Living with Invisible Illness: 5 Ways to Get Over Aggravations

Living with Invisible Illness: 5 Ways to Get Over Aggravations

God's Litmus Test

God's Litmus Test

by Angela Hall Dobbins

A “litmus test”, as defined by Webster’s
Dictionary, is “a test in which a single factor
(as an attitude, event, or fact) is decisive.”

At the suggestion of a friend of mine, who is a pastor, I recently read the testimony of young Christian music artist, Matthew West. I was both impressed and inspired, not only because Matthew’s story says so much about trusting God, even when we can't see what He's doing, but because I can personally relate to much of the emotional message it conveys. Matthew’s music career was just taking off when he was suddenly faced with the possibility of never being able to sing again due to a vascular polyp and hemorrhaged blood vessels on one of his vocal chords. Through this painful “season of silence,” as he calls it, Matthew learned that God was still using his voice, even when he was unable to hear it.

Sometimes God begins preparing us for something great to happen in our lives- perhaps it's to fulfill a vision He has placed in our hearts. But, to our shock and dismay, just as things seem to be getting off the ground and we begin to see Him working in and around us, something happens that suddenly seems to bring everything to a screeching halt. We find ourselves struggling to make sense of what has happened and we wonder, "What went wrong?" We may even ask God, "Where did I fail you, Lord?", thinking God is chastising us as a result of some sin in our lives.

And while God does chasten those He loves, those dark, silent days don’t always come as the result of wrongdoing on our part. Sometimes painful events just happen. But God may allow them to happen because He has a way of using those dark, silent, even painful days to draw us closer to Him and to teach us more about His deep, endearing love for us. During those times, He is administering valuable lessons and further preparing us for the next segment of our journey through life. Through our pain, He tenderly ministers His love to us, that we might, in turn, minister it to others.

This has been the case in my own life and, perhaps, it has been so in yours, as well. It was during my own “season of silence”, after being diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and while recovering from divorce, that God opened my heart and mind to understand so much more about His unconditional love for you and me. If we are "judgment day honest", as my pastor friend often challenges those to whom he ministers to be, then we must pass one test before we can truly know where we will spend eternity. We might call it "God's litmus test". In order to pass the test, we must ask ourselves, "Do I have the love of God in my heart?" The true test of whether or not we are ready to meet our Creator lies in our answer to this single question. Jesus summed it up like this in Matthew 22:36-40:

When asked this question by one of the Pharisees, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 'This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." NIV

And in John 13:34-35, Jesus said:

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." NIV

Do we really "walk the walk" of a Jesus follower? Do our words and actions speak kindness to others? Or do they echo criticism and condemnation? Do we give of our time and resources to help those in need? Or do we live for selfish gain? Do our actions toward others demonstrate genuine concern and empathy? Or do they reflect prejudice and indifference? Do we genuinely love our neighbor? Or do we love only those who fit our narrow concept of what a neighbor should be?

Friends, if we truly want to be ready to stand before our Lord on judgment day, then we need to be on our knees asking God to fill us to overflowing with His love. Putting behind us old traditions and going through the motions, we must, every day, immerse ourselves in His Word and seek to be like Jesus in our own words and deeds. I firmly believe this earthly life is preparation for the life we will lead hereafter. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible contains God's message of His everlasting love for humankind. And Jesus Christ is the epitome of God's love- the fulfillment of Biblical Law. God's "litmus test" for determining our eternal destiny is spelled out in just four letters...

L… O… V… E

Do you have it?


Scripture References:

John 13:34-35

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." NIV

Romans 13:8-9

"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." NIV

1 John 3:14-17

"We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" NIV

1 John 4:7-8

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." NIV

For more Christian articles and resources, please feel free to visit True Life Family Ministries- Empowering Individuals, Families & Communities with a message of Love, Grace & Hope!  At TLFM, You're One of the Family!

May God bless you abundantly and guide you to becoming all He ceated you to be!

Love in Christ,

Angela Dobbins, Founder
True Life Famly Ministries
True Life Strategies- Life Coaching

This Week's Affirmation for Those Living with Chronic Illness: I Am A Child of God

If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then the Bible says you are a child of God! And, as a child of the Most High God and Creator of the Universe, you have an inheritance! You are a joint heir with Christ and you will join Him one day in Your Father's Kingdom. Isn't that awesome!

Yet, not only are you a joint heir with Christ, chosen to receive a heavenly inheritance, you have an earthly inheritance, as well. Jesus said, "...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10b No matter what circumstances surround you today, God has promised that He will never leave or forsake you. As His child, He looks at you through the endearing eyes of a loving Father, always there with arms wide open to comfort you in every situation. In 2 Corinthians 1:3,4, we read, "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."

Chronic illness may have changed the way you live your life on a day-to-day basis. Grant it, it has surely required you to learn to pace yourself, set limits, even discontinue some activities, and to rearrange your lifestyle. But it will never prevent you from being the person God created you to be! That's because God, as your ever loving Heavenly Father, in His wisdom, has a plan for your life. And He is working that plan to your advantage and for the good for all eternity! Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." God has given you a promise and, no matter what circumstances you face in this life, He will never go back on that promise! Your life is important and special! And He has an important purpose for you! You are His Child, unique and adored, and He wants to shine His light through you today, right where you're planted!

Some of God's richest blessings are bestowed through adversity. When we give, especially out of our own need, God has a way of blessing us immeasurably. So, no matter what limiting circumstances surround you, remember that God is still on His throne and that He is in control! You are His Child, whom He loves! He has gifted you with certain talents and abilities with which to share His love with others. And He has placed before you, even in the midst of chronic illness, opportunities to fulfill the very purpose for which you were created!

Romans 8:14-17 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."

May God bless you abundantly today and guide you to becoming all He created you to be!

Love in Christ,



Angela
Angela Dobbins
Christian Life Coach
True Life Strategies- Life Coaching with hope & heart
True Life Family Ministries



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Angela Dobbins is a Christian life coach who lives daily with the debilitating effects of Fibromyalgia, including chronic pain and fatigue. She is the devoted mother and aunt of one teenage daughter, a teenage niece, and two young nephews. As a Christian life coach with a background in nursing, she has dedicated her life to sharing God's love with others and to helping them discover His purpose and empowerment for their lives, no matter what their circumstances.

The Principle of Character

The Principle of Character

by Angela Hall Dobbins

"Character cannot be developed in peace and quiet.

Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be

strengthened, vision be cleared, ambition insured and success achieved." ~Helen Keller

There is something of great truth in this quote by Helen Keller. I'm sure that many of you are familiar with her story and of the near impossible circumstances she faced as a child who learned to "become", with the help of one dedicated teacher who refused to give up on her. This principle is one which young Miss Keller learned first hand, as a child who was trapped in a world of unimaginable isolation and suffering- being blind, deaf and mute. By overcoming great odds in learning to emerge from the darkness and to become who God had intended her to be, she made a difference in this world by bringing a portion of hope and inspiration to others through her life's testimony.

This was a principle the early apostles also knew well. I often think how John must have felt while in exile on the Isle of Patmos. How many times he must have looked back over his life and ministry for the cause of His Lord and Savior. How he must have reflected upon the martyrdom of his comrades who gave their lives for what they truly believed in- God's love sent down to mankind through His only Son, Jesus Christ. This was a message they must have preached thousands of times and penned for countless hours, like the Apostle Paul as he wrote to the churches he so tenderly and passionately supported with his fervent prayers, his own blood, sweat and tears.

Over the past several years, the Lord has taught me a little something about suffering. But how my own experience pales in comparison to what these early evangelists and ministers of our Lord must have experienced. And, in even greater contrast, all their suffering combined, as well as the sufferings of all the saints throughout the ages could never compare to what He bore for us. An abundant life He truly came to offer us, in and through HIM. But first, we must be molded and shaped, tempered in the fires of adversity.

I find so much encouragement in the New Testament, both in the words of our Lord as He instructs us directly and in those of His servants, like the Apostle Paul.

Romans 8:35-39, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Paul understood so well what his suffering would achieve and that it was only temporal. Led by the Holy Spirit, he wrote words of encouragement so passionately to the church at Corinth. In the midst of what must have seemed to most like insurmountable odds, as he and his fellow bearers of the Gospel were persecuted and imprisoned for what they believed, Paul wrote:

2 Corinthians 4:6-18, "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

This is such a moving passage from God's Word. So many times throughout my own life, I have found that the Lord has used a verse or passage in His Word to encourage, instruct and uplift me. And many times, it has been there that I have found the strength to carry on in the midst of my own affliction. My friend, remember today, as you may experience suffering in this world, perhaps due to the judgment and persecution of others, or to illness, or tragic loss- remember the words of a true servant of Christ and God's words of comfort to you and me:

Romans 5:2-5 "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; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." NIV

May the Lord comfort you and uplift you. Stand true to what you have believed and be assured that your labor is not in vain. Cling to the promises in His Holy Word and never give up on the dream that is in your heart!

May God bless you today and guide you in becoming all He created you to be!
Love in Christ, 
Angela Dobbins, Founder

True Life Family Ministries

True Life Strategies- Life Coaching

Welcome!

Welcome to True Living Blog! I'm so glad you stopped by. I'm Angela Dobbins, Christian life coach, facilitator, and founder of True Life Strategies life coaching.

It is my hope that, in the upcoming weeks and months, True Living Blog will become a place where others find both encouragement and inspiration. In addition, I hope it will be a safe and friendly place to exchange thoughts, ideas and insights concerning life's day-to-day circumstances, challenges, and opportunities- especially for those affected by chronic illness, disability, pain, or major loss.

Together, we'll look at life from a Christian perspective with an emphasis on personal growth. I look forward to getting to know you and hope you will come back often. If you would like to become a regular contributor to True Living Blog by posting inspirational material, thoughts and insights, just send me an email. And please feel free to contact me at any time should you have questions or need to "talk". I'm always here to listen and I care. :)

May God bless you abundantly and guide you to becoming all He created you to be!

Angela