and with those who are believers- as encouragement.. If I suffer for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and someone sees His love, His power, His grace and Mercy in my walk, it has all been worth it. I really don't mind a bit. 

Let God use the weapons of the enemy, (they will not prosper) for the betterment of others. Our reactions to the attacks of the enemy determine if others would view our stories as testaments for, or against God. Whether a bad day, a headache, or something life-threathening, how will you respond to adversity?   

I love you, and I am praying for you.
SALT
~ Pastor Erroyl

The War Inside

The War Raging Within

Romans 7:22-23 "For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 
23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members."

Notice all the players in this scripture. You have all three parts of your being illustrated here. Your spirit, which Paul refers to as the "inner man", your soul, which here is referred to as "the mind", and finally your body. On the one side you have your spirit which is very close to God. Your spirit is always urging you to commune with Him and be one with Him. On the other side you have your flesh which is subject to the law of sin; it is always trying to get you to gratify the flesh and carnal nature of who you are. In the middle of this tug-of-war is your soul. Your soul is the part of you that has to decide which route will be taken. 

Here we understand that our spirit joyfully wants to do the will of God. The issue is that our flesh is weak. So, how do we defeat this? Paul writes it this way in Romans 24 and 25.
"Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

A practical answer to this question is found simply in the wording. It is a decision we make. The fact that the soul is referred to here as the mind, lets us know that it is something that must be intentional on our part.  When you sin, it is intentional. You make a conscious decision to do it. (That is not to say that being sin free is easy, it certainly is not as we learn earlier in chapter 7 when Paul says "the things that I shouldn't do I do, and the things that I should do I don't do." ) Therefore, the decision must be intentional not to sin. We must, with great EFFORT and PLANNING, decide to live righteously. We must intentionally live as sin free as we possibly can. The decision must be made by us to incline toward the urging of our inner man, and God.

I love you, and I am praying for you to listen to your spirit, and not your flesh.

~Pastor Erroyl
SALT

People and Seasons

As seasons in life change- we realize that we do as well.  Have you ever thought, "I wouldn't have liked the type of person I was back then?"  We grow into different people. We grow, we mature, and so we no longer fit into our old lives. 

Some people, places and events are only meant to be main characters or settings in your life for a particular season. It doesn't mean that you love them less (or they, you) only that God needs you (and them) to invest the time previously devoted to them with someone else, or somewhere else. The season ended.

Farmers don't sow seeds in fields that already have crops. If so, the new seeds would take root; the new and old would begin fighting for the nutrients. It would be unhealthy conflict for all. The farmer would have to spend an enormous amount of effort and time remedying that. Do you follow? You're the farmer. Do you want to spend the time investing in the next season of your life; making sure that it's properly tended to? Or, would you rather spend that time straightening out a self-perpetuating mess that is caused by holding on to the past?

Need a biblical reference? I thought you'd never ask. Acts 15: 36-41 tells the story of Paul and Barnabas. Paul wanted to return to previously visited cities. Barnabas wanted to take Mark along with them. Paul protested, as he felt that Mark had abandoned them earlier. The two quarreled, and parted ways. Their season walking together in ministry was over. Sometimes it takes a disagreement. Sometimes going in different directions is the best thing for both parties. In the case of Paul and Barnabas, they were able to spread The Gospel in an area that was twice as big as they could have covered while together. (Don't worry, in Paul's letter (Col 4:10) we see where they reconciled).

God knows what He is doing. Allow people (and circumstances too) to come and go with their proper season. If you don't know when a season is transitioning, look for the changing colors. ;-)

I love you and I am praying for you.

~Pastor Erroyl
SALT