Our Glorifying Trials!

[Logostician]

It always amazes me how the world and many Christians look at people who seem to be outwardly doing well and think of them as "blessed". The gospel of prosperity crowd certainly seems to think that way.  Conversely, there is a strong tendency for a lot of people to look at those who struggle in this life as if they have been abandoned by God.  But God may be doing his finest work in them, and strengthening them in ways that are imperceptible to people whose hearts, souls, and minds can only see the surface of the deep things of God.  We may be one of those people, are become one of them at any time.  We should never judge anyone in this world by the standards of this world, because we are not of this world.  All judgement is best left to Jesus anyway.  Jesus calls us to help the poor, the widow, and the orphan.  Doing this will heal our own hearts as we assist them.  Jesus said we would always have the poor among us.  Maybe this is to stir us into action to love our neighbor.  But poverty in this world does not equate to poverty in the next.  Jesus loves the poor and oppressed in this world and makes a home for them in the next.

[WordSword]

15 hours ago, BibleStudent100 said:

We tend to think that trials are always burdensome and overwhelmingly challenging and almost evil in design.  However, we should have a proper view of trials.  Knowing that our eternal future depends on endurance

Hi, and thanks for the instructional reply! Thankfully how one "endures hardness" has implications on rewards and not redemption, because I believe, until the Lord returns, many in contemporary Christendom will be immature and deficient in numerous growth truths. 

God bless!

[WordSword]

7 hours ago, Logostician said:

It always amazes me how the world and many Christians look at people who seem to be outwardly doing well and think of them as "blessed". The gospel of prosperity crowd certainly seems to think that way.  Conversely, there is a strong tendency for a lot of people to look at those who struggle in this life as if they have been abandoned by God.  But God may be doing his finest work in them, and strengthening them in ways that are imperceptible to people whose hearts, souls, and minds can only see the surface of the deep things of God.  

Appreciate the instructional reply! It's my suspicion that there will always be many in the Body of Christ who will be underdeveloped in maturity. It's obvious, as you've indicated, that many who profess faith may be "supposing that gain is godliness." Granted, it's understandable why a babe-in-Christ might collate material things with His blessings, but when there is sufficient growth in the Lord Jesus we come to learn that "godliness with contentment is great gain" (1Tim 6:5, 6).

God's blessings to your Family!

 

 

 

[BibleStudent100]

On 11/26/2020 at 6:19 AM, WordSword said:

Hi, and thanks for the instructional reply! Thankfully how one "endures hardness" has implications on rewards and not redemption, because I believe, until the Lord returns, many in contemporary Christendom will be immature and deficient in numerous growth truths. 

God bless!

It is certainly not the actual suffering we may go through that makes us happy. The happiness, the satisfaction, comes from knowing that we are suffering because we are doing God’s will and following the pattern of Jesus.  We know that in the first century, some of the apostles were jailed and then brought before the Jewish high court and denounced because of preaching about Jesus Christ. They were flogged and then released. Regarding their attitude, the Bible account says that they “went their way from before the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy to be dishonored in behalf of his name.” (Acts 5:17-41) They were happy, not for the flogging and the physical pain that ensued, but for the understanding that this had taken place because they kept their integrity to God and followed in Jesus’ footsteps.  In a similar manner, suffering helps all of us to grow from immature spiritual babes to spiritual mature Christians with admirable qualities.

[Mantis]

This really spoke to me today, thank you.

[WordSword]

6 hours ago, BibleStudent100 said:

It is certainly not the actual suffering we may go through that makes us happy. The happiness, the satisfaction, comes from knowing that we are suffering because we are doing God’s will and following the pattern of Jesus.  We know that in the first century, some of the apostles were jailed and then brought before the Jewish high court and denounced because of preaching about Jesus Christ. They were flogged and then released. Regarding their attitude, the Bible account says that they “went their way from before the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy to be dishonored in behalf of his name.” (Acts 5:17-41) They were happy, not for the flogging and the physical pain that ensued, but for the understanding that this had taken place because they kept their integrity to God and followed in Jesus’ footsteps.  In a similar manner, suffering helps all of us to grow from immature spiritual babes to spiritual mature Christians with admirable qualities.

Yes, the joy is not during the suffering but after, in knowing that without enduring the suffering it isn't as effective towards working in us to be ever more God-dependent, as faith gauges our growth.

[WordSword]

6 hours ago, Mantis said:

This really spoke to me today, thank you.

Hi and appreciate the encouraging note! God bless!