Trial and Triumph in the Christian Life

Good Morning Friends,

I hope Acts 14 refreshed your soul in knowing that even though there are trials along the way, your life and mine will ultimately be a testimony to the triumphant power of the grace of God! The Gospel will triumph. And even through the trials and tribulations of this life, we will triumph in His grace. Would Paul and Barnabas have wanted to go out for two years on that first missionary journey if they would have seen in advance all that they would endure? Aren't you grateful that so often God in His kindness doesn’t reveal it all to us at once? His grace is abundantly able to carry us forward day after day! And knowing that God is at work encourages us to persevere through any of the trials that come our way.

For the history buffs in our midst you may have caught my mistake yesterday. A few of you asked if I could post the quote I shared that I attributed to Winston Churchill. It was not by Churchill! The source I was reading attributed to him, but the quote is actually by Theodore Roosevelt. Maybe Churchill quoted him! Here it is:

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid soul who know neither victory nor defeat.”

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