Suffering

As I was praying this morning a song came,

You are glorious Lord, and I'll share in your suffering. And I'll bear your shame O God, for you are glorious.

There are times as I sit in service and hear the people shout and clap, that I think to myself, They hear but they do not hear. Most of God's people must not pray or really read His Word. I laugh when I hear people shouting whenever some one preaches about going from glory to glory. They either don't know or forget that suffering and death precede glory. So yes, the victorious will indeed go from glory to glory but they're going to endure alot of pain on the trip.

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket. I love the exuberance and the prophetic Words and the call to go higher. I just think that the majority of God's people are like the Jews on Palm Sunday. They love the triumphant march, the songs, and the atmosphere but they really don't know, or understand the mission of Jesus Christ. He was born to die that others might live. He expects us to do the same.

When Jesus told us to come and follow Him He didn't mean for us to simply accompany Him on His journey as a spectator, but to be as He is. He said if we would not be willing to lay down our lives and pick up the cross we couldn't be His disciples. If we would not allow ourselves to be nailed to that cross, endure it's shame and pain, and finally die on it, daily, we could not be called His children.

Satan's doctrine is spreading through out the church. It says you can be a Christian without being a disciple of Christ. It lulls those that call themselves by His name into false hope and security by promising painless salvation. It declares that the cross is only for the really dedicated and hyper-spiritual. It soothes the flesh that only special Christians are called to that kind of life, but it's not for everyone. You don't have to be that radical to be saved, you're not Jesus you know. This is the lie that keeps God's people running after the comfort of this world...running from the suffering of this present life, into eternal suffering and torment in hell.

Please understand, having your lights turned off because you spent your electric bill money foolishly is not suffering, neither is enduring the shame of pregnancy apart from wedlock. The hardship we endure from bad decisions, or sin, is simply reaping the consequences of what we've sown.

True suffering is the loss, persecution, or trials one experiences from being obedient to God. Biblical suffering often causes those we love to suffer as well, through no fault of their own. Suffering comes to all who will live Godly...to all who refuse to compromise their faith for the sake of comfort or popularity.

The servant will never be greater than the Master. Jesus set the example. We are to walk in His footprints and drink from the same cup.

Suffering is not a part of the Christian life, it is the Christian life.

It is the Jesus life.

I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.

Phil 3:10 The Message

Stay in prayer and in the Word.

Love in our Lord,
Lauren