"Staying The Course"

"The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage." (Psalms 16:6) It is not a question of what trials we have to overcome, but what the end result of this life will be. I can not begin to tell you the number of times that I have felt the need to ask God for strength; but I can tell you that He has kept me pushing through each and every one of those times; not by my own strength, of that I am sure; but by giving me hope in what is at the end of all this suffering, God continues to show me His grace through each and every one of those times of weakness. Yesterday was another one of those days that required His special touch of grace. It was my wife's birthday, and I felt so helpless to give her what I wanted her to have; which was a complete healing in the name of Jesus Christ!!! Although this was not what took place on her very special day, God did show me something that I needed to know; and it had to do with sharing in the life that we have been given. Some might question the quality of such a life; and I am ashamed to say it, but I find myself questioning that also at certain times; which just so happens to be those times when I feel the worst! It truly comes down to love! There are some things that I like about the New King James, and 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is one of them, for it says, "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails". The primary source of this love is God's love for us; because it is His unconditional love for us that is unmatched by anything else; which, when we accept it, and as we receive it into our circumstance, or whatever it is that we have a need to be strengthened in, things are changed in an instant. If you think that it is not that easy, then you might just need to try it and find out for yourself. Let me be clear about something that was said: It is God's love that changes everything, not our love that is based upon what we receive, but His love for us, that is based upon His love and His love alone. Once we get this truth settled in our heart, we can begin to love as He loves; not because we have any power on our own to do so, but because we have His love in us, we can begin to share that which we are experiencing. Those times when we are feeling anything that is contrary to the properties listed in 1 Corinthians 13, it is nothing more than that we have lost sight of God's amazing love for us; therefore, we only need to focus upon His love, even asking for His help if need be, but anything it takes to see how much He loves us. I know, this might sound like there is a lot dependent upon our actions, or upon our ability to believe; to which I will say, Yes, it is very much dependent upon what we believe! What we have within this verse, Psalms 16:6, is a paradox within a statement; something that contradicts itself based upon the result of the outcome. To get this that I am talking about, we must understand what the end result is, which is stated in the second part of the verse, "yea, I have a goodly heritage". The "lines" that "are fallen", are the life experiences that we have in our journey towards that which is our "goodly heritage"; some good, some bad, and some that are devastating; but all of which are fallen "in pleasant places". It is this "pleasant places" which is that based upon God's love, and not upon the experiences of this life, whether good, bad, or ugly. It speaks of 'one beloved', which takes on a life that is outside of the situations, and becomes a place set towards the source of that love. This is also the same condition that Jesus experienced when He prayed, saying, "Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done". (Luke 22:42) For even though His situation was overbearing, the love He had for the Father was greater, because that love He experienced from the Father was far more powerful than anything else...