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First off, thanks to all who prayed for me last week. I can remember distinctly on Thursday morning around 10:25am feeling the Spirit of God minister to me, calming my anxieties and encouraging me to press on. That day was a testament of what can happen when you allow the enemy into your life. By not remembering that each day is a battle, I gave him place to inject confusion & deception in me which lead to a defeated pattern of thinking, a remembrance of all my failures and excuses about why I was unable to do what God has called me to do. Yea, it was bad. But thanks be to God for His Spirit & for your prayers. God even sent someone to speak some words of encouragement to me. Words I didn't want to hear at the time, but words I needed.
Paul's message to the Thessalonians is also a good one for me and any Christians going through something. "Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering" (v. 4-5)
It is in the enduring of trials that we are found worthy of the kingdom of God. We've already been promised that we would suffer (John 15:20-21) but it is not in the suffering alone that we are honored, but how we endure. The purpose behind suffering is the process of purging, purifying and perfecting us thereby making us worthy for the kingdom. It is in our positive response that this process manifests.
I know I've been on this chapter for pretty much the whole week but I think God is working on me on some issues related to this chapter. I've found it thus far to be more inspiring than ever before this time around. That's the thing I love about the Bible, it's alive, always relevant and you can gain new insights from passages of scripture you may have read several times.
This chapter reveals the extent of Paul's passion for God. There's nothing that seems to be able to detract him from his mission - persecution, unfaithful friends, problems within the church, false teachers, opposition from other Christians - in spite of these things, he remained determined. "Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly" (v. 12-14)
A couple things jumped out immediately to me. First off, Paul's life had been lived in such a way that there was no doubt who he served. No one had to ask him or wonder what he believed. Secondly, it was because of his suffering for the gospel that his witness had such a great effect. I imagine that while Paul was imprisoned that he spoke to the inmates and guards about Christ ad nauseum. However, here he credits his suffering for the gospel for the fact that not only was his faith made evident but that other Christian brothers were encouraged to speak boldly about the Lord. Is our testimony anything like Paul's today? Do we suffer for the gospel? Is there any doubt amongst our various social circles that Christ is our Lord?
There's several scriptures that clearly state that the expectation for all believers is that we will suffer persecution (Luke 21:12-13, 2 Tim 3:12, Mark 10:30, Phil 1:29). So if we're not facing any persecution - ridicule about our lifestyle, for not conforming to the world, opposition from non-believers - there's a good chance we're not as serious about God as we ought to be. The world and all it's ways are diametrically opposed to God so if we find our ways to be like the world and receiviing nothng but praise & adoration from the world, there may be something wrong there. I'm not saying that receiving praise in and of itself is a bad thing, but if that's the only thing the world offers you, it may be worth considering why the verses I mentioned in this paragraph haven't applied to you. For me, this was definitely worth reflecting on this week.
