Jesus said we are to "count the cost" before we become Christian. Meaning, we need to realize how hard it is.
The only good things one can say about Christianity it that someday we will be heaven, but we not yet, and that until then God's gives us peace to endure this crazy world we live in.
Will God bless us as Christians? Yes somewhat, IF we are obedient to him and his commands.
But we also need to realize that when we "take up our cross" to follow Christ we are strapping a huge bulls eye to our backs for Satan. The more we grow in our walk with God, the more Satan will attack us.
The Christian walk is not all roses. "Rejoice in the Lord" yes. But let's look at the reality of Christianity.
1. Our main figure Jesus was brutally executed for our sin.
2. His friends betrayed him and denied knowing him.
3. Jesus said we will be persecuted and people will betray us as well for our faith.
4. He said he did not come to bring peace but the sword and divide son from father etc.
5. He said "in this world you will have many troubles."
6. We live in a fallen world plagued by sin.
7. Satan is the ruler of this world. God allows him to be ruler of the is world and to control what goes on here for the most part.
8. Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so anyone we do try to witness to it seems impossible. :(
9. Hell exists and it is a place of never ending torture of torment. The lake of fire, where the hard truth that anyone who does not believe in Jesus will go there.
10. We need to die to ourselves, meaning kill yourself and your own desires and wants. Let God mold you etc and help you grow in humility.
11. If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. Meaning, be aggressive about sin in your life. Don't let yourself sin, ever, if you can. :)
12. Many in the early church who followed Christ were stoned to death, hung, crucified and tortured.
13. It is impossible to live the Christian walk perfectly because we will always struggle with our flesh and the old man. :( We constantly do what we do not want to do and seem to be unable to do the good that we want to do. :(
14. If we stop producing fruit we may be cut off as Jesus says. "Any branch that does not produce good fruit is cut off and thrown into the fire."
15. IF we overcome to the end we will be saved, but no one can really say for sure that they are saved until the end. It is about how we finish, not about how we begin.
16. We will have to deal with and fight with, or challenge, Pharisees in the church just as Jesus did.
17. We are called to love the seemingly unlovable.
18. We are commanded to love our enemies.
19. God tells us if we do not forgive others he will not forgive us.
20. We may be killed for our faith.
21. Most of the world will think we are crazy for believing what we believe.
22. "God disciplines those he loves he loves," so sometimes God will make our lives harder in order to draw us closer to himself.
23. God uses pain and suffering in our lives to glorify himself and to be a witness for him, as in the case of Job.
24. Every example we have of people in the Bible lived a very painful and hard life:
David was constantly fleeing from King Saul who wanted to kill him. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers.
Paul was ship wrecked, beaten many times and in prison for his faith. Peter was crucified upside down. John was beheaded. Jesus was tortured, whipped, and nailed to a cross.
Abel was killed by his brother Cain. Noah had to live in an ark for a time and watch the world get destroyed by water. David's son rapped his daughter. The prophets were ridiculed and made fun of by the Jews. The Pharisees constantly criticized Jesus and any new converts to Christianity.
Paul murdered hundreds of new Christians. Stephen was stoned to death. Job lost all of his children, his wealth and his health probably in a time span of two months. Abraham was called to leave everything he knew and go to where God told him to.
Abraham later had to almost sacrifice his son Isaac for God. Moses had to confront Pharaoh, the most powerful ruler in Egypt, and be made fun of by him over and over again. Ruth's mother in law Naomi lost all of her sons and her husband at once. Mary had to watch her first born son, Jesus, being tortured and crucified.
Jacob was cheated by his father in law into marrying a woman he didn't want to marry. Hosea was commanded by God to marry a prostitute who kept running away from him and being unfaithful to him. Peter hated himself for denying Jesus three times and almost walked away from his faith entirely.
Adam brought the curse on all men that work would be extreme toil and stressful labor. Eve brought the curse on all women that child birth would be incredibly painful. And that raising kids would be harder and getting along with our husbands would be harder. :(
King Saul, the first king over the Jews, later in his life actually became possessed because he visited a spiritist or fortune teller. Samuel was dropped off at the temple by his mom when he was only one or two years old. Poor guy. :( Esther had to risk her life by appearing to the king, her husband, un called for to ask that the Jews, her people, be spared from the genocide that was about to take place.
Samson had his eyes gouged out, literally, and died when God commanded him to cause a building to fall down and kill many wicked people. Jonah was swallowed by a big fish when he disobeyed God and did not preach to the people God asked him to right away. Then after he finally did he was so angry that they got saved that he asked God to kill him, literally. :)
Elijah fled from Queen Jezebel because she wanted to kill him. Daniel was thrown into a den of lions. His three friends were thrown into a fiery furnace when they wouldn't bow down to the giant gold idol.
So does knowing God spare us from trouble in this life? Obviously not. But does he give us peace despite the storms of life? Yes.
Suffering is very much a theme in the Bible. Why? Because we live in a fallen world and that is just how life is. The sooner we accept that, the less we will get so easily angry when things don't go our way. And the easier time we will have of being content.
You think your life is hard? Look at all these people in the Bible. They REALLY had it hard. :(
Amen? Amen.
May God give you wisdom and endurance in this world. "Fight the good fight and finish the race." Amen! God bless!
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