Faith Filled Family Magazine September 2016 | Page 62
14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye:
and be not afraid of their terror,
neither be troubled; 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts:
and be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asketh
you a reason of the hope that is
in you with meekness and fear:
16 Having a good conscience;
that, whereas they speak evil of
you, as of evildoers, they may
be ashamed that falsely accuse
your good conversation in Christ.
17 For it is better, if the will of
God be so, that ye suffer for well
doing, than for evil doing. 18 For
Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust,
that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit:
God never said your time here
would be free from consequences or that he would protect you from all things bad. If
God removed you from evil as a
choice, you would not be making
a choice, he would be making
the choice. God would never
force you to choose him. It is his
plan for you to see both good
and bad, to recognize the difference, and to trust in him.
Psalms 37:39-40 ~ 39 But the
salvation of the righteous is of
the LORD: he is their strength
in the time of trouble. 40 And
the LORD shall help them, and
deliver them: he shall deliver
them from the wicked, and save
them, because they trust in him.
Trust God through all of the
encounters with good, and we
shall be happy in those days;
through all of the encounters
with bad, and we shall fall upon
our knees and pray for God to
comfort us. For in this world, the
Lord wants you to know there will
be dark times, but during those
times, you will never be alone.
Once you accept him as your
Lord and Savior, he will bring
you comfort while you make the
choices to get through these dark
times. After the darkness passes
and joy returns once again, the
sun will once again shine and
the warmth of it will remind you
of our Father near and close.
His mercy and grace will support
you as you stream back into life.
The darkness will return, as long
as Satan feels a foothold.
2 Corinthians 1:3-7 3 Blessed be
God, even the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
4 Who comforteth us in all our
tribulation, that we may be able
to comfort them which are in any
trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted
of God. 5 For as the sufferings
of Christ abound in us, so our
consolation also aboundeth by
Christ. 6 And whether we be
afflicted, it is for your consolation
and salvation, which is effectual
in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or
whether we be comforted, it is for
your consolation and salvation. 7
And our hope of you is stedfast,
knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye
be also of the consolation.
offer us the choice of salvation at
such a sacrifice.
John 3:15-21 ~ 15 That whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have eternal life.
16 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. 17 For God
sent not his Son into the world
to condemn the world; but that
the world through him might be
saved. 18 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. 19
And this is the condemnation,
that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds
were evil. 20 For every one that
doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his
deeds should be reproved. 21
But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may
be made manifest, that they are
wrought in God.
SPIRITUAL FREEDOM
We will see the Lord one day, or
some of us will. It’s not for me to
determine who will or who will
not. There are some things in the
Bible we have talked about that
tell us what we need to know. It
goes back to God’s plan. The
Don’t wait until the bad choices plan which speaks of salvaarise. Ask for forgiveness every tion, being saved, avoiding sin,
day. Seek out the word of God and receiving spiritual freedom.
and lean heavy on him in prayer Why should we avoid sin, if sin
for those other than yourself as has been removed? Valid queswell, and pray for strength to be tion, but why not? After all Christ
the person God wants you to be. went through to have our sins
Most of all, praise God for his forgiven, why not realize what
gifts and for loving us so much to sin is, and just turn away from it?