Soul Devotion Ministries

       My friend God loves you too much to
allow you to go through life in mediocrity.
He will allow pressure to be applied to your
life, to test you, and only as you pass those
tests will you advance. It is in the struggles
of life that we are given opportunity for
advancement. The challenge you are facing
right now could very well be what God is
using to push you into your divine destiny.
The trial is a test of your faith, character,
and endurance. Don’t give up! Don’t quit!
Instead, stand strong and fight the good fight
of faith. God is giving you an opportunity
for promotion. It is in the struggle that you
are being made stronger. Without opposition
or resistance there is no potential for
progress. Without the resistance of air, an
eagle can’t soar. Without the resistance of
water, a ship can’t float. Without the
resistance of gravity, you and I can’t even
walk. And without the struggle to emerge
from its cocoon, a butterfly can’t fly.
Whatever adversity you are experiencing
right now is building strength in you for what
is ahead.
       This past year has been a trying time
for the ministry of Soul Devotion. Dana and
I have both struggled in our bodies, and I
underwent surgery in May. I’m fully
recovered and more determined than ever to
fulfill the calling that God has placed on my
life to preach the gospel, and be a soul
winner. Dana has been fighting “vertigo,”
but is doing much better. We’ve learned
what it means to have “sustaining faith” in
the face of adversity, and to have a made up
mind to trust God even when life doesn’t
make sense.
       I’m convinced that you and I will one
day look back at what we consider to be the
worst thing that could happen to us, and we
will realize that God used this time of
adversity to refine us, mold us, shape us,
and enlarge us. He has been preparing us for
the good things ahead. God knows the gifts
and talents that He has placed in us, and He
knows what we’re capable of, and He will
do whatever is necessary to get us into our
divine destiny. Keep an attitude of faith,
knowing that not just the good things in life,
but ALL things-are working together for our
good.

Persevere—to persist in any purpose, or
enterprise; to hold to a worthy course
against all difficulty, danger, hindrance or
opposition.

Hebrews 10:35-39 says this: “So do not
throw away your confidence; it will be
richly rewarded. You need to persevere so
that when you have done the will of God,
you will receive what he has promised. For
in just a very little while, ‘He who is coming
will come and will not delay. But my
righteous one will live by faith. And if he
shrinks back, I will not be pleased with
him.’ But we are not of those who shrink
back and are destroyed, but of those who
believe and are saved.”
       Soul Devotion has endured a season
of growing, stretching, and refinement.
With some of the events that have taken
place over the last year, it would be easy
for me just to say, “forget it—I quit—it’s
not worth it.” No one “likes” to suffer.
But we don’t know how strong we are (or
rather how strong He is in us!) until that
strength is tested.
       My friends, I know what it’s like to
suffer. I know what it’s like to be sick in
my body—not knowing when or if I would
be well again. I have been through some
valleys this past year. I’ve cried out to God
from the depths of my being, “where are
You?” As it says in 1Peter 1:6,7 “in this
you greatly rejoice, though now for a little
while you may have had to suffer grief in all
kinds of trials. These have come so that
your faith—of greater worth than gold,
which perishes even though refined by
fire—may be proved genuine and may
result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus
Christ is revealed.”
       My life is not my own to do with as I
want. It belongs to God. All that I am able
to do is because of Him, and for Him. If He
allows me to go through difficulties to show
His glory through my life, then so be it.
Paul says in Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to
live is Christ, and to die is gain.” I have a
made up mind. I am going for God all the
way! No matter what. I will NOT “shrink
back”. I will not be derailed, deterred,
disillusioned or discouraged. I refuse to
give up, put up or shut up! That’s true
perseverance.
       Paul continues in Philippians 3:13, 14
..forgetting what is behind and straining
toward what is ahead, I press on toward the
goal to win the prize for which God has
called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” As
far as I’m concerned, the past is not worth
dwelling on. I don’t have time for that! The
best is yet to come—and I’m too busy
getting ready for it to think about anything
else!
       I love you all and pray that you are
looking forward to what God has ahead for
you as much as I am.