UNDERSTANDING THE CROSS 3 Are you nailed to your cross? Or do you pick it up occasionally and carry it as far as you want, until it is uncomfortable and then lay it down? You may be missing what God wants to work in your life by choosing not to suffer for Christ. “But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings… if you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified” (1 Peter 4:13-14). True Christianity is sacrifice, a dying to ones self so we can have fellowship with God now, which is our spiritual blessing. But we will be rewarded later on for how we persevered through the testing of our trials today. How we face them and go through them will have bearing on our eternal life later on in heaven. Rom 8:18: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Suffering for Christ was counted as a privilege by the apostles. Maybe you are someone who has been told that suffering is from the devil and there is no benefit to trials. That God is always going to bless and if your not receiving your share then you are not walking in faith. This is not what Jesus and the apostles taught. What is the faith that was delivered once to all the saints? It is a faith that can be tested, one that becomes strengthened through trials. They may be physical, they may be emotional, they may be spiritual. . If there is no testing there is no growth! Tests are to prove our faith. It is the proof of being a genuine Christian. “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us ”(Rom. 5:3-5). Jesus said while we are in this world we will all experience tribulation, but only a Christian has trials to prove his faith. In Hebrews 11 we read how the faithful lived in the world. Everyone gave up something and suffered for God so He was able to use them. Hebrews 11:36-40: “Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented--of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.” Jesus is our ultimate example who gives strength to the weary and comforts the comfortless: “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin” (Hebrews 12:3-4). Another good example is in Daniel 3:16-18 where three Jewish men in Babylonian captivity refused to bow down to the golden statue of the then-world ruler Nebuchadnezzar. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your Gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” But Scripture calls our testimony through the sufferings of Christ “ the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Philippians 3:10). There are many today that have bowed to a golden image and would not last a minute in the fire of testing nor be willing to go there. Because they have been taught that it is the Devil that will test them and God is not involved. But Scripture calls in our testimony through the sufferings of Christ, “ the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Phil. 3:10). Dan. 3:23-25 As they were brought to the flames the men who stoked them died. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” These three men became witnesses to an unbeliever through their trial and He saw the Son of God with them. Nebuchadnezzar then blessed the God of these three brave Jews because of the outcome of their uncompromising dedication. In Daniel 3:23-25 when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were brought to the flames, the men who stoked them died from the heat. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” They chose to burn instead of turn [to other gods]. They had faith, not the presumption that they would not die (v.17). They were willing to accept death, but God spared them because they already considered their lives as dead. These three men became witnesses to the unbelieving king through their trial, as He saw the Son of God in the fire with them. Nebuchadnezzar then blessed the God of these three brave Jews. Because of the outcome of their uncompromising dedication, they were promoted and God was exalted. The miraculous happened because they were willing to suffer for God even if it meant death.- L.U.R.M
Posted on: Sun, 21 Jul 2013 05:08:20 +0000
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