Tuesday, October 13, 2015

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”   ~ Kahlil Gibran 

ISAIAH 50-52

Isaiah gives instruction for the future.

 

7“Hear me, you who know what is right,

you people who have taken my instruction to heart:

Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals

or be terrified by their insults.

8For the moth will eat them up like a garment;

the worm will devour them like wool.

But my righteousness will last forever,

my salvation through all generations.”

 

1 THESSALONIANS 1

Paul sends this letter to the Church in Thessalonica.  They were under persecution yet had stayed faithful.

 

 3We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

 



JOURNAL

It is hard to imagine a world where I would be persecuted for my faith.  That just is a reminder of how blessed and idyllic my life truly is.  It is so easy to forget this blessing even though right now...people are being killed and tortured and losing everything.  Paul and Jesus both state that suffering is a blessing and those that suffer this way are blessed beyond understanding. I know from the trials I have experienced, suffering has a way of shaking me away from things that really don't matter. It has a way of drawing me to God and pushes me to cling with both hands. 

 

 29For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. ~ Philippians 1:29-30