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Isaiah 60
The Glory of Zion
1 "Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.

3 Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

4 "Lift up your eyes and look about you:
All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters are carried on the arm.

5 Then you will look and be radiant,
your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
to you the riches of the nations will come. HEBREWS 10:23 NKJ
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without
wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Sometimes it seems like there's no hope and no help. Like you
have no more strength or ability to go on. You're at the end of
yourself and just can't do any more.

Don't worry. Just hang on to your faith in God.

God is faithful. He will not forsake you. He has not forgotten
you. (It just seems that way when you face a trial of faith --
but it's a lie.)

It may seem dark and hopeless, but God is holding on to you.
God is working behind the scenes. Things will work out.

When you don't know what to do, just continue to trust in God,
and know that He is helping you. Persevere even when you feel
like you can't. Just don't give up.

JAMES 1:2-4 BARCLAY
2 My brothers, you must regard it as nothing but joy when you
are involved in all kinds of trials,
3 for you must realize that when faith has passed through the
ordeal of testing the result is the ability to pass the
breaking-point and not to break.
4 This ability must go right on to the end, and then you will
be perfect and complete, without a weak spot.

Trials are no fun. But we should not be surprised when we find
our faith being tested.

The devil is doing his best to steal your faith in God, but his
best is not good enough. God is greater than the devil. Hang on
to your faith!

Remember that God is for you. God is on your side. God will
help you and see you through.

Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep praising
and thanking God -- especially when you don't feel like it.
Don't give up. Hang on!





The Nature of Discouragement
Psalm 16:7-11
Discouragement is a powerful, destructive force. Before we can understand how to rid our lives of this deadly landmine, we must recognize its harmful nature.
Understand that discouragement...
1. Is something we choose. Nobody else can make us discouraged; it is a choice that we alone make when facing disappointments.
2. Is universal. Everybody will face periods of disappointment and discouragement from time to time. This simply cannot be avoided, because we live in a seriously flawed world that is filled with equally flawed people.
3. Can recur. Sometimes we think we've settled an issue, which later resurfaces when we least expect it. Or, we may have old emotional wounds that are torn open by something a person says or does.
4. Can be temporary—or it can destroy our life. The choice is ours. If we refuse to deal with discouragement head-on, we are opening the door for it to completely dominate our life.
5. Is conquerable. With the Lord's help, we can choose not to be discouraged. If we don't believe discouragement can be conquered, then we're actually saying that God doesn't want His children to have a rich and fulfilled life.
Are you stuck in the throes of discouragement? If so, it will simply be impossible to experience the peace and inner joy that God wants for His children. Let Him help you out of that lowly state: start by believing that the Father wants to lift you up and get your life back on track with Him.  

Be a LEADER who provides STRENGTH to others
 
Be full of Persevering Faith
Focus on the end product of what God is doing with people’s lives.  Gal. 6:9” We will reap if we faint not.”  Unchangeable faith.
 
Look and Ask for the Goodness of God
We need to show the positive things in the will of God not negative appearances.  Good will show a spiritual good from any bad situation.  Psalm 27:13  I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
 
Keep Yourself Unspotted from the World
Keep away from the world.  The trap Esau fell into for a meal.  Matt. 13:38 the field is the world.  No leader can minister to others if the world is warring inside of him.  No energy left.
 
Pray Constantly
Converse with God.  Not only for myself but for others.  Luke 18:1 Now He (Jesus)was telling them a parable to show at all times that they ought to pray and not to lose heart.
 
Receive the Mercy of God
Paul said,”Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not faint, but we have renounced the hidden things because of shame.  2 cor. 4:1.  We must understand the process of confession of sin, total repentance and faith in God’s cleansing power.
 
Consider the Sufferings of Jesus
Our sufferings are nothing compared to His.  Heb. 12:3 For consider him who has endured such hostility of sinners against himself, so that you may not grow weary and faint in your minds. 
The more we remember His sufferings the more we will be strong in our times of testing.
 
Allow the Daily Renewal of the Inner Man
We need the Holy Spirit to be active.  We need His spirit to touch our spirit to create new life within us.  2 Cor. 4:16  Therefore we do not faint, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

God has a proceeding word for each of us, but until it comes, the word of God will try us in order to get us ready to walk in the preceding word. The Hebrew word for tried is tsaraph ( pronounced tsaw-raf) and means to refine, to melt, to purge away. It has a connotation of a gold or silver Smith working with the gold and the silver until they are purified. Our perfection as believers will come through the purifying fire of God. Mal 3:3-4

The story of the silversmith. When the silverSmith is working with silver he has to put the silver in the center of the fire and let it heat up that's where the flames are the hottest. This is where it will burn away all the impurities.

The Silversmith has to sit there with this over the whole time because if the silver was left even a moment too long it would be destroyed by the flames. How do you know when the silver is fully refined? The silversmith said oh that's the easy part when I see my image reflected in it. That's the same way with God, when we are feeling the heat of the fire, we have to remember that God is with us always keeping his hand over us watching us until he sees his image in us.