Encouragement for Tracy and all of us

[CherylS]

Tracy,
Thinking of you today and keeping you in my prayers. I get this daily devotional via email each day, and it always has something to help me through. Though I would pass today's on to you.



Title: Trouble is a Messenger

Author: Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
Source: Streams in the Desert
Scripture Reference: John 15:1 "My Father is the husbandman" (John 15:1).

It is comforting to think of trouble, in whatever form it may come to, us, as a heavenly messenger, bringing us something from God. In its earthly aspect it may seem hurtful, even destructive; but in its spiritual out-working it yields blessing. Many of the richest blessings which have come down to us from the past are the fruit of sorrow or pain. We should never forget that redemption, the world's greatest blessing, is the fruit of the world's greatest sorrow. In every time of sharp pruning, when the knife is deep and the pain is sore, it is an unspeakable comfort to read, "My Father is the husbandman."

Doctor Vincent tells of being in a great hothouse where luscious clusters of grapes were hanging on every side. The owner said, "When my new gardener came, he said he would have nothing to do with these vines unless he could cut them clean down to the stalk; and he did, and we had no grapes for two years, but this is the result."

There is rich suggestiveness in this interpretation of the pruning process, as we apply it to the Christian life. Pruning seems to be destroying the vine, the gardener appears to be cutting it all away; but he looks on into the future and knows that the final outcome will be the enrichment of its life and greater abundance of fruit.

There are blessings we can never have unless we are ready to pay the price of pain. There is no way to reach them save through suffering. --Dr. Miller.

"I walked a mile with Pleasure,
She chattered all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.

"I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne'er a word said she;
But, oh, the things I learned from her
When sorrow walked with me."



This classic devotional is the unabridged edition of Streams in the Desert. This first edition

[Ceesun]

thank you Cheryl. I really like that. Ceesun

[TriciaK]

Thank you, Cheryl, for that wonderful thought. My psychologist husband said it is just what he needed for an older client who is struggling with MS and very bitter about it. How does one subscribe to your devotional service? Hugs, Tricia

[Tracy]

Thank you Cheryl, that was very nice.

[CherylS]

Here is a link that will take you to where you can sign up for Streams In The Dessert via email and many others also. Morning and Evening from Charles Spurgeon is another very good one. If you or your husband are not familiar with this great man of faith, he himself suffered from severe depression all of his life and many of his writings reflect the realities of God's character that He revealed to him in the midst of his suffering. You can see samples of a number of email devotionals, sign up for them for a while and then keep those you like and unsubscribed to any you don't want to keep receiving. Elizabeth Elliot is great, Woodrow Kroll etc...

Glad your husband was able to use this to bless another.


http://www.backtothebible.org/devoti...hp/streams/263

[Audrey]

Thanks for posting that, Cheryl. My aunt gave me a copy of Streams in the Desert when I was going through chemo and it really helped me a lot--it was so interesting to me that each day's message was typically exactly what I needed at that moment to help me get through the tough times.

[CherylS]

Isn't that the truth. I can't tell you how many copies of this book I have given away now to people who I know that are suffering. The daily email devotional coincides with the book too, so it is a great gift to give to someone via email.

God Bless.