We as Christians, often think, that if we are doing God's will, everything will be 'bed and roses', because we know that we do God's will, and his work on earth, so, by default, we often can fall into the trap of thinking, that everything must be good, and must be pleasant, because God is behind it.
But when we look in the Bible, in so many passages, we can see, that it is not the case. There are many examples like Apostle Paul and his team of believers going around Europe, and evangelising, while facing difficulties, beatings and imprisonment. And they were doing God's will. We can often fall into another trap of thinking, that if things do not go well in our life, then that is certainly a sign and a proof, that we are out of God's will. That is because we think, that if we do God's will, then surely God must bless us, and our work for him, and everything must be going smooth like a butter. But the reality is often different, than what we thought. Yes, God blesses our work for him, and he blesses us, when we please him, and live according to his will and plan, but that does not mean, that the outside circumstances in our life, will align with the will of God. Just the opposite. Like the case with Apostles Paul, Peter and the other disciples of Jesus, when they were preaching the Gospel, and doing the work of God on earth, they were beaten and imprisoned, and suffered all sorts of trials and tribulations in the circumstances of their life. You see, even when we are in the perfect will of God, and do exactly what he wants us to do, and has commanded us to do, there are many people around us, in our life, who will not agree, with that perfect will of God, either because they do not believe in God, or, because although they are Christians, for one reason or another, they will refuse to believe the will of God, for our life personally. The will of God for us personally, is the will of God for us, and not for them, and what God has planned for us, does not mean, that he has planned it for them too. Therefore, we can often see opposition in our life, from other people around us, from the various circumstances of life. One of the proof text for that, is found in 1 Thessalonians 2:18. In that passage of Scripture, we can see that Apostle Paul, was trying to do the will of God, and yet, the enemy tried to prevent his, and stop him from doing so, and that for a few times, and not only once. So here, we have Apostle Paul, trying to do the will of God, and yet, he was stopped from doing so, by the enemy. We do not know exactly how the enemy prevented Paul from doing God's will, by not being able to go, to visit certain believers, but we know, that he did. All that means, that Christians could face opposition from the enemy, whenever they try to do God's will, and they should not be surprised, if they do. The best think to do, if you are prevented from doing God's will, is to pray in faith, and ask God, to help you fulfil his plan and will for you, and to remove any blocks and stops, the enemy has placed. Ask God to break and remove any barriers, the enemy has placed in your attempt, to please God and do what he wants you to do.
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If you think, that it is only you, who struggle with sin as a Christian, you are not, but everyone of us, who is born from heave, struggles with sin on a daily basis.
When we read Romans 7:15-20, we can see the struggle, Apostle Paul was having with sin. Some people say, that Paul was talking about his past, before he became a Christian, but when you read the verses, you can see plainly, that Paul was not talking in the past tense, but in the present tense. That is because he said that he want to do good, but does not do it, because he does the bad things, which he did not want to do. And also, he said very clearly, that it is not him who wants to do the wrong things, but it is sin in his body, which causes him to do the wrong things. So, even Apostle Paul was struggling with sin, daily. So, we are not very different from him, because we all struggle daily, with sin in our lives. If Apostle Paul was struggling like that, so what about us? Ofcourse, we struggle daily too, with trying to do the right things, and often, doing the wrong things, which we do not want to do, as Christians. Apostle Paul says that he sees another law in his body, working against the Law of God, in his heart. And he says that when he does do the wrong things, it is not him who does it, but sin, or the sinful nature in his body, which does make him to sin. We also have the sinful nature in our body, and although we are born again from the Holy Spirit, in our spirit, our body is not born again, and remains with the sinful nature in us. So we have always the daily choice of deciding what or who we want to follow, the sinful nature in our bodies, or the Holy Spirit, who is in our born again spirit. It is up to us. Even in the Epistle to the Galatians 5:17, Apostle Paul talks about the struggle in us, between what the Holy Spirit in us, wants us to do, in order to serve and obey God, and what the sinful nature in our bodies, wants to do, in order to cause us, to disobey God. We can not find it as an excuse, that because we have the sinful nature in our bodies, so we do not have responsibility, if we do the wrong things or not. God has given us his Holy Spirit in us, and the Holy Spirit is the one who helps us, to fight against sin in our life, and to be able to conquer the sinful nature in us. It does not mean that we will never sin, no, we will sin, not because we want, but because, sometimes we fall into temptation, yet the Holy Spirit is in us, to help us do, what God requires. God has provided us with everything necessary, for us to not do the wrong sinful things in our life, and to conquer the sinful nature in us, by the Holy Spirit in us, by his grace for us, by his Word, but it is up to us, if we want to follow the desire of the Holy Spirit in us, or the desire of the sinful nature in us. If we chose to obey the Holy Spirit in us, and the Word of God, we conquer the sinful nature in us, but if we chose to follow the desires of the sinful nature in us, especially when we are tempted by various circumstances in our life, and by challenging and difficult situation we face, then we will sin. We as Christians, do want to obey the Holy Spirit in us, and the Word of God, but because of some difficult and challenging situations in our life, we sometimes, give in to temptation, and we sin. May the Holy Spirit in us, help us to do always what he desires from us to do, so that we can live more for the glory of God, and for his Kingdom on earth. God does not care, where you come from, what you past has been, or what you have done in the past, in order to heal you! He does not heal you because you are from America, Europe, Asia or any country in the world. He does not heal you, because you are a good or bad person, according to your own estimation! No, He heals you, because of only one and only one reason, because of what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross, and by his resurrection which we believe! That is it! Our healing is already provided for us from God the Father, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave!
When we read Luke 7:1-10, we can see that Jesus healed the servant of certain man, the Centurion. Now, that man was not even a Jew himself, but was one of the enemies of the Jews, the Romans who occupied their own country. And yet, Jesus healed his servant. Based on what? Was it because that Centurion build the Jews a Synagogue? I doubt it. There was only one reason, why Jesus decided to heal the servant of that Centurion, and that reason was the faith of the Centurion, about which even the Son of God marvelled and commented about. Faith in the heart of the Centurion about what Jesus said and did, was what caused Jesus to perform the miracle. Jesus could easily say to him that he can not heal his servant, because he was not even a Jew, but a gentile, a Roman pagan, who was a soldier, with the possible background of killing people, on the battle field, and as a Roman soldier, being ready to obey any command from Cesar, his king in Rome, even if that meant, killing or hurting the Jews, in a certain way. And yet, Jesus overlooked all the background of that Roman Centurion, and everything to do with his background, as a Roman soldier, an enemy of the Jews by law, and healed his servant. It is amazing that Jesus was amazed by the faith of a such a man like the Roman Centurion. You maybe thinking, that you do not deserve Jesus to heal you, because of what you have done in the past, or because people have labeled you, as bad person, or because some people said, that you are not worthy or you do not deserve to be healed. Forget about all that crap! Just look at what mercy and how much grace Jesus had for this pagan, a Roman soldier, considering only his faith, and nothing else. Jesus was like 'closing his eyes' to the background of the Roman Centurion, and was interested only in his faith. That is all that Jesus is interested in order to heal you too! Your own faith in him, and his Word! That is it! He will also 'close his eyes' to all your background, where you come from, what you have done in the past, and will heal you, grabbing the little faith you have in him, in order to grant you healing, which was provided for you on the cross, long time ago anyway. Just grab it by faith and thank him, and give him glory! From the very beginning of creating this world, people all over the world, have been facing all sorts of suffering. And people have always questioned and wondered, if there was God in heaven, does he care about the suffering they are in. But also, from the very beginning of the creation of the world, God has not left people to figure out on their own, how to sort out, or get rid, of their suffering, but has been concerned about them, and the pain they have been passing through. For that reason, you can be certain, that God is concerned about your suffering, and the situation you find yourself in! Just look at Psalm 107:41. It says that God raises the up the afflicted. Are you afflicted? Then pay attention, because you are the one of those people, God wants to raise up, above and over your afflicting or difficult situation, because that very verse 41 says, that God raises the righteous people out of their affliction. If you are one of his children, and you believe in Jesus Christ and follow him, then according to God, you are righteous, and he wants to raise you up, from your affliction too! Perhaps you find yourself, in a difficult challenging situation, and you continue in your suffering, day after day, but bear in mind, you can be sure, that is not the will or the desire of God for you! Some Christians tend to think, that God causes suffering in their life, or gives them illness, in order to teach them something. What a crap! What a absurd believe which comes straight from hell itself! God never gives pain or suffering to his dear children, for whom he was ever willing to give his own son Jesus Christ, to suffer on the cross for their sins! No, God will never give you illness in order to teach you whatever! The only desire God has, is to heal you, and to deliver you from suffering! That is it! Just look from the first book of the Bible, to the last, and you will never find one single example which shows, that God gives illness to people, in order to teach them something, or that God wants his children, his beloved followers to suffer! There is only one person in the entire heaven and earth, who wants you to suffer or be sick, and that is the devil himself, because Jesus said that the enemy has come to kill, still and destroy! But Jesus also said, that he has come, to give us life in abundance! How can the one, who came to give us life in abundance, will also be willing that we suffer? Impossible! You can not live a life in abundance, if you are suffering or sick! What kind of abundance we find in sickness but just pain and suffering. No, God who is the source of every blessing, wants you blessed too! Do you find yourself, in the middle of a challenging situation in your life, where you are in pain or type of suffering, but do not know what to do, and do not know how to end it?
Never forget! When Jesus said that he will be with us always, that includes he being with us, in our good times, and our bad times, when we are laughing, or when we are suffering. In a matter of fact, the Word of God says in Psalm 145:14 that God will uphold those who fall down. That is, those who are either depressed, or suffering in any way, or are in pain. Depression, suffering and pain, makes us feel down and in low mood, but God and his Word, do not depend, and are not influenced by our mood. The Word of God, can change any type of mood, if it is connected with faith, in the person with the low mood or depression. In Psalm 73:26, it says that we can suffer either in our body, or in our soul, but it also says, that God is the strength of our heart. What does that mean? Well, it means, that when your heart is depressed because of whatever situation in your life, God will be always there, to provide his strength and comfort for you, to deliver you from your depression and suffering. And, if your body is suffering, because of disease, or other causes, even then, God can give strength in your hear or spirit, in order to help you fight and overcome that pain in your body. The Bible clearly says that laughter is like medicine, and that applies to our bodies as well, because, if your spirit or soul, is strengthened from heaven, from the Spirit of God in you, that can provide you with the strength, to face your suffering and challenge better. Just like Jesus was strengthened from heaven, when he was in the garden of Gethsemane and was in a great anguish, just before his crucifixion. In Psalm 73:26, God shows you, and wants you to know, that no matter how many times your heart or soul, may be in anguish or depression, and no matter, how many times your body suffers, because of disease or anything else, God is always there for you, to provide you with strength, so that the pain in your body or soul, can be reduced or completely eliminated by him. Want a proof? Well, look at all the Gospels, and see what a great part of what Jesus was doing, was exactly that! To set prisoners free, and to bring light to those in darkness. Jesus was delivering people from pain, suffering and illness, all the time. He was constantly healing, wherever he went. That shows you and me, that he really cares about our suffering and pain! And not just cares, he wants to remove it too. Jesus is not only sympathetic with our suffering, no, he cares enough in order to reduce or completely eliminate it. God has abundant grace and peace, for every born again Christian, but there is something a Christian has to do, in order to have them abundantly.
God does not just load us with his grace and peace, regardless of what we think or do. That is why, In 2 Peter 1:2, it says that we can have the abundant grace and peace from God, if we have knowledge of God. That is, if we know God personally, and have both, knowing God, and knowing about God. You see, it is not enough for us to only know about God, or only to know God in a personal relationship. We need both. If we emphasise only having personal relationship with God, but not knowing about God, then we will have zeal for God, but without enough knowledge. Of course, we can never have enough knowledge about God, but we can have more knowledge about him. For example, studying Theology, can help us know more about God. But experiencing God’s presence and love personally, in our relationship with him, is knowing God personally, and in a closer way, even if we do not know too much about God. God has lavished on us his grace and peace abundantly, because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, and because of his resurrection, but we are the ones, who have to receive them with faith, just as we have received our salvation by faith. Salvation is given by the grace of God, to everyone who believes, but everyone has to receive it by grace, or otherwise, they will never be saved. So, I believe that it is the reason, why Apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 1:2, that we have the grace and peace of God, by our knowledge of him. The NLT New Living Translation actually says that we will have the grace and peace of God, as we grow in our knowledge of God. The more we know God, and about God, the more can we receive his grace and peace in abundance. We have hope, and we have faith, at the same time, but, they are not the same! They are different!
Faith, is everything to do with now. Faith receives now. Faith does not hope, and is not going to receive in the future. No! Faith receives now! Read Mark 11:22-24. But hope, does not receive now! If hope receives now, it would not be hope anymore, but it will be faith. Hope is what we are expecting to happen or receive in the future. When in the future? Well, whenever in the future. It does not matter! What matters is, that we wait to receive from God, in the future. Faith can not, and should not take the place of hope in our hearts, and hope, can not and should not take the place of faith in our hearts either. Each of them, has its own role and part to play, and each of them, is vital and important, otherwise, the Word of God would not say, that those three remain, faith, hope and love, in 1 Corinthians 13:13. We need often, to be patient and to wait, to receive from God, what we asked of him, in either our faith, or in our hope. With faith, once we ask from God for something, and then we thank him for the answer that he has gives us already, what we have asked of him, even if we do not see it yet, with our physical eyes. But we believe that he has already given us the answer of our prayer, in the spiritual realm. So, we need to exercise patience, until the answer of our prayer appears in the physical realm. But with hope, although we need to be patient for the answer of our prayers from God, we still hope for the future, that one day in the future, God will give us or do something for us, what we have asked of him, but that will happen in the future. We do not have the answer of our prayer now, as we do with faith, but we hope, that we will receive from God, sometime in the future. Read Romans 8:24, 25. That is the difference between faith and hope, and we need both, because each one, will fulfil its own purpose in our life, as God has determined. |
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