Category Archives: Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Guidance Toward a Fruitful Life

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Charles Stanley

Matthew 28:16-20

As believers, we long for a fruitful life that pleases the Lord. To live this way, we need a guide who will help us. Imagine having this conversation with God, and then aim to follow Him closely:

Lord, won’t You be our guide?

Yes, I am willing. As we travel, I want you to remember that I know where I am going. Every stop along the way is designed to make you into the fruitful branch you long to be. Dear one, the way may be through snow-covered mountains, over rock-strewn paths, or down into green valleys that will tempt you to linger. Will you keep your eyes on Me and follow whether it’s easy or hard?

Yes, Lord.

Then let’s begin your first lesson: You need to step where I step.

But, Lord, Your footprints are too far apart for me.

I will adjust them for you.

I know You’ll walk too fast.

I’ll never walk faster than I know you can travel.

I get tired easily.

I’ll lend you My arm when you need help.

What if I stumble?

I’ll pick you up and heal your hurts. The second lesson is this: You are to follow Me even though you cannot see Me.

Lord, how will I know where to walk?

Use My Word, the Bible. Refer to it often for direction and for reassurance that I am with You and continue to guide you.

Lord, what if I become confused?

Remember My teachings. Remember who I am and trust Me. Call out to Me, and I will answer you.

 

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Purpose of Life

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Charles Stanley

John 17:1-3

Believers do many wonderful things in the name of God. Sometimes, though, service becomes more important in the worker’s mind than the Master Himself. Hosea 6:6 makes the Lord’s priorities clear: “For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” He wants our attention more than any gifts or works.

Unfortunately, too many Christians never press beyond an occasional good work or Bible reading. They ignore the Holy Spirit’s nudges to spend time in prayer and Scripture meditation because it’s too much work or doesn’t fit their lifestyle. Also, they tend to worship out of duty. Does this sound like your life? If so, you should know that deepening your relationship with God requires time and commitment but is immensely rewarding.

Human beings are created to know God. He instilled a thirst in us that won’t be satisfied until we reach out to Him for companionship and love. Paul said, “I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]” (Phil. 3:8 AMP).

We were created to have an intimate, loving relationship with the Lord and to bring Him glory. Paying homage with our gifts and good works is a natural extension of that design, but our foremost responsibility is to spend time with Him.

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Joy of Obedience

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Charles Stanley

Proverbs 3:5-6

People often associate the word obey with raising children—particularly when they see ill-behaved youngsters. Submission to God’s will, however, is important at every stage of a believer’s maturity. As our faith grows, obedience becomes a cornerstone of fellowship with our Father—He teaches us more about His love and precepts while drawing us ever closer to Himself.

Oddly, as Christians get older and more mature, their obedience can diminish. A believer may tell himself that he has learned to live righteously and therefore no longer needs to make a concentrated effort. In a short time, he will find himself far off the path God intended, wandering around with a pile of rags he thinks are righteous acts (Isa. 64:6). Disobedience says to the Lord, “I know better than You how to govern my life.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Scripture and church members are full of stories to prove that obedient submission is the only way to joy.

Nothing good can come from rebelling against the Lord, and nothing bad can come from obeying Him. Obedience is the pathway to wisdom and blessing. When we conform our will to God’s, we place our hope and trust in the One who created us and loves us without condition. A life well lived is one in which our eyes are focused on the Lord, our ears are open to the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit, and our hearts feast on Scripture. When we choose this existence, we guarantee ourselves the finest that God has to offer. There is no second best for the obedient child of the Father.

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Saying Yes to God

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Charles Stanley

Luke 5:1-11

God’s simple requests are often stepping-stones to life’s greatest blessings. When Simon Peter said yes to Jesus’ two small requests, his whole mission changed from fisherman to fisher of men.

An unproductive night’s work no doubt left Peter weary. Yet he willingly brought Jesus on board and then pushed his boat out from shore so the Teacher’s words would carry to the crowd. When the Lord finished speaking, He told the experienced fisherman to head out to deeper water. Peter knew the timing for a good catch was wrong, but he obeyed and was blessed with not one, but two boatloads of fish.

Often God’s blessings result from our compliance with seemingly insignificant requests. Though we prefer He ask us to perform great tasks that will impact large crowds, obedience in small matters is our proving ground. If we refuse His prompting to perform some minor action, what reason have we given Him to trust us with a more important responsibility?

Had Peter refused to lend Jesus his boat or to risk a midday fishing expedition, he’d have missed the immediate blessing of a big catch and perhaps also the even greater opportunity to be Jesus’ disciple. Walking with the Lord every day for three years, Peter witnessed miracles more spectacular than anything he saw that first day: A blind man received sight, Lazarus was restored to life, and at Jesus’ urging, Peter himself walked on water. The disciple’s courageous step off the boat and onto a raging, stormy sea was the result of saying yes every time God had made a small request.

 

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – How the Truth Can Set You Free

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Charles Stanley

Ephesians 1:5-9

People the world over desire to be accepted and appreciated. Generally speaking, all of us want our peers to express approval so we can experience the feeling of acceptance. Though Christians understand that emotions are unreliable indicators of truth, believers also fall into this pattern of searching for approval.

Truthfully, one of our most priceless possessions is God’s acceptance of us as we are now. Thanks to Jesus Christ, we own a full measure of God’s grace. The Father does not say, “When you clean up your life, I’ll accept you.” Grace plus performance is not a workable formula in God’s economy. If being a Spirit-filled believer meant achieving some lofty standard of behavior on our own, we would all wear ourselves out in the attempt.

Performance-based faith is a worldly idea. People alter their clothes, habits, finances, and jobs to gain acceptance from peers. The only problem is that the people who like your appearance today won’t like it tomorrow. It is true you can’t please everybody, but you can please the Lord by recognizing that He accepts you unconditionally. We have all the status we need: We are children of God and ambassadors of Jesus Christ, living in the kingdom of light!

If we ignore our acceptance by God, then we will end up in the world’s cycle of effort and activity, attempting to earn the Lord’s acknowledgement. Freedom and intimacy are rooted in His freely given acceptance. Instead of shielding ourselves from His judgment, we can bask in God’s gracious love.

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Wholly Surrendered

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Charles Stanley

Luke 1:26-38

Do we fully understand what it costs the kingdom of God when we live with a restricted commitment to Christ? Countless souls may never hear the good news, much-needed Christian workers may never put feet to their faith, and prayers that would have been answered are never uttered.

But we are wholly surrendered to God . . .

  1. When we say, “No matter what I want, Lord, Your will be done.” We start by acknowledging His right to be in control of our lives. Then we follow, even if He leads us where we don’t want to go.
  2. When we stop bargaining with God. Our prayers often sound like this: “Lord, I am willing to do what You say if only You first help me [or heal me, or give me success in this venture . . . ]” As sinners condemned by our own nature and helpless to save ourselves, we have no basis for negotiation with God. He redeemed us with the shed blood of His Son and made us part of His family. Our allegiance to Him is to be wholehearted.
  3. When we let go in order to receive from God. Complete surrender means we willingly give up our independence, self-determination, and personal preferences (Matt. 10:39). By doing so, we position ourselves for an outpouring of God’s maximum blessing, full usefulness in His service, and deep fellowship with Him. Because we are an open channel ready for God’s use, nothing obstructs the flow of His Spirit through our life and work. We will receive more than we ever give up.

What has the Lord brought to mind that you haven’t truly yielded to Him? Won’t you kneel and surrender it today?

 

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – God’s Empowering Presence

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Charles Stanley

Jeremiah 1:6-10  

When did you last feel the presence of God in your life? I don’t mean a merely intellectual recognition that He is with you, for He is everywhere. Rather, when did you last recognize in your heart that the Lord is personally, intimately abiding in you?

If you are like many believers, it may have been a while since you really felt His presence. Too many people go about their lives without a genuine sense of God’s closeness. What a tragedy!

Repeatedly in Scripture, we see that whenever God calls someone into His service, He first reminds the person of His enduring presence. We see this in the stories of Moses (Ex. 3:11-12), Joshua (Josh. 1:1-9), Gideon (Judg. 6:12), and Jeremiah (Jer. 1:6-8), to name just a few. These men discovered, as we can, that the awareness of God’s presence energizes us for our work.

Why does God repeatedly assure His followers of His presence? He does so because we need to be reminded of the reason for our confidence. Each time God calls a servant into action, He essentially says, “You can be strong and courageous because I am with you. Victory isn’t about your abilities, your strength, your skill, your armor, your gifts, or your dedication; it has to do with My presence. You can be strong because I will be strong in you.”

When Jeremiah trembled at the thought of the difficult ministry ahead of him, the Lord strengthened him with these words: “They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you” (Jer. 1:19).

God knows how difficult life can be, and He knows every detail of each struggle you will ever face. As a believer in Christ Jesus, you can trust that your heavenly Father will keep His Word. He is with you right now, and He always will be, as He promises in His Word: “‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’ so that we confidently say, ‘The LORD is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”’ (Heb. 13:5-6).

Adapted from “The Charles F. Stanley’s Life Principles Bible,” 2008.

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Unconditional Surrender

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Charles Stanley

1 Kings 20:1-4

Giving absolute power over our life to another human being would be a scary proposition. But to accept and acknowledge the Lord’s authority over us is fitting and right.

Unconditional surrender means:

  • Yielding ourselves—including all we have and all we are—to the lordship of Christ. It is an identification with Him in which we decrease and He increases. We first experience surrender in our attitude and then live it out in obedient action.
  • Placing no limit on what we are willing to do or become. This means we have no restricted areas in our life where Jesus is not invited, nothing set aside for our own exclusive use, and no place where we tell Him, “Hands off.” We make ourselves totally available to His will—whenever, wherever, and however He chooses.
  • Transferring ownership of our body, soul, and spirit to Christ. By doing so, we embrace as our own values the principles of the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-12), the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), the hierarchy of the kingdom (Mark 9:35), suffering for Christ’s sake (1 Peter 4:13), and dying to self (Gal. 2:20).

One reason we tend to hold back is fear: What will the Lord require of me? Another stumbling block is selfishness: I like having control over my own schedule and long-range plans. A third obstacle is pride: I know what God wants me to do, but can’t He see how that could hurt my reputation?

What keeps you from abandoning yourself to the Lord Jesus and crying, “Please take total control over my life”?

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Spiritual Liberty

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Charles Stanley

Galatians 6:14-16

Prisons aren’t always physical buildings. People can create jails for themselves out of many kinds of sin. But Jesus went to the cross to purchase our freedom.

In thinking about the cross, some people assume salvation’s effect is limited to a one-time release from sin’s hold. As a result, they pray repeatedly to receive Jesus, hoping they will finally be good enough to avoid wrongdoing. Salvation is not a “get out of hell free” card, good only until we make another mistake; instead, the forgiveness of Christ covers past, present, and future sins. In addition, we receive a full measure of His Spirit to dwell inside us.

Paul explains the idea this way: “The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14). Daily enticements to do wrong, which at one time seemed so alluring, hold little interest for the Spirit-filled believer. We are liberated to pursue God’s purpose and the joy that comes from serving Him.

Spiritual liberty is a choice. Our sins are wiped away at salvation, but temptation is not erased. Instead, a believer continually makes decisions to be crucified to wrongdoing—or as Jesus says, to “take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). The cross is not a burden, but rather a symbol that we are free and forgiven followers of Christ.

The freedom found in salvation is not a secret to keep to ourselves. The Lord gave His followers the Great Commission of reaching others because His is the only message that can transform a slave into a liberated soul destined for heaven. The cross is our only hope for spiritual liberty.

 

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Failing to Protect Our Future

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Charles Stanley

2 Samuel 11:1-17

Yesterday we learned that Esau sold his future for a bowl of stew. His blindness to what was truly valuable caused him to lose his inheritance. Other Bible stories can teach us additional lessons about protecting our future.

David was chosen by God to lead the nation, and for many years, he pursued the Lord’s plan. However, his desire for Bathsheba led him to commit adultery with her and make the arrangements for her husband to die. Because he made the choice to gratify his own wishes instead of following God’s ways, he fell into sin. When confronted by the prophet Nathan, David sincerely repented (2 Sam. 12:7, 13), but he and his family were deeply affected by his mistake.

Samson was another individual who knew what the Lord required but chose to disobey—like David, he gave up blessings for temporary pleasure. Losing sight of God’s purpose, Samson chose instead to please his untrustworthy companion Delilah (Judg. 16:15-17). As a result, he spent his last years in disgrace.

A third example is Judas Iscariot, who wanted Jesus to establish the kingdom of God immediately. Because he valued earthly matters above spiritual ones, he rejected Jesus’ teachings and tried to manipulate events to his own liking. He was convinced that he knew what was right—that he knew better than God.

To avoid the kind of mistakes these men made, we must commit to setting aside our own desires in favor of God’s will. In other words, we must cherish the eternal over the temporal and be satisfied with what the Lord has planned.

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Protecting Our Future

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Charles Stanley

Genesis 25:23-34

We live in a pleasure-oriented culture that focuses on the present. God does not want us to sacrifice future blessings for short-term enjoyments. Let’s take a look at Esau’s story and learn from his mistakes.

As Isaac’s elder son, Esau was facing a secure future in the role of spiritual leader and head of the family. Yet he was blind to whatwas valuable in life an casually sold his birthright. He apparently cared nothing about his rights as firstborn or his impact on future generations and gave it all up for a bowl of stew.

Some of us are similarly shortsighted. We spend much of our time working or engaging in pleasurable pursuits of our own choosing. However, God wants our priorities to reflect His purposes—namely, to love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love others through a life of service and sacrifice (Matt. 22:37-40).

Esau was ruled by his appetite and emotions. When he returned from hunting, his thoughts centered on his hunger and the quickest way to satisfy an empty stomach. He agreed to Jacob’s offer without weighing the cost. Giving in to our feelings can be a first step toward trouble and regret. Emotions that prompt us to act quickly or put ourselves first can lead us astray. Also, overindulgence can bring poor health, financial pressures, and even addiction.

We can protect our future by yielding to the Spirit’s control and living out what Scripture considers most valuable: knowing God and obediently serving Him. Make sure that you put Him in charge of your mind, will, emotions, and appetite.

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Lesson of Brokenness

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Charles Stanley

2 Corinthians 4:7-10

No one enjoys the feeling of broken-ness, but we can’t ignore its benefits to spiritual growth. Being broken gives us an entirely new perspective on the Lord’s plan for our lives. You see, enjoying a steady, uninterrupted stream of blessings has an interesting effect on most people: It distorts our view of the Father, often leaving us to assume He exists for us.

We ask the Lord for healing, success, and financial security. We ask Him to bless our family and our relationships. We ask and ask and ask. And the truth is, much of the time we aren’t really talking to God at all. In our mind, we’ve replaced Him with some sort of cosmic errand boy—we tell Him what we want and then send Him off to get it for us.

In all of this, who is actually at the center of our prayers? It certainly isn’t almighty God, our eternal Savior and Creator of the universe. No, instead we find ourselves at the center of these prayers. Therefore, the end result is the subtle belief that God exists for our benefit—a far cry from the reality of His divinity. This distortion breaks the Lord’s heart and leads us far away from truly knowing Him for who He is.

The antidote for this self-centered idolatry is brokenness. When God says “No,” when He takes away instead of adding more, when He divinely manages what we have, how much we have, and how long we have it, He is helping us keep our eyes on Him. Do not despise these moments. Instead, recognize them as the voice of your Father calling you back into His loving arms.

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Path of Brokenness

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Charles Stanley

Psalm 51:17

John 12:24 gives a beautiful illustration of brokenness: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” That is, only by falling and breaking can a single grain produce a rich crop. If it remains isolated and protected, it will never produce anything.

That’s how the Lord works to mature His children. He breaks us in order to bring spiritual growth and supernatural ministry into our lives. And the process is always the same:

  1. God targets the areas in which we are not submissive to Him.
  2. He arranges circumstances and selects the tools with which to break our self-sufficiency.
  3. He controls the pressure and timing of those circumstances to bring us back into His will.

If we refuse to be re-formed through brokenness and instead cling to the things God wants us to release, He will put us on the shelf. Just like an unbroken grain of wheat, we’ll be fruitless and alone.

Yet we resist brokenness at every turn. We want to hang on to the things we think bring joy. We want to persist in relationships that stunt our spiritual growth. We want to take the path of least resistance and hope that God will bless our laziness. My friend, that isn’t the road to maturity. Our Father has a better way.

Brokenness hurts. The Word, however, proclaims that it hurts far more not to be broken. Don’t be distracted by short-term happiness. Look where your Father is leading you, and let Him do whatever it takes to get you there.

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Growing in Servanthood

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Charles Stanley

Kids love to show off their height. They eagerly anticipate being tall enough to do all the things their short stature currently prevents. Many parents record and celebrate their children’s growth. They follow the tradition of marking heights on a doorframe.

God the Father also measures His children’s growth. He delights in seeing us reach new levels of spiritual maturity so we can accept greater responsibility. Because a new believer is like a little child in faith, his or her kingdom tasks are, at first, light. God is beginning the transformation process that will grow a saved human being into the image of Christ.

The call to servanthood requires us to do as the Lord Jesus did: act humbly on behalf of our fellow man. When we successfully minister where we are called, new opportunities will open up and offer fresh challenges.

Every opportunity to bless others honors the Lord and increases a believer’s wisdom and stature before Him. Much of God’s work goes on where only He can see it. But our heavenly Father is always measuring His children for future service. He’s gauging how much closer we are to His goal for us and what new task will draw us even closer.

God calls each believer to a life of service, just as He called Paul, Peter and James. This should be an exciting prospect. But too many people get hung up believing they can’t be “as good” as the apostles of old or the preachers and missionaries of today. A popular idea in the church is that the Lord’s servants are only those doing full-time ministry. Everyone else is simply trying to live well. Nothing could be further from the truth. From God’s perspective, you and I are the same as Paul, Peter, and James: servants with important kingdom work to do.

Some kingdom jobs look more important than others. But that’s only because we evaluate them with human eyes. Every work that advances the Gospel or serves a need is valuable—from cleaning the church or preaching to evangelizing or recording a praise album.

Everyone can’t be on a foreign mission field. But we can all share the gospel with a neighbor. Some people can sing in the choir. Others can put a dollar in the hand of homeless man. God invites us to do His work in the world, whether the task is great or small. We accomplish it by serving our fellow man. Ask Him what He would have you do.

Whatever your calling, remember… spiritual growth impacts our fruitfulness. The longer we’ve been believers, the greater our service should be. That does not mean tasks will be highly visible. Satan tries to convince people that some jobs are trivial. But the moment a believer falls for that lie, growth is stunted. God will promote those who put forth the best effort, no matter what the task is.

 

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Impact of Prayer

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Charles Stanley

John 17:20-26

God has total authority over all people and events. He knows the hearts of men, how each person will act, and what steps are needed to achieve His purposes. At the same time, He calls us to pray.

Colossians 4:2 says we are to devote ourselves to prayer. Communication with God is so vital, in fact, that we are told to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). Our lives should be characterized by continuous listening, talking, and relating to our heavenly Father. The Scriptures explain why this is so important:

Prayer changes us. As we seek God’s face and spend time in His Word, we will be transformed. Our desires will be replaced by His, and our thinking will align more closely with His thoughts. As our understanding of His character grows, we will have a better idea of how to pray in accordance with His will.

The Lord answers prayer (James 5:16). God has promised to listen and respond to the prayers of His children (Isa. 65:24). He assures us that He will act when our petitions are in Jesus’ name—which is to say, when they match His will and His timing (John 14:13).

Prayer invites God to act. Praying doesn’t alter God’s purposes or plans, nor does it cause Him to change His mind. What He has decided will occur, and His decisions will be exactly the right ones to accomplish what He wants to achieve. Our prayers are powerful when, without reservation, we invite God to do His work in our lives and the lives of others.

What impact, then, does prayer have? It allows people, who are inadequate, to connect with an all-sufficient God. Hallelujah!

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Praying to Our Sovereign God

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Charles Stanley

John 17:1-12

Prayer is essential to the believer’s walk with God. But we sometimes wonder what kind of influence praying really has. We ask:

  1. If the Lord controls all things, why does He want us to pray? God desires to involve His children in the work He is doing; through prayer, we can be part of His plans and purposes. Praying regularly also helps us maintain a sense of dependence upon our Father and leads to a deepening intimacy with Him. Furthermore, God desires to bring us into agreement with His will. The more our plans line up with His, the more He is able to accomplish in and through our life. In addition, He knows that answered prayer will grow our faith.
  2. Would God’s plans fail if we chose not to pray? God is not subservient to us, so His plans are contingent only upon Himself. He works all things after the counsel of His will, not according to our prayers. However, He prompts us to communicate in order to include us in His eternal purposes.
  3. Does my failure to pray affect my life or anyone else’s? According to Scripture, some things that God has planned to give will be received only if we ask Him (James 4:2). For example, Jesus did not perform many miracles in His hometown because so few people had the faith to ask (Matt. 13:57-58).

Jesus’ actions illustrate the place prayer ought to have in the believer’s life. Knowing that God was in perfect control of all things, He consistently went to the heavenly Father in prayer. Will you seek to follow Jesus’ example?

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Peter: Sifted for Service

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Charles Stanley

Luke 22:31-34

Have you ever experienced a situation that seemed impossible to endure? Years later, as you looked back, did you realize how that trial prepared you for things to come?

The Scriptures tell us that the Lord will sometimes allow us to be “sifted” for greater service. In other words, He may give Satan permission to affect an area of our lives. God does this to strengthen our faith and transform us into stronger witnesses for Him.

In today’s passage from the gospel of Luke, Jesus explains this process to Peter: “Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32).

Christ knew what was about to happen over the next few days—He would die on the cross, return to life, and then ascend to heaven. He expected Peter to be the leader of His disciples and to accomplish great things for the kingdom. But Peter wasn’t ready.

So the Lord allowed Satan to “sift” Peter. In so doing, God separated the “wheat” from the “chaff”—the righteous areas of the disciple’s life from the ungodly areas. Ultimately, Peter grew stronger from the experience, went on to play a key role in spreading the gospel following Christ’s death, and in the end died because of His bold faith.

Had God not allowed this time of sifting, Peter would not have been ready for the events to come. As you look back on your life, how has God prepared you for difficult times?

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Wisdom for the Trials of Life

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Charles Stanley

James 1:5-8

At first glance, today’s passage on wisdom doesn’t seem related to the subject of trials, but James is actually continuing His thoughts from the previous three verses. We need wisdom to know how to respond to suffering. This means we should see trials from God’s viewpoint and understand His purposes in allowing them in our lives.

If you want to profit from struggles, be sustained in them, and come through with joy and victory, you must understand the following truths:

  1. God’s in full control of the timing and intensity of your trial, and He won’t let it go beyond the boundaries He has set.
  2. He has a specific purpose for your suffering, which you may not understand until it is over.
  3. This trial will be profitable if you submit to God and trust Him through it.
  4. A trying situation is a chance for faith to prove genuine and grow stronger.
  5. When you endure extreme pressure with unexplainable peace and joy, the Lord will demonstrate His sustaining power to a watching world.
  6. The Father will use your difficulties to produce Christ-like character.
  7. God will walk with you through trials.
  8. The Holy Spirit will enable you to survive this and to come out a conqueror.

If you believe these principles, they will shape how you respond to difficulties in your life. This perspective eliminates the negative reactions normally elicited by trials and makes supernatural responses possible. Instead of feeling miserable and hopeless, you’ll experience amazing peace and joy.

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Trials and Joy

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Charles Stanley
James 1:2-4,12
“Consider it all joy . . . when you encounter various trials” (James 1:2)—what a preposterous statement! How can that make sense when joy and trials don’t fit together? But James is presenting a divine vantage point, not a human one. There are some surprising benefits in suffering, which aren’t easy to discern.
First of all, we need to understand that these verses are not telling us to be happy in our pain, but rather to rejoice in the blessings that accompany suffering. The word consider is an accounting term that means “to evaluate.” When we look at hardships from God’s perspective and place the proper value on them, we can rejoice in the beneficial outcome, even while experiencing pain. Humanly speaking, trials hurt; but from the Lord’s point of view, they help.
The only way to rejoice during trials is to understand what God wants them to accomplish. Regardless of the difficulty’s source, we can know that the Lord wants to use it to test our faith and thereby produce endurance and spiritual maturity. In every trial, He has hidden a precious character gem, but whether we receive it depends upon our response. Those who want to be transformed into the image of Christ can rejoice in the many benefits that accompany suffering.
How about you? Does your hunger to know the Lord and be transformed by Him exceed your dread of suffering? None of us want to experience pain, but since it’s an unavoidable reality in this fallen world, why not respond in a way that produces eternal benefit? Let’s not waste our suffering.

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Caring for Your Conscience

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Charles Stanley
1 Timothy 1:5
All of us at times face decisions that test our character. When a choice conflicts with our value system, the “first responder” is our conscience. However, even this divine gift has been exposed to the world’s programming, which means we must not only reorient but also fortify our “inner compass.”
The strength of our conscience depends on both truth and tradition, and these, in turn, are impacted by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
• Truth. Since Jesus declared that He is the truth, then maintaining a close relationship with Him through prayer and obedience strengthens our conscience. Both the Holy Spirit and the Word of God play vital roles in this growth process. The Spirit of Truth, as Jesus identified the third Person of the Trinity, is also known as “the Helper.” The Spirit doesn’t just assist us in distinguishing righteousness from sin; He also teaches us and guides us into all truth (John 14:17, 26; 16:8, 13).
• Tradition. Joseph and David both set godly examples for us to follow when we face temptation—they let their conscience guide them in honoring God. At great personal cost, Joseph rejected the advances of Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39). And David, though presented with an opportunity to kill or humiliate Saul, chose instead to leave the matter in the Lord’s hands (1 Sam. 24:5-7).
We can rely on the Holy Spirit to help us develop a better conscience. He has given us everything we need for the task, which is essential if we are to live a godly life.