Week One - Observation 4

It's Monday evening - and I'm glad to be back with you after the weekend!  Do weekends even seem like weekends any more?  For me they don't!  Every day seems to roll into the next, fairly indistinguishable from the one before.  Sundays are still marked by mornings of worship - but Robert and I are still worshiping at home, which is not the same as being with a body of believers, hearing voices raised together, praising our God!  I'm missing my congregation and it's hard when we just don't know when we'll get to return to that beautiful setting!  Thank goodness we do have access to services via television and internet, and we always have access to God's Word - let's not ever take either of those wonderful gifts for granted!

Thanks SO MUCH to those of you who have commented on the previous entries!  I LOVE being able to hear your thoughts and comments.  It makes this so much more meaningful to me.  Keep them coming.  If you have trouble posting on the blog, just comment on FB posting or via e-mail at janicehodges1356@gmail.com.  I'm copying all to the blog so we can keep them together to look back on.  I just love the fact that there is a group of us "coming together" and studying God's Word in this difficult time we find ourselves in.  For anyone who would care to, let us know via any form of comment what is particularly "difficult" for you right now - whatever it is - we all have different things going on that may be causing us difficulty.

Our question to consider this week:

"Once we entrust our lives to God, are we exempt from the pain and difficulties of life?  Does our relationship with Him provide protection against suffering?"

Our first passage to memorize:

Philippians 1:29  "For it has been given to you on Christ's behalf not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him.   Are you memorizing this verse?  It's one I think that is important for us to have hidden - and we're going to dig into it today!

OBSERVATION 4

Philippians 1:29-30 - "For it has been given to you on Christ's behalf not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him, having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear about me."

2 Timothy 3:12 - "In fact, all those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

OK - these two sets of verses really humble me.  I do not believe I have suffered persecution.  Where does that leave me as a person who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus?  Have I been insincere in my desire to truly follow Jesus?  If I were more sincere would I have suffered, or would I currently be suffering for Him?  Have I turned away from situations where I may have needed to take a stronger stand because I feared being persecuted in some way?

As we look into these verses, I'm reminded of the upside-down view of our world that Jesus portrays for us in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.  The attributes that Jesus holds up as "blessed" are not attributes that the world glorifies - just the opposite for the most part.  

                                            

And when we look at that very last "Blessed", it addresses those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake - for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

So looking at our first passage in Philippians 1:29-30, I think the first thing we need to look at is the meaning of the word "given", or possibly "granted" in your version.  This word is translated from the Greek word charizomai, "which means 'to grant as a favor or to show kindness.' It is the verb form of the noun for grace.  Suffering is a privilege God gives to the believer, a form of grace that shows His favor toward us."

Oh. Wow. 

That's why I selected this verse for us to memorize this week!  Suffering for Christ is a gift given to favored Christians - not a punishment, not something to dread - a special grace/gift, a showing of kindness from God!  Should that change our view of potential persecution and our tendency (if you are like me!) of shying away from it?  If, in the future, we can look at our lives and whatever opportunities we have to take a strong stance for our faith in Jesus Christ in the face of potential opposition and even persecution as open windows for God's grace to us, God's gift to us of His blessing, of His special favor, does that change our likelihood of not shying away but, almost anxiously, looking forward to what God is going to do in our lives in light of our persecuted status.  

If you ever have the opportunity to go to a Voice of the Martyrs Conference, I strongly encourage you to do so.  When you hear actual people testify to what they have experienced as persecuted Christians, there is, without exception, a joy that they exude when they talk of their times of suffering.  Many of them say that they have never felt closer to God, and that they had a special manifestation of God's presence while they were imprisoned that they have never experienced before or since.  Would they choose to go back to imprisonment or captivity?  No - but many say they do miss the spiritual intimacy they shared with God during that time, and that they would not have the relationship with God that they currently enjoy without that time of persecution.  They were gifted, they were graced, they were favored - and they had an opportunity to honor and glorify God that many of us will not have.

So where does that leave the rest of us?  Those who have not been persecuted or suffered for the sake of our faith?  Let's look at the second part of our passage in Philippians when Paul says that we will have the same struggle that he has encountered and has been talking about.  Paul often talks about his troubles in proclaiming the Gospel and lists many of them in 2 Corinthians 11.  That list includes quite a bit of suffering.  But I also think Paul may be referring to what he has just talked about earlier in Philippians 1:27-28:

"Just one thing: live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.  Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, working side by side for the faith of the gospel, not being frightened in any way by your opponents.  This is evidence of their destruction, but of your deliverance - and this is from God."

I think Paul introduces the verses we are memorizing by first telling his Thessalonian friends and by telling us that the first, the one thing --- simply live our lives in a Christ-like manner, stand firm, work for the gospel and to not be frightened in any way by our opponents.  Such lives show we are ready for whatever God brings to us, and we are trusting Him.  God's gift to us may bring suffering in a manner of great persecution, or it may be what could be considered a minor setback, but no matter - we will stand firm - we will stand unafraid - we will stand showing that we have been delivered from this world and the threats it can bring against us.  And whatever degree of suffering God allows us to bear in this world, we will accept it as a gift from Him, and feel honored that He saw us deserving.  I pray to have that mindset moving forward in this most unknown and uncertain of times, which may bring to many of us a greater level of suffering and/or persecution than we have experienced so far in our lives.

I know - that's an upside-down way of looking at it!  It challenges our human vision - but then we have to remember to look through our re-born eyes, eyes that can now see the Kingdom of God. (John 3:3) where everything is made right and new!

I've loved this one - let me hear from you!  I'm anxious!!

In His Amazing Love,

Janice