GOD USES PAIN & STRUGGLES--TO GET READY FOR HEAVEN TODAY (WWJ-70)

Perhaps the most fruitful servant of the Lord in the New Testament was Paul the Apostle. Perhaps the most afflicted, pressured, and troubled man in the New Testament was Paul the Apostle.
Perhaps the most useful servant of the Lord in the New Testament was Paul the Apostle.
Do you see a pattern between Paul’s troubles and His usefulness?
Paul was pruned in every way imaginable-shipwrecked (that would be a patience builder), imprisoned (that would be a faith builder), beaten repeatedly (that would be a bitterness antidote), mocked, scoffed and ridiculed (that would be a love builder), out of touch with everyone dear to him (that would be a hope builder), weak and sick and tired (that would be a prayer builder, with only the Lord to talk to), fighting demonic attacks 24/7 (that would be spiritual warfare workout daily), and on we could go through the endless opportunities Paul had to grow through all those problems in life. And guess what? He took most of them. He let God prune away at him until almost nothing remained but what was constantly useful to the Lord!
What is fruitfulness for the Lord? It is simply being useful for Him. When we are tools that God can use, we are fruitful.
Anything useful to you, that serves you in some way this morning-that object has been captured and harnessed to become so useful. Take for instance, some common useful items that serve us. Look at their existence from their perspective,
• The glass you drink from at lunch started peacefully resting with billions of other grains of silica, soda ash, and limestone on earth’s surface. But to be useful to you everything changed. It was mined, sifted, poured into a dark tube, dumped into a fiery cauldron, burned until it melted with trillions of other crystals into a glassy sea, poured into a mold, pressed into a shape, cooled, finished, boxed, shaken, and shipped to where you will eat today. Then after resting again in darkness briefly it was pulled out, filled with freezing cold ice, poured over with a drink, plopped on a table, used by you, dropped into a plastic tub, placed into confinement, sprayed with scalding hot water laced with chemicals, heated hot until dry, and placed in a ready spot to be used again until broken and cast away to reside again in the surface of the earth. If the glass was plastic (and by the way a “plastic glass” is an oxymoron) its existence is even more harsh and brief.
• How about that spoon? Blasted and scraped up from the ground where it had laid since creation, it became a river of ore shipped, smelted, blasted with fire into molten liquid steel, mixed with carbon, chromium, manganese, phosphorus, and sulfur to become stainless, squeezed into a bar, pressed into a thin sheet, rolled into a coil, shipped to a factory, stretched, surfaced, cut, and shaped into a spoon. All that to just be useful in such a small way.
• And then that paper napkin? Just think of living in a quiet and peaceful forest, growing in the fresh air, sunlight, rains, mists, and seasons. Then came the roar of chainsaws, the tug off chains and bulldozers, the sting as cables strapped you onto flatbed trucks, the piercing stream of water that stripped off the bark, the cutting jaws of a chipper, and then being boiled alive in a cauldron of acid, ground into a thick sludge, bleached white, pressed into paper-thin sheets, rapidly dried, and finally cut to shaped, stamped, folded and boxed-all the be useful for only moments.
God wants to capture us by His love, harness us by His Spirit, shape us by His Word, and change us into usefulness by His PRUNING! That is what our life is all about. The shaping, refining, pruning Hand of God is with us all through life-either we accept it and grow, or resent it and miss the eternal blessings.
(WWJ-70; 041114AM)
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• GOD USES PAIN & STRUGG...

[@vincentkyt]

thank God for you dr.John

[@donbeuch1982]

WOW!!! BEST SERMON I'VE EVER HEARD 😅GOD BLESS YOU SHALOM 😅😊

[@josephlwallssr6166]

Oh Boy! Grinding and pruning! It certainly makes sense of my life! Thank you Dr. Barnett for God, s message though the apostle Paul!🙂

[@hazelbite]

@josephlwallssr6166 I hear you, brother! Many days I've had to remind myself that God prunes us to produce even when we think there's nothing left to give. Except our heart. Our heart must always be His. Shalom 🙏🏻

[@hazelbite]

that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ 1 Peter 1:7

[@TribulationTimes94]

I have turnt away from a life of drugs and crime but i still really struggle with my anger and feel like im constantly being tested on this and im failing 😢

[@rabbitlovepeace]

forget and you will be forgiven , by Jesus

[@SiaD777]

Feeding on the Word of God in context and with regularity can help. 🙏

[@TribulationTimes94]

Thank you it's not an easy journey but I'm staying on track

[@kashikitsune8724]

I also struggle with anger especially at work. I feel like I am failing the Lord every day. I will pray for you dear friend, please pray for me also. Jesus hears our prayers I truly believe it. So I will pray that He will help you and guide you and give you peace and victory over your anger, may the Lord be your strength by the power of His name ! Amen

[@TribulationTimes94]

@kashikitsune8724 Thank you my friend, its not an easy journey when you pick up the cross, I will pray for you also, in these times, we need all the prayers and divine protection we can get

[@kingdomrunt]

_The grapevine analogy was wonderfully spot-on. Maranatha_

[@ScottIrwin-h1d]

Indeed, wow! Thank You God for these words of refinement, and using my personal trials to make me more useful to You. And thank you Pastor Mark for being God's conduit. May He continue to bless you infinitely. Amen!

[@timhalcomb4041]

Thank you all for sharing. Prayers you all have a blessed day in the name of Jesus Christ

[@elizabethsummers6650]

Great teaching! Thank you!!!!

[@susandavis5833]

❤❤❤ thank you for teaching the flock.