Wednesday, May 5, 2010

'Persecuted, But Not Forsaken'

Not going into too much detail, as all of this occurred at my place of work yesterday and earlier on today. But, I will share my tweets. Hold down your CTRL key while clicking the picture beneath. It will open in a new window [tweets read from bottom-up]. THAT is what I've been dealing with.



I thank God for resilience that He has generously blessed me with, because I bounce back soooo easily, it's great!! \o/ And, because of my high resilience, I cannot get comfortable, not now.

There is a vision that I must fulfill
and I'm gonna get there!!


An encouraging Word from Elder Craige was in my inbox today when I came home, that related directly to my situation, bold and italics = my personal emphasis, praise God:


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The EX Daily Word for May 5, 2010
'Persecuted, But Not Forsaken'

1 Peter 4:19 - 'So if you are suffering according to God's will, keep on doing what is right, and trust yourself to the God who made you, for he will never fail you.'

1 Peter 4:19 KJV 'Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.'

Many times we feel that the work we do for the Kingdom of God goes unnoticed. But God is always watching and he rewards justly. When we work for him, we reap a harvest from him and he will reward us now and in the afterlife. But some times God desires more from us and so he will allow the very people we are blessing to persecute us unjustly. Why?

When we get comfortable and satisfied with our place in the Kingdom, God will allow trials to come to move us along because he wants us to do more for him.

We cannot just sit on the Gospel, but we must spread it! There are people on your job, in your family, or in your neighborhood that need to hear the truth of God's goodness and if we remain comfortable with our own place in the Kingdom, then we will lose focus and forget about helping others.

Many times, it seems right when you really get where you should be in Christ, all hell breaks loose and things go haywire! And then, just when you fight to get sin out of your life, give offerings faithfully, and walk right before God, another trial jumps up to test you.

Why is this?

Jesus said that God cuts the vine that bears fruit, so it can bear more fruit and that hurts us. (John 15:2) But the freshly cut vine bears bigger and better fruit! And it positions us to do bigger and better things for him.

How did God get the Gospel to the whole world? He caused the Christians to be persecuted where they were living comfortably and they all ran away to save their lives. They thought people were just trying to kill them off, but God was using it to get the Gospel spread around the world.

So, yes, pain is allowed in the Kingdom for gain. God does not allow growth of ministry without hurt and misery!

God is working on something big in you when unexplained persecution comes.

So, suffer through it and grow in his grace, but never forget that when you are persecuted undeservingly, God is positioning you for bigger and better things!

Suggested Reading: Matt. 5:10, 1Cor. 4:12, 2Cor. 4:9, 1Pet. 4:12,
James 1:3, John 15:2

http://www.exministries.com
© 2010 G. Craige Works All Rights Reserved

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Recent tweet:

@Child0fGod This message from Elder Craige is right on time. Some things I have been unable to understand. Thank God for the saints!! Onward I trod.

Growing in GRACE! (2 Peter 3:18),
ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIER!,
Whit

2 comments:

  1. Stand firm and fight. The Lord will, indeed, deliver.

    ReplyDelete
  2. True. Prayerfully.

    [A new visitor here; just saying hi.]

    ReplyDelete

May the Lord bless you. And, please leave a link to your blog as well so that I can stop by and visit! ;)