The Uses of Adversity

The Uses Of Adversity by Dr. D. James Kennedy

"…Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow…" Psalm 90:10

Perhaps nothing causes more people to stumble in their faith than the problem of suffering. None of us is exempt from tribulation. We all face it at one time or another. And in our pain and desperation, we often ask, “Why, Lord?”

Have those words ever echoed through the chambers of your soul in the middle of some dark and starless night?

We can’t get rid of all pain, trouble, hurt, injury, and sorrow. People fall off things and hurt themselves. Shall we then do away with the law of gravity? People have accidents in cars, planes, trains, and boats. Shall we then get rid of all forms of transportation? Suffering is a part of our world, and if Christians were exempt from all trouble and pain, everyone would immediately recognize the payoffs.

If all Christians had an abundance of money, health, and happiness, our characters would never develop. Christianity would degenerate to a mere commercial venture.

So while we would avoid adversity if we could, it serves important purposes in our lives.

First, trouble and sorrow equip us to help others by making us compassionate and willing to reach out to those in need.

Second, trouble and sorrow draw us to God and drive us to our knees; they make us long for our real home, heaven.

The third and the greatest purpose of trouble is to make us Christlike. If we are to become like Jesus, we will, like Him, have to pass through the valley of the shadows.

Although unpleasant at the moment, often out of the greatest suffering comes the greatest love and beauty.

Do you face adversity today?

If so, ask the Lord to show you the purpose of it in your life. Then, if you can, look past your pain to the way God is using it to draw you closer to Him and to His kingdom.

Beyond the cross there is the glory of Easter morning; beyond the agony of the Crucifixion there is the blessedness of Paradise.

Today in History

Today in History
1932
Lindbergh Baby Kidnapped

On this day in 1932, in a crime that captured the attention of the entire nation, Charles Lindbergh III, the 20-month-old son of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh, ws kidnapped from the family’s new mansion in Hopewell, New Jersey. Lindbergh, who became an international celebrity when he flew the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927, and his wife Anne discovered a ransom note demanding $50,000 in their son’s empty room. The kidnapper used a ladder to climb up to the open second-floor window and left muddy footprints in the room.

The Lindberghs were inundated by offers of assistance and false clues. Even Al Capone offered his help from prison. For three days, investigators found nothing and there was no further word from the kidnappers. Then, a new letter showed up, this time demanding $70,000.

The kidnappers eventually gave instructions for dropping off the money and when it was delivered, the Lindberghs were told their baby was on a boat called Nelly off the coast of Massachusetts.

After an exhaustive search, however, there was no sign of either the boat or the child. Soon after, the baby’s body was discovered near the Lindbergh mansion. He had been killed the night of the kidnapping and was found less than a mile from home.

The heartbroken Lindberghs ended up donating the mansion to charity and moved away.

The kidnapping looked like it would go unsolved until September 1934, when a marked bill from the ransom turned up. The gas station attendant who had accepted the bill wrote down the license plate number because he was suspicious of the driver. It was tracked back to a German immigrant and carpenter, Bruno Hauptmann. When his home was searched, detectives found a chunk of Lindbergh ransom money.

Hauptmann claimed that a friend had given him the money to hold and that he had no connection to the crime. The resulting trial was a national sensation. The prosecution’s case was not particularly strong; the main evidence, besides the money, was testimony from handwriting experts that the ransom note had been written by Hauptmann. The prosecution also tried to establish a connection between Hauptmann and the type of wood that was used to make the ladder.

Still, the evidence and intense public pressure were enough to convict Hauptmann and he was electrocuted in 1935.

In the aftermath of the crime—the most notorious of the 1930s—kidnapping was made a federal offense.

My Job

"It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict. God’s job to judge, and my job to love." Billy Graham

Just As I Am --YouTube

Just As I Am - YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zucUa13ciOM
Aug 05, 2014 · Probably more persons have accepted Christ with strains of that old hymn ringing in their ears than any other gospel song. Just as I am, without one plea ...

Just As I Am

Anyone who ever attended a Billy Graham Crusade or watched Billy Graham on TV is familiar with these words:

"Just As I Am" by Elliott and Bradbury

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

Billy Graham

Billy Graham
Every believer who has been touched by the ministry of "America's Pastor," Billy Graham, mourns the loss of this good and godly man.

No one but his family will ever know the sacrifices that he made in order to follow the LORD into his unique and amazing calling. His wife and his children can reflect upon the lonely days and nights when he was "about his FATHER'S business" while leaving those most precious to him in his FATHER'S loving care.

While they were managing without the presence of their husband and father, the rest of us were blessed by his presence in our living rooms, for Billy Graham not only spoke to the masses in the tents and stadiums of America and the world, but he also spoke, via television, in the very homes of millions who were touched by his message and who received his SAVIOR as their own.

We who believe his message of salvation rejoice that our beloved brother has been carried in the arms of the angels to his new heavenly home where he now abides in the presence of the CHRIST he loves so fervently and WHOM he served so faithfully for a lifetime.

Our beloved pastor has now realized the promise found in Revelation 21:4, "AND GOD SHALL WIPE AWAY ALL TEARS FROM THEIR EYES AND THERE SHALL BE NO MORE PAIN, NEITHER SHALL THEIR BE ANY MORE DEATH, FOR THE FORMER THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY."

Now, Billy Graham, one of the LORD'S most dedicated servants and most faithful saints, has gone to his eternal reward, the reward he strove so diligently to share with each of us--and the Heavens proclaim, "PECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD IS THE DEATH OF HIS SAINTS," Psalm 116: 15.

PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION

Presidential Proclamation on the Death of Billy Graham

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary


DEATH OF BILLY GRAHAM

- - - - - - -

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION
As a mark of respect for the memory of Reverend Billy Graham, I hereby order, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, that on the day of his interment, the flag of the United States shall be flown at half staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset on such day. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same period at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty first day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand eighteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-second.

DONALD J. TRUMP