Category: Trials and Tribulations

Bible Verse of The Day – 5-19-20

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV) 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

As I sit and ponder today on these past few months, I see change that has come not only in my own life, but in those around me. In the lives of all people around the world.

I am in awe at how God has given me such a peace that, through the hard times, through the decision making, through the learning experience, He stuck it out with me.

I have such wonderful memories to hold onto and reminisce about. Things I would never have experienced if I hadn’t gone through the fires at different times in my life.

Boy, I definitely know it’s not easy facing some things. I’d say sometimes it is even gut-wrenching hard.

But, instead of dwelling on the trial, I choose to keep the good at the forefront of my heart; the happy things that have brought me joy. And, I rejoice and thank God for all the new memories that I have!

We can always look around and see bad situations, and spend time talking about them. These things are there in all of our lives at one time or another. Or, we can choose to focus and move on with the good things.

Finding the good things in the land in which we live is a challenge sometimes. But it’s there and well worth the effort when we find it.

Psalm 27:13 (NKJV) 13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.

Enjoy the goodness of the Lord and don’t stop praying. He is faithful to turn things around.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

Please consider making a Donation.

Get our mobile app here: 

Android: http://goo.gl/oQ6qa7 

Apple: http://apple.co/2lZdgYy

Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 3-30-20

James 1:12 (NKJV) 12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Did you know that if we endure trials, God says we are blessed?

This is an interesting statement.

Before we dig into this a little deeper, though, I have to admit that I was not intending to write another devotional about trials. The Coronavirus pandemic is already wreaking havoc in a way that has most people on edge, and most of us are probably tired of hearing about it and talking about it by now.

Nonetheless, God directed me to this scripture as I sat down to write, so it’s best that we proceed and see what it is that He wants us to learn from it!

Despite the fact that the English translation above uses the word “temptation”, the Greek word is actually better translated as “trials”.

So, we are blessed when we successfully endure trials.

Really? Let’s be honest here. Trials never feel much like we are being blessed, do they?

But if we step back and look at the big picture, as God likes us to do so often, it’s not the trial itself that is the blessing so much as what we gain from enduring the trial.

Enduring a trial means that we do whatever is necessary to come through it, not only with victory in our situation, but with our faith still wholly intact, looking fully to God for that victory.

To say that we are blessed means that we are happy. Coming through that trial is definitely something to be happy about. And as we have let God lead us through it, our happiness is more than just a fleshly, fleeting emotion that quickly disappears.

Oh, and the Word also says that if we endure, we are approved, literally meaning that we have passed the test.

Now, how cool is it that even these seemingly-ugly trials that come along hold something good for us?

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

Please consider making a Donation.

Get our mobile app here: 

Android: http://goo.gl/oQ6qa7 

Apple: http://apple.co/2lZdgYy

Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 2-12-20

Psalm 56:3 (NKJV) 3 Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.

Over the years there is something that I have noticed happening in the lives of many believers when we face a trial.

For some reason, many people tend to run away from God when they face something hard. They get scared, and they run.

This is a reaction of our flesh. The first thing our flesh wants to do when things get tough is to run away and put distance between the trial and ourselves. Oh, if only it was that easy to fix!

But see, when we run away, we are leaving behind the One who has the solution to our dilemma.

Instead of running away, we need to be running to Him!

God holds the answer to every problem we face during our lifetime. He has understanding that we don’t have. He has solutions that man can’t give us. And He understands us better than we understand ourselves.

So, it would benefit us if we would learn to go to Him, not away from Him because He can give us what we need to fix the problems we are facing. And the answers He gives us will be better than any that we can dream up ourselves or get from anyone else.

Let’s not make the mistake of thinking that it will always be easy, or that the answers He gives us will always give us instant fixes. Sometimes it will, but sometimes it won’t. And we need to be ready to accept that.

But there is one thing that can be guaranteed. And that is that when we go to Him, and we trust Him, the outcome will be much better than anything we could have schemed up ourselves.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

Please consider making a Donation.

Get our mobile app here: 

Android: http://goo.gl/oQ6qa7 

Apple: http://apple.co/2lZdgYy

Tagged with: , , , ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 1-25-20

Hebrews 12:8 (NKJV) 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

The hardest part about facing a trial is to make sure we don’t try to get out of it too quickly.

That might sound odd, but most times there is something in that trial for us to learn. There is something for us to see, and there is something for us to hear.

We need to let what we learn become embedded in our hearts so we don’t ever forget it.

Imagine going through a trial and we just say, “take your time Lord. We want to learn whatever it is that we need to learn so we don’t have to visit this place again”.

We are God’s children, sons and daughters of the most High! He is a good Papa and good Papas will train up their children to be strong, to not faint, and to rise above any given situation that we may face.

If you’re facing a trial, wait on God. He will show up. He will show us if there is something in it we may need to see and something that we need to do.

Be watching, listening, and seeking Him. He is going to teach us how to walk out of hard places and hard times.

Remember, if we are His sons and daughters, there is always a time to learn and a time to apply what we learn. It is the way He does it.

Keep learning and growing closer to Him, and enjoy the journey from either side. We shall walk and not faint, we shall mount up with wings like eagles as we receive His correction and the strength to walk it out.

Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV) 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

Don’t give up when it gets hard. Wait on His strength. It will come and bring us through! Amen.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

Please consider making a Donation.

Get our mobile app here: 

Android: http://goo.gl/oQ6qa7 

Apple: http://apple.co/2lZdgYy

Tagged with: , , , , ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 6-26-19

Psalm 30:5 (NKJV) 5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.

We all face trials. We all weep at times. It’s part of life here in the natural.

What are you facing today that’s causing you to weep? What kind of trial is making you feel like you just can’t seem to get past it?

It doesn’t matter what it is. Health, finances, relationships, careers or anything else, they are all temporal and do not bring us true satisfaction or fulfillment.

Yes, they sometimes help make us feel more stable or secure. They might even give us a sense of accomplishment. But in the end, they can all disappear almost instantly, leaving us feeling confused and uncertain.

Even though the scripture above refers specifically to God’s anger lasting but a moment, and weeping enduring for a night, we can also apply this to life circumstances and situations.

The important thing to remember is that, no matter what comes our way, it doesn’t last forever. The pain, the sorrow or the suffering will come to an end. The time it takes will vary from person to person and from situation to situation.

But one thing is sure; no matter what the situation is, and no matter how long it lasts, God is faithful and true. And He will give us what it takes to have victory in the end.

We just have to trust Him in the midst of the storm and follow His leading. He will bring us through, and joy will come.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

Please consider making a Donation.

Get our mobile app here: 

Android: http://goo.gl/oQ6qa7 

Apple: http://apple.co/2lZdgYy

Tagged with: , , , ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 5-15-19

James 1:2-3 (NKJV) 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

If you enjoy trials, please raise your hand.

No, I didn’t think you would raise your hand. I didn’t raise mine either.

Nobody enjoys trials. They are, after all, trials. They are not meant to be fun or enjoyable. Trials can be very, well… trying. It’s just the nature of them.

They test us. They can stress us out. They can cause fear, and maybe even anxiety for some people.

But what does God’s word say about them? It says to “count it all joy when we fall into various trials”.

No, that’s not a typo or a joke. It’s God’s way of saying that trials are good for us, even though we don’t like them much (if at all).

Why are they good for us? Because they teach us patience and they test our faith.

When the pressure of a trial hits us hard, we get to see what we’re really made of. Our faith is put to the test, and we get to see how much we really trust God.

No, God doesn’t expect us to literally laugh about the trials we go through. But He does want us to keep our joy intact, so we don’t become miserable and lose sight of His faithfulness.

And as we learn to trust Him more and more, trials will be less stressful and less apt to cause our faith in Him to falter during tough times.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

Please consider making a Donation.

Get our mobile app here: 

Android: http://goo.gl/oQ6qa7 

Apple: http://apple.co/2lZdgYy

Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Bible verse of The Day – 11-18-18 – The Truth About Trials

Please click to watch the video nowGreetings in the name of Jesus! 

Everyone faces trials at different points in their life. It’s inevitable. 

How we handle those trials is the topic of our latest video, The Truth About Trials. 

Please click here to watch the video now. 

When trials come, most of us tend to react emotionally, becoming afraid of the possible outcome. And we also tend to scramble, searching for a solution based on our own understanding. 

Please click here to watch the video now. 

But, how does God want us to handle our trials. What does He say about them? 

We discuss all of this in our new video. It has information that each and every one of us can benefit from. So, we hope you will take a few minutes and watch it. 

Please click here to watch the video now. 

Enjoy your day and look to God for everything. 

Sincerely in Christ, 

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie 

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808 

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

Please consider making a Donation.

Get our mobile app here: 

Android: http://goo.gl/oQ6qa7 

Apple: http://apple.co/2lZdgYy

Tagged with: , , , , ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 11-3-18

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NKJV) 11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

Today may be a hard day for you to face.

Maybe you lost someone dear to you. Maybe your job is at stake. Maybe your finances are in trouble. Maybe your child is sick. You may be facing a huge battle on a personal level.

Whatever this day brings your way, if you look to God for your answer, and you wait on Him to provide for you and bring it to fruition, you will make it through this.

You will look back and know that God did it.

Don’t be deceived into thinking that there is no other choice, that this is it. There is more to this life for you.

Believe today, you will not faint. Your situation will change and the personal battle that you face will come to an end. Follow His leading. He is faithful to deliver.

Be comforted and edified today. Our Redeemer lives.

Job 19:25 (NKJV) 25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth…

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

Please consider making a Donation.

Get our mobile app here: 

Android: http://goo.gl/oQ6qa7 

Apple: http://apple.co/2lZdgYy

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 7-4-18

Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT) 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Many who read this are experiencing various kinds of trials. These trials may be minor or they may be very major. Some may seem “like a bump in the road”. Others may make us feel like we have had the wind knocked out of us.

Regardless of their intensity, it’s important that we know and understand God’s love for us, and His desires for us.

We need to make sure we understand that God’s desire for us is never evil. Yes, we will face things that are not pleasant. But these are not His things. He is good and full of light. There is no darkness found in Him.

1 John 1:5 (NKJV) 5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

While trials can be very tough for us to understand sometimes, it’s still important that we know that each and every trial we face can actually be good for us. The key to this is to put God first in everything and hold tightly to Him in the midst of our trials.

Doing this helps us to keep things in perspective and to keep us from worrying or stressing as much as we would otherwise.

And in the end, God can use the trials that we face to mold us, shape us and draw us closer to Him, causing us to grow in our faith.

James 1:3-4 (NKJV) 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

Please consider making a Donation.

Click the player below listen to today’s devotional.

Audio Player

Get our mobile app here: 

Android: http://goo.gl/oQ6qa7 

Apple: http://apple.co/2lZdgYy

Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 6-10-18 – Rejoice, Pray, Give Thanks

Rejoice, Pray, Give ThanksGreetings in the name of Jesus! 

Life can be tough sometimes. It’s just a fact. Things can hit us out of nowhere, without prior warning. 

When this happens, what do we do? How do we handle it? 

Today’s video deals with this topic, as we share from the word of God and from our own experiences. 

Please click here to watch the video now. 

There are lots of things we can do. But there are only a few of them that are the right thing to do. 

Please click here to watch the video now. 

And what we do will have a huge impact on the outcome of the situation, as well as on our own lives and our walk with God. 

Please click here to watch the video now. 

Enjoy your day. And be sure to rejoice, pray and give thanks in all things. 

Sincerely, 

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie 

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808 

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

Please consider making a Donation.

Get our mobile app here: 

Android: http://goo.gl/oQ6qa7 

Apple: http://apple.co/2lZdgYy

Tagged with: , , ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 5-19-18

James 1:2-3 (NKJV) 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 

One of the things that many of us do when we’re going through trials is to ask God to remove the trial. We all do this from time to time. 

And while it is understandable that we would ask for this, it’s important that we understand what we’re asking for. 

Nobody likes trials. They hurt. They wear us out. They leave scars. 

But during those times of trial there are so many things we can learn! And during those trying times, God can teach us so many things if we will just allow Him to. 

God can use the bad things that happen and bring good out of them. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that He removes the trial or turns the bad thing into something good. He just teaches us lessons as we walk through them. 

So, whatever trial we might be facing right now, instead of doing what we always do and just asking God to bring the trial to a sudden end, let’s ask God what it is that we can learn from it as we walk through it. 

And while we’re learning, we can watch God move on our behalf. 

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie 

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808 

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

Please consider making a Donation.

Click the player below listen to today’s devotional.

Audio Player

Get our mobile app here: 

Android: http://goo.gl/oQ6qa7 

Apple: http://apple.co/2lZdgYy

Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,