“And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.” 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7
Affliction and joy wouldn’t seem to go together.
Lord, thank You for doing what doesn’t make sense and wouldn’t be possible but for the power of Your Word. And here’s a simple poem . . .
Life Skills
source: wewantedtheirwings.wordpress.com
He comes to us
in our affliction
bringing life
to what was death
giving joy
by His Spirit
increasing faith
with every breath.
Deb's Blog 
“Affliction and joy wouldn’t seem to go together.”
Makes me think of 2 Timothy 2:12 ‘If we endure (suffer, persevere), we shall also reign with Him.” Indeed, not possible without the Living Word. God bless.
No one like affliction but it surely does makes us grow and develops us..
beautiful and so true
Don’t we all say that we want to be like Jesus? If so, then we will have times of “fellowship in His suffering” so that we are conformed to His death.
But as you wrote:
“…He comes to us
in our affliction
bringing life
to what was death…”
Great word for today.
Joy only accompanies affliction when we see beyond the affliction to the spiritual gain that the affliction brings upon us. Lord bless.
I love the title…so appropriate! What a great post!
Love,
Theresa
This is SO Wonderful, Sis Deb–beautiful word of truth that blesses me with fresh hope today. Thanks, and God bless you bunches today as you serve Him first. Love you! sis Caddo
Wonderful piece, Dearest Deb 🙂
“Lord, thank You for doing what doesn’t make sense and wouldn’t be possible but for the power of Your Word.”
Amen!!
“Affliction and joy wouldn’t seem to go together.” … Nope, not at all. 🙂 Life doesn’t make much sense without Him. 😉
So very thankful for the revelation He brings.
Blessings
ann
Great words of encouragement!
Deb, once again you have expressed a deep truth in just a few words. Amazing!
“increasing faith with every breath”
With hindsight we can see how He has increased our faith over the years we have known Him. The more we know Him and experience Him in our moment-by-moment lives, the more faith He generates. And we would have to say that the greatest growth in our faith has been in afflictions . . . “He comes to us in our affliction bringing life to what was death” . . . and the result? “giving joy by His Spirit”
Praise God for the great gift He has given you in expressing His message so well.
What an amazing God!
Amen! Love you much 🙂
I meant to say that I liked the title of the poem….”Life Skills”.
Affliction and Joy. That is why you are such a joy!
The Living Word makes all the difference!! 🙂 God bless you, Roger, and thank you for sharing 2 Tim. 2:12 with this . . .just perfect!
And I surely do want to grow and mature in Him! God bless you as He keeps you fired up for Him!
You know quite a bit about affliction, dear Angel Terry! God bless you and bring you joy today!
Thank you, Mr. Larry, for showing us that part of being like Jesus is suffering. God bless you as He comes to you today with power and comfort and strength.
Oh, great insight, Pastor Rob! And that is something that He did for me recently, reminded me to see beyond. Yep, there was the joy! God bless you as you strengthen us in His word!
You being encouraged, encourages me! God bless you, Ted, and keep you and your loved ones and neighbors safe.
Thank you, Mentor Angela, for such a great reminder about when our faith grows the most . . .during afflictions! I often loose sight of that, wanting things “easy”. My new motto a few years back, was that easy is over-rated. haha! (but some days I still want it!! )
I am so blessed to get to be here with you and everyone, just sharing our love for Jesus . ..what an amazing God to bring us together. What a joy!
God bless you, dear daughter of His, as He brings you joy today!
love and prayers!
Love you too, precious Pat! God bless you and tenderly care for you today, washing you in His presence and peace.
You have me smiling and laughing, Tammy! Thank you so much for joining in! God bless you as He comes to you and refreshes you today! (as one who has been afflicted with much heat!!!)
Amen!
Oh I love that Ann, that life wouldn’t make sense without Him! So true!!! God bless you as He reveals Himself to you in precious ways today, dear one full of grace and song!!!
Sis Caddo Delight . . it really gave me that fresh hope too! So blessed that is what He did for you as well. 🙂 God bless you oodles and move in mighty ways on your behalf. Love and prayers!
I have a hard time with titles, so am blessed that this one worked for you!!! 🙂 God bless you, dear wonderful woman of the Word, who sees Him and knows Him and counts it all joy! love and prayers for you and yours!
Love the power of the Lord and His word! Great Post, Deb.
God Bless you & yours!
God bless you, Lady D, and raise you up from any afflictions, with pure joy in your heart! Have a good weekend!
Nice picture to focus on in this hot stretch of weather. It seems cooler just looking at it.
I stumbled across a verse in a little online debate my son started where those who believe in God are conversing with those who do not. The bottom line, (IMHO – as I learned from this online thread) is that neither side can prove their position. I can’t prove God exists yet I am convinced that He does; and they can’t prove He doesn’t yet they are convinced that He doesn’t. They criticize believers for believing in something they cannot prove when in fact they are doing the same thing.
The verse that came to mind was from Hebrews: “anyone who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”
Your post reminds me of the point I made. Those who choose to believe He exists and earnestly seek Him, He rewards with evidence of Himself. This evidence becomes proof to us personally though it can’t be proven publicly. You have been a recipient of this evidence/proof.
Conversely, if we do not believe He exists and do not seek Him, He is then under no obligation to give proof of Himself. In that case, there is another that will give plenty of ‘proof’ to the contrary.
So good to hear from you , Mike, and I love your comment and what you have been up to. You have me thinking then that when we go through affliction, because we believe in Him . .. we will have joy as well . .. more proof of our God! I think He loves to give us plenty of proof . .. am I looking for it? God bless you as you see and share His evidence with us all!
Reblogged this on In Love With The Lord and commented:
Amen!
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Good afternoon Deb! What an awesome poem! I stopped by to let you know that I nominated you for a blogging award: “The Illuminating Blogger Award.” If you are interested, just click on the link to learn more about the award. http://wp.me/p1UEr1-nG Congratulations and God bless you.
Encouraging Debbie,
“This one had me shouting!” 🙂 Beautiful post, and so anointed! What an encouragement! Love and prayers!
Paulette 🙂
Thank you , Martha! God bless you and give you joy!
God bless you, Paulette, as you shout His praise. His joy is tangible in you! love and prayers!
God bless you, Ree, and so nice to see you here! Thank you for thinking of me and nominating me for an award. Praying for you as you keep knitting words with God . .what an beautiful way of looking at it!