TESTED
BREAD
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac,
whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one
of the mountains I will tell you about.”
Genesis 22:1-2 (NIV)
4 They were left to test the Israelites to see whether
they would obey the LORD’s commands, which he had given their forefathers
through Moses. Judges 3:3-4 (NIV)
17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are
pleased with integrity. All these things
have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly
your people who are here have given to you. 1 Chronicles 29:17 (NIV)
10 For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.
11 You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our
backs. 12 You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire
and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance. Psalms 66:10-12 (NIV)
20 But,
O LORD Almighty, you who judge righteously and test the heart and mind, let me
see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause. Jeremiah 11:20 (NIV)
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as
an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be
careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one
already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold,
silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his
work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It
will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's
work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his
reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself
will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. 1 Corinthians
3:10-15 (NIV)
5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the
faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless,
of course, you fail the test? 6 And I trust that you will discover that we have not
failed the test. 2 Corinthians 13:5-6
(NIV)
12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because
when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has
promised to those who love him. James
1:12 (NIV)
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know
my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me
in the way everlasting. Psalms
139:23-24 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Tribulation
is necessary for the decentralization of self and the development of deep
dimensions of agape love, this love can be developed only in the school of
suffering. It grows and develops only by
exercise and testing. This may explain
the relationship between sainthood and suffering by showing why there is no
sainthood without suffering. It may also
show why the greatest saints are often the greatest suffers.” Paul E. Billheimer
“The testings are not for God to see
what is in our hearts as He already knows.
The testings are for us to see what lies deep within our beings. Every testing or trial He sends forth or
allows is ultimately used for our good and His glory – never one surpassing the
other.” BHY
“But we must caution
that in every home and family and life, there are times of trouble and testing
and difficulties and trials and doubting and heartaches and pain. In this
dark world, we all must face them- many of them. Let’s all prepare for
them by spending much time in God’s Word, in prayer for all of our families.
Let’s all be faithful in seeking the Lord every day- asking His Mercy and
Forgiveness when we fail Him and one another. Let’s continually ask Him
for His Guidance and Wisdom as we endeavor to walk in Jesus’ steps along the
narrow path of righteousness. Let’s pray that He will make of us all
powerful and effective witnesses for Him who daily effectively present the Gospel
of Christ and display His Love to all who are around us.” Roger
Killian
“Even as muscle gets
stronger through use as it’s broken down and built up, the same is true of
faith. James 1 says, “When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your
lives my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends!
Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of
endurance” (verses 2–3 NLT). God will
test our faith for our own good. I know we would like to have trouble-free
lives. I know we would like to have temptation free-lives. It’s been said that
one Christian who has been tempted is worth a thousand who haven’t. It’s also
said that Christians are a lot like teabags; you don’t know what they are like
until after you put them into hot water. Faith grows stronger through testing.
Take Abraham for example. The Lord started by telling him to leave his country.
Later on God told him to take his son Isaac and lay him on the altar. He
started with a simple test and went on to a more difficult one. We’ll go
through series of tests in our Christian lives of faith, and each one will make
us stronger. Yes, the tests will get harder. But we’ll get even stronger, because
God is whipping us into shape for greater challenges and greater opportunities.
Everything is preparation for something else.” Greg
Laurie
“We will never put God in
a nice little convenient proverbial box of our own makings and
imaginations. He is so totally other –
His thoughts are not our thoughts neither His ways our ways. His paths for us are always perfect and
pleasing and have our best interest at heart though most often unimaginatively
hard. His ways may not lead us into
comfort and painlessness. Indeed, His
children should not expect to be carried into heaven on a bed of down though He
can do so if He so desires. More often
than not, His ways lead us into circumstances ‘far beyond our ability to endure’
to demonstrate to the unbelieving world (and to ourselves for that matter) His
power in our lives whether it be by miraculously changing our circumstances or
just as miraculously (or even more so),
by changing our hearts through the circumstances. His good ways will always
lead us on paths of conformation to the fullness of His precious Son – that’s
the purpose. He wants us to be like
Jesus – whatever it takes - and we want that too. That is the abundant life.” BHY
HEART SAVOR
- ·
“God tries our
faith so that we may try His faithfulness.” Anonymous
- · Our trials and testings are to strengthen not tear us down. We want to come forth as gold out of our furnaces of affliction.
- · In the end, fire will test the quality of each man’s work. Use the building materials of costly stones when building your earthly temples which will withstand this purifying fire.
