By JoAnn Crane
What am I doing that is of eternal significance? What am I willing to sacrifice for the Lord in reaching others? How do I react when I am called upon to enter into the “trials of the faith?”
It’s mid-morning and before I open my ladies’ devotional… my grateful heart speaks:
Good morning, Lord. Thank you for the blessing of another day. I am seeking to be spiritually strengthened and I am relying on You for emotional comfort! Guide me, Lord, in everything I do and say. Help me, Lord, when I face the rocks that will be placed along my path today. I go in Your strength, not my own. I seek to please you, Lord, until I reach my heavenly home.
As I open my book the words read, “Have you ever thought about what others before you have endured by serving Christ?”
They were burned, beheaded, drowned at sea, imprisoned, tortured, scarred, isolated from loved ones, they hungered and were thirsty. I find that these words make my present burdens and trials minuscule, and my heart ashamed.
When we give our lives to Christ, we must let go of the reigns/reins. We live now for Him. He knows what we face and will face. As women of faith, we now find our strength in Him.
Betty Scott Stam was one of these women. In 1934 Betty and her husband were beheaded by the Communists in China. Betty watched as her husband was killed; and then she herself knelt down and was beheaded.
We may ask ourselves, “How did she find the physical, emotional, and spiritual strength?”
You see, Betty had given complete control of her life to Christ. Betty had made a commitment to Christ nine years earlier. She drew close to Him in prayer, striving to be the woman of faith HE desired her to be ~ giving total control of her life to Him.
Am I spiritually strong enough to do what Betty did? Am I willing to pray like Betty?
For you see,this was Betty’s prayer:
Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes,
All my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life.
I give myself, my life, my all ~ utterly to Thee to be Thine forever.
Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit.
Use me as Thou wilt, send me where Thou wilt.
And work out Thy whole will in my life, at any cost,
Now and forever.
~Betty Stam
May we all remember… that only what is done for Christ will last!
About the author:
I have been writing for myself and journaling for over 5 years. As a sinner saved by grace, I have experienced divorce, drugs and the horror that abortion brings into our life. My heart’s true desire is to comfort another soul along the way, and tell them of the saving grace through my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I pray that each day, the Lord will place on my path that ”someone” He desires me to reach out to and speaks to my heart withwords especially for her!
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