By John Stallings
……..Thou hast left thy first love….. Rev.2:4
America is indeed the greatest nation ever to exist on this planet & we’re certainly better off than most nations. But scratch the surface, get to the dark underbelly of life in the year of 2009 & what do you see?
Our present spiritual state gives us little to be proud of in God’s eyes. I can’t help but feel sad because of the open, blatant, rampant sin that exists. Its everywhere you look.…in government, in our schools, in the vulgar & profane language, on radio & television, in movies, magazines & in most all of media.
People are bending over backwards to see that God is outlawed from all aspects of our lives. We can’t have Him in our schools; we can’t have Him in our courts, or any public settings. We are frowned upon if we mention God or Jesus except in the barest, slightest whisper & then only in the privacy of our homes. Merry Christmas isn’t “politically correct” & happy holidays is the accepted greeting in many quarters.It’s reminiscent of Jesus’ prediction-
-- And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.—Matt.24:12
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?
For the answer we can go to the front or back of the Bible. Let’s first go close to the front of the Bible, to the book of Judges.
The last verse in the book of Judges is…..In those days there was no king in Israel & every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
I’m not asking this to put you on the spot, but how much do you know about the book of Judges? Most Christians know very little about the book. I would guess that what most of us know about in this book are the stories of Gideon & Samson. Ask yourself how long it’s been since you heard a sermon [other than Samson & Gideon] from the book of Judges.
The reason we know so little about Judges is it’s not an enjoyable read. Judges is a hard book about hard times showing sin in all its repulsiveness. What makes it even more uncomfortable for us is the fact that it mainly deals with wickedness among the people of God. Because God only has one church, His Body, in a very real way the mess in Judges is the mess in our spiritual family tree.
The book of Judges makes not the slightest attempt at cosmetics. It openly & candidly portrays ungodliness among the people of God. We can’t read Judges without being implicated because we too have been unfaithful & unholy. We too have been disobedient & have compromised & can grieve the Holy Spirit therefore reading this book pricks our conscience. Maybe that’s why Judges is neglected.
Just think of how differently the people of God looked a generation earlier than they look in the book of Judges. In Joshua’s time the people followed him in entering into the Promised Land & one enemy after another fell before the army of God. It was a time of unprecedented conquest & privilege. God’s people in those days weren’t perfect but everything pointed to a new era of godliness in Canaan. As soon as Joshua & his generation dies, the people became wicked…….another generation grew up who knew neither God nor what He had done for Israel.
Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord & served Baalim…..Judges 2:10-11
The book of Judges spans a long period of time, about 350 years---from Joshua to Samuel—or a quarter of the Old Testament history. This sheer volume of time is another reason we ignore so much divine revelation at our loss.
We don’t know who wrote Judges but Jewish tradition claims Samuel as the author. It had to be someone who could look back over the whole pre-kingdom period because of the repeated statement—“Israel had no king,” meaning it was written around 1000 B.C, about the time of Saul or David’s early years, in the days of Samuel.
JUDGES TEACHES US GOD’S PEOPLE NEED A LEADER.
Sheep are lost without a Shepherd. Joshua provided great leadership but when he died the tribes became disunited & individuals started to live as they pleased. The leadership of the judges over the next three to four centuries was temporary & partial & as soon as the judges died, the old wickedness started again. Even the best of kings all failed at some point but the whole of the Old Testament is preparing us for the righteous king who was to come, Jesus Christ.
He alone is the Messianic king, the Judge-deliverer, the ultimate Savior, & the Lord of the church. Israel has some glory days. They were led by the likes of Moses, Abraham, Joshua & Samuel but look how low they sank. Reading the book of Judges causes us to ask ourselves where we are now spiritually. We should make sure we’re not living off victories from the past or victories our ancestors had but we should ask ourselves if we have an up-to-date experience with God.
THE LAST THREE CHAPTERS TELL A GRUESOME TALE.
Chapters 19-21 of Judges tell the horrific story of a man who carved up the body of his concubine, a live-in lover into twelve pieces sending the grisly parcels throughout the whole land, one piece to each tribe. The result was civil war, eleven tribes of Israel against one tribe, Benjamin.
I'D LIKE TO TELL YOU A STORY BUT PLEASE FASTEN YOUR SAFETY BELTS!!!
A man & his concubine were traveling toward the city of Jerusalem. It wasn’t such a good plan for it to them was a foreign city. People in those days took a chance going among folk who weren’t their own kind. They stopped at Gibeah, a Benjamite city where they should have been safe.
This night will go down in history as one of the bleakest nights a person’s worst nightmares could conjure up & has to be one of the most terrible stories ever told.
The couple stopped in the city square as was the custom then, in hopes someone would see them & invite them to spend the night with them. If you saw someone in the city square with no place to stay it was common courtesy to invite them back to your place.
People passed by & looked them over but nobody invited them to their house. Finally an old man comes by on his way home from working the fields & invites them to his home.
What happen next is so sickening I can hardly bring myself to write it. You may say, “This is so terrible I don’t want to know any more.” But somehow we need to know, & Israel did too.
The small group was relaxing in the house when a noise was heard outside. They soon realized it was a mob of locals who then started knocking on the door & shouting. They had seen the couple but they weren’t interested in the woman, they demanded the man.
The old man was having none of this so he went outside & rebuked them. This is hard to understand but it was a custom of that day, that the old man had an obligation to the male guest to protect him as best he could. So the old man offered his daughter & the visiting concubine to the men to have sex with.
The mob got more & more demanding & unruly so finally the visiting man took his concubine to the door & threw her out to the ravenous mob. Now hear this; the visiting man who’d thrown his concubine outside went to bed & went to sleep while the blood & sex thirsty mob gang-raped & abused his concubine all night until the sun came up the next morning.When he awoke he went to the door & saw his concubine lying at the door.
We don’t know if she’s dead or alive at this point [I’d sure like to know] but the man puts her on his donkey & goes home. When he gets home, he gets a knife & mutilates his concubine’s body. He actually cuts her in twelve pieces & sends part of her body to all twelves tribes of Israel.
To be honest, the man didn’t have to do any of this. He didn’t have to of his own free will turn his concubine over to the mob & he certainly didn’t have to cut her up & send pieces of her all over the countryside.I’ve always thought Sodom was a low point in Scripture. You can’t get much lower than Sodom but at least at that time the angels intervened & saved Lot & his family. But now, the people of Israel had become Sodom.
Nothing like this had ever happened in Israel & I’m pretty sure it’s never happened since. This is about as terrible as things can possibly get. Sorry, there’s more. When everyone received the part of the girl’s body it shocked them as it should have. Now at least the girl is going to get some “justice.”If you remember Natalie Holloway who died a few years ago, probably at the hands of some oversexed spoiled kids in Aruba, it doesn’t seem like there’ll ever be justice for she & her family.
It’s as though Israel woke up when they got the news, suddenly they roused themselves & said, “What’s going on here? There’s something rotten in Denmark” [Israel.]
ISRAEL ASKED,--WHAT CAN WE DO??
Call me crazy but I believe America is experiencing some horror at the present time but nothing compared to what it will be in a few more months if we don't experience national revival.
This is precisely the question we should be asking in America at the present time if we ever expect to see her again as we have known her.
As I see it, the only thing the current presidency can point to in their six month reign is turning an economic downturn into a financial abyss that will doubtless pass 10 trillion dollars all the while traveling the world telling them--"We no longer call ourselves a Christian nation," & showing his ignorance with his clueless treatment of foreign dignitaries.
Yes, we need to hit our knees in America & quickly.The "Czars" Obama's appointing are nothing less than to do an "end-run" around scrutiny & accountability & if we look close enough we'll see it as tyranny. The one sprig of new grass springing up [ other than the one where we're finally seeing Obama as a shallow, egotistical amateur in over his head] that I see is that Americans are becoming increasingly disenchanted with this "show biz" approach that looks eerily like Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland saying one hot summer, "Hey, I've got an idea, let's put on a "garage play."
BUT LET'S GET BACK TO ISRAEL
Gibeah had no answer for what their citizens had done so all of Israel assembled an army & got their fighting britches on. Keep in mind they were going to war not against a foreign enemy but against one of their own cities. Now a little more pepper gets thrown into the Gumbo because when letters were sent to Gibeah to hand the offenders over, they wouldn’t give them up. Blood is thicker than the right thing, right? Right!
All the Israelites except the Benjamites came together in Mizpah. Several battles were fought, with Israel standing up an army of four-hundred thousand men against Benjamin’s twenty-seven thousand. Israel won & all but 600 of the Benjamites were killed. Justice had been served on the men who did this terrible deed against the innocent concubine.
WHERE DID THINGS GO SO WRONG??
How did Israel get to the point that they were their own worst enemies? Moses had told them they were God’s kingdom of priest’s & they were a holy nation. Was it when they didn’t take the land that the Lord had promised them? Was it when they little by little slid back into the world, eventually becoming just like them?Where did they go wrong? How did God’s people become rotten to the core? Was it the paganism of Gideon, the self-righteousness of Samson, the cowardice of Barak? Was it when they decided that they could be the judge of what was right or wrong?
How do you get to the point in which you don’t show hospitality to your own people, where a Levite throws his concubine to a mob, & we can wipe out an entire tribe?
I don’t know the answer to these questions but I know that several times during the book & at the very last of the book we’re reminded that Israel had no king so people were doing what they thought was right. When you read what was happening in this story you are shocked to realize, this is Israel, God’s people; people who were called to be different from the people around them. Called to be separate & holy, reflecting the character of God.
Moses laid out a path for these people that would lead to blessing but they took a different path. It didn’t look so bad at the time but look where it ultimately took them.
What is the answer? When we read or hear the news now-a-days we say, “This is Judges Stuff.” Will God save us from what we’ve become? The answer for us today is the same answer the people in Judges needed. We need a Savior, a king.
The book of Judges ends on a depressing note. Everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes & God’s people have become rotten to the core. They had sunk as low as you can get.Why was this horrendous story placed last in the book of Judges? Because God wanted to make a point: When God’s people wander from Him, the consequences don’t look bad immediately but if they insist in their rebellion the consequences are worse than we could imagine.
But slowly through Samuel, David, the prophets & ultimately Jesus Christ Himself, God’s light began to penetrate that darkness. The darkness could not extinguish the light God sent into the world.
The end of Judges, the tribe of Benjamin was almost wiped out. Centuries later a descendant of this almost-lost tribe, Saul of Tarsus, became the premier interpreter of the good news of Jesus Christ.
When we disobey & go against God the consequences are horrendous. But God is faithful to keep His word & send a Savior to save His people from their sins.
Lastly, & perhaps the most important thing in this story is the fact that even though the main man threw his concubine to the “wolves,” he did one thing right, [if you can call the mutilating of his concubine right] he sent the pieces of her body to the rest of Israel asking them how they felt about it. Asking them if they felt it needed to be answered with action, & of course it was.
What should we as Christians do when we see our children being spiritually & morally mutilated?
AMERICA MUST AWAKE!
Not only must we stand & be politically active & vote the wrong people out of office & the right ones in, we must also keep it in mind that we need a king & that king is Jesus Christ; a king who was crowned when He hung on the cross,
“This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.”
In His death & resurrection, He breaks the power of sin that entraps us. To not have Jesus as our king is to be like Israel was & do whatever you feel like doing. It would seem today that America has no king & many of its citizens will do whatever they can get away with.
Again, the problem in Judges was that the inhabitants of Israel were God’s people. The message to America today is that we must clean up this mess, return to our first love, stop playing at religion & be real. We must stop worshipping anything else but the God of heaven.
When God was replaced in Israel, all hell broke loose. Such was Israel in the time of Judges & such it will soon become in America because God cannot withhold His judgment if we don’t ;
---return to our First Love.
Blessings,
John
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Hurt Me, Disappointment me, Make me a Disciple!!
By John Stallings
……. when life gets really difficult don’t jump to conclusions that God isn’t on the job. Instead be glad that you’re in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process with glory just around the corner. 1 Peter 4:12—the Message
We find ourselves in a world today that says a suffering life isn’t a worthy life. Consequently we have a reluctance to share our pain & failures with people (especially some religious people) for fear they will judge & condemn us.
Much of this unnecessary bewilderment comes from a false supposition which some base their lives on that we should have no fear, loneliness, confusion or doubt. If we’re not having a “hallelujah jubilee,” “shouting & kicking the plaster off the walls,” we will try to hide it from others. All this in spite of what the apostle Peter told us in the above passage.
The other day while walking the isle of a pharmacy I noticed the pain-killing products sitting on the shelves. The shelves were literally packed with plastic jars of Ibuprofen, Acetaminophen, Aspirin, Anacin, & Aleve. The pills of course come in tablets or caplets which are “less painful” to swallow. You can purchase them in huge jars as many as 500 pills or handy pocket-sized containers of only 8. I saw no package containing one dose of any medicine. Obviously they figure that most people will have a lot of pain. Understand, I’m not a big fan of pain & I’m not against pain meds, these are merely observations.
As I strolled the store I came across another section filled with decongestants so you can “kill-two-pains-with-one –stone.” The different varieties of sinus pills was staggering (no pun intended,-some were of the non-drowsy variety) not to mention expensive. Other shelves contained tubes of “rub-on-pain-relief,” like Ben Gay & Aspergel. Still other shelves contain herbal remedies that promise to end all manner of aches.
Then you have a section of the store for various types of chemical ice-packs & heating pads that promise to soothe our aching muscles. An unbelievable amount of space is taken up with medicines to sooth over-acid & sour stomachs. They even have a new disease today called acid-reflux disease. We used to call it heartburn & indigestion & it was caused by overeating. I have a feeling it still is. There was a section for tooth problems, ear & eye problems; Oh well, I think you get my point & that is the sheer numbers & variety of pain soothers available to us.
These medications are just “over-the-counter” meds & don’t even count the hundreds if not thousands of meds that can be gotten with a doctor’s prescription. Killing pain is big-business in today’s America. We spend billions alleviating our hurts each year. Comfort is important in our society & we are constantly sold the idea that we should be able to live our lives pain free.
WITNESS: HOT-TUB CHRISTIANITY
A hot-tub seems to be a perfect symbol of modern Christianity. In this “comfy society” many preachers preach a comforting “warm-fuzzy” gospel & some people are willing to follow Christ as long as it’s easy to do so. The hot-tub experience is sensuous, relaxing, laid-back & in no way demanding. It’s very, very nice even to the point of being fun. Many want a Christianity that’s pain-free & easy; like a stroll through a Tulip Garden. But pain & suffering isn’t something we pass by on the “buffet table of discipleship” & opt not to put it on the plate of life. Jesus warned us in John 15:20……if the world hates you keep in mind that they hated me first. They persecuted me & they’ll persecute you also.
SUFFERING A SIGN OF SON SHIP
Paul said in Hebrews 11:7-8,---If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he which the father chaseneth not? But if ye be without chastisement whereof all are partakers, then ye are bastards & not sons.
In 2 Cor.11:30--- Paul says, ---If I must needs glory, I will glory in the things which concern mine infirmities.
We’ll all have some valley-time but the reality is that the God of the mountain is also God in the valley. He’s with us in our hour of testing & will give us songs in the night. Maybe you’ve noticed that it’s not on mountain-tops where we learn & grow, but in the valleys.
Many people think the freedoms we have in America are world-wide. But to the contrary, it’s very much a local aberration. The freedom we have in The United States is a phenomenal experiment a little over two hundred years old & even here we’re starting to see religious persecution. Everything except Christianity is taught in our public schools & Bibles can only be handed out in our prisons. It’s become routine during graduation season for high school & college Valedictorians to have their microphones shut off during a prayer or speech mentioning Christ.
Perhaps when you think of persecuted Christians the thought of Nero’s gladiators feeding Christians to hungry lions comes to mind. Yet it’s reported that the 20th Century saw more Christians martyred than all the other centuries combined. Christians are increasingly targeted by governments, other religions, & secularists for harassment, enslavement torture & sometimes death.
All of Christ’s disciples died a martyr’s death except John & he died in exile on the isle of Patmos because of his commitment to Christ. At present Christians are suffering persecution around the world. 150,000 Christians worldwide die for their faith each year. In America today our crosses seem to be of the Balsa-wood variety but even we will suffer for our faith.
HERE ARE A FEW THOUGHTS TO HELP IN OUR TIMES OF TESTING, PAIN & PERSECUTION.
1. Don’t be surprised.
It’s the things that blind-side us & catch us unawares that hurt the most. Peter told us not to think it strange when we were persecuted for the gospel’s sake. Satan will try to tell you that what you’re going through is unique to you & that others haven’t had your testing. Don’t listen to him.
Many people get thrown for a loop when trouble comes because they are never expecting it. When we think of life in general, (not speaking of suffering for Christ,) we must be practical enough to realize that just being alive is a problem. Every seven years or so America’s economy goes through down cycles. Good people get laid off from jobs & this cycle seems never ending. Being on the planet means we’ll grow old (if we’re lucky.) We’ll lose loved ones to death because people get old, sick & die. That’s life, & it greatly helps if we remain realistic in our expectations.
However there’s the persecution that comes to us because we take a stand for Christ. We must remember that cultural acceptance of Christianity is the exception not the rule.
2 Timothy 3:12 says….Everyone who wants to live a Godly life will be persecuted.
When we think of passion we think of a love scene from some movie we saw-& may have changed channels depending on how explicit it was. But when the Bible speaks of passion it is speaking of suffering; Acts 1:3. If you saw the movie “The Passion of Christ” you know what I’m talking about.
Paul’s said in Philippians 3;10-- That I may know Him & the power of His resurrection & the fellowship of His suffering. In following Christ we will not only experience the “power of His resurrection,” we’ll also experience the “fellowship of His suffering.”
Acts 14: 22 says,…..exhorting the disciples to continue in the faith, & that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
2. Don’t miss the meaning of the testing
To suffer for Christ is an honor not a disgrace. James 1:2-3 says, --My brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptation; knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
1 Pet.4:14 says, ---If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye for the spirit & glory of God resteth upon you….
Matthew 5:11 says,--Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteous sake for theirs is the kingdom of God.
Acts 5:41 says,--And they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.
If you haven’t read the above verse lately, go back & read it & let every word sink in. The apostles wouldn’t stop preaching so they were taken by the leaders & made a public spectacle of. They were stripped at least to the waist & beaten like common, wicked criminals. Think what it must have been like to be beaten so badly you would cry out in deep sobs of unimaginable pain. The Bible calls what they went through shame, public shame mixed with awful excruciating pain & notice what the apostles did. They went on their way with their skin hanging in ribbons, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy; not worthy to preach, but worthy to bear the shame & pain of a public flogging.
3. Make sure your suffering isn’t self-inflicted.
If I walk up to someone & hit them & then they punch me in the nose, I can’t go around showing my wound & tell people I got hit for the cause of Christ. No I got hit because of my own stupidity.
If I don’t pay my bills & they come get my car I can’t say I’m suffering for Christ sake. That’s not persecution; it’s just the consequences of bad management.
If people avoid me because I don’t use Scope, that’s not persecution either.
If I am over-bearing & obnoxious with people, always giving someone a piece of my mind & because of that I lose credibility with them, that’s not being persecuted for righteousness.
1 Peter 4:15 says,---But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief or as an evil doer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.
4. Never quit
If you have brain cancer, only 10% of your heart is functioning & you are in a car headed down a thousand foot cliff, we may allow you to give up, but it’s still doubtful because with God all things are possible.
We are clay in the potter’s hands. If we fly off the wheel or of our own will take ourselves out of God’s hands we won’t be molded & shaped into vessels of honor. Certainly we can’t shape ourselves.
1 Peter 4:19 says, --Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing as unto a faithful creator.
No matter how things look if we want to be Christ’s disciples we must keep trusting God. No matter what the results we must keep doing good.
Hebrews 11:24-25 says,---By faith Moses when he was come to years refused to be called the son of pharaohs daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
In Psalm 55:1—David certainly saw persecution for he said,---Give ear to my prayers O God & hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend & hear me I mourn in my complaint & make a noise. Because of the voice of the enemy because of the oppression of the wicked; for they cast iniquity upon me & in wrath they hate me……
5. Remember no trial can separate us from God’s love.
God watches us like a hawk when we are being tested & put under pressure. No matter what we’re called to go through we can know that Christ & His spirit will always be with us.
· The best definition of faith to me is, “Taking God at His word.”
· If He says He loves us, He does.
· If He says He will never leave us, He won’t.
· If He says He can take anything & turn it into something good, He can.
· Do you have faith in Him?
There’s a love song I like that I wish a Christian songwriter had thought of & written as a gospel song. Here are the words;
YOU JUST CALL OUT MY NAME
AND YOU KNOW WHEREVER YOU ARE
I’LL COME RUNNING TO SEE YOU AGAIN
WINTER-SPRING-SUMMER-OR FALL
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS CALL
AND I’LL BE THERE
YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND.
This beautiful love song was written—I believe by Carol King & was made popular by North Carolinian James Taylor.
Jesus said in John 15:15---I have called you friends.
· Aren’t you glad you have a friend like that in Jesus?
· Have you ever felt like you didn’t have a prayer?
· That things were hopeless?
· Isn’t it wonderful to be able to talk to God & know He is listening?
· Isn’t it great to know God is your friend?
· Isn’t it great to know He’s willing & able to help you?
· If God loves us we’re never hopeless-never.
· If He loves us & will help us things will work out for us.
· If God is your friend you can make it through the hard trials.
YOU JUST CALL OUT HIS NAME
AND YOU KNOW WHEREVER YOU ARE
HE’LL COME RUNNING TO SEE YOU AGAIN
WINTER-SPRING-SUMMER-OR FALL
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS CALL
AND HE’LL BE THERE
YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND.
JESUS IS OUR EXAMPLE IN SUFFERING
One of our problems with the temptation of Christ in the wilderness is that we don’t really take it seriously. We have a tendency not to believe He was really in danger out there; that He couldn’t be hurt & couldn’t sin. Nothing could be further from the truth. If that were true His testing would mean absolutely nothing to us. It would be bogus. It may have made a good story but it would mean nothing to us because sin & failure is a real possibility to us. Our struggles aren’t “staged” for effect & neither were Christ’s. To think that His 40 day testing & temptation wasn’t fraught with danger is nonsense. Mark emphasizes that Jesus was “driven into the wilderness.” That doesn’t sound to me like He wanted to go. Mark points out the dangerous places Jesus went, the wild beasts & the desert. The other gospels add texture & reality to His experience.
Hebrews 4:15 says,--For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are; yet without sin.
LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF PAUL
For I am convinced 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.—Romans 8: 38-39
REMEMBER IN YOUR TRIALS THAT JESUS HAS GUARANTEED YOUR VICTORY IF YOU’RE FAITHFUL.
On September 6, 1995, thousands of people in Camden yards baseball stadium stood to their feet to honor Cal Ripken Jr. -- but why? His statistics were not all that exceptional. He played shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles but five of his teammates had higher batting averages that year; three hit more home runs. The crowd cheered Cal because he had set a new record for the most consecutive games played: 2,131. His faithfulness earned him the spontaneous applause of 45,000 people that day lasting 20 minutes. God isn’t impressed by the world’s quantitative definition of success measured by wealth & fame but He is expecting us to be faithful wherever He has placed us. 1 Cor.4:2
2 Timothy 2:12 says,--If we suffer with Him we shall also reign with him. If we deny Him he will deny us. If someone gave you an iron-clad contract & told you if you’d dig ditches in the rain for six months you’d have complete financial freedom for life don’t you think you’d do it? The answer is probably yes. We can endure anything if we know the outcome will be a positive one. God has promised to be faithful to us to the end if we’ll trust Him. That’s what Romans 8:28 is all about.
In Romans 8:18 Paul says,---For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
In Phil.3:8 Paul says,---Yea doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, & do count them but dung that I may win Christ.
SUFFERING CREATES COMFORTERS
2 Cor.1:3-4 says,---Blessed be God even the father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of mercies & the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulations that ye may be able to comfort them which are in trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
I remember when I was a kid my father had many bouts with kidney stones. He would hurt so bad that he’d get down on the floor & roll around groaning & praying. I used to look at him & though I loved him I’d think he must be putting on at least a little. Surely it couldn’t be that terrible. Then when I was 29 I had a kidney stone & was rushed to the hospital. Believe me after that experience I stopped being a critic. If someone wants to get my attention & my heartfelt sympathy all they have to do is mention kidney stones. It took some suffering to turn me into a friend of everyone suffering with stones. Paul also said in Romans 5:3,--……we glory in tribulation also knowing that tribulation worketh patience. If we are to help others one of the things we’ll need most is patience.
NOT JUST CHRISTIANS—DISCIPLES –
As long as I can remember I’ve had something pulling me toward God & earnestly desiring a relationship with Him. I’m nowhere near a finished product & it’s possible that I may have more faults than anyone who reads this. I still have many questions & not nearly enough answers but I’m happy for the desire God placed within me to be, not just a Christian, but a disciple of Christ.
In Mark 1:13 when telling about the testing & temptation of Christ in the wilderness, Mark also tells us,--And the angels ministered to Him. Mark wants us to know that while Jesus was put through real stress & danger, God didn’t abandon Him. And he won’t abandon us in our hour of testing.
1 Peter 1:6-7 seems appropriate here; Wherein ye greatly rejoice though now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise & honor & glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.-------jas.
Blessings,
John
……. when life gets really difficult don’t jump to conclusions that God isn’t on the job. Instead be glad that you’re in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process with glory just around the corner. 1 Peter 4:12—the Message
We find ourselves in a world today that says a suffering life isn’t a worthy life. Consequently we have a reluctance to share our pain & failures with people (especially some religious people) for fear they will judge & condemn us.
Much of this unnecessary bewilderment comes from a false supposition which some base their lives on that we should have no fear, loneliness, confusion or doubt. If we’re not having a “hallelujah jubilee,” “shouting & kicking the plaster off the walls,” we will try to hide it from others. All this in spite of what the apostle Peter told us in the above passage.
The other day while walking the isle of a pharmacy I noticed the pain-killing products sitting on the shelves. The shelves were literally packed with plastic jars of Ibuprofen, Acetaminophen, Aspirin, Anacin, & Aleve. The pills of course come in tablets or caplets which are “less painful” to swallow. You can purchase them in huge jars as many as 500 pills or handy pocket-sized containers of only 8. I saw no package containing one dose of any medicine. Obviously they figure that most people will have a lot of pain. Understand, I’m not a big fan of pain & I’m not against pain meds, these are merely observations.
As I strolled the store I came across another section filled with decongestants so you can “kill-two-pains-with-one –stone.” The different varieties of sinus pills was staggering (no pun intended,-some were of the non-drowsy variety) not to mention expensive. Other shelves contained tubes of “rub-on-pain-relief,” like Ben Gay & Aspergel. Still other shelves contain herbal remedies that promise to end all manner of aches.
Then you have a section of the store for various types of chemical ice-packs & heating pads that promise to soothe our aching muscles. An unbelievable amount of space is taken up with medicines to sooth over-acid & sour stomachs. They even have a new disease today called acid-reflux disease. We used to call it heartburn & indigestion & it was caused by overeating. I have a feeling it still is. There was a section for tooth problems, ear & eye problems; Oh well, I think you get my point & that is the sheer numbers & variety of pain soothers available to us.
These medications are just “over-the-counter” meds & don’t even count the hundreds if not thousands of meds that can be gotten with a doctor’s prescription. Killing pain is big-business in today’s America. We spend billions alleviating our hurts each year. Comfort is important in our society & we are constantly sold the idea that we should be able to live our lives pain free.
WITNESS: HOT-TUB CHRISTIANITY
A hot-tub seems to be a perfect symbol of modern Christianity. In this “comfy society” many preachers preach a comforting “warm-fuzzy” gospel & some people are willing to follow Christ as long as it’s easy to do so. The hot-tub experience is sensuous, relaxing, laid-back & in no way demanding. It’s very, very nice even to the point of being fun. Many want a Christianity that’s pain-free & easy; like a stroll through a Tulip Garden. But pain & suffering isn’t something we pass by on the “buffet table of discipleship” & opt not to put it on the plate of life. Jesus warned us in John 15:20……if the world hates you keep in mind that they hated me first. They persecuted me & they’ll persecute you also.
SUFFERING A SIGN OF SON SHIP
Paul said in Hebrews 11:7-8,---If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he which the father chaseneth not? But if ye be without chastisement whereof all are partakers, then ye are bastards & not sons.
In 2 Cor.11:30--- Paul says, ---If I must needs glory, I will glory in the things which concern mine infirmities.
We’ll all have some valley-time but the reality is that the God of the mountain is also God in the valley. He’s with us in our hour of testing & will give us songs in the night. Maybe you’ve noticed that it’s not on mountain-tops where we learn & grow, but in the valleys.
Many people think the freedoms we have in America are world-wide. But to the contrary, it’s very much a local aberration. The freedom we have in The United States is a phenomenal experiment a little over two hundred years old & even here we’re starting to see religious persecution. Everything except Christianity is taught in our public schools & Bibles can only be handed out in our prisons. It’s become routine during graduation season for high school & college Valedictorians to have their microphones shut off during a prayer or speech mentioning Christ.
Perhaps when you think of persecuted Christians the thought of Nero’s gladiators feeding Christians to hungry lions comes to mind. Yet it’s reported that the 20th Century saw more Christians martyred than all the other centuries combined. Christians are increasingly targeted by governments, other religions, & secularists for harassment, enslavement torture & sometimes death.
All of Christ’s disciples died a martyr’s death except John & he died in exile on the isle of Patmos because of his commitment to Christ. At present Christians are suffering persecution around the world. 150,000 Christians worldwide die for their faith each year. In America today our crosses seem to be of the Balsa-wood variety but even we will suffer for our faith.
HERE ARE A FEW THOUGHTS TO HELP IN OUR TIMES OF TESTING, PAIN & PERSECUTION.
1. Don’t be surprised.
It’s the things that blind-side us & catch us unawares that hurt the most. Peter told us not to think it strange when we were persecuted for the gospel’s sake. Satan will try to tell you that what you’re going through is unique to you & that others haven’t had your testing. Don’t listen to him.
Many people get thrown for a loop when trouble comes because they are never expecting it. When we think of life in general, (not speaking of suffering for Christ,) we must be practical enough to realize that just being alive is a problem. Every seven years or so America’s economy goes through down cycles. Good people get laid off from jobs & this cycle seems never ending. Being on the planet means we’ll grow old (if we’re lucky.) We’ll lose loved ones to death because people get old, sick & die. That’s life, & it greatly helps if we remain realistic in our expectations.
However there’s the persecution that comes to us because we take a stand for Christ. We must remember that cultural acceptance of Christianity is the exception not the rule.
2 Timothy 3:12 says….Everyone who wants to live a Godly life will be persecuted.
When we think of passion we think of a love scene from some movie we saw-& may have changed channels depending on how explicit it was. But when the Bible speaks of passion it is speaking of suffering; Acts 1:3. If you saw the movie “The Passion of Christ” you know what I’m talking about.
Paul’s said in Philippians 3;10-- That I may know Him & the power of His resurrection & the fellowship of His suffering. In following Christ we will not only experience the “power of His resurrection,” we’ll also experience the “fellowship of His suffering.”
Acts 14: 22 says,…..exhorting the disciples to continue in the faith, & that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
2. Don’t miss the meaning of the testing
To suffer for Christ is an honor not a disgrace. James 1:2-3 says, --My brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptation; knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
1 Pet.4:14 says, ---If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye for the spirit & glory of God resteth upon you….
Matthew 5:11 says,--Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteous sake for theirs is the kingdom of God.
Acts 5:41 says,--And they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.
If you haven’t read the above verse lately, go back & read it & let every word sink in. The apostles wouldn’t stop preaching so they were taken by the leaders & made a public spectacle of. They were stripped at least to the waist & beaten like common, wicked criminals. Think what it must have been like to be beaten so badly you would cry out in deep sobs of unimaginable pain. The Bible calls what they went through shame, public shame mixed with awful excruciating pain & notice what the apostles did. They went on their way with their skin hanging in ribbons, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy; not worthy to preach, but worthy to bear the shame & pain of a public flogging.
3. Make sure your suffering isn’t self-inflicted.
If I walk up to someone & hit them & then they punch me in the nose, I can’t go around showing my wound & tell people I got hit for the cause of Christ. No I got hit because of my own stupidity.
If I don’t pay my bills & they come get my car I can’t say I’m suffering for Christ sake. That’s not persecution; it’s just the consequences of bad management.
If people avoid me because I don’t use Scope, that’s not persecution either.
If I am over-bearing & obnoxious with people, always giving someone a piece of my mind & because of that I lose credibility with them, that’s not being persecuted for righteousness.
1 Peter 4:15 says,---But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief or as an evil doer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.
4. Never quit
If you have brain cancer, only 10% of your heart is functioning & you are in a car headed down a thousand foot cliff, we may allow you to give up, but it’s still doubtful because with God all things are possible.
We are clay in the potter’s hands. If we fly off the wheel or of our own will take ourselves out of God’s hands we won’t be molded & shaped into vessels of honor. Certainly we can’t shape ourselves.
1 Peter 4:19 says, --Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing as unto a faithful creator.
No matter how things look if we want to be Christ’s disciples we must keep trusting God. No matter what the results we must keep doing good.
Hebrews 11:24-25 says,---By faith Moses when he was come to years refused to be called the son of pharaohs daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
In Psalm 55:1—David certainly saw persecution for he said,---Give ear to my prayers O God & hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend & hear me I mourn in my complaint & make a noise. Because of the voice of the enemy because of the oppression of the wicked; for they cast iniquity upon me & in wrath they hate me……
5. Remember no trial can separate us from God’s love.
God watches us like a hawk when we are being tested & put under pressure. No matter what we’re called to go through we can know that Christ & His spirit will always be with us.
· The best definition of faith to me is, “Taking God at His word.”
· If He says He loves us, He does.
· If He says He will never leave us, He won’t.
· If He says He can take anything & turn it into something good, He can.
· Do you have faith in Him?
There’s a love song I like that I wish a Christian songwriter had thought of & written as a gospel song. Here are the words;
YOU JUST CALL OUT MY NAME
AND YOU KNOW WHEREVER YOU ARE
I’LL COME RUNNING TO SEE YOU AGAIN
WINTER-SPRING-SUMMER-OR FALL
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS CALL
AND I’LL BE THERE
YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND.
This beautiful love song was written—I believe by Carol King & was made popular by North Carolinian James Taylor.
Jesus said in John 15:15---I have called you friends.
· Aren’t you glad you have a friend like that in Jesus?
· Have you ever felt like you didn’t have a prayer?
· That things were hopeless?
· Isn’t it wonderful to be able to talk to God & know He is listening?
· Isn’t it great to know God is your friend?
· Isn’t it great to know He’s willing & able to help you?
· If God loves us we’re never hopeless-never.
· If He loves us & will help us things will work out for us.
· If God is your friend you can make it through the hard trials.
YOU JUST CALL OUT HIS NAME
AND YOU KNOW WHEREVER YOU ARE
HE’LL COME RUNNING TO SEE YOU AGAIN
WINTER-SPRING-SUMMER-OR FALL
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS CALL
AND HE’LL BE THERE
YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND.
JESUS IS OUR EXAMPLE IN SUFFERING
One of our problems with the temptation of Christ in the wilderness is that we don’t really take it seriously. We have a tendency not to believe He was really in danger out there; that He couldn’t be hurt & couldn’t sin. Nothing could be further from the truth. If that were true His testing would mean absolutely nothing to us. It would be bogus. It may have made a good story but it would mean nothing to us because sin & failure is a real possibility to us. Our struggles aren’t “staged” for effect & neither were Christ’s. To think that His 40 day testing & temptation wasn’t fraught with danger is nonsense. Mark emphasizes that Jesus was “driven into the wilderness.” That doesn’t sound to me like He wanted to go. Mark points out the dangerous places Jesus went, the wild beasts & the desert. The other gospels add texture & reality to His experience.
Hebrews 4:15 says,--For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are; yet without sin.
LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF PAUL
For I am convinced 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.—Romans 8: 38-39
REMEMBER IN YOUR TRIALS THAT JESUS HAS GUARANTEED YOUR VICTORY IF YOU’RE FAITHFUL.
On September 6, 1995, thousands of people in Camden yards baseball stadium stood to their feet to honor Cal Ripken Jr. -- but why? His statistics were not all that exceptional. He played shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles but five of his teammates had higher batting averages that year; three hit more home runs. The crowd cheered Cal because he had set a new record for the most consecutive games played: 2,131. His faithfulness earned him the spontaneous applause of 45,000 people that day lasting 20 minutes. God isn’t impressed by the world’s quantitative definition of success measured by wealth & fame but He is expecting us to be faithful wherever He has placed us. 1 Cor.4:2
2 Timothy 2:12 says,--If we suffer with Him we shall also reign with him. If we deny Him he will deny us. If someone gave you an iron-clad contract & told you if you’d dig ditches in the rain for six months you’d have complete financial freedom for life don’t you think you’d do it? The answer is probably yes. We can endure anything if we know the outcome will be a positive one. God has promised to be faithful to us to the end if we’ll trust Him. That’s what Romans 8:28 is all about.
In Romans 8:18 Paul says,---For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
In Phil.3:8 Paul says,---Yea doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, & do count them but dung that I may win Christ.
SUFFERING CREATES COMFORTERS
2 Cor.1:3-4 says,---Blessed be God even the father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of mercies & the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulations that ye may be able to comfort them which are in trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
I remember when I was a kid my father had many bouts with kidney stones. He would hurt so bad that he’d get down on the floor & roll around groaning & praying. I used to look at him & though I loved him I’d think he must be putting on at least a little. Surely it couldn’t be that terrible. Then when I was 29 I had a kidney stone & was rushed to the hospital. Believe me after that experience I stopped being a critic. If someone wants to get my attention & my heartfelt sympathy all they have to do is mention kidney stones. It took some suffering to turn me into a friend of everyone suffering with stones. Paul also said in Romans 5:3,--……we glory in tribulation also knowing that tribulation worketh patience. If we are to help others one of the things we’ll need most is patience.
NOT JUST CHRISTIANS—DISCIPLES –
As long as I can remember I’ve had something pulling me toward God & earnestly desiring a relationship with Him. I’m nowhere near a finished product & it’s possible that I may have more faults than anyone who reads this. I still have many questions & not nearly enough answers but I’m happy for the desire God placed within me to be, not just a Christian, but a disciple of Christ.
In Mark 1:13 when telling about the testing & temptation of Christ in the wilderness, Mark also tells us,--And the angels ministered to Him. Mark wants us to know that while Jesus was put through real stress & danger, God didn’t abandon Him. And he won’t abandon us in our hour of testing.
1 Peter 1:6-7 seems appropriate here; Wherein ye greatly rejoice though now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise & honor & glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.-------jas.
Blessings,
John
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