What is the Christian worldview of suffering? Part 3 (1 Peter 4:14)
Hi everyone, trust you are well!
In two last two devotions: What is the Christian worldview on suffering? part 1 and part 2. I focused on the Christian worldview in relation to suffering. I gave us two truths:
Do not be shocked when you suffer as a Christian.
Instead of shock, rejoice when you suffer as a Christian.
In today's devotion, I would like to give us a third truth:
If you suffer as a Christian - you are blessed.
14 “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you”.
This is extremely encouraging, because God is with you in your moments of affliction. God is there with you through his Spirit. The Spirit of glory and of God is the Holy Spirit. He was the one who caused all genuine Christians to obey Jesus and his work on the cross.
This is what Peter said in chapter 1: 2:
“according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and set apart by the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ”.
This is what Peter said in chapter 2: 5:
“He is the one who builds us into the dwelling place of God”.
So, if you are mocked and ridiculed. If you are labelled a religious fanatic, cult worshipper, homophobe, killjoy, whatever it may be; if you are cursed because you bear the name of Christ, you are blessed because God is with you. Isn’t this amazing? It serves as a testimony of God’s care for his people. He is a God who does not abandon his people in the fiery furnace of affliction. Instead he is there with you.
Brothers and sisters, the Lord almighty cares for you. He is not a distant God who sits in heaven and just watches things unfold in your life. He is not the gods you find in Greek mythology, Zeus and Apollo sitting high above the heavens looking down on mortal man. He is not a god who sits or stands in one place. No! He is with you in the trenches, in the valleys, in the deepest and darkest places.
So, brothers and sisters, whatever you are facing at this moment in time, TAKE HEART! FOR GOD IS WITH YOU.
If you are cursed, “you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”
May this message be an encouragement to your heart.
God bless and be safe.
