Colossians 1: 24 ESV
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in
my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake
of his body, that is, the church…
Paul was talking here about
being conformed to the sufferings of Jesus.
I wonder how many followers
of Jesus, suffer now days? I wonder how many people rejoice in them?
Instinctively, people in
Western cultures can’t relate to suffering.
Paul was willing to suffer
for the sake of the Body of Christ.
How willing are you, to
suffer for your church?
I know that since that
language isn’t in many of our church doctrine documents, that’s a foreign
subject.
If we are part of the Body of
Christ, and we desire to be like Jesus, we should probably expect to suffer
just as Jesus did.
Have you ever prayed… “Jesus, make me just like you!!” Just so
you know, that can’t happen unless we’re willing to suffer.
Yesterday we started a New
Year in the church calendar, and some people suffered through colds and
sickness just to be in the worship service.
It’s not exactly the same
thing, but when we put Christ ahead of our selfish desires, that’s pretty
close.
Suffering does some pretty
powerful things:
·
It brings us closer to Jesus…
·
It produces blessed assurance within…
·
It brings about rewards in Heaven
when we get there…
·
It might result in others being
saved…
·
It also shuts the big mouth of the
devil…
How are you currently
suffering for your church?
It’s a New Year, and maybe
it’s a good time to take some personal inventory…
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