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

I Jacob

God Evening Family,

As I consider God's hand on my life I find myself asking...why.

I am impatient and demanding. I am controlling and have been told I am bossy. I hate waiting on God and it took me 14 years to start learning to trust Him. I lean towards bullying and manipulation when I'm trying to accomplish a goal and people are being people. When I want something I pursue it until it's mine or I'm thoroughly convinced it's unattainable. Deceitfulness is a shameful habit I'm ruthlessly crushing beneath my feet.

Despite my flaws I love the things of God. Despite my flaws God loves that about me.


I am Jacob.

I am a dichotomy of contradiction.

I long to see men of God rise up and violently take the kingdom by force. I pray and fast that men would break free from this world, from their own minds, and take dominion. I dream of the day when men will be men and a real man is not an exception. Like Jacob, however, I may be one who sits by the fire cooking stew, but if the opportunity presents itself I will take Esau's birthright.

You O man, by birth, should be leading the kingdom as it advances in this world. What a day of rejoicing that would be to see men lead their families in worship, in prayer, in sacrifice, labor, and destiny. But do not think that I sit idly back waiting for that day as I tend to my children and clean my house. I'm spending time in prayer, in the Word, and His Spirit is speaking to me. I'm being discipled by passionate men and women while you push your teachers into a corner. I'm crying out for more of Him and the grace to keep His Word while you're praying for more money. God is enlarging me, preparing me, transforming me while you are obsessing over basketball and football scores.

I covet your blessing. I grind my teeth in anger as you despise what God has freely given. I am dumbfounded as God offers you platforms to preach the gospel and you just turn away in disinterest or fear. Your apathy towards the things of God...towards God Himself renders me speechless.

I am no feminist. I have learned to appreciate being what God has made me. I enjoy tending my home and raising my children. I would be content to cheer for your victories, O man, from the sidelines of my home. I would be happy to just be an average wife and mother while you conquer the world.

But something is brewing in me. A desire that is increasing daily. Guard your heart man. If you don't want your birthright I do. If the blessing of God means nothing to you I'll slip in while you're pursing the world and take it. You may question my method but God will love me all the more for it.

I am Jacob.

I am becoming Israel.

Who are you?

As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Rom 9:13

Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Hebrews 12:16-17 (King James Version)

Stay in prayer and in the Word,

Love in our Lord,

Lauren