How much do you and I want to know Jesus? The answer reveals a great deal about our hearts. The Apostle Paul who had all the Jewish credentials: education, a great family pedigree, as well as, his own achievements, said he counted it all as garbage, literally “dung,” in comparison to the ability to actually know Jesus. So, how much do you really want to know Him? In today’s post, we’ll talk about the how and why of doing that.
God says He’ll complete the work He has begun in us which is the process of transforming us into the likeness of Christ. But do we often suffer unnecessarily in the process because we’re determined that our way is better than His?
Good doctrine … there I said it … the “D” word. It seems, in many churches, we’re afraid of the word and of calling many biblical concepts by their traditional or biblical names. I understand the value of making preaching and teaching relevant. But have we gone to such lengths to avoid using biblical terminology that we have become a generation of biblical illiterates?
According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, doctrine is, “a set of ideas or beliefs that are taught or believed to be true.” Biblical doctrine is made up of the ideas and beliefs that the Bible teaches to be true. It’s the Bible carefully studied and understood.
Good doctrine matters because what we believe about God, His sovereignty, and His dealings with those He loves, determines how we’ll respond to the tests and trials of life, among other things. It also determines whether we witness, how we interact with others, especially our spouses and children, and whether we have peace at the end of our lives. Good doctrine matters more than we know and bad doctrine, even when it sounds very appealing, has a nasty downside.
Not all suffering is caused by sin on the part of the sufferer. It can come from persecution or simply as the result of living in a fallen world. We can’t know someone else’s heart and shouldn’t assume their suffering is the result of sin. But sin can sometimes be the cause of our suffering or can make it worse even when the initial circumstances were not our fault. So, could sin be complicating my suffering or yours?
This is an important question because, often, our suffering can be greatly reduced or eliminated when we deal with its root. In today’s post, I’ll share 3 heart-probing questions to help you determine whether sinful responses might be worsening your suffering.
Also today:
With broken families and the pressures of living in a post-Christian world, older believers have a mission that has never been more important. If you are a senior adult, do you know what that mission is and are you being a good steward of it?
And from our New Testament reading, many people think they are children of God because they belong to a certain church, were raised in a Christian home, have “always believed in God,” have been baptized, taken communion, or are “good people.” But can any of those things save us?
How can we fight back against false accusations, suffering, and mistreatment? And what about the ordinary, everyday hurts that come to us all? How should we respond to them? Is there a way to fight back that is honoring to God?
Trusting God during tough times can be one of the most difficult challenges we face. How do we continue to trust Him when He doesn’t seem to be answering our prayers, when a child isn’t getting better, when finances still seem impossible, or when the doctor hands us a bad report? Where do we find hope? What will we believe about God during those tough times? And if we’re not in the middle of a challenging season, what can we do to be ready for them when they come?
We’re working our way through the book of Colossians in these weekly posts. In this lesson, we’ll talk about how Paul could rejoice in suffering, what he meant when he said he was “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions,” how persecution can be like murder when it’s a crime of passion, the unfolding plan of God, and the mystery that had been hidden from earlier generations.
Suffering … we don’t like to think about the possibility that we might suffer. Yet, tests, trials, tragedies, suffering, and persecutions come to us all. We will probably never be completely prepared for tragedies and intense suffering. Those things often knock the wind out of us at least for a while. But is it possible to have the kind of spiritual foundation that will keep us from being completely knocked down by suffering? If so, what can we do to prepare?
It’s been said that either you have just come out of a trial, are presently in a trial, or are about to go through one. Trials expose our hearts. They remove the dross from our lives–those things which keep us from bringing glory to God as we should. But there are things we need to understand about trials and our responses.
It’s been said that either you have just come out of a trial, are presently in a trial, or are about to go through a trial. That thought can stop us in our tracks because we don’t like trials. At least I don’t and I don’t think I’m alone. But God uses tests, trials, and suffering in our lives as a divine squeeze to let us and others see what’s in our hearts. J.C. Ryle said, “What you are in the day of trial, that you are and nothing more.” Trials show us what we are really made of!
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