Annoyed because you have to leave your e-mail inbox every time you would like to respond to someone else’s Facebook status update? Good news: the social network is testing a brand new feature that will enable you to comment on threads by e-mail.

It appears as if the new feature is currently being tested only with a very small subset of users; we haven’t seen it at the bottom of any Facebook notification e-mails yet and there are only about 4 tweets from the past couple of days mentioning the new feature.

found @ www.techcrunch.com

Refiners throw pieces of gold into the furnace to be tested and purified by the fire. In the same way, God allows human souls to be tested by troubles until they become pure, transparent, and have profited greatly from the process. Therefore, this is the greatest advantage we have. So then, we shouldn’t be disturbed or discouraged when trials happen to us. For if refiners know how long to leave a piece of gold in the furnace, and when to draw it out, if they don’t allow it to remain in the fire until it is burnt up and destroyed, how much better does God understand this process! When He sees that we have become purer, He frees us from our trials so that we won’t be crushed and defeated by them. – St. John Chrysostom

A swob of your spit and within a few minutes, your health could be determined on a small strip of paper. With each time I walk into a clinic to get tested for HIV, I face an outcome that will inevitably change my life.

The hardest part isn’t the swob or answering the questionaire (in the survey, you have to check off boxes like “have sex with a male” and “being under and influence while having sex with a male”), it’s the twenty minute wait you have as you sit and recount all of the things you’ve done since the last time you took the test.

The sad reality about the disease is its negative connotation it has against this community. A healthy majority of people would immediately correlate HIV to gays because of how the media presented it back in the 80s. HIV/AIDS was considered a pandemic in North America and journalists tried to discover the origin of the disease. Though it was determined the disease came from Africa, the damage had already been done for HIV/AIDS was stereotyped to be seen as a homosexual disease.

It’s a shame yet another obstacle had to hinder this enriched community but like any human society, fingers had to be pointed somewhere and we were chosen. In reality, AIDS could have been in the same amount of heterosexuals as in homosexuals but because of certain discriminations (many of which still exist today) the numbers catapulted into its current state we see today.

Thankfully, HIV/AIDS is being seen as less and less of a homosexual disease and more of a sexually transmitted infection (STI…yes, STD is not PC anymore). But for any gay man, its still taboo subject to discuss and the stress when being tested is overwhelming. For if the results become positive, your pool of men drastically narrow from the already slimmed pond. You will have to be more conscious of your adventures and who you choose to meet.

So Thursday, these moments were filled with the usual roller coaster of emotions. I thought about my sexual past dating back to my last test (March 23) and tried to remember if I did anything stupid in between these months. Then beyond that aspect, I began to think about my future and of what will change if it was determined I had the disease. How would I be able to tell my family and friends? But most of all, how will I be able to come to terms with a situation that I always knew I could have prevented?

Everything would have remained the same but yet, everything would have changed.

Being a writer/journalist, I always wondered the emotions one would encounter after they initially find out they are crippled with an irreversible ending. I would sit in the room and analyze every reaction the person gave whether it be sadness, anger or shock. It’s a tough pill to swallow, especially if you are in your twenties just trying to figure out your life at a day by day basis.

Thankfully, my results came back negative once again and I can live my life without that stress bundling over my head but….it’s not enough. I reflect each time I take this test and think about how many people do see the other end. It makes me wonder what events led up to the moment when they were infected and if it could have been prevented. Was it a “heat of passion” moment when it “felt right?” Was it just another itch to get high? Or was it with someone who you trusted unconditionally and believed he was just as exclusive as you were?

It’s a tricky game we play each day. The amount of trust we put in to others really is beyond words. I immediately turn to the last relationship I had and all the trust I put with him, especially the periods when I was 800 miles away. Though we promised not to speak of it (to protect each other’s emotions) there’s not doubt in my mind what went on when I was gone. Now, I’m not saying it was his intention to do it all the time but the truth is that it still happened. Another truth is even though I knew about it, I still trusted him and believed he was okay and I was the guy he cared about (cause I stuck around). But for all I know, he could have made a bad decision, costing the overall well-being of the both of us.

I still trust my ex because he’s never steered me wrong and my test yesterday proved that as well. He’s a good friend to have and I would not have it any other way.  I’ve said this before and I will say it again. It’s hard for me to let my guard down to people. But I think because of situations like these, I feel comfort in knowing because I carry this trait, I won’t have to worry about being on the other end of the deal every time I go in for my HIV test.

Moral of the story….get tested. It just makes sense and you should protect not only yourself but also the friends who you care about the most.

I’ve known for over a year that it was going to happen. Somehow, that didn’t make it any easier when the mobile butcher arrived and slaughtered our steer. When we bought this adorably cute miniature Angus I was fully aware that his purpose in life was to provide meat for our family. My husband, understanding how attached I get to all my critters, named him “Sir Tender Loin”. He did this so that every day I would have a reminder that one day Tender-Loin would be slaughtered and fulfill his purpose in life.

I’m sure glad my purpose in life isn’t that of Tender-Loin’s. Thinking about his purpose in life reminded me of when I was LDS. I used to believe that my purpose in life was to prove myself worthy. The reason I thought this was because that was what my church leaders had taught me. They claimed that Heavenly Father sent people to earth for the purpose of proving whether or not they would be obedient to His commandments:

“We lived in the presence of God our Holy Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, in a premortal existence. There we gained an understanding of the Father’s plan of salvation and the promise of help when we would be born as mortals on earth. The primary purpose of life was explained. We were told: “We will make an earth whereon these may dwell; “And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; “And they who keep their first estate [that is to be obedient in the premortal existence] shall be added upon; … and they who keep their second estate [that is, to be obedient during mortal life] shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.” Those words express the most fundamental purpose of your being on earth. That purpose is to prove yourself obedient to the commandments of the Lord and thereby grow in understanding, capacity, and every worthy trait.” Richard G. Scott, “Truth Restored,” Ensign, Nov 2005, 78.

Every time I looked inside my heart, I felt like a complete failure. I knew how unworthy I was. And, I thought I was the only person that was so sinful. When I looked at others in my Ward, I thought everyone else was worthy except me. Can you imagine the peace I found the day I learned that I wasn’t the only one who struggled with being obedient? It was actually the Holy Ghost that revealed this news to me, through God’s prophets and apostles. Their testimony declared His truth to me: No one can be worthy or righteous by their obedience. In fact, no one can even be “good”.

The LDS Apostle Scott taught that God sent us to earth to prove ourselves worthy. But in the book of Romans, Jesus’ Apostle Paul testified he had “proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin”. He then quotes Psalm 14 as evidence: “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

LDS scripture claims that men must prove themselves worthy through their obedience; but God’s Word testifies that “there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). Jesus joined His testimony to this truth when He claimed “none is good, save one, that is, God.” (Luke 18:19). The Prophet Isaiah clearly told of the sad condition of all humans: “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (64:6). In one of Isaiah’s Messianic prophesies, he declares: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-12).

Notice that last verse in Isaiah “and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Here we see our Savior’s purpose for coming to earth. He came to take our sins upon Himself—as if He Himself had committed each one. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be “brought, as a lamb to slaughter” and that He would give “his soul an offering for sin”. Jesus came to earth to be slaughtered! He fulfilled His purpose at the cross, when “he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” We are healed through Christ’s sacrificial death, where every sin was paid for and forgiven. All who believe it, receive it (Acts 10:43).

Do you still believe that the “fundamental purpose of… being on earth… is to prove yourself obedient to the commandments of the Lord”? On Judgment Day every person will stand before God. Many will be given the opportunity to prove whether they were obedient to God’s commands. All who point to their own works as proof they should be allowed entrance into God’s Kingdom will be turned away (Matthew 7:22-23).

My Angus steer was slaughtered to feed my family. My Savior Jesus was slaughtered to pay for my sins with His blood. I gave my life to Him the moment I believed in His free and full forgiveness. I now know that my purpose in life is to give all glory to my God, by all that I do. He alone is worthy!!!

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

Hey all,

Getting tested for H1N1 today. Found out yesterday that someone with a suspected case of it drank from my water bottle. Not cool; now I have the beginnings of a sore throat. Probably won’t be going to school ’till either she or I get the test results back.

I will be posting pretty much all day today.

Colby Ludwig
colbyludwig.wordpress.com

I’ll be honest.  As a reader of the book of Job, I’ve had quite mixed emotions about the book.  Firstly, it kind of irked me the way God and Satan made a bet.  I mean, it seemed more like the greek gods who in whimsy played tricks on their fearful minions.  But somehow, I got over that.  The second thing, was Job’s horrid plight.  I mean, the man went through everything–wasn’t he entitled to a little complaint?  Evidently, no.  So, then, I got over that.  But the final query that has plagued me ever since, was the conversations Job had with his friends.  I mean, if you go through the book of Job, it reads sort of like a play, where the dialogue goes back and forth. 

As I sat reading the dialogue I thought, “what an argument!”  But what stumped me most, is God’s take on Job’s friends discourse.  It reads in Job 42:7-9:

⁷And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.

 ⁸Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.

 ⁹So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.

Um, excuse me?  How can this be?  I sat there reading all of their discourse and it seemed pretty right on to me.  Just look at Job 35.

¹Elihu spake moreover, and said,

 ²Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God’s?

 ³For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?

 ⁴I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee.

 ⁵Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than thou.

 ⁶If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him?

 ⁷If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?

 ⁸Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art; and thy righteousness may profit the son of man.

 ⁹By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.

 ¹⁰But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night;

 ¹¹Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?

 ¹²There they cry, but none giveth answer, because of the pride of evil men.

 ¹³Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.

 ¹⁴Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust thou in him.

 ¹⁵But now, because it is not so, he hath visited in his anger; yet he knoweth it not in great extremity:

 ¹⁶Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplieth words without knowledge.

Isn’t this altogether true?  Doesn’t God visit the wicked?  Isn’t it impossible to be more righteous than God?  Then if so, how can God say that Elihu and the other men did not speak the thing that was right regarding God?   I confess, this has always been a quandry to me.  But for the first time, I realized by God truth, what exactly He was talking about.

You see, Elihu and the other were right about God’s nature as they described it to Job.  They had that much correct.  However, what made everything they said wrong, was how they applied it.  If you look at Job 35 (the one quoted above), I’d like to draw your attention to one very telling verse.  And it was this statement and statements like it that riddle the doctrine of Job’s friends.

¹⁵But now, because it is not so, he hath visited in his anger; yet he knoweth it not in great extremity:

 ¹⁶Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplieth words without knowledge.

Among all that Elihu said in this chapter, he made a fatal mistake.  He assumed Job’s suffering was because of sin.  This is the Aha moment!  Many times, we believers can make such judgements about others.  I remember during Hurricane Katrina, many saying that the devistation was the cause of God’s anger against the abundant black arts practised in New Orleans.  Interesting theory, but in all honesty, mere speculation.

Just because someone is suffering does not mean that they have sinned.  Often we are lured into this belief when we think “prosperity” or riches   is the “norm.”  Evidently, Job was a rich man.  So, it stands to reason his friends were probably wealthy as well.  They’d come to rely on a since of prosperity attached to their keeping of the law.  Perhaps even a bit of entitlement had crept in.  They all lived very comfortable, well appointed lives, and so when one fell into such bitter loss; they came to the conclusion he had done evil.

There are several lessons to learn here.  Job’s unfortunate plight was not predicated by sin, sloth, or even the unfortunate turn of events that can happen in a life.  No one could have possibly have guessed what was taking place in the heavenlies to result in such a devastation.  God was making a bet with Satan?  Nobody suspects that. 

No one says, “Oh, my dog died, my friend left me, my house burned down, I just got sick, and I lost all of my money… hmmm.  I think God made a bet with Satan to see how faithful I am.”

In truth, when such things occur, we respond by asking, “WHY!”  then we assume we’ve done something wrong.  Many times, like Job, we assume God has whet His sword against us and become our enemy.  The simple fact is, we realy don’t know what is going on in the heavenlies that permits such calamity.  Sometimes when we are watching such horror from the outside we make the same forgone conclusions.  We assume God is angry with said individual or that person has done something vile to recieve God’s wrath.  But just maybe, we are unaware of what is actually happening in the heavenlies.

And we can translate that to our times today.  Whether God was making a bet with the devil or not is irrelavant.  God never revealed His conversation with Satan to Job.  And that is because regardless of what is happening in the heavenlies, the ultimate factor is that Job was being tested.  Many times God might be testing those we see fall into peril or loss.  God may test us in such a way. 

But what we must refrain from doing two things, 1) assuming that the unfortunate individual has done wrong to recieve such trouble and 2) assuming that God is against us when we do fall into such trials.

Certainly, it is worth your while to search your heart in times of trial and suffering.  There may be some sin in us that needs to be uprooted.  But only we in the privacy and honesty of our hearts with God can identify it and stand before God to ask for forgiveness–much like Job.  But at times, we will suffer from the sake of spiritual growth or the growth of another.  We must then be assured in our hearts about a couple of things that will give us hope and courage.

1.)  Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

2) Hebrews 11: 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

We cannot always know the story of suffering in a persons life.  As believers, it is not our job to look from the outside and judge.  Because in many cases, we end up judging God and man in our estimation.  If we assume God is cruel we have made a high presumption about the character and nature of God (Hebrews 6:10).  And if we assume the individual is to blame for their misfortune, we judge our brother to be a worker of iniquity. 

There is a godly sort of judgement–that judgement where we use the word of God to point out evident sin.  But then there is that judging according to the flesh where we judge what we know not of.  How do you know the cause of a man’s plight?  We must be careful to judge righteous judgement using the Word of God as our guide so that we can purify and purge, that we are blameless and pure before Christ and His appear.  But we must also not judge according the flesh, what we can see we make huge assumptions about a person’s motive or character.  For misery and calamity befalls us all.  The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 2:14 “The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.” 

In Mark 10:30, Jesus Christ makes an odd promise,

But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

So it seems persecutions and sufferings are a part of the christian life as much as prosperity and victory.  Perhaps these men, assumed the “godly life” was one unaccompanied with suffering?  But we learn a very important aspect of suffering from Job that is crystalized in 2 Corinthians 12:10:

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

If I see a man suffering, how do I know that his pain is because of sin or because of God’s wrath toward him?  Perhaps he is one suffering for Christ….How shall we know God’s strength, if we do not need it?  How will you be strong, if you are not first weak?  Therefore in times of persecution, pain, need–take joy, for then you are strong!

By Lela M. Winston

There are times in our lives when it seems God is silent; or it seems that God delays His promises to us.  We wait and wait and become frustrated that He has not answered our prayers immediately.  And even if we could not have our prayers immediately, at least, He could answer them in some sort of timely fashion.  Maybe every three months or semiannually;  Something we could know and depend on. 

Yet, God seems to answer sporadically.  Sometimes He answers quickly, at others times it seems He is altogether silent.  We look at a man like Abraham who had to wait years for the promise, verses a man like Moses who asked for bread from heaven and it fell instantly.

Why does God even tarry?  If He knows we need said desire/need/want, why wouldn’t He provide it immediately?  The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:8:

It appear God doesn’t have a problem waiting–I mean, after all, He does have eternity.  But, one would think, that an all-knowing God would understand and KNOW that we don’t have all day.  So why do we have to wait?

Let’s look at Abraham and his example as explained in Hebrews 6:9-15.  We see in this chapter that the writer of Hebrews uses Abraham as an example of one who faithfully waited and obtained the promise.  In fact, in Hebrews 6:10 believers are encouraged to know that God is not unjust to forget their labor of love.   The text expresses that though He delays, He will not forget His promise nor your faithfulness.

This is comforting to us; but still uncanny.  Why wait?  Why does He make us wait?

Let’s look at Hebrews 6:15:  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.  In this verse we see that it says Abraham “patiently” waited.  That word “patiently” stood out to me, so I thought we’d investigate it a little further.

The greek for “Patiently” is makrothumēsas or μακροθυμήσας which means, “be longsuffering,” “patiently,” and “delay long.”   Hense it is not merely a delay, but, a long delay.  A closer look at makrothumesas reveals two words, makro  which means long, distant and far.  Thumos which means passion/tempered (as in temprment or disposition).

The construction of the word reveals a character trait rather than a state of waiting.  It means to be long tempered.  So in essence, Abraham long-temper waited for the promise.  Why was this/is this so important?

Galations 5:22 lists the fruit of the Spirit as such:

 ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

 ²³Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

The embolded part is longsuffering in the King James Version but is often translated as patience.  And what’s more, in the greek, its that new word we learned makrothumeo, long tempermented.  It appears that long temperment/patience is a fruit of the Spirit.  If it is a fruit of the Spirit, it is an attribute of God.  And we know that Christ is being formed in us, as stated in Galations 4:19:  My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. … .  Paul tells us that the goal is for Christ to be formed in us. 

God is trying to form Christ in us; and thus long temperment.  Why do we need to be long tempered?  2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us that Christ is the image of God.  Again we see this in Collossians 1:5, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: “  Christ is the image of God and He must be formed in us; so understanding who we must become in Christ we see that example in God.   And the Bible tells us that God is long suffering (Peter 3:9), (Psalms 86:15), (Exodus 34:6).  He is also slow to wrath.  Because He is long tempered and we are being made perfect, and coming to full maturity, we too must become long-tempered.

There will be no impatient Christians in heaven.

In Hebrews 6:12 the Bible says that through faith and patience they obtained the Promise.  We obtain God’s promises by faith and by patience.    Again the greek word for patience in this text is makrothumeo–long-tempered.

Faith is not only necessary to be formed into the image of Jesus Christ, but also in Romans 8:24-25 in this scripture about waiting for the promise, it says:

²²For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

 ²³And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

 ²⁴For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

 ²⁵But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Amazing!  The Bible says if we hope for that which we do not see, then we with patience wait for it.   Patience or long-temperedness helps us not only to wait for the Promise; but it helps us in our faithwalk.   For if we believe and have faith that God will fulfill we wait with patience for it (Hebrews 11:1).

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

It is then we see that patience is necessary to hope for the things unseen (Promises).  In that verse in Romans 8:24-25 that we examined we are introduced to another word for patience.  The greek word is hupomeno which means steadfast/or stay behind, (as in waiting up for someone who lags behind).

James 1:3-4 says the testing of our faith produces patience.  Patience is a “fruit” of the Spirit.  So our faith is tested by waiting, which produces patience.  In James the word hupomeno suggests the act of staying behind or waiting.  So, if we look at sequentiall, we see this pattern emerge:

Promise/Waiting/Produces/Patience (Hupomeno/staying behind)/which works in us patience Makrohumeo (Long temperment).  If we read this without the necessary distinction made in Greek our conclusion would read:

English:  Waiting for the promise produces patience which works patience in us. 

Greek:  God delays the promise so that Faith in the promise produces waiting/staying behind for it, which forms long-temperment in us.

Therefore we see the delaying of the promise is often intentional.  Intentional for a fruit of the Spirit to be formed in us.  Not only will a fruit be produced but our faith will be tested.

Paul explains how this Longsuffering edifies the body of Christ in 1 Timothy 1:16:

Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

What we must come to learn as believers, is that the promise is assured.  When the promise delays it is a time of growth for us and testing of our faith.  Christ is trying to form in us long-temperedness so that we will patiently wait behind for its fullfillment.

Whenever a promise delays, it is our opportunity to practise makrohumeo/ long temperedness and to stay behond for it/hupomeno.

Patience is a virtue–but it is also a characteristic of Jesus that must be formed in us and which we must demonstrate in the fruit of waiting behind for the promise.

Meditations in James: 3 :  Joyful Testing

Jas 1:2,3    Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

Living in the West in the early part of the twenty-first century, we are more affluent and have more technology than any people who have ever existed before us. Life should, therefore, be easy and pleasant, but so often it isn’t. If you asked most people, they would pause, reflect and then say something like, “Life is tough!” Why is that? It is, I suggest, because we live in a Fallen World where sin prevails and therefore things go wrong and people are nasty. As a dispersed people (see yesterday) we are out there in the world, largely alone, having to learn to cope with the less-than-perfect life that rolls out before us. A lot of the time it may be humdrum, ordinary with no particular problems, but then suddenly something happens, something goes wrong and we are in conflict or stress and anxiety, or we are struggling with illness or infirmity. That’s what life in this Fallen World is like. The staggeringly wonderful news for Christians, of course, is that we are not alone; we have the Lord with us. Moses was able to encourage Israel with, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deut 31:6) and the writer to the Hebrews was able to take that and apply it to us when he wrote, “be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Heb 13:5,6).

So the first thing to note from our verses today is that we live in a world where things go wrong, things that James calls ‘trials’. The second thing to keep in mind, which isn’t in this verse, is that whatever happens the Lord is with us in it. Perhaps we would to well to remember a third thing,  that however difficult the trial seems to be, the Lord will be there seeking to bring good out of it for us: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28). Bear those two things in mind: the Lord is with us and He will be working to bring good out of what otherwise might be a bad situation!

But then James says something about what is going on. He says God is testing your faith. Our education system, at the government’s direction, seems paranoid about testing. Our children constantly seem to be getting tested. Why do the government want teachers to do this? They do it because they want to check a child’s progress and ensure that they are learning. That is exactly why God tests us. There is a clear indication in Scripture that God expects us to mature – we’ll see that tomorrow. The writer to the Hebrews chided them saying, “though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Heb 5:12-14).

There he indicates he expects us to grow up, understand the truth and live it. God’s testing, however, doesn’t merely monitor our position; it acts like a work-out in the gym and strengthens us. Whereas a physical workout brings strength to our muscles, God’s work-out develops perseverance in us, that ability to just plug on when life seems difficult. Yes, there are times when life seems glorious and wonderful and easy, and at those times you don’t need any special resources, (and that is a danger for we forget our need of the Lord), but we’ve been saying that in this Fallen World life is sometimes difficult and the enemy would want us to give up on our faith, and so perseverance is something the Lord builds in to us. How does He do that? By allowing us trying times!

It’s not only James; Paul says the same thing: “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance” (Rom 5:2,3). It’s not only James and Paul; Peter says the same thing: “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 honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Pet 1:6,7)

So there it is; these trials, these tests, work to bring perseverance which we need to handle the dark side of life, and as we do, our faith is seen to be genuine and all the angels looking on give a mighty applause because they see it is the work of Jesus and so when he returns, and every knee bows to acknowledge his wonder, this will be part of the reason for all the praise he receives. Our lives have the means of glorifying Jesus!

Which brings us to the first part of the verse that most Christians struggle with and focus upon: “Count it pure joy” when these things happen to you. Why? For the reasons we have been seeing: because we are taking part in God’s strategy which strengthens us, reveals us for who we are, encourages us as we realise that we can cope with His grace. It also brings great glory to Jesus as we triumph as he, standing alongside us is working out the Father’s purposes and bringing good out of every situation for us. Wow!  Rejoicing in whatever life is holding for you at the moment? Go for it!

-Life will never be the same.

So she’s positive, but not in a optimistic way
She got her results, doesn’t have much to say
She gives a blank stare, one absent of emotion
So lost in herself, can’t believe what was spoken

It’s not the world’s end, there’s help she can obtain
Even though she knows her life, will never be the same
Medications must be taken, more frequent doctor visits
Her immune systems suffers, the virus pushes to the limit

Life is what it is, make the best of what you got
Keep doing your best, please don’t you ever stop
Even with H.I.V, life shall continue on
You can still fight back…

As Long As You Stay Strong

By: W. Lyric
Copyright ©2009. All Rights reserved

Part of the prognostic maintenance process is vibration analysis with the use of vibration analyzer equipment. This is important as complementary practice for machinery maintenance judgment.

Vibration analysis is important as another preventive measures to take by any companies or organization, be it small, medium, or large corporations. It helps in avoiding further damage and future expenses that may be done. Through this vibration analysis, symptoms are detected. The vibration serves as the indicator on the malfunctioning or breaking down of a machine. The harshness and the nature of the faults of a machine can also be determined through this process.

It is an ideal fact that most of the machines vibrate. However, not all vibrations are natural for a machine; it could be a sign of defects on some internal parts of the machine. At varying frequencies, problems in machines usually result to distinctive vibrations. With the equipment called vibration analyzer, the structural elements of a machine can be diagnosed through the vibration time range and frequency.

Repairs are made simpler with vibration analyzers. Any moving component of a mechanical device or machines needs to be tested in order to save the entirety of the machine. Before the defects of the machine become obvious, the vibration analyzers helps you detect even the slightest problem that the machine has. The origin and cause of the problem is easily traced.

Since this equipment is quite sophisticated, this can only be used by an experienced person who has undergone vibration analysis several times.