Tag: going through trials and tests

Bible Verse of The Day – 3-25-14

Matthew 7:24-25 (NKJV) 24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

So many times we have people ask us “why did God do this to me?”. They tell us about how God has done good things for them and they felt like they were headed in the right direction, and then they encounter a trial or rough time.

And suddenly they are asking why God would “do this to them”. “Why did God pick me up and make me think everything was going to be OK, just to do this to me and crush me again?”

Well, we can’t speak for every single situation, but we can say this. God has never, ever promised us that we won’t go through stuff. He never told us “follow me and I will make your path trouble-free and full of miracles for the rest of your life”.

On the contrary, God has told us that we will go through trials and storms. And there will be times in our life when we feel like everything is crashing down around us. And there will be days when we wonder how we can go on.

But it’s in these times when God has promised to hold us up. It’s in these times when He has promised to be that rock that we need in order to be able to weather the storm and come through it still standing.

Facing adverse times doesn’t mean that God has abandoned us or picked us up only to crush us again. Adversity comes. It’s just part of life, and we need to accept that fact.

But what God does offer us is strength to endure the storm. He offers us hope to see past the storm. And He becomes our rock, our foundation, if we let Him.

“the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.”

Are our lives founded on the Rock? They should be! And if they’re not, it’s never too late to do the right thing and start fresh, building our new life on that Rock.

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 – 3-8-14

Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Tests and trials come our way constantly.

Sometimes they make us feel like our guts are being ripped out, and we begin to question whether we will make it through or not.

Well, we are here to tell you that you can make it through.

You can’t do it on your own, but with Christ, you can.

Christ is our rock, our foundation and our fortress. He is our source of strength, no matter what we’re going through.

It doesn’t matter if it’s financial struggles, relationship trials, health problems or any other battle that might come our way.

If we try to face it on our own, we will surely fall. But if we lean on Him and trust Him for the answers, victory will come.

Let go today. As hard as it is, let go. Hand it over to God and cling to the hand of Jesus. He has already won the victory 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!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 12-19-13

(Romans 5:3-4 NKJV)  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; {4} and perseverance, character; and character, hope.

What is perseverance? It is the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult.

This is a good quality to have, seeing how life itself is very difficult at times.

This verse tells us that it is tribulation that produces this quality.

So be encouraged today, if we are going through a hard time, because as we go through it we will gain perseverance, character and hope and come out stronger than before.

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 – 8-17-13

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.

In keeping with yesterday’s teaching, let’s look just a little more at trials.

As mentioned yesterday, trials, in reality, are usually nothing more than an inconvenience… a problem that we have to overcome.

Today’s scripture backs this up by teaching us that our afflictions (trials) are indeed light and temporary when compared to eternity.

This is not to take away from anyone’s tough situations or circumstances, because there are some people reading this who may be going through some very tough times and things that you never, ever thought you would have to face.

But when we take our troubles and we hold them up and compare them to the BIG picture and the grand scheme of things, they are, in fact, very small and “but for a moment”.

As believers, children of The King, followers of Christ, we need to make sure our perspective is right; that we are looking at things through eternal eyes, not temporal eyes. This is something that takes a lot of practice and there is not a single one of us who will get it right 100% of the time.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try! We can all let God work in us and change our perspective. We just have to want to.

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 – 8-16-13

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.

None of us likes trials. In fact, not only do we not like them, most of us detest them.

Whether we realize it or not, trials show us what we’re made of. Trials can put pressure on us and squeeze us. And when things get squeezed hard enough, what’s inside of them eventually comes out!

Trials can be a major inconvenience, but most of them never really hurt us or cause us harm. The problem is that there isn’t a single one of us who likes inconveniences.

But as we grow in our faith, we should start to see and understand that many trials can benefit us, if we let them! You’re probably wondering what I’m talking about, so let’s look a little more closely.

When we’re babes in Christ and our faith is young, tender and still very small, we only look at trials through human, natural eyes. We seldom see things beyond that. Trials are messy, a nuisance and an all-around bother to deal with.

But as we grow in Christ, we begin to look beyond the surface of things and start to see that there is usually more to many things than meets the eye. Then, as our understanding in this grows, we will start to see God’s hand at work in the trials that we face.

So if you’re going through a trial today, step back and try to look at it through spiritual eyes… the eyes of a believer, not through natural eyes. Because somewhere in all of the mess and confusion, God is offering you His peace and understanding. And whether we can see it right now or not, there is probably a blessing wrapped in that trial.

So count it all joy, not just those things that are pleasant and easy to take.

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 – 7-1-13

Hebrews 10:23 (NKJV) Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Hold fast. What does this mean… to hold fast?

Yesterday we took a walk on one of the local beaches. As we walked, we could hear the waves breaking to the left side of us and see them rolling in onto the beach.

On our right side, there were sand dunes and houses. Some of these houses had very huge embankments in front of them and covering these embankments were some very, very large boulders that had been used to cover the steep bank that led from the home, down onto the beach.

The people who built the houses put these large rocks there purposely, to prevent the waves from destroying the homes if there is a storm and the waves become huge. The rocks prevent the storm from washing away the sand dunes and demolishing the home.

As the waves beat against these rocks, so do the storms of life beat upon us at times. Things come our way that we might never imagine… sickness, disease, financial disasters and so much more. It’s just a fact of life.

Just as those rocks protect the home from the raging ocean waves, our profession of faith in Jesus, our Rock, keeps us from being destroyed by the raging storms of life.

Just as those rocks take the pounding and never move, so must we hold fast to our faith. This is what faith is about… trusting and believing even when things are not cheery and sunny. It’s easy to believe when things are going smoothly and we don’t have a care in the world.

But when the storms come and the waves beat upon us, will our faith be like those rocks on the shore, never moving even in the worst of storms? Or will our faith falter at the first sign of trouble, washing away with the surge of the storm?

Hold fast to your confession of hope, for He is faithful!

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 – 6-29-13

Job 1:1 (NKJV) There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.

Job loved God. His ways were blameless.

In spite of this, Job went through some terrible trials. He literally lost everything he had including his family and all of his possessions, in less than 24 hours.

What’s truly remarkable about this is that when Job received word that he had lost absolutely everything he held dear, he didn’t pot, throw a tantrum or have a pity party. Job 1:21 (NKJV) And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Obviously, Job was sad and probably even distraught, but he refused to wallow in pity or ask God “why me?”.

So our question for everyone today is this: How would we handle something like this? Would we “lose it” and shake our fist at God, or would we trust God despite what we saw in front of us?

This is something that we will probably never know for sure until we’re in a seemingly-desperate situation. Only then will we truly be tested and see “what we’re made of”.

If we read the rest of the book of Job, we’ll see that Job went through even further trials as he was afflicted with great physical pain and suffering. Even so, Job stood fast in his faith and refused to curse God.

So how did this all turn out for Job? Ultimately, his body was healed and everything he had lost was restored to him and more. In fact, he was blessed with more than double what he originally lost, including sons and daughters.

So we ask again; “how would we handle ourselves in this kind of a situation?”. Food for thought…

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 – 3-29-13

(Psalm 86:3 NKJV)  Be merciful to me, O Lord, For I cry to You all day long.

Do we ever feel like David felt at times? Like all we do is cry out to God for we are in such need?

Are we in a desperate place and need help immediately?  I think we all have those moments; the moment of not knowing how it will all turn out and how long it will take.

It’s OK to have these moments and to cry out to God. He is there for us.

Let this be our prayer today, for all those that are in need and scared.

Dear God,

Be merciful to us, O Lord, For we cry to You all day long. Help us in our desperate situation, we ask, in Jesus Name, Amen!

We are not alone. Be blessed.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

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

401-377-5400

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Bible Verse of The Day – 1-5-13

(Phil 4:13 NKJV)  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

We are not weak, useless or anything similar. We are the children of The Most High God!

We are all facing trials of one kind or another. Some of us are facing very tough financial trials. Some are facing very big relationship trials. Other people are fighting for their lives in a battle against some kind of sickness, disease of physical injury or ailment.

The number and types of trials that many of us are facing is very big. But our God is bigger!

We have not been told to take care of things by our own strength. We have been told to lean on Him and trust in Him, because in Him we can do all things!

As you face your trial, possibly even the biggest trial of your life, don’t back down and don’t give up hope. Know that in Christ Jesus you can do all things.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

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

401-377-5400

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 – 11-30-12

(1 Cor 15:57 NKJV)  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Victory is ours. God’s word says so.

You might not feel victorious right now, but victory is coming. Don’t get me wrong… it doesn’t usually come when we think it should. But it will come if we hold fast to God and don’t give up!

Now that we have that out there, let’s talk for a minute about why we need victory. There’s only one reason for needing victory. A battle.

If we’re not in a battle, we don’t need victory. If we need victory it’s because we’re in a battle. So if we want victory, we have to go through a battle. Victory never, ever comes without a fight.

And we also need to understand that when we are in a fight, in a battle, there can be times when we get hurt and we sometimes end up with scars from our wounds.

But God is the great healer. Not only does He help us get victory, but He can also heal us from our wounds and help those scars to fade and disappear.

What is your battle today? Name it and then claim victory in the name of Jesus Christ. Seek God’s wisdom as to how to fight the battle and then move forward.

He gives us the victory through Jesus. Amen!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

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

401-377-5400

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Bible Verse of The Day – 8-11-12

(Job 2:9 NKJV)  Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity?  Curse God and die!”

There are two kinds of people in life who you can surround yourself with. One kind will encourage you and help you, no matter what you’re going through. The other kind will be like Job’s wife… telling you to throw in the towel, curse God and die!

Hmm… Which kind of people would you rather have around you when you’re going through a trial or a crisis?

We can choose, you know. We don’t have to let the negative people hang on us and fill our atmosphere with their negativity!! It’s not always easy to get away from them, or to keep them away from us, but when we’re in a tough situation the last thing we need is people whispering negative comments in our ears.

This doesn’t mean that we should immediately set about giving our negative friends the boot and leaving them in the dust, but it does mean that we should be a little pickier about how much time we spend with the people who tend to be more negative when we’re in need of encouragement.

So if you’re going through a tough time, take inventory of who you’re spending time with and who is speaking into your life. Weed out those who seem to bring you down and sped less time with them. Let God bring more positive people into your midst.

Even Jesus kicked the doubters out when he was about to perform miracles. Maybe we should learn from His example!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

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

401-377-5400

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