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  PRESSING FORWARD
  by Charles E. Cowman
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Summary: Trials and hard places are necessary to press us forward,
refine us, and help us value life and understand the trials of others.

Topics: "Trials And Tribulation", "Faith And Suffering"
Scripture References: Romans 5:3, 2 Corinthians 1:8, 2 Corinthians 4:8, James 1:2, 1 Peter 4:12

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DESCRIPTION
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Charles E. Cowman preaches about the transformative power of pressure
and trials in our lives, emphasizing how these difficult experiences
lead us to rely not on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He
highlights that through intense pressure in various aspects of our
being, we are pressed into knowing and loving God more deeply, into
faith for impossible things, and into living a life poured out for
Christ. Cowman explains that the pressure of hard places helps us value
life, understand the trials of others, and become more compassionate
individuals who truly grasp the meaning of suffering.

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CONTENT
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"I was crushed...so much so that I despaired even of life, but that was
to make me rely not on myself, but on the God who raises the dead" (2
Cor. 1:8, 9).

"Pressed out of measure and pressed to all length;

Pressed so intensely it seems, beyond strength;

Pressed in the body and pressed in the soul,

Pressed in the mind till the dark surges roll.

Pressure by foes, and a pressure from friends.

Pressure on pressure, till life nearly ends.

"Pressed into knowing no helper but God;

Pressed into loving the staff and the rod.

Pressed into liberty where nothing clings;

Pressed into faith for impossible things.

Pressed into living a life in the Lord,

Pressed into living a Christ-life outpoured."

The pressure of hard places makes us value life. Every time our life is
given back to us from such a trial, it is like a new beginning, and we
learn better how much it is worth, and make more of it for God and man.
The pressure helps us to understand the trials of others, and fits us to
help and sympathize with them.

There is a shallow, superficial nature, that gets hold of a theory or a
promise lightly, and talks very glibly about the distrust of those who
shrink from every trial; but the man or woman who has suffered much
never does this, but is very tender and gentle, and knows what suffering
really means. This is what Paul meant when he said, "Death worketh in
you."

Trials and hard places are needed to press us forward, even as the
furnace fires in the hold of that mighty ship give force that moves the
piston, drives the engine, and propels that great vessel across the sea
in the face of the winds and waves. --A. B. Simpson

"Out of the presses of pain,

Cometh the soul's best wine;

And the eyes that have shed no rain,

Can shed but little shine."

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/charles-e-cowman/pressing-forward/
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