To View the Video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mJp7ObkHIBo
SHOW NOTES
Welcome to a new week of the Hope Rescue Podcast. This week we are continuing our series on the topic of suffering in the Christian life.
We will do almost anything to avoid suffering in our lives. None of us are seeking out suffering, and when it arrives on our doorsteps we commonly ask God to remove the pain and inconvenience from our lives. What if instead of praying for relief, we prayed for patience, understanding, and strength? What if instead of complaining about our suffering, we focused on learning from our suffering?
When was the last time you truly suffered for the name of Jesus Christ? Christians all over the world are suffering for their faith in Jesus, but in America we don’t experience true suffering for our faith. It’s not common in America to be truly persecuted for our faith in Jesus.
Suffering should be expected in the Christian life. If we stand for Christ, we are going to suffer in some way. Second Timothy 3:12 says, "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." What does it mean to live a godly life? Living a godly life is to be obsessed with the presence of God. Are you willing to take a stand for the truth in God’s Word?
Philippians 1:29-30 says, "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.” Are you willing to be rejected for Christ?
Acceptance of suffering is a part of the Christian life. First Peter 4:1-2 says, "Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.”
First Peter 4:14 says, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”
Fiery trials should not be a foreign concept to Christians; we should expect them and be used to them. God can use trials to test us, and we should rejoice that the Lord would see us worth the trials and discipline.
If God can create and sustain everything, surely He can take you through the suffering in your life.
