Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
1 Peter 4:12–13
Suffering is an unavoidable aspect of the Christian experience. There isn’t a scale of how much suffering a believer must go through, but the principle is that the one who genuinely believes must suffer. To take it a step further, the Apostle Peter makes it clear that we should expect suffering and not be alarmed when it comes.
In 1 Peter 4:15, Peter warns against a believer who suffers because of their personal choice to sin. Whether the choice was made from a place of ignorance or it was an intentional choice, the truth is that this type of suffering isn’t included in the ‘fiery trial’ that he is describing in verse 12. Suffering on behalf of Christ is the only suffering that is in Peter’s view.
We should also be clear to point out that Peter is not glorifying humiliation or irresponsibility. To live without common, necessary resources during your short stay on this earth doesn’t make a believer more holy, in the same way that having material abundance doesn’t make you less holy. Peter simply states that each believer has their own personal degree of suffering that they are to be faithful in.
Although it is natural for us to compare our degree of suffering with someone else’s, we must be mindful that suffering is not comparative. We are to constantly remind ourselves that when we “partake in Christ’s sufferings” we are not to look around at others, but we are to look upward to our motivation—which is Christ Himself. Let’s rejoice and be glad at the privilege we get to share in like manner with what Christ had to endure.
Published on Jan 26 @ 3:09 AM EDT
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Pray | Fast | Meditate
Becoming a Better You | Marlin D. Harris
Welcome to our 31-Day Corporate Fast.
In 1988, I was 15 years old, sitting on a plane flying from Oklahoma to Seoul, South Korea. I felt that I was leaving more than a country but leaving my entire concept of normalcy and certainty. I was going from the world I knew to a world that I was completely unprepared to face. My father had received military orders to move from Ft. Drum, New York, and for the next 3 years, live in Taegu, South Korea. Now, this is not uncommon. Military families travel across the globe to new duty stations all the time and often make wonderful and amazing memories and experiences while living in a foreign country. But that was precisely the problem – we were certainly not a family, and this was most definitely not promising to be an amazing memory. My stepmother was a non-functioning alcoholic, and my father was a functioning one. I was placed in their home because my home of origin had become too unstable and abusive for me to live in. I was traveling 5,000 miles away from what I had come to know as normal, with people that I had just met less than 9 months ago. I sat on that plane believing that I was leaving one disaster and heading into another one. Nothing could have convinced me that day that this one experience would have so deeply changed my life and so firmly established my faith and confidence in God.
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Taken from Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence
By Sarah Young
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness…”
2 Corinthians 12:-9
He is the God who heals. He heals broken bodies, broken minds, broken hearts, broken lives and broken relationships. His very presence has immense healing powers. We cannot live close to God without experiencing some degree of healing. However, it is also true that we have not because we ask not. We receive the healing that flows naturally from His presence, whether we are seeking it or not. But there is more, much more available to those who ask.
The first step in receiving healing is to live ever so close to God. The benefits of this practice are too numerous to list. As we grow more and more intimate with God, He reveals His will to us more directly. When the time is right, He prompts us to ask for healing of some brokenness in us or in other people. The healing may be instantaneous, or it may be a process. That is up to God. Our part is to trust Him fully and to thank Him for the restoration that has begun.
He rarely heals all the brokenness in our lives. Even His servant Paul was told “My grace is sufficient for you,” when he sought healing for the thorn in his flesh. Nonetheless, much healing is available to those whose lives are intimately interwoven with His. Ask, and you will receive.
“Ye have not, because we ask not” – James 4:2
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” - 2 Corinthians 12:-9
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find.” – Matthew 7:7
PRAYER:
Lord, teach me to lean into Your grace when my heart feels weak and broken. You are sufficient for my needs. Your healing is all that my soul desires. Show me the path to wholeness and let me walk upon the steps of grace. I trust Your power to be perfect in every one of my weaknesses. In Your Name I pray, Amen.
Young, Sarah. Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence. Thomas Nelson Publishing.
Published on Jan 26 @ 12:50 AM EDT
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