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Finding God’s Presence ~ Have You Thanked God For The Thorns? Me, Either! ‘Til Now

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“George Matheson, the well-known blind preacher of Scotland once said, ‘My dear God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses but not once for my thorns. I have always looked forward to the place where I will be rewarded for my cross, but I have never thought of my cross as a present glory itself.

“‘Teach me, O lord, to glory in my cross. Teach me the value of my thorns. Show me how I have climbed to You through the path of pain. Show me it is through my tears I have seen my rainbow.'”*

I sat curled up on the sofa’s end, coffee cup in hand on that chilly April morning. Quiet time with Jesus is my favorite time of day. I held Streams in the Desert next to my Bible, its pages dog-eared and underlined with scribbled notes in margins after years of repeated use.

And yet the words of this sweet devotional spoke fresh to me again that morning.

I realized I had not thanked the Lord for my thorns.

A Prayer When Needing to Pray With Expectation

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Lord, You are the Giver of all things — You are my Provider, Protector, Peace, and Hope. You are my joy, my Beloved. You teach us to pray believing — expecting Your response. Help us our unbelief.

I love knowing that You respond to our prayer even as it escapes our lips. Help us get that in our knowers — to expect Your response — to wait for it, look for it, hope for it. And then teach us to recognize and accept Your response when we see it, even if it doesn’t look the way we thought it should.

Faith Notes ~ Corrie Ten Boom: When Cockroaches Are a Blessing

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Corrie ten Boom is a hero of my faith. Words do not adequately describe this woman and the way she lived out her simple faith. Corrie is the one who taught me to hide beneath the shadow of God’s wing. She taught me to open my eyes to see the Lord in the midst of horrendous circumstances.

I am forever grateful for her.

Corrie and her family risked their lives by hiding Jews in occupied Holland during World War II. They were eventually found out, arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Ravensbruck, a notorious Nazi death camp. Corrie survived. Her family did not.

The following is an excerpt from the book of Corrie’s story, The Hiding Place.* May you be inspired to endure life’s hardships and find the goodness of God in the midst of broken places when life does not make sense.

Finding God’s Presence ~ Have You Ever Thought About the Ropes?

bible devotions online, Finding God's Presence, Nan Jones author and speaker | 3

I think my jaw actually dropped and my mouth flew open this morning as I read the following passage from Streams in the Desert:*

The three men who were thrown into the fiery furnace came out just as they went in — except for the ropes that had bound them. How often God removes our shackles in the furnace of affliction!

Did your mouth drop open too?

Nothing burned but the ropes that had them bound!

A Prayer When I Need God to Breathe on Me

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Lord, I love You. I have wrestled so much this week. Thank You for being my anchor. Thank You for being my peace.

I think of Your disciples on the day You died. They knew what they believed to the best they could understand, but then You died. Their confusion must have been horrific. Unlike us, they had not experienced faith yet — believing those things not seen as though they were — so they must have been confused.

But Lord, You are not a god of confusion — You are a God of peace! And You gave them Your blessing of peace that day. Just like You give to us. Thank You.

Faith Notes ~ Pamela McCormick: God, I’m Not Worthy

bible devotions online, Faith Notes, Finding God's Presence, Nan Jones author and speaker | 6

It’s been said that everyone has a story. I believe that to be true. We all have a journey in this thing called life. Some skip through fields of happiness with only a few scraped knees from sorrow, while others endure unimaginable pain and heartbreak.

“It’s not fair!” we exclaim.

But life is not fair.

And we live in a fallen world where bad things happen to good people.

This is one such story. Pamela McCormick clings to the hem of His garment as He heals and restores her life. The Lord teaches her she is worthy of His love. It’s not easy. In fact, it’s very hard, but above all, she wants her life to glorify God.

Finding God’s Presence ~ Strengthen Me, O God

bible devotions online, Finding God's Presence, Nan Jones author and speaker | 6

I couldn’t get comfortable. Stress was causing my fibromyalgia to flare, resulting in pain throughout my body. My mind would NOT hush and my attitude had a life of its own.

It was a terrible night.
On my bedside table I keep a little book called Daily Light. It has a morning and evening entry of scriptures for each day of the year. There is no commentary, just a collection of scriptures from throughout the Word that respond to a given theme or thought.

On this particular night, March 19th, the theme was “Strengthen me according to Your word” (Psalm 119:28).

I read those words and sat up a little straighter.

God had my attention.

Finding God’s Presence ~ Have You Thanked God For The Thorns? Me, Either! ‘Til Now

A Prayer When Needing to Pray With Expectation

Faith Notes ~ Corrie Ten Boom: When Cockroaches Are a Blessing

Finding God’s Presence ~ Have You Ever Thought About the Ropes?

A Prayer When I Need God to Breathe on Me

Faith Notes ~ Pamela McCormick: God, I’m Not Worthy

Finding God’s Presence ~ Strengthen Me, O God

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