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Acts 3:18 - "But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.
Acts 17:2-3 - And according to Paul's custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ." Acts 26:22-23 - "So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer…
This can be seen very clearly in John 9:1-2 - "As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" All you have to do to discover that teaching is false is read the first few chapters of the book of Job. If that doesn't convince you then reread the scriptures I used to start this Pump Up from the book of Acts. They all mention Jesus Christ would suffer, had to suffer and was to suffer and we know He was sinless. Therefore, suffering doesn't always come about because of some sin we have committed.
As a minister people have come to me for counseling and on numerous occasions they would say to me, I just can't figure out what sin I have committed that God is allowing me to suffer this way. I would ask them, "What makes you think you are suffering because of some sin you have committed?" They would generally give me some type of answer that equated to this "suffering is the result of some sin you have committed".
You can start to read from Luke 13:10 and you will discover Jesus healed this lady in the synagogue and the official was upset Jesus healed her on the Sabbath. You will notice Jesus says this woman had been suffering because Satan bound her for the last 18 years. Why does Satan want humans to suffer? He knows God is the one people are going to blame not him. When I look at all the suffering in the world I see the works of the evil one more than I see the Hand of God. The apostle Paul said it this way: 1 Corin.14:33 - "…for God is not a God of confusion but of peace,…" Suffering brings a lot of confusion with it. I say if you are a Christian the majority of your suffering has come upon you from the evil one. He wants you to blame God. The devil is the culprit and he knows it. Don't be fooled by the evil one. Think About This: We learn some things from prosperity, but we learn many things from adversity. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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Matt. 25:20-21 - "The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, 'Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.' 21 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave…" NASU
Mt 25:15 -"To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability…"
Let's investigate a statement people have said to me.
Then you are the perfect person to teach others how to endure and overcome this type of suffering. You certainly don't want to miss this great opportunity to teach others. Isn't that what we are supposed to be doing in life? We are to be learning the hard and difficult lessons and then sharing what we've learned with others. Eph 4:28 - "…rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need." NASU In Ephesians Paul is talking about why we work so that we can share with the one who has a need. This same principal is valid with what we experience in life.
We see people attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings so that they can share some of their life stories to help the people who are in attendance. A person who has overcome cancer is better qualified to speak to someone who is presently in the battle on what they did to stay strong and keep moving forward. We have all experienced some difficulties in life and that qualifies us to share with others what worked for us and didn't work for us during those difficult times.
What have you survived, overcome, struggled with, or experienced that you need to start sharing to help others? You certainly didn't think that you were going to go through this learning experience and then not share your knowledge with anyone, did you? Think About These: The best advice you'll get is from someone who made the same mistake himself. Education is what you get from reading the small print in a contract. Experience is what you get from not reading it. A wise man learns by the experiences of others. An ordinary man learns by his own experiences. A fool learns by nobody's experiences. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Jere. 26:8-11 - When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, "You must die! "Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD saying, 'This house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate, without inhabitant'?
….Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, "A death sentence for this man! For he has prophesied against this city as you have heard in your hearing." NASU
I can say without a doubt that Jeremiah was a man of God and he discovered that serving God brought with it some very painful situations. He was a Prophet of God, called to be a prophet before he was even born. Jere. 1:4-5 - Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations." NASU I can guarantee you that he didn't believe his life was a piece of cake because he was a servant of God.
You obey God and the end result is suffering for you. This is what happened in Jeremiah's life. The very people Jeremiah was sent to help were the ones that wanted him dead. The people the prophets were sent to help would be the ones who either made their life very miserable or they killed them. Here is a conversation Jesus had with the scribes and Pharisees about killing the prophets sent by God - (Mt 23:30-31 - 'If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' "So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets." NASU) Jeremiah was an obedient man of God, but it caused him a lot of grief. You may be a servant of God today and have lots of grief. If you do, don't let your thoughts get you to doubt your calling. Don't be led down the path that God must not care about you or He certainly would not allow this suffering in your life. He called Jeremiah and told him exactly what to preach and who to preach this message too. Jeremiah did exactly as he was told and he was hated by the priests and the false prophets. Their hatred was so great they wanted him to be killed.
I mean do you have any enemies like Jeremiah? They want you dead and have a plan to end your life. The answer to that question for most of us would be "No". When I read what Jeremiah was going through I laugh now at what I had to endure in the ministry. I had people lie about me, misquote me, and God forbid the false accusations about my motives. Hello! Could you imagine me sitting down with Jeremiah and telling him how hard my ministry was? I can actually see this person who I visualize as Jeremiah rolling on the ground laughing. When he stops laughing he says to me, "Really, that is all that was done to you? They didn't try to kill you at anytime? Jere. 38:10 - Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, "Take thirty men from here under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies." NASU They were literally trying to kill this man of God. Why? He was doing what God had asked him to do.
Think About This: As long as your conscience is your friend, don't be concerned about your enemies. 47 years ago today (2/2/75) I was baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of my sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. If you have not been baptized as an adult please make this a priority in your life and as always I am always here to help you accomplish this act of obedience to God's Word. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Ps 30:5, 10-12 - "Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning…"
10 "Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me; O LORD, be my helper." 11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, 12 That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever. NASU
David says, "Weeping may last for the night, BUT a shout of joy comes in the morning…" David is writing this Psalm after he got in trouble with God for numbering the people. He knew he had done wrong, the plague had come upon him and his people were suffering because of his actions. He also knows that joy comes in the morning. We must train our minds to think all I have to do is make it until tomorrow because "joy" comes in the morning. We are all 24 hours or less away from a joyous occasion. When I find myself in tough situations I always tell myself, "I can endure anything for 24 hours. I will get a fresh start tomorrow." It is like a wrestler who needs to get out of bounds and get a fresh start. It is not exactly what you want to do, but sometimes it is what you have to do.
God had informed David that because of his sin (numbering the people, which is the equivalent to taking a census, by doing this David was showing his faith was in the number of people and not in God, this also shows David had an issue with pride) he would be punished. God was going to send a plague. He names three different plagues and allows David the opportunity to choose which plague he wanted to endure. David chose the plague of falling into God's hand because David knew God's mercies are great. You and I must absolutely positively know the mercies of God are great. He has His eyes on us and He will not give us more than we can bear. 2 Sam. 24:16 -When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who destroyed the people, "It is enough! Now relax your hand!" NASU David was correct when he desired to fall into the hand of the LORD for His mercies are great. In this passage, we see God putting a halt to the punishment that was being administered. You and I will do well to trust in the mercies of God. God will be our helper and turn our mourning into dancing. It will be God who puts a stop to the punishment that is upon us.
Let's prepare ourselves to sing praises to God and give Him thanks forever. God will be the One who brings our night of weeping to a close and opens our morning with joy. Think AboutThese: We learn some things from prosperity, but we learn many things from adversity. Your character is what you have remaining when you have lost everything you can lose. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word I Peter 2:20-24 - "But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, 22 WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; 23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; …" NASU
"…when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God." As you can see from this passage all suffering doesn't come upon us because of our sins. Peter says, there is suffering that comes because the person is doing what is right. John the Baptist suffered because he did what was right, as did Jesus, and all the other apostles.
They are trying to find out what type of vocation they are to be involved in their lifetime, but Peter clearly states: "…For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps," We have been called to suffer and Peter says this is our purpose. He says, Christ suffered for us and this is the example He left for us to follow. The next time you go through a period of suffering I hope you will see that in so doing you are fulfilling God's purpose for you. He wants you to "trust Him". He wants you to know that He judges righteously and He will take care of you as you endure your hardship.
Jesus never sinned while going through His trials. He didn't use His mouth to curse God or to accuse Him of being unfair. He didn't sin in any way while enduring His trial. Another purpose for us is that when we go through a period of suffering is not to sin. We don't falsely accuse God of anything. We don't cry out God where are you? We know God knows exactly where we are and what we are going through. God never forsakes His children and we know that for certain. We will not listen to the devil when he accuses God of not caring about what happens to us. We will not believe lies about our God. We know God cares, protects, and watches over us. We refuse to believe the devil because he is a liar and has been one for a long, long time. Stay close to God and know this suffering is your test where God gets to say to the devil see I told you my servant (your name) would not believe your lies about Me. This is what John says about the devil in John 8:44 - "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. When you suffer know this it is an opportunity to fulfill God's purpose for us. Think About This: People always get into trouble when they think they can handle their lives without God. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God’s Word |
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