Learning the Art of Sacrifice For All Your Problems

By Joy Bickle

Learning the Art of Sacrifice-For All Your Problems You can master the art of living above your circumstances. When you wake up in the morning, trouble is waiting. Life's drama is about to pounce. Have you found yourself wanting to do harm to someone who causes you unbearable grief? Is running away your answer? Are you a "fixer" of problems? Are you hiding from the truth? Do you have fear? Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33, KJV). He also said, "The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundant" (John 10:10, NAS). In order to understand what Jesus said, we need to know we are all like Abraham. We are required to make a journey and sacrifice to God everything we hold dear or any problems we have. A splash of peace and happiness tops our "abundant" life in Christ Jesus, when we go to the mountain with our: Loneliness and failures, Addictions and physical problems, Unsaved family and their issues, Emotional needs and anger, Desires and dreams, Plus, whatever you need to add. Joy digs into Abraham's life, mines the truth of scripture, connects old and new, and finds out why some believers miss what God has for them. Share in her discovery and learn the lost art of sacrifice. It begins when you say, "no more," and head for your Mt. Moriah to find God's will concerning you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 21, 2016
• ISBN: 9781681979779

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Learning the Art of Sacrifice

for All Your Problems

Joy Bickle

ISBN 978-1-68197-976-2 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68197-977-9 (Digital)

Copyright © 2016 by Joy Bickle

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

296 Chestnut Street

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Copyright Page

Introduction

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

About the Author

Introduction

Had God never said, In this world you will have troubles, I believe many of us would breathe a sigh of relief. Everyone has problems of one kind or another, if they are honest. Many of our dilemmas revolve around family, work, our sphere of contacts, and let us not forget, ourselves.

The thought of doing something sinister to rid myself of the dilemmas of life never crossed my mind. But then I heard a voice in the dark say, Offer them as a sacrifice.

No, wait, it was Light telling me, showing me, my need to do the unthinkable. Love will drive you to places you don’t want to go. It felt like an attack, one that I would not recover from in a very long time. What I was thinking is what demented people think. It is what people too hopped-up on drinks or drugs say. But me, I’m sane … aren’t I?

It’s funny how the words of Solomon fit our lives today. There is nothing new under the sun and the directive to sacrifice echoes backward in time to the book of Genesis when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.

Not the same thing, you may be thinking. Aw, but I think it is. We could say the great words many people use to stay in their miseries, that was for then, not now. The greatest thing Abraham had to learn was to trust in God with all he had. Abraham followed the voice of God out of the land of Ur. From the very first moment that he heard God speak to him, Abraham found himself in ever-increasing circumstances where God would show him he could trust him in every situation.

The story of how Abraham took his son Isaac on a journey, when he knew what was going to happen, makes us question what Abraham was thinking. Was it how much he loved God? Did he believe that God would resurrect his son because of God’s promise of descendants through Isaac?

I think he was pondering how much he loved God and, like Job, he decided whatever the cost, he would still love and serve God even if it meant sacrificing his son Isaac.

Before getting any deeper into the unknown, I need a disclaimer. One thing God does not direct us in is killing ourselves or other people to solve our problems. You’re hearing from the wrong god in that case. While the lesson he may wish to teach us will cause us pain, the end result always grows us in our relationship