Suffer

Suffering is not a fun or easy thing to experience or even talk about, but it is an everyday experience in people’s lives.  Sometimes we suffer because of something we’ve done and other times we suffer because of someone else or sometimes we are just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but regardless of how it happens it hurts.  But what about suffering as a believer, which happens every day all around the world?

Paul brought this home in 2 Timothy 3:10-14, in his letter to Timothy “You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it…”

Before Paul became a believer he also persecuted the people of The Way, that were believers and had them arrested and thrown into prison and some were probably killed.  What about the time that Steven was being stoned to death?  Paul was there condoning what was taking place.  I wonder if Paul ever thought of that when he suffered persecution after he had become a believer.  

Some of us have never suffered persecution as a believer because we were not willing to share the Word of God with anyone, or if we did, it is only people we knew very well, maybe out of fear. If that is the case what we need to do is pray for boldness like the disciples did when Jesus walked the earth.

Read Acts 4:24-31, “And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, ‘Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”

This is the kind of boldness we need if we are believers, and if fear or anything else hinders us, we need to pray and ask the Lord to give us the boldness we need to stand and proclaim the Word and then share it when the Lord gives us opportunity and also pray for discernment and the words He would have us speak.  Who knows the person we are speaking to better than Him?   

Much of the persecution I have received has been verbal from people that were supposed to be believers themselves, religious people.  When I think about Jesus, He, along with His disciples, was persecuted by the religious people also in His day.  There are many ways that we can suffer, and none of them are fun, but suffering for something that you deserved is justice, but suffering for something you didn’t deserve can actually be a blessing depending on how you look at it or your perspective at the time.

Read how the disciples reacted when they suffered for the Lord in Acts 5:41-42, “Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.”

Many people suffer in this life and have suffered for many reasons and some suffering is very hard to explain and we need to have compassion on them because these are real hurts and wounds that need to be mended and healed.  If you are a believer and you suffer for the Lord, try to respond like the disciples responded with joy, knowing that the Lord has counted you worthy to suffer for the cause of Christ.  

I have given you something to think about and I hope this Tidbit has been an encouragement to you.  May you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours with His perfect peace, love, joy, health and happiness!!

Wondering

I was having a very hard time staying awake this morning!  Then a thought drifted into my mind that went something like this; I wonder why King David fell into sin with another man’s wife and this Tidbit was a result of this thought.

King David knew he should have been out fighting battles with the enemies of God and Israel’s enemies also.  He was a committed dedicated man of God but he rebelled against Him, even having her husband killed to cover up for what he did, and what about Peter denying the Lord three times when he, plus all the other disciples, said they would die with Him, but they all scattered when the Lord was being crucified.  These men were all dedicated committed believers.  Then I think back in time, even further back about Adam and Eve and why they rebelled against their Creator, God.  Then there was Cain and Abel and the jealousy that Cain had against Abel even to the point of killing Abel and trying to cover it up.  Then there was Joseph and his brothers who became jealous of Him to the point that some were willing to kill him also and I could go on.

When I think about all these things I come to one conclusion, they along with all mankind had one thing in common, they were all born in sin, resulting in having a sin nature that is prone to sin.  God’s Word says that all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God.  We all like sheep have gone astray, there is none righteous no not one.  We have all erred in our ways and because of our sins we all became God’s enemies and were condemned.  Our punishment was death and total separation from God, our Creator, who created us all into His own image and likeness without a way to redeem ourselves.

But, praise be to God, through His love, mercy and grace He had another plan and that plan would affect every person and that plan was a way of escape, a way to avoid the condemnation that was on all of us and make us right with Him.  You may not look at yourself as a sinner but let me ask you a question, have you ever told a lie?  I think that covers most of us, plus there are many other things I could mention.

Here is the good news, read what John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”          

What does the ‘whosoever’ mean?  I think that covers all who will believe on the Lord Jesus and repent of their sins, which means to turn away from your sins.  

If you need more convincing of how much God loves you, read John 3:17-18, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found, if you are still breathing you still have time, but don’t put it off it is the most important decision you will ever make.  So don’t wait another moment; ask the Lord to be your Lord and Savior and to take control of your life and see what happens.  If you are truly sincere, you will be a child of the living God.  Then go to a Bible believing church, share your faith with others and start growing in your new found faith.  Something to think about!  May you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!  PS don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord!!

The Enemy

When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise a standard against him; it says this in Isaiah 59:19.  Think about the times when the Israelites were rebellious and sinned against the Lord and their enemies would come and attack them and they would defeat them, but, in time the Israelites would repent and cry out to the Lord and He would hear their cries and He would deliver them from the hands of their enemies.  

In the days before the day of Pentecost the Spirit would come upon some people and empower them to do certain things.  What about after the day of Pentecost?  At that time, when people believed on the Lord Jesus and repented of their sin and asked the Lord to come into their hearts and lives, Jesus would come in, in the form of the Holy Spirit and their bodies would become the temple of the Holy Spirit.  Think of this, if the Lord rescued His people in Bible days can He not rescue you and me today?  Of course He can, and He will, if we cry out for help while walking in the Spirit, not gratifying the desires of the flesh, walking humbly before our Lord.

I think we all need to remember sin and rebelliousness separate us from the Lord, just like it did in Bible times, so we need to keep short accounts with the Lord and repent and confess our sins and not try to hide them or make excuses for them.  Just call sin a sin and confess and repent, which means to turn away from them, and go in the other direction.  If you want to read a warning against sin, read the whole 59th chapter of Isaiah and see what it says!!

What is one of the things that the Lord seeks from us?  He seeks the humble and repentant heart, that He will not despise!  Read what 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Now if we are born-again believers, we have the Holy Spirit to empower us and help us to defeat the enemy of our souls so that we can be victorious in any circumstance or situation.  Our enemy is in the business to kill, steal and destroy and his main concern is to destroy the faith of as many believers and their families as he can and he will use anyone and any means that he can, to accomplish His purpose.

Read what 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

God has provided us a way out of every temptation that we face, so seek the way out and don’t give the devil a foothold in any area of your life, instead resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Does this mean that there will be no more hardships or trials or persecution in your life?  Of course not, it means that when we go through them we can call upon the Lord and ask for His help and receive it, praise the Lord!!

Something to think about!  Have a super day and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord!!  Also may the good Lord bless you and yours with His perfect peace, love and joy!!  I hope this has been an encouragement to all who read it.

Wisdom

True wisdom comes from knowing the Lord but not just knowing the Lord, but in fearing the Lord also.  Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding.”  God is the only one that can give true wisdom and knowledge because He created life.  

Read what the Word says in Job 5:13-14, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end. They meet with darkness in the daytime and grope at noonday as in the night.”

Men are often caught in their own traps.  Paul later quoted part of this verse in 1 Corinthians 3:19 which says this, “For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness...’”

This is not saying that we don’t need to seek knowledge and try to get an education, that is important in life, but if you try to run all your affairs with worldly wisdom and neglect the wisdom of God then you will most likely be led into deception because God’s wisdom is the foundation of our purpose in life and the fundamental purpose that gives us true meaning in life.  There are many people that foolishly say that there is no God.

Read what it says in Psalms 14:1, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.”

This does not mean that the person is ignorant or stupid; they just refuse to believe that there is a God.  What do you think God thinks when He hears someone say there is no God?  These people lack true wisdom when they reject their Creator, no matter how smart and intelligent they may be by worldly standards.  To speak directly against the Creator is foolishness according to the Word of God.  Why does the Word say that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom?  Because if there is no fear of the Lord before your eyes, you may end up taking advantage of God!

Someday there will be a judgement of all the people that ever lived and all their idle words will be shouted from the rooftops and all our souls will be laid bare before the Judgment seat of Christ; all your deeds, all the sins that you have committed will be laid before the multitudes and there will be nowhere to hide, all of our lives will be transparent before the crowds and there will be none without excuse.  In God’s book everything is being recorded; you can read all about these things in the book of Revelations and other books of the Bible.

I know we hear a lot about God’s love, grace, mercy and forgiveness but don’t forget God is also a just God and, being just, He has to punish sin and He will and does; you find it woven all through His Word and He hasn’t changed.  Thank the Lord for what we call the day of grace because without it we would all perish because of our sins.  

Read what Paul says about born-again believers in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”

If you are walking in the Spirit; repenting and confessing your sins and walking humbly before your God with great reverence, then there will be no condemnation, you will receive forgiveness and God’s grace and mercy, praise the Lord!  It seems like your works are not as important as your intentions, or why, you do the works in the first place.  We could see many with their works burnt up, being snatched from the burning fire, as it were, with no rewards to show for what they had done.  What are your motives for what you are doing?  That is something to think about! 

Those that seek their own wisdom while rejecting God will be judged and they will go to the place of their own choosing where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth and be separated from God forever and it will all be because of the choice they made.  God didn’t create Hell for man, so if you end up there it will be your choice.  I pray that you won’t make that decision.

Let me encourage you today saying that no matter what you are going through, God is bigger than all your problems and He is truly your only hope, so call on Him while He may be found.  Will not the God of the earth do good?  Just taste and see that He is what His Word says He is!  He is good!!   Something to think about!  I hope you will have a super day.  May the good Lord bless you and yours!!

True Love

I had such a struggle with this that I like to come back to this topic often because I think others must struggle with it also.  What does true love seek?  It seeks the other person’s wellbeing or their good!  

In God’s Word it says this in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Why did He do that?  It was because we needed him, not because He needed us.  John didn’t say that God is a loving God; no, he said God is love.  When you say that someone is loving, you would put that in the category of the person’s attributes, but this is much more than just an attribute with God, this is who God is.  

There is no one that doesn’t need love and everyone is looking for genuine love.  Some might say that God created man so that He would have someone to love but that is not true because God is complete in Himself and He lacks nothing.  Does He want us to fellowship with Him?  Sure, because He loves us, but not because He can benefit from us but that we will benefit from the relationship we have with Him!

I wonder how many people have mistaken love with lust and I wonder how many people really know the difference between love and lust.  Real love isn’t just a feeling or an emotional high or a one night stand or a selfish desire, no true love is a commitment to one another in the good times or the bad times, putting the other person’s needs ahead of your own and trying to meet those needs.  If anyone has experienced true love from the counterfeit, they know that there is no comparison, because true love is so refreshing and so real it compels people to love.

How many times have you used the word love for a chance to manipulate a person or to use a person for your benefit?  Or, just think of how many times others have done it to you!  It is no fun to feel like you are just being used by someone.  Every time the Lord healed a person or cast a demon out of a person or raised a person from the dead or set a person free of bondage or taught people or fed them, He didn’t need them, they all needed Him and the big reason He did it was because He is love and He acted according to what He was.  True love is not an inward expression but an outward expression.  

In 1 Corinthians we can read about the characteristics of true love.  Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

How can you tell that much of the love that is talked about is more about lust and selfishness than anything else?  Just read about the divorce rates in and out of the church!  I believe that genuine love will happen when Jesus is in the center of your relationships and to the people who are committed to Him and His Word, drinking from the fountain of life every day and putting His Word into practice.  I believe that unless the Lord build the house you labor in vain that build it.  The Lord is the glue, so to speak, that will hold the marriage together.  This isn’t to say that you will never have any misunderstandings or any disagreements, after all none of us are perfect, but when they happen there will be forgiveness and restoration and not a trip to divorce court.  This also goes for relationships that are so shallow that they dissolve with a disagreement that many times amounts to no big thing and could be resolved with an apology and a willingness to forgive.  Let me say this, non-believers have relationships that last along with marriages that last and some seem to be very happy, but I don’t think that they can reach their greatest potential without the Lord in the center of their relationships.  I know He has made a big difference in my marriage which started out on my part with lust.  

I have given you something to think about and I hope this has been an encouraging Tidbit.  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you all have a super, super day!!