Bible League: Living His Word "Sorrow is better than laughter; for by a sad countenance the heart is made better."— Ecclesiastes 7:3 NKJV How could sorrow possibly be better than laughter? Does not the Bible speak promises of joy, peace, contentment? I would think that a good laugh is always better than sorrow. However, in our passage today we have the biblical benefit that sorrow can achieve in a person. As the Apostle Paul tells us: "All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). "All things" means all things, including sorrow in our lives. Where laughter is good medicine for the present, sorrow is good medicine for the long haul. Sorrow's benefit is lasting fruit in the lives of believers. Sorrow produces character development, and strength of faith, as well as trust in our Lord. As the earth needs fall and winter to bring forth the beauty and comfort of spring, so the heart needs sorrow to bring forth fruits of character and faith that abound and are everlasting. Sorrow is a process, not an end. Life pressures, loss, affliction, sickness, disease, distress, and all difficulties are used by God to build and strengthen our relationship with Him. We come out of sorrows with a greater dependence on God, a greater trust and belief in the one who saved and saves us, and a greater love for Him. Leaving the upper room heading toward the Garden of Gethsemane, after sharing with the disciples about His own departure from them, Jesus said: "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy" (John 16:20). Sorrow came in our Lord's death, but joy came when they saw Him resurrected. The sad countenance was overcome in their hearts with elation, and made better in love, faith, trust, and truth. Beloved in Christ, whatever tears you have today, know that in time they lead to triumph of the heart, all to the praise and glory of God! By Pastor David Massie, Bible League International staff, California U.S. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingDeuteronomy 5, 6, 7 Deuteronomy 5 -- Covenant in Horeb; Ten Commandments Recounted NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Deuteronomy 6 -- Exhortation to Obedience and Prosperity NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Deuteronomy 7 -- Warnings and Rewards for Driving out Nations NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Mark 12:1-27 Mark 12 -- The Parable of the Tenants; Render to Caesar; Marriage at the Resurrection; Greatest Commandment; Widow's Offering NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion It is good to give thanks to the LORD,to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, Insight During the Thanksgiving holiday, we focus on our blessings and express our gratitude to God for them. But thanks should be on our lips every day. We can never say thank you enough to parents, friends, leaders, and especially to God. Challenge When thanksgiving becomes an integral part of your life, you will find that your attitude toward life will change. You will become more positive, gracious, loving, and humble. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Acts 14:22 We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.God's people have their trials. It was never designed by God, when he chose his people, that they should be an untried people. They were chosen in the furnace of affliction; they were never chosen to worldly peace and earthly joy. Freedom from sickness and the pains of mortality was never promised them; but when their Lord drew up the charter of privileges, he included chastisements amongst the things to which they should inevitably be heirs. Trials are a part of our lot; they were predestinated for us in Christ's last legacy. So surely as the stars are fashioned by his hands, and their orbits fixed by him, so surely are our trials allotted to us: he has ordained their season and their place, their intensity and the effect they shall have upon us. Good men must never expect to escape troubles; if they do, they will be disappointed, for none of their predecessors have been without them. Mark the patience of Job; remember Abraham, for he had his trials, and by his faith under them, he became the "Father of the faithful." Note well the biographies of all the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and you shall discover none of those whom God made vessels of mercy, who were not made to pass through the fire of affliction. It is ordained of old that the cross of trouble should be engraved on every vessel of mercy, as the royal mark whereby the King's vessels of honor are distinguished. But although tribulation is thus the path of God's children, they have the comfort of knowing that their Master has traversed it before them; they have his presence and sympathy to cheer them, his grace to support them, and his example to teach them how to endure; and when they reach "the kingdom," it will more than make amends for the "much tribulation" through which they passed to enter it. Daily Light on the Daily Path Isaiah 38:17 "Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.Micah 7:18,19 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. • He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea. Isaiah 54:7,8 "For a brief moment I forsook you, But with great compassion I will gather you. • "In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you," Says the LORD your Redeemer. Jeremiah 31:34 "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." Psalm 32:1,2 A Psalm of David. A Maskil. How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! • How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! 1 John 1:7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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