Here we are at the end of a month. We can look back at what has taken place in the past thirty-one days and look ahead to what we think might happen in the next thirty days. If you have had unpleasant experiences this month, you might be thinking that next month will be less stressful. No matter what, if you are a child of God, you can rest assured that He will be with you no matter what happens.

In his Study Bible, Dr. David Jeremiah wrote: “Alexander Solzhenitsyn knew how to hang on to hope. He was a political prisoner in Russia for many years. Forced to work 12-hour days at hard labor while existing on a starvation diet, he became gravely ill, and the doctor warned he would die. One afternoon, he stopped working. Even though he knew the guards would beat him severely, he just could not go on any longer.

At that moment, a prisoner – also a follower of Christ – approached him. He had a cane in his hand, and with his cane, he drew a cross in the sand. Solzhenitsyn said when he saw that cross, he remembered the anguish his Savior had taken on for him; and he realized that the cross was where the battle was ultimately won. He got up, went back to work, and survived.

When you hang on to true hope, you can overcome the worst adversity.” Reading this reminded me of the many friends and family members who pray for Karen and me, as well as the team that the Lord has brought together in Quebec to proclaim the gospel of Christ on the radio and Internet. One friend forwards emails to us with insightful messages from George Worthy, a brother in Christ in Baltimore. In a recent post, brother Worthy wrote:

“The spiritual leaders of Yeshua’s (Jesus) day were blinded to the messianic passages which pointed to the messiah’s role as a humble servant and bearer of sins.

Expecting a conquering king who would vanquish the Romans and set up a restored Davidic kingdom, they completely missed and ultimately rejected the lowly servant that God sent, an unpretentious carpenter’s Son from a not-so-respectable town who was virtually unknown until He was about thirty. Yeshua of Nazareth did perfectly fulfill God’s messianic qualifications even though He arrived in Jerusalem riding on a donkey and not a majestic horse. [Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:7] One wonders what might have happened if he had been recognized and received, since He did come proclaiming that the Kingdom of God was at hand.

Scripture for the weekend: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6 (NKJV)

Thought for the weekend: “Cry for grace from God to see God’s purpose in every trial.” – Charles Spurgeon

Steve