Tag: present help

Has a “fiery trial come on you?”

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” 1 Peter 4:12,13.

I’m surprised. Perhaps you’re experiencing a great trial as well. Our minds are in a battle to focus on faith in God, our physical bodies are taxed beyond understanding. But God is greater than anything we can face.

“My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing our God cannot do!” I pray God enables us to stand in faith and not enter fear.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind” 2nd Timothy 1:7.

Join me to fight this battle on our knees.

What is our comfort in this time? Psalm 119:50 tells us, “Your Word has given me life.”

I share an hour’s worth of prayer to meditate on so we can think on “things above, not on things of the earth,” and because we have believed in Jesus, and have “died” to this world, “our life is now hidden with Christ in God” Colossians 3:3. 

Together, today, all who are in great trial, we choose to:

“Therefore humble (y)ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,

casting all (y)our care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” 1 Peter 5:7-8.

But God is greter. We will seek His presence and choose to think on His truth.

“This is the voctory that overcomes the world, even our faith” 1 John 5″4.

Jesus alone is our peace. Our hope. Our everything.

Let’s keep our minds in a safe place, “rejoiocing in hope, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in everything, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us” 1 Thessalonians 5: 16 & 17.

Prayers for our souls to take comfort when our heart is overwhelmed

Mysterious Trials? Let’s Praise Through the Battle with Psalm 139:

When the kids were young, we set out to memorize Psalm 139. Many years have passed and this Psalm is a continual “present help” to me in times of trial.

So, I wrote a song to sing in my heart when life seemed cloudy and dark. It’s called for now, “My Psalm 139 Song.” My in the title was to imply a personal connection for anyone who “sings” this song in heart and mind, or aloud with voice.

Do you have a mysterious trial you are walking through? Are you suffering from a physical ailment? Are you suffering loss and pain?

If I say, “Surely, the darkness shall fall on me, even the night will shine as day around me. The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

On You, I wait and pray. Your Word I hear and Praise . . . “

The Kanagy kids challenged themselves to learn My Psalm 139 Song, (and what a great job they did. Thank you, girls!)

If you need a song of comfort and hope from the Lord, pray this in your heart and mind. And better yet, play it so much you can sing it through your day!

My Psalm 139 Song, by Toni Rypkema

Let me know if the truths from God’s Word ministered to you today:

Psalm 139, NKJV:

God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

139 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3 You [a]comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book, they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.

19 Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!
Depart from me, therefore, you [i]bloodthirsty men.
20 For they speak against You wickedly;
Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

Be Still

“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth” Psalm 57:11.

God, the Creator of heaven and earth, our holy Father says to those who have ears to hear His voice today: “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” Psalm 46:10.

 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously”Psalm 96:10.

For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
 Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary” Psalm 96:4,5,6.

Active worship brings victory over anxiety.

We will lift our eyes vertical instead of horizontal. We will seek His face. We cry out for mercy, justice, truth, provision, and protection. And we worship Him:

 “Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Give to the Lord glory and strength.
Give to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth” Psalm 96:7-9.

“Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; . . .

For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.

He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth” Psalm 96:11-13.

Amen! We will be still. God is faithful. Speak aloud

 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise . . .

I will awaken the dawn” Psalm 57:7,8.

Amen. We will worship while we wait.

We will overcome, because Jesus has overcome.

In His name we pray, Amen.