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STRUGGLES
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
A man found a cocoon
of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the
butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force it's body through
that little
hole. Then
it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as
far as it could and it could go no farther.
So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the
butterfly spent the rest of its life struggling
around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was
able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand, was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings, so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved it's freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly. ++++++++++++
Dear Friends in Christ,
God has built into
the world of "nature" many examples of His wisdom for us to learn
from. This is hinted at in this interesting verse:
Prov
6:6 (KJV)
Go to the ant, thou
sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
The example of the butterfly
and the cocoon is yet another such source of wisdom. It reminds me of the
Christian song lyrics which say, "If I never had a problem, I'd never know that
He could solve them". The point is, God allows and designs suffering
and affliction to come into our lives to give us the ability to grow as we
endure the problem. Our reaction to the problem is also a measure of
our maturity in the Christian walk, and may change as we grow in our
faith.
Just as there are three
opponents to our walk with Christ, the devil, the world and the flesh, so are
there three kinds of sufffering that we must endure: Persecution or
suffering for our faith; Affliction or medical problems and the accompanying
pain or inconvenience; Temptations to worldiness, or
idolatry.
Persecution for our Faith, or
"Suffering"
In the concordance you will
find that whenever the word "suffering" or "suffer" occurs, it seems to be
related to our Christian testimony. The devil works overtime to try to
negate our Christian testimony. He does this through fear, lies and
intimidation. His aim is to get us to cowar and go silent about what Christ
has done for us and what He can do for others. Either by our words or our
actions, we are tempted to deny our Lord in response to the fear of
threats or lies or damage to our reputation or to our life.
1 Pet
1:3-7 (KJV)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
{4} To an inheritance incorruptible, and
undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
you,
{5} Who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in
the last time.
{6} Wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season,
if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations:
{7} That the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honour and glory
at the appearing of Jesus
Christ: Pain and
Affliction-
Affliction is physical or
medical suffering that we may have to endure. Of course, the book of Job shows
us that the devil is also the one who tries to encourage God to take away
our health so that we will perhaps "curse God and die".
Job 2:7-9
(KJV)
So went Satan forth from the presence of the
LORD,
and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his
foot unto his crown.
{8} And he took him a potsherd[broken piece
of pottery] to scrape himself withal;
and he sat down among the ashes.
{9} Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou
still retain thine integrity?
curse God, and die[H=kill
yourself].
Here in a nutshell is satan's true
goal for causing pain and suffering to a Christian: he wants you to have to
endure such pain and depression that you will curse God for putting you
through it, and then deny your faith, and then to kill yourself...a triple
victory for satan from bringing suffering into our lives.
Of course, the story of
Job's affliction does not end in defeat, but in continued and persistent
faith as he endured the suffering. Consider his response to the faithless
response of his wife from the above verses:
Job 2:10 (KJV)
But he said unto her,
Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh.
What? shall we receive good at the hand of God,
and shall we not receive evil?
In all this did not Job sin with his
lips.
And at the end of Job's trial of
medical affliction and loss, we find the true result of what God had in mind for
Job all along. Although He permitted all the evil things to happen to this good
man, His intent was to deepen Job's faith and give him a personal relationship
with Himself that Job did not have before:
Job 42:1-6
(KJV)
Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
{2} I know that thou canst do every thing,
and that no thought can be withholden from
thee.
{3} Who is he that hideth counsel
without knowledge?
therefore have I uttered that I understood not;
things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
{4} Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak:
I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
{5} I have heard of thee by the hearing of the
ear:
but now mine eye seeth thee.
{6} Wherefore I abhor myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.
Worldliness or Riches-
Idolatry of worldly things.
We also often find ourselves
struggling with the alure of money and material things to take our attention
away from serving Christ. As Jesus teaches in the parable of the Sower and the
Soils:
Mat 13:22 (KJV)
He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the
word;
and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of
riches, choke the word,
and he becometh unfruitful.
1 Tim 6:8-12 (KJV)
And having food and raiment let us be therewith
content.
{9} But they that will be rich fall into
temptation and a snare,
and into many foolish and hurtful lusts,
which drown men in destruction and
perdition{Gk=eternal damnation}.
{10} For the love of money is the root
of all evil:
which while some coveted after, they have erred from
the faith,
and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows.
{11} But thou, O man of God, flee these
things;
and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith,
love, patience, meekness.
{12} Fight the good fight of
faith,
lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art
also called,
and hast professed a good profession before many
witnesses.
And as we endure the suffering or
temptation, and struggle to overcome it, Christ is watching us and limiting the
intensity of the temptation so that it will not be above that which we are able
to bear.
1 Cor 10:9-14 (KJV)
Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also
tempted,
and were destroyed of serpents.
{10} Neither murmur ye, as some of them also
murmured,
and were destroyed of the destroyer.
{11} Now all these things happened unto them
for ensamples:
and they are written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the world are
come.
{12} Wherefore let him that thinketh he
standeth take heed lest he fall.
{13} There hath no temptation taken you but
such as is common to man:
but God is faithful,
who will not suffer{cause} you to be tempted
above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation also make a way to
escape,
that ye may be able to bear it.
{14} Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from
idolatry.
The unexpected consequences of
suffering and affliction for the Christian are Christian growth, and experiences
of victory that you will have as a treasure with which you can help and counsel
others. Observe:
2 Cor 1:2-4 (KJV)
Grace be to you and peace from God our Father,
and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
{3} Blessed be God, even the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies, and the God of all
comfort;
{4} Who comforteth us in all our
tribulation,
that we may be able to comfort them which are in any
trouble,
by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of
God.
May the God of all Comfort Bless you
as you ponder these things.
In Christ..brother
bob...<><
CONTINUE COMPOSING
HERE
Isa 30:20-21
Though He give you the bread of adversity
and water of affliction,
yet He will be with you to teach you--
with your own eyes you will see your Teacher.
And if you leave God's paths and go either to the right or to the left, you will hear a Voice behind you say,
"This is the way; walk ye in it."
Rom 8:16-18
(KJV)
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our
spirit,
that we are the children of God:
{17} And if children, then heirs; heirs
of God,
and joint-heirs with Christ;
if so be that we suffer with him,
that we may be also glorified together.
{18} For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time
are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us.
2 Cor
1:3-7 (KJV)
Blessed be God, even
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies, and
the God of all comfort;
{4} Who comforteth
us in all our tribulation,
that we may be able to
comfort them which are in any trouble,
by the comfort wherewith we
ourselves are comforted of God.
{5} For as the
sufferings of Christ abound in us,
so our consolation also
aboundeth by Christ.
{6} And whether we
be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation,
which is effectual in the
enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer:
or whether we be comforted,
it is for your consolation and salvation.
{7} And our hope of
you is stedfast,
knowing, that as ye are
partakers of the sufferings,
so shall ye be also
of the consolation.
Phil
1:29 (KJV)
For unto you it is
given in the behalf of Christ,
not only to believe on
him,
but also to suffer
for his sake;
Phil
3:7-10 (KJV)
But what things were
gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
{8} Yea doubtless,
and I count all things but loss
for the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:
for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things,
and do count them but
dung,
that I may win Christ,
{9} And be found
in him,
not having mine own
righteousness, which is of the law,
but that which is
through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is
of God by faith:
{10} That I may know
him, and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his
sufferings,
being made conformable unto
his death;
1 Th
3:3-4 (KJV)
{3} That no man
should be moved by these afflictions:
for yourselves know that we
are appointed thereunto.
{4} For verily, when
we were with you,
we told you before that we
should suffer tribulation;
even as it came to
pass, and ye know.
Rev 2:10 (KJV)
Fear none of those
things which thou shalt suffer:
behold, the devil
shall cast some of you into prison,
that ye may be tried;
and ye shall have
tribulation ten days:
be thou faithful unto
death,
and I will give thee
a crown of life.
IXTHEUS CHRISTIAN GROWTH DEVOTIONALS
ALWAYS FREE OF
CHARGE
(but not necessarily free
of COST)
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God Bless You.....brother
bob.......<><
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