Hey guys, I hope this devotional finds you well. Looking at a lot of statuses, I think this is a little overdue...I know it is for me. Here it goes! Be Blessed and Stay Encouraged through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Devotional:
I knew a girl who was verbally and physically abused daily by her father. We will call her Sarah. Sarah had converted to the faith about 3 years ago and this brought much adversity to her in her home. Her mom and dad did not agree with her faith and Sarah suffered greatly for that. Though she knew that Christ promised persecution for his disciples this fact did not bring her comfort when faced with her various trials. She begged and cried out to the Lord at night for Him to deliver her from the tribulations in her home. She wondered why the Lord had not come for her. Eventually, this made her become bitter towards the Lord. Where was the Lord in all her trials? Didn't God promise never to leave us nor forsake us? Sarah simply needed to shift her perspective.
Two weeks ago we looked at Romans 5:2-5 and looked at the purpose of trials and how they should cause us to focus our eyes on Eternity. This week, we will look at the same passage and see how tribulations actually grow our character in Christ and help us to see two of God's attributes...His faithfulness and His Lordship.
Through our trials, we see God's faithfulness because He sustains us through them. We are never overtaken by the trials the Lord allows in our life. Our patience is produced in trials because we have to wait on the Lord. Though Sarah faced parents who mistreated her because of her faith it was the Lord who had kept her through it all. How come Sarah didn't just end her life? She had reasonable legitimacy to do so. It was the Lord who sustained her. This, my brothers and sisters is God's faithfulness. Other translations of Romans 5:4 say that Patience produces Experience, and experience results in Hope, and that hope does not disappoint. When we come out of a trial, we see that God is faithful. Each trial shows us how faithful God is, and over time we see a plethora of experiences where God was faithful. Our character being grown! Our trials basically show us who God is just as Christ knew who the father was. God's will is that we be conformed to the image of His son. It is God's will that we know Him. These experiences of faithfulness from Him give us hope not only for future trials, but it enables us to trust Him and His promises. We can know that this hope does not disappoint because we have a history of times where God was faithful.
In the book of Luke starting at chapter 9 verse 18 and ending at verse 26. Jesus questions his disciples on who He is. After coming to the conclusion that He is the Christ Jesus begins telling them the cost of becoming a disciple. It is by no coincidence that this passage is laid out in such a way. Jesus had to make sure that his disciples knew who He was before they could be His disciples and go out and do all that He commanded. Any man can give his life for a good cause, but the key here is not in what the cause is, but who Christ is. He is Lord! What's important here is that we know who Christ is. If He is God, and He has promised us an inheritance far greater than any pleasure we could receive on this earth, in a global sense it really does not matter what I face on this earth. In knowing who Christ is, I am willing to give up my life for Him and if I'm willing to give up my life for Him, then I am willing to suffer for Him...in what the Word says is a momentary affliction.
Memory Verse: For I consider that the present sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us.-Romans 5:18
Devotional:
I knew a girl who was verbally and physically abused daily by her father. We will call her Sarah. Sarah had converted to the faith about 3 years ago and this brought much adversity to her in her home. Her mom and dad did not agree with her faith and Sarah suffered greatly for that. Though she knew that Christ promised persecution for his disciples this fact did not bring her comfort when faced with her various trials. She begged and cried out to the Lord at night for Him to deliver her from the tribulations in her home. She wondered why the Lord had not come for her. Eventually, this made her become bitter towards the Lord. Where was the Lord in all her trials? Didn't God promise never to leave us nor forsake us? Sarah simply needed to shift her perspective.
Two weeks ago we looked at Romans 5:2-5 and looked at the purpose of trials and how they should cause us to focus our eyes on Eternity. This week, we will look at the same passage and see how tribulations actually grow our character in Christ and help us to see two of God's attributes...His faithfulness and His Lordship.
Through our trials, we see God's faithfulness because He sustains us through them. We are never overtaken by the trials the Lord allows in our life. Our patience is produced in trials because we have to wait on the Lord. Though Sarah faced parents who mistreated her because of her faith it was the Lord who had kept her through it all. How come Sarah didn't just end her life? She had reasonable legitimacy to do so. It was the Lord who sustained her. This, my brothers and sisters is God's faithfulness. Other translations of Romans 5:4 say that Patience produces Experience, and experience results in Hope, and that hope does not disappoint. When we come out of a trial, we see that God is faithful. Each trial shows us how faithful God is, and over time we see a plethora of experiences where God was faithful. Our character being grown! Our trials basically show us who God is just as Christ knew who the father was. God's will is that we be conformed to the image of His son. It is God's will that we know Him. These experiences of faithfulness from Him give us hope not only for future trials, but it enables us to trust Him and His promises. We can know that this hope does not disappoint because we have a history of times where God was faithful.
In the book of Luke starting at chapter 9 verse 18 and ending at verse 26. Jesus questions his disciples on who He is. After coming to the conclusion that He is the Christ Jesus begins telling them the cost of becoming a disciple. It is by no coincidence that this passage is laid out in such a way. Jesus had to make sure that his disciples knew who He was before they could be His disciples and go out and do all that He commanded. Any man can give his life for a good cause, but the key here is not in what the cause is, but who Christ is. He is Lord! What's important here is that we know who Christ is. If He is God, and He has promised us an inheritance far greater than any pleasure we could receive on this earth, in a global sense it really does not matter what I face on this earth. In knowing who Christ is, I am willing to give up my life for Him and if I'm willing to give up my life for Him, then I am willing to suffer for Him...in what the Word says is a momentary affliction.
Memory Verse: For I consider that the present sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us.-Romans 5:18
