“This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.” (Psalm 119:50)
Affliction is a necessary component to the life in Christ.
Without affliction, we go astray. Without affliction we “go to seed” as they say.
No one truly seeks pain or suffering. But it is an inescapable process that we must endure in order for the Lord to make us what we should be.
This is how He prepares us for the joys of eternity with Him.
Believers in Christ are called “priests” in the New Testament.
… “and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 1:3-9)
But what does this really mean?
There is a great difference between a person with a thankful heart and one that feels entitled to the good things of life.
This current generation is of the latter type.
Our “entitlement” culture is filled with envy and jealousy. Who covet what others have. And who seek ways to take it from them.
In fact, all the current movement toward Socialism is based upon envy.
Upon the idea that what others have should belong to me or to someone else in need. And that the government should force those that have to give to those that don’t have.
Therefore, individuals today focus on what they believe the world owes them. Or what they believe God owes them.
Or, more accurately, what they demand that the world and God should give them.
And, if not, then they’ll take, by force, what they are due.
“Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.” (Psalm 62:5-8)
Bringing everything to God in prayer is one of the most common missing elements in Christian Service.
Prayer, or its absence, affects everything we think and do.
“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (I John 4:4)
This simple verse carries a wealth of meaning on so many levels.
Many times I have found comfort from this when walking in some dark place at night; wondering what else might be lurking around me. Dark things physical as well as spiritual.
But that is only one part of the meaning.
Consider how this relates to the personal struggles we each wage against sin in our lives. And how we are often so beaten down, and torn apart by our own temptations and failures.
“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” (II Timothy 4:8)
When the Lord comes for us, will we “love his appearing“?
I believe the answer to that is based on our daily relationship to the Lord. Which, like any close relationship, involves our daily transparency and communion with Christ.
But how can we look forward, with joy, to seeing someone that we don’t know? Or, of whom we are afraid?
“This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)
It’s hard to say that verse without hearing the song that has become so closely associated with it. It is a joyous phrase. One that comes to mind, at least for me, primarily in those times when I am low and fearful of what lies ahead.
But, recently, in the midst of a lot of physical ailments I’ve been dealing with in this “summer of pain” (Sorry. I probably sound like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh) it occurred to me that this verse is an everyday verse.
Not just a good-day verse.
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” (Zechariah 9:9)
This last weekend, the church celebrated Palm Sunday. Which is the day we have chosen to commemorate when the Lord rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. Which was the fulfillment of a prophecy made approximately 500 years earlier by the prophet, Zechariah.
Shortly following that event, the Lord was crucified on a Roman cross outside the Holy City. Crucified “without the gate“, as the scriptures say. (Hebrews 13:11-13)
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