God of all Grace

 1 Peter 5:10
But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

It is God, and God alone, by His grace, that we are made children of God. In our humanity we are weak and incapable of living a life that is perfect, a life that is able to overcome the attacks of Satan as he seeks to destroy our faith and standing with God. Suffering comes with the territory of trying to live a godly life. But, through it, we are made stronger and become rooted and grounded in Christ. Peter says that the God of all grace is able to make us perfect. The word "perfect" is translated from Greek to mean “equip or adjust us.” In our humanity we are not equipped to handle the trails that we must face. God is refining our faith as we go through suffering and hard times. His purpose is to make us strong in the face of adversity. His desire is that we become established in Christ at a place where we don’t have to fear Satan and his attacks. We can trust and have faith in Christ to resist the temptations that we face in our lives each day. Temptation to put our trust in the flesh, temptation to cast our faith away, and think that God does not care about our situation, our suffering. He is the God of all grace, and we can believe He is able to do all that He has promised to do for His glory and our good.

Nailed to the Cross

 Col 2:14
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.

We are at the end of passion week. Jesus is living out his final few days on earth. Life on earth is about to enter a new age. Today, over 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. He has suffered humiliation and shame and now hangs on a cross, a spear is thrust into His body, and His blood is spilled for you and me. On the cross, the nails that were hammered into His hands and feet, blotting out the law that condemned us to eternal damnation. The fountain of blood providing eternal life is open for all who will plunge in and be made clean from sin. For all the good reasons that Christ came to earth, this was His ultimate mission. He suffered on the cross to provide salvation, and to give us an example of what it means to give it all to the Father, and follow His steps. As follows of Jesus Christ, He tells us to pick up our cross and follow Him. He did not promise that the journey would be easy. In fact, He said that it would be one of suffering. On this good Friday, we thank God that His Son came to be nailed to a cross and die for our sin and give eternal life. Give Him glory for all He has done, for today, salvation has come.

Forsaken, but not Forgotten

Psalm 22:1,3 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me.. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel.

Forsaken, but not forgotten. I have never experiences multiple tragedies at one time. But I can imagine those who lose everything in life they love and cherish wondering where God is. “Why have you forsaken me?” are the spoken words cried out in anguish. The heart cries out for answers to know why. I don’t pretend to know all the reasons why God allows some people to go through such unfortunate events in life. I asked myself, “What would I do?” There is reason to be cast down and try to seek answers. It is within our human nature and emotional makeup to cry out and to question.  Like Job and David we seek to find the answers. In the end, it is not necessary that we know why, but it necessary that we know the one who is sovereign and know the beginning to the end. We rest in the glory of God that He knows what is best and trust that His will be done. This is not a cop out for all the suffering people endure, but a reality that we are finite and God is infinite and will do what is right.

Trails and Afflictions

1 Peter 5:10 The God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.

Becoming a saint or a godly Christian come only through trails and afflictions. It is God’s desire that all that serve Him be made perfect in the image of His Son. Not perfect in our humanity, but made perfect in our love to Him and others. His goal is to establish us to a place that we know where we stand and our faith is   able to detect deception from Satan. We are made strong to withstand the fiery darts of the enemy. When all hell breaks loose in our lives, we settled the question long ago. No matter what happens, I believe in a God who cares and is able to take us through.

Pay It Forward

Matt. 25:40 Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

In American, there are many people who are willing to give their resources when tragedy hits. Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and a number of unfortunate events. In general, people don’t like to see people suffer, knowing that life’s circumstances could turn on them. I believe God is pleased when people are willing to reach out and help when these things happen. The teaching of Jesus, take this a step further. Willingness to give one self is more that just dropping money in the plate for the starving children in the world. The concept of “paying it forward” is based in part from the words of Christ. It is not just a one time act of giving, but a life style of sacrifice. Looking for opportunities to lift the burden, reaching out to those less fortunate. Showing acts of kindness done in the name of Jesus. We live in a selfish world, where taking care of self is promoted. Living a life pleasing to God and having JOY in life means to put Jesus first, Others second, and You last. In everything you do, do to the glory of God. 

Suffering

2 Corinth 1:7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

To suffer, means to experience pain and loss. The pain may be physical, emotional, or even mental. The loss may be due to evil demised, unfortunate events, or the death of a loved one. Christian are not exempt from suffering. Sin has scared this world of all that his pure and good. The consolation of Christian is that God give the grace help us endure the suffering we bare. And through suffering we are able to emphasized with those who also suffer, and give them comfort. When bad things (suffering) happen to good people, it is an opportunity for lovers of God to show forth God’s love and goodness. God is good and He does all things in His time and for His purpose. Like Job, who am I to question the almighty and His ways. Accepting suffering is not easy, but it is what God desires. Yes, we are encourage to ask God to relieve us of our suffering, and He is able. But, ultimately, like the 3 Hebrew children that were thrown into the fiery furnace. It it be God’s will, He can and will bring us through our suffering. 

Finding Life

Matt 10:39 “ He that findeth his life, shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for My sake, shall find it.”-

Looking into the mirror of God’s Word often shows us truth that reveals the true nature of our heart. God’s Word is full of promises of grace and forgiveness. We like reading how His grace can help us through difficult times and how His love for us is unending. The truth of these word gives each one of us comfort and help to carry on. But, God’s Word is also piercing and is able to reveal things in our lives that need to be changed. To make these changes, most often will require that we put our own desires and wants on the shelf and give up our rights so that someone else can be served or helped. Life in Christ is not all about the joy of having sins forgiven. Losing our life for the sake of Christ will be seen in the way we put others first, by the sacrifices we make to give up our own pleasures and comforts to show God’s love to those around us. Love and forgiveness is not a one way street. As we receive, we are to give out. Finding life starts by denying ourselves. picking up the cross of Christ and following Him in the way of suffering. 

Suffering

Philippians 1:29 “For unto you it is given on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,”-

Holiness is more that just believing in Him, it is being willing to suffer for the sake of Christ. Called unto holiness goes beyond a work of initial surrender and having the Holy Spirit abide. Such an act of the will and faith to believe that the Holy Spirit can remove self from the throne of the heart and put Christ on the throne is essential to living a victorious Christian life. But, the daily walk with God requires  us to daily submit to His will and always be ready to follow where He leads. We live by faith and walk in faith that He will empower us to do His will. Suffering for Christ is being willing to go through circumstances that may be unpleasant, and situations that may be painful and uncomfortable. Suffering is a foreign experience to most of us that live comfortable lives. Most of us are not acquainted with persecution for our faith. We may face some ridicule from the world for our faith, but we in a society that people can believe whatever they want. There may come a day that our faith may put us in opposition to laws made by sinful men, and that day may be given unto us soon. When it does, we must take our stand for Christ in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the Gospel.

The Will of God

Matt. 26:39 And He went a little farther, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”-

Accepting the will of God is not always easy. Doing what is right can sometime bring about consequences that are unpleasant. We struggle with knowing what the will of God is for our life and for life’s situations. Our human reactions to life’s circumstances is to minimize the hurt or discomfort. We avoid anything that causes pain or suffering. We will go out of our way if we know the way will be hard. It is human nature, but our spirit is not subject to the flesh, but is submitting to that which is spiritual. The natural man will find the way of least resistance, the spiritual man will find the will of God and pursue it. The pursuit may lead to difficult times and suffering, but doing the will of God is to know God and to identify with Him. 

No More Tears

Rev. 21: 4 “ And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away”-

It will happen one of these days. A day will come where there will be no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain. The suffering that is so common on this earthly journey will someday pass away and will not be remembered. Oh, what a day that will be! We live today with many heartaches and sorrows, sin has put it’s mark on this world, it has caused many to weep and pray that it would all soon come to an end. Even as Christian, we face times where tears flow without end. We are comforted to know that Jesus is near and He will take us through those difficult times. But, there is coming a day when the these things that happen will be wiped away, we will no longer experience sorrow, pain, or death. A new heaven will be ours and we will forever love and praise for all eternity. 

The Suffering Savior

Isaiah 53: 1-12

God, who loved this world, was willing to let His son come to earth and take on the form of man. Knowing that His son would suffer a cruel death on a rugged cross, God the Father released His son into the hands of cruel and hateful men. In spite of their hatred, Christ laid His life down to suffer and die for sinful man. The Suffering Christ made it possible for you and me to be reconciled and redeemed. It was through his suffering that we our made whole, whereby we cry “Abba Father”

Report of a Savior- Who hath believed our report

• By Faith they looked for the day to come
• That God would send His son to take away our sins

Reaching Arms of God- arm of the Lord revealed

• He will make Himself know to those who believe
• God’s arm will reach around the world- Salvation for all

Root in the desert- root out of dry land

• Royal line of David was buried
• His physical appearance was common
• His beauty was within- tender plant

Rejected & Despised of Men – He was despised and rejected

• He was hated of men and dismissed as a mere carpenter
• A man who identified with suffering
• Who is will to take up his cross and follow?

Redeemed Through His Blood with His strips we our healed

• Wounded for our committed sins
• Bruised for our sin nature- we were born in iniquity

• God laid on Him all of our sin(s)

Repudiated by His Own – He was afflicted, lamb to slaughter

• They led Him to the cross, as lamb is led for sacrifice
• He laid down His life willing
• Forsaken by all- cut off from the living

Righteous Servant-righteous servant justify many

• Fulfilled the will of Jehovah
• He who knew no sin, became sin for us
• More than just physical suffering

Risk All for the World- he bares the sin of many

• Poured out his soul unto death

• Numbered with the transgressors
• Interceded for sinful man