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2 Corin. 1:3-5 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. NASU
2 Corin. 1:3-5 - All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! 4 He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. 5 We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort… (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
WOW! I don't know about you I can only speak for myself, but many times when I've gone through hard times I thought God wasn't there. It was like God had gone on a vacation, and I was left to handle the mess by myself. I was wrong. God was there. In fact, the verse says, "He comes alongside us when we go through hard times." We need to memorize this verse and never forget it. He is right beside us. He has not abandoned us. When we needed Him the most He will be there. In the book of Hebrews 13:5-6 it says, "for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," so that we confidently say, "THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID." NASU
"…before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us." We get to be the shoulder a person can lean on as they go through their difficult time. We get to share with them how God was there for us and that God is there for them. God isn't in the business of bailing out on us when we need Him the most.
Patience and trust are the key ingredients that are needed when going through hard times. The next time you are going through a hard time, you will want to remember God is with you and you will use your experience to help someone else in the future. My suggestion is to take good notes because you will be called on in the future to share your experience with others. Think On These: This would be a wonderful world if men showed as much patience in all things as they do in waiting for a fish to bite. Patience is often bitter, but its fruit is sweet. Patience is the ability to count down before blasting off. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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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 obedient to God, and 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.
You may not receive any rewards here on earth, but the rewards God promises us in heaven will make us forget about all the suffering we have endured while here on earth. Think On This: As long as your conscience is your friend, don't be concerned about your enemies. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Revelation 1:12-15 - “Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me.…I saw one like a son of man, …His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; …and His voice was like the sound of many waters.”
The emperors wanted to be worshipped as if they were gods. The faithful followers of Judaism and Christianity would not worship them and consequently, this led to their executions. The apostle John who had been exiled to the isle of Patmos because of his faith hears a voice behind him and he turns to see who is speaking to him. He "saw one like the son of man." In other words, he is seeing Jesus Christ. His head and hair were white is another way of saying Jesus is the pure one. Jesus is the one who never sinned. White is the color used for "purity".
I am not sure how many of you have ever been near a waterfall or an area that is being flooded. I have been near both of them and I can tell you from experience the noise is unbelievably loud. You have to yell at the person who is standing next to you for them to hear you. So what did "His voice was like the sound of many waters.” mean when John wrote it? God is telling John to allow the "Word of God" to drown out all worldly noises. If you will allow the Word of God to drown out all of this world's noises you will not worry. There was a lot of political noise in John's day and God is saying don't listen to the political noise. God is telling John to write to all Christians and inform them not to listen to the political nonsense coming from the Roman Empire. God wants Christians to listen to Him. His Voice is to be heard over all other noises. I would like to say there is a lot of political noise in our world today. God's Word is timeless. He wants us today to not listen to all the political noise. We are to listen to His Voice. The importance of listening to God's Voice over all of the political nonsense in our world is we will not be upset by the nonsense. We will not worry. We must never forget our citizenship is in Heaven (Phil.3:20). One lesson the book of Revelation teaches is human history is not separated from God's awareness or involvement. God is still in control of this world. Not only is He in control He is walking in the midst of His Church. He is the Good Shepherd and He is in the middle of His flock. So take it easy. Don't Worry Be Happy that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
Don't listen to all the nonsense this world is throwing at you. Listen to this: Matt 11:28-30 - "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Think On These: God gives us the ingredients for our daily bread but He expects us to do the baking. We may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future. God still speaks to those who take time to listen. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word John 1: 40-42 - One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
Peter is mentioned over 160 times in the N.T. and it is all because his brother Andrew (mentioned 13 times) led him to Christ. Andrew is mentioned fewer times but plays a vital role in God's Kingdom by introducing Peter to Jesus.
All we have to do is be like Andrew and introduce a Peter like person to Jesus. Peter was the one who said, "Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God." And Jesus would give Peter the keys to the kingdom (Matt.16:16-19). It was Peter who got out of the boat and walked on the water towards Jesus. It was Peter who would cut off Malchus' ear in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was Peter who would preach the first gospel sermon and over 3,000 people would be baptized into Christ. We could say a whole lot more about Peter, but I want to remind us of this one thing: it was ANDREW, one guy, who brought Peter to meet Jesus. It was Andrew who became friends with one little lad, who had a lunch, and when this one lunch was given to Jesus it fed over 5,000 men, women, and children.
Yes, one can make a difference. In what area of life are you going to make a difference? Andrew was just one person but look at the huge impact he was able to make. YOU ARE ONE. What huge impact are you going to make? You may have thought "What can I do, I am only one person?" Well, now you know. One person can make a huge impact if he or she has a mind to do so. Now go and accomplish something great in your life. Go and make a huge impact. You know you can do it. Think on These: It is when we forget ourselves that we do things that are most likely to be remembered. Every accomplishment, great or small, starts with the right decision, "I'll Try". Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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