Tag: Bible verses about enduring trials

Bible Verse of The Day – 1-1-24

James 1:2-4 (NKJV) 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time lately pondering on the irony of trials.

They’re a funny thing, these unexpected events that happen to all of us, tossing our world into a tailspin.

They catch us by surprise and can sometimes hit us with life-changing effects. Sometimes they leave scars that take a lifetime to heal.

But here’s the thing that is so ironic about trials; as much as we despise them, they can teach us a lot if we allow them to.

Some of the most powerful lessons we learn are by way of the tough things that we go through.

We learn about ourselves. We learn new things that we never expected or wanted to learn. We learn about the faithfulness of God.

And in all those things, we learn lessons that we can use to teach and help others around us when they face similar situations and circumstances.

Not one of us welcomes trials with open arms. We despise them. We hope they don’t happen to us. And we may even try to run from them.

Jesus told us in John 16:33 that tribulations will come to each of us.

So, what will we do with them when they come?

That’s the key question we need to ask ourselves.

Will we run from them? Will we deny that they’re happening? Will we be miserable? Will we gather people around us to join us in our own pity party?

Or will we seek God and let Him show us how and what we can learn as we let Him walk us through them?

The way we embrace our trials will tell us a lot about our maturity as a believer and our faith in God, whom we proclaim to others that we trust.

When the rubber meets the road, do our actions prove that we trust Him? Or do they show us struggling with unbelief?

Don’t take that wrong. We all wrestle with unbelief at times. But hanging on to it and never letting God get us beyond it is another story.

So, let us ask ourselves today, will we let our trials dictate how we behave, or will we let God teach us valuable lessons as we walk through them, that we might use those lessons to help others, and to bring glory and honor to Him?

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-2-23 – Enduring

Please click to watch it now.Greetings in the name of Jesus! 

We’ve got a little retro video for you today which we recorded in our truck, just like we used to do a few years back. 

This newest video, “Enduring”, is based on a simple question that gets asked. The answer is interesting. 

We hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch it. 

Please click here to watch the video now.

We hope you enjoy the video, and that God speaks to you through it. 

We love you! 

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie 

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443  

401-439-3780  

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Bible Verse of The Day – 11-1-22

James 1:2-4 (NKJV) 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Some people today reading this have taken a big hit. Some have lost their homes, some their jobs and others their family member or loved one.

You are probably feeling lost right now and wondering if it is even worth living any longer. What is there to look forward to?

The fear and loneliness are setting in and you are not sure what to do, say, or where to go from here. How do I even pick up the pieces and move on?

These kinds of hits call for God’s intervention. Prayer is needed, and time away from everything. And sometimes even time away from everyone, so that we can gain some understanding, comfort and guidance as to the changes that we face.

Don’t be ashamed if you don’t know what to do or how to handle such a hit. God knows, and He will guide us and carry us through it if we don’t blame Him for it. He will help us come out on the other side.

With pure joy, through faith and perseverance, we will not be lacking anything! Amen.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 10-26-21

Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Are we having to start over today?

Maybe we lost everything we had. Maybe we got let go on our job. Or maybe our spouse left us or they passed away.

It can make us feel empty, hopeless and scared. But, we have learned that God can bring good things out of the hardest of times.

Starting over doesn’t have to be scary when we have a God who knows us better then we could ever comprehend.

He’s the One that loves us and cares for us; a God that knows our future. And if we let Him, He will make sure it goes the way it needs to.

In the midst of loss we can sometimes forget how marvelous our Father is toward us all.

Wait on God’s directions.

The first thing we have to do is learn to listen and see with our hearts, as led by God’s spirit. Our fleshly desires will fight us. But if we stand firm against them, and wait on God, He will give us the desires of our heart.

Psalm 37:4 (NKJV) 4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

The next step we have to take is to adjust our attitude and the way we think, knowing and trusting that God will lead us if we give Him the lead.

Many times, if things aren’t happening quickly enough, we will try to take back the lead.

God will let us have it back. But we are in danger of being on our own at that point.

He will always help us, no matter how far off the path we go, if we realize it and ask Him for His help. The best thing to do is stay the course.

The most important thing to do is guard our attitude about where we are, even if we are at the beginning stages and we haven’t yet seen any changes.

Stay strong. God will come through.

The desires of our heart will come again; just maybe in a different way than we had thought, as we surrender ourselves to Him.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-5-21

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (NKJV) 8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead,

Paul went through some things in his lifetime. As an apostle, he was beaten many times, stoned and left for dead, survived shipwrecks and much more. And he suffered all of this as a result of his work to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others.

Because Paul knew what it meant to suffer, I tend to pay attention when he says something like what he said above; “we despaired even of life”.

They expected to die as a result of the persecution that they faced in Asia.

Paul calls the intensity in which they were persecuted as being “burdened beyond measure, above strength”. He was so sure he would die for the gospel that he had literally pronounced a death sentence upon himself.

It was that very situation, though, that caused them to stop relying on themselves and to turn fully to the God who raises the dead for their help and their survival.

Isn’t this just like all of us? We get backed into a corner and try with everything in us to fix the problem ourselves. Then, only when we realize that we can’t fix it, we finally hand it over to God for His help.

We know about this too. We have been in situations where we exhausted ourselves and were laying with our backs to the floor. Then we finally gave our situation over to God for His help. Once we did that, we started seeing light at the end of the proverbial tunnel pretty quickly.

Let’s change this up in our lives. Let’s start going to God first, instead of waiting until we are in dire need and on the verge of dying.

If we would do this, most of the struggles we face will be resolved much more quickly, and we will learn to trust God even more as we see Him work on our behalf.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-21-21

Romans 8:18 (NKJV) 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

This verse brings us a message of great hope!

Not a single one of us likes suffering. It’s hard, it’s disheartening and it can be miserable at times.

Sometimes suffering can make us want to throw in the towel, give up and never try again.

Yes, it can be that bad.

But in the verse above, we are told that the suffering we encounter and endure here on earth can’t even begin to compare to the glory that will be revealed in us!

What does that mean?

It means that when we are bodily resurrected and we join Christ in heaven for eternity, our earthy suffering will pale greatly in comparison to the glory that will be revealed in us at that time.

In other words, the things that we suffer here will look like nothing when we compare it to being in God’s presence with Christ in the hereafter.

So, take heart!

Yes, suffering is hard. But it is only momentary. And the pain we endure while suffering here will fade away immediately when we are in His presence.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NKJV) 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 5-31-21

Acts 14:21-22 (NLT) 21 After preaching the Good News in Derbe and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, 22 where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.

As I have been making my way through the book of Acts again recently, I have found more and more very deep, “meaty” topics than I remembered were there since the last time I read through it.

The verses above are just a sample of this.

In today’s world, everyone wants comfort and an easy life. Convenience and ease of living are in high demand.

In fact, there are even some who would teach that God offers us all of this (wealth, comfort, happiness, etc.) if we would just “give Jesus a try”. Follow Him and He will make your life fantastic!

Sadly, many people (yes, even some genuine believers) fall for this fallacy, believing that God is the path to easy wealth, creature comforts and unending happiness.

What’s even more sad is that many are led away from God by this, instead of toward Him.

You see, God’s word says that trials and tribulations will come for all of us. It’s a fact of life. It’s reality.

Jesus Himself told us this.

John 16:33 (NKJV) 33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

In fact, James says that we should count it all joy when they come.

James 1:2-3 (NKJV) 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

And Jesus, after telling us that there would be tribulations, tells us to be cheerful because He has overcome the world in which we live, where those tribulations will come upon us.

So, let’s not make the mistake of seeking and pursuing lives where there are no trials or tribulations.

No, none of us likes trials or tribulations. They hurt. They’re uncomfortable. They’re inconvenient.

But it is by way of those trials and tribulations that we are cleansed, pruned and purified in the fire, allowing us to enter into the kingdom of God.

Thank you, Father, for all that you do, even when it hurts.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-26-20

Psalm 34:19 (NKJV) 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Affliction; Something that causes pain or suffering. Ailment, trouble, indisposition, menace, trouble.

We have all experienced something that falls into at least one of those categories. Maybe we’re even facing something like that right now. They are a part of life that there is honestly no escape from. Stuff just happens, and we all have to deal with it on one level or another.

It’s interesting to note that the Psalmist states that “many are the afflictions of the righteous”. There is an inference here that says righteous people may well face more afflictions than the non-righteous.

This may be quite true, since afflictions sometimes come because of our faith.

Sometimes they may come in the form of persecution for our faith. Other times they may come because we make choices based on our faith and our convictions that put us in precarious situations.

Whatever way they come, the verse above says this about it; “The Lord delivers us out of them all”.

That’s something we can count on.

The thing to remember is that the way out might not always come in the timing we’d like it to, or in the way we’d like it to. That doesn’t mean, however, that it doesn’t come. It just means that it comes in God’s way, not ours.

So, that thing that’s plaguing you right now? That thing that doesn’t seem to want to go away and let your life return to normal anytime soon? Those consequences that came about because of a choice we wish we hadn’t made?

God sees and He knows what’s happening. And if we’re willing to let Him, He is working them out on our behalf, moving things and putting things in place to help us.

All we have to do is to make sure we don’t get in His way and try to “help” Him, derailing the plan He has in place, causing it to take even longer than it already has.

Trust Him. We may not always understand, but He is working on our behalf.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 5-16-20

Acts 17:28 (NKJV) 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

Wow! We sure are in a different season for the Church as a whole these days.

Some may say it is only temporary because of the Covid-19 virus. But, who knows how this will all play out, and how long it will continue?

All we know is that this is what we are left with for now. So, how do we handle it?

Some people are lost without fellowship. Some people are fine and are enjoying time off, getting other things done and accomplished. Some have been studying and doing whatever it takes to keep up on their walk and their time with God.

We pray that you all are safe and healthy, and that you are growing stronger in your walk. And that not only are we learning how to do things differently, but that we are OK and we will not lose hope because of the changes. The good news is that no matter what, God is for us if we keep our trust in Him.

Romans 8:31 (NKJV) 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Don’t get lost in the change. Walk it out. Come out of it even stronger than when we went into it.

God has a way of showing up and directing our steps, showing us how to keep moving even through seasons we’re not crazy about.

It’s in Him we live!

Each day we read. Each day we pray. Each day we worship and thank Him. We keep moving in Him! Amen.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 3-30-20

James 1:12 (NKJV) 12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Did you know that if we endure trials, God says we are blessed?

This is an interesting statement.

Before we dig into this a little deeper, though, I have to admit that I was not intending to write another devotional about trials. The Coronavirus pandemic is already wreaking havoc in a way that has most people on edge, and most of us are probably tired of hearing about it and talking about it by now.

Nonetheless, God directed me to this scripture as I sat down to write, so it’s best that we proceed and see what it is that He wants us to learn from it!

Despite the fact that the English translation above uses the word “temptation”, the Greek word is actually better translated as “trials”.

So, we are blessed when we successfully endure trials.

Really? Let’s be honest here. Trials never feel much like we are being blessed, do they?

But if we step back and look at the big picture, as God likes us to do so often, it’s not the trial itself that is the blessing so much as what we gain from enduring the trial.

Enduring a trial means that we do whatever is necessary to come through it, not only with victory in our situation, but with our faith still wholly intact, looking fully to God for that victory.

To say that we are blessed means that we are happy. Coming through that trial is definitely something to be happy about. And as we have let God lead us through it, our happiness is more than just a fleshly, fleeting emotion that quickly disappears.

Oh, and the Word also says that if we endure, we are approved, literally meaning that we have passed the test.

Now, how cool is it that even these seemingly-ugly trials that come along hold something good for us?

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-26-19

Psalm 30:5 (NKJV) 5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.

We all face trials. We all weep at times. It’s part of life here in the natural.

What are you facing today that’s causing you to weep? What kind of trial is making you feel like you just can’t seem to get past it?

It doesn’t matter what it is. Health, finances, relationships, careers or anything else, they are all temporal and do not bring us true satisfaction or fulfillment.

Yes, they sometimes help make us feel more stable or secure. They might even give us a sense of accomplishment. But in the end, they can all disappear almost instantly, leaving us feeling confused and uncertain.

Even though the scripture above refers specifically to God’s anger lasting but a moment, and weeping enduring for a night, we can also apply this to life circumstances and situations.

The important thing to remember is that, no matter what comes our way, it doesn’t last forever. The pain, the sorrow or the suffering will come to an end. The time it takes will vary from person to person and from situation to situation.

But one thing is sure; no matter what the situation is, and no matter how long it lasts, God is faithful and true. And He will give us what it takes to have victory in the end.

We just have to trust Him in the midst of the storm and follow His leading. He will bring us through, and joy will come.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

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