The word and the
works of the Lord will not return empty. The lord will use me and fill me for
and with His purpose.
Isaiah 41:10 So do
not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will
strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Jeremiah 1:5 "Before
I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I
appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
Psalm 139: 14-16 …14
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful
are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden
from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of
the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book
were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not
one of them.…
James 1:17 - 18 …17
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from
the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. 18
In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that
we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 1:12-18 It is not every man who suffers,
that is blessed; but he who with patience and constancy goes through all
difficulties in the way of duty. Afflictions cannot make us miserable, if it be
not our own fault. The tried Christian shall be a crowned one. The crown of
life is promised to all who have the love of God reigning in their hearts.
Every soul that truly loves God, shall have its trials in this world fully
recompensed in that world above, where love is made perfect. The commands of
God, and the dealings of his providence, try men's hearts, and show the
dispositions which prevail in them. But nothing sinful in the heart or conduct
can be ascribed to God. He is not the author of the dross, though his fiery
trial exposes it. Those who lay the blame of sin, either upon their
constitution, or upon their condition in the world, or pretend they cannot keep
from sinning, wrong God as if he were the author of sin. Afflictions, as sent
by God, are designed to draw out our graces, but not our corruptions. The origin
of evil and temptation is in our own hearts. Stop the beginnings of sin, or all
the evils that follow must be wholly charged upon us. God has no pleasure in
the death of men, as he has no hand in their sin; but both sin and misery are
owing to themselves. As the sun is the same in nature and influences, though
the earth and clouds, often coming between, make it seem to us to vary, so God
is unchangeable, and our changes and shadows are not from any changes or
alterations in him. What the sun is in nature, God is in grace, providence, and
glory; and infinitely more. As every good gift is from God, so particularly our
being born again, and all its holy, happy consequences come from him. A true
Christian becomes as different a person from what he was before the renewing
influences of Divine grace, as if he were formed over again. We should devote
all our faculties to God's service, that we may be a kind of first-fruits of
his creatures.
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