Our Suffering In Christ

We are tempted to reject Him.

When we get saved, we confess Jesus as our Lord, and believe in Him alone for salvation.

We are called to Walk in the Spirit, and to abide in Him.

We get great joy in the Lord. Prayers answered. Life changing experiences, and we see Him working to protect and grow us.

But, times of trouble do come.

There are many reasons, and we can debate each one. But the end answer is always the same.

Draw closer to the Lord. Lean on Him. Trust His goodness and His promises. Believe and abide.

I can tell you that when trouble comes, the first thing the devil does is whisper into our mind that God is far from us. That He is not listening. That He doesn’t care. That He has made up His mind.

The devil says that God is all powerful, and would take the trouble away in a heart beat if He really wanted to. He says that God is punishing us. That God is going to destroy us.

This is what happened with Eve. The enemy got her to doubt God’s goodness and promises. It’s the tactic the demons always use.

We see in Job, that he lost everything; even his own health. All to get him to blame God and cast Him aside. Satan even used Job’s wife to torment him. The devil uses people and things to get you turn from God, also.

Job questioned. But he did not curse God. He continued to trust and abide.

Even Jesus when He was taken by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted, like we are. He refused to turn in to himself. He continued to rely on the father and trust the father.

When Eve turned from God, destruction came. When the Israelites turned from God, the enemy had reign to destroy them.

There is suffering in Christ, but joy comes in the morning, when we abide.

I’m not talking about sinning. Our sins are forgiven and washed. We are dead to sins. I’m talking about abiding through suffering.

The devil tempts us to turn away, back to our old life. Back to our old way of doing things. He tempts us to get angry at God and cast Him aside. Like the Israelites in the desert wanting to return to Egypt.

We do not lose our salvation. If we are saved, we are saved forever. But if we turn from God, things will not get better. We have opened ourselves up for worse. And have rejected the only real friend we have.

But God is faithful. He will keep trying to draw us to Him, regardless of our rejection. Like Peter, He comes to see if we will confess Him and turn to Him.

When we suffer, and abide in Christ. He is with us and comes with us through the other side of our trouble. Then we can see the truth. That He was with us the whole time, and our faith in Him grows.

As these last days get closer, things will get worse. The temptation will be to reject Him and join the Apostate Church of the False Prophet to come.

But stay with Him. He will see you through. It might be as if by fire, or by the skin of your teeth, but He is there. Trust Him.

Those who truly know Him will remain.

Like Job said “though He slay me, still will I trust in Him.” (Job 13:15)

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