Suffering The Right Way

Suffering. Trials. Testing. 


These three terms seem to often be lumped together. They are all different and are talked about differently in the Bible. 



Trials

In the Book of James trials and temptations are defined by the same word and are lumped together in chapter one. 



13 Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted from God; for God is incapable of being tempted by [what is] evil and He Himself tempts no one. (James 1:13 AMP)



Let's be clear, God will not put you in a situation that is contrary to His promises or in a situation that will cause you to question Him. I know this is hard to swallow. We have our own free will that get's us in trouble. When God rescues us or heals us or draws us close to him, we often pair the situation and the outcome together. That is wrong. We made the situation but God made something out of the mess. 


Testing

The devil will test our faith in an attacking way. The devil is seeking to destroy our faith. If you look through the Gospels you will see many times where it says, "Jesus said this only to test them." Notice that Jesus didn't make anybody poor to test them. He didn't make anybody sick to test them. He simply would make a statement or ask a question prodding at their hearts and minds to see if they were believing. He wasn't trying to break their faith but rather encourage it. We know this because after he would test them, he would often perform a miracle like healing the sick, multiplying food, or literally calming a storm. Jesus never caused these things and as the mediator of the New Covenant between us and Him he still will not cause these things because "Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever."


Suffering

Here is where things get interesting. Let me say this right now (if it already isn't clear), suffering for Christ IS NOT being sick and/or poor. It is not something God is putting you through so that you can be close to Him. You can be close to Him because of His grace and the fact that He has completely killed your sin past, present, and future. 


29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. (Philippians 1:29-30 NIV) -(Notice that the suffering is in conjunction for believing in Him.)



We also cannot project our first world problems (I am assuming who my audience is) as suffering for Christ either. We have to look at scripture to really see. If you look at the above verse we see that along with the belief in Christ there is also suffering. But what is it? We must also notice that Paul (the writer) is specifically talking about the struggle that he had. What was that struggle? 


Imagine if you lived in a culture that was obsessed with God. A culture that was obsessed with knowing God, with pleasing God. A culture that says that you must live a perfect life in order to see Heaven. A culture that says your actions are constantly being judged. 


Now imagine if all of that changed. You received a message that says you are saved by Grace and it is faith in God that matters. You are no longer judged by your works but by what another (Jesus) did for you. 



Imagine if you started preaching this to the community you were once part of.


This is what happened. Paul (and people like him) were hated and hunted. People wanted to destroy the churches throughout the world. Many of the leaders were murdered. Their lives and families were destroyed. 


That is suffering for Christ. Are you ashamed to say that there is nothing that you can do to earn your way to Heaven? That is the Gospel. With it comes persecution and that is what it truly is to suffer for Christ. 

Name Above All Names

The Bible says that Jesus has the name that is above all names. But what is that name? I traditionally thought that it was "Jesus" or the Hebrew name that we derive Jesus from. Or perhaps a variation of one of God's names given in the Old Testament. That would make sense, right? Well, I have a different perspective on it now.

So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say,“You are my Son, today I have become your Father”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son” (Hebrews 1:4-5)

The title He inherited was "Beloved Son". What is more precious and honorable than that? Think about it. With your parents, what is more intimate, calling your father "Dad" or calling him by his first name? Or which is more important to you, having a name that they gave you or knowing that you are their favorite child?

Having the title of "Son" raises your value far above anything else. And that is why the scripture makes the point of spelling out the fact that God recognizes Jesus as His very own Son. But with that in mind, chew on this for a second:

Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:6-7)

Yea.

God's Will

^{19 "...}the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does." John 5:19-20

This is one of my favorite passages. If you let it, it will reveal so much about God's will and His purposes. This is such a hard subject for us to deal with because crazy stuff happens all the time in this world, sometimes without explanation, so we have to point our finger somewhere. Often times it is pointed at God.

What I see in John 5:19-20 says something different than I often hear about God. When you look at the life of Jesus and see how gracious he was, healing, blessing, restoring, and forgiving, it contradicts what people say God does. 

Everything you see Jesus do in the Gospels is what God would do. Every action. Every healing. Every correction. Every pardon. All of the love displayed by Jesus was learned behavior from his Father. 

The Bible boldly declares in Hebrews 13:8 that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever and also in Hebrews 1:3 that Jesus is the exact representation of God.

All of this information makes a case for me as to what God's will looks like. It isn't mysterious to me anymore because I know Him. His will is to save people. It is to save people in every way. It seems to me that Jesus never caused anyone heartache or pain while he ministered on Earth, so I don't expect him to now. 

^{37 "...}and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” John 6:37-40

(Paul and Peter testify to this in 1 Timothy 2:4 & 2 Peter 3:9)

This makes doing God's will easy because no matter where you find yourself, you can minister to the people around you. So I will spend my entire life seeking to bring healing into as many lives as I possibly can because THAT is what Jesus did. 

Finding Wisdom in Christ

Here is a recent teaching I did at Oasis Granger.

Tired of Being Harassed

I have been pondering what my idea of evangelism is. To be honest, I am still forming an opinion. I think a lot of people are sick of what Christians have to say and are running from "the church". Oddly, as my friend Victor says it, "2000 years ago, sinners were running to Jesus. 2000 years later, they are running from the Church."

I was reading in Matthew today and came across some of my favorite verses:

Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matt 9:12-13

I find myself tired of hearing Christians harassing different people for different reasons. I think Christians see how people like Paul, Peter, James, and John wrote letters in the Bible and think they can just say whatever they want to people whenever they want.

Paul, Peter, James, and John were all Pastors/Church Planters. They had deep relationships with the people they were writing. The people who were reading their letters respected them greatly and were (most of the time) eager to learn from them. That is why Paul had the right to start a letter saying, "You foolish Galatians!"

Perhaps people have misunderstood what it means to "call the sinners".

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matt 9:35-36

He "called the sinners" to himself by doing good and preaching good news. He was preaching in their churches and saw they were harassed. Who were they harassed by? Their "pastors".

A couple of things to add -

1. People are only going to listen to you when you have their respect.
2. You cannot force people to believe what you believe. Getting mad at them will only push them away.
3. Your life is the best testimony you will have. People have heard John 3:16 before. Now they want to see it.