Tag Archives: Essentials

Love (Part 3 of 6)

Without love, truth will not be valued. Without truth, it is difficult to know how to obey. Without obedience, it is impossible to demonstrate true love.

To understand Love, it will help to understand how it is integrally connected to Truth and to Obedience, such that you cannot separate the three. These three ideas intersect with one another at almost every point. Love, Truth, Obedience

Taking our lead from the letter of 1 John, we have looked at Perfect Love (Part 2 of this series). We turn our attention now to the relationships between Love, Truth and Obedience.

Let’s consider ‘Love’.

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Perfect Love (Part 2 of 6)

Love is a many splendored thing,

Love lifts us up where we belong,

All you need is love!

 

Love is just a game.

I was made for loving you baby,

You were made for loving me.

 

You’d think that people would’ve had enough of silly love songs…

So goes the lyrics of Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge (2001). It is a mash-up of love songs that highlight how confusing ‘love’ can be and captures many of the different ideas that exist about that wonderful little thing called ‘Love’.

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Uncomfortable Love (Part 1 of 6)

I remember the call. Nothing seemed right about what I was being asked to do!

I was in Damascus. The gospel work there had been growing as more and more became followers of Jesus. The rumour was that Saul of Tarsus was on his way to Damascus. This was unsettling.

Saul had led the charge against many followers of the Way. He had issued murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples and had arranged permission from the High Priest to travel around the synagogues seeking out Christians to imprison for their faith. He was a piece of work. We all knew the threat he posed.

And then the Lord called out to me in a vision:

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How does a Christian become more resilient in suffering? (Part 6 of 6)

Living now in the face of Suffering.

How does a Christian become more resilient in suffering?

Some practical suggestions:

1. Pray – it is a brave person who prays that they may suffer for the sake of Christ! Prayer is one thing that you can do under any circumstance of suffering – and listening, is our Father in heaven. Don’t pray that persecution may stop (the Bible doesn’t say it will!). Don’t pray that you will be rescued (God may have plans for you in your suffering!). Don’t pray that those who make you suffer will be punished (that is not how Jesus prayed!). Instead, pray that you would be strengthened and obedient through your suffering. Pray also for other Christians who experience different degrees of suffering to you (Eph 6:18-20

2. Reset your expectations – The Apostle Peter suggests that Christian take the same attitude as Christ. Expect that a part of the Christian life (not all of it) will involve some tough stuff and that will be most acute when you stand for your faith. Peter’s strategy in the face of the suffering was to remember the Lord, recognise that standing for Jesus does not put you at fault, and realise there is no reason to be ashamed (1 Peter 4:14-16)

3. Proclaim Jesus – know what you believe so that when put on the spot you are able to stand firm for Jesus (c.f. Eph 6:14-17, 19-20). One of the best ways to defend yourself, is to continue to proclaim Christ (John 15:27).

4. Love those who make you suffer – Jesus in the Sermon of the Mount taught his disciples to ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’ (Matt 5:44 c.f. Romans 12:14, 17-21). There is a humility that demonstrates a Christlike attitude which is on display whenever a Christian suffers.

5. Recharge – You have been given a Christian family who can be a wonderful support. Under God, use them to help you recharge and then return to continue standing firm for Jesus (Heb 10:24-25).

Christian suffering when put into a Christ-shaped perspective calls for a resilience that trusts that God will one day put all things right. Christians should live out the good will of God not just at times of comfort and convenience but also in the times of challenge, conflict or persecution.

‘And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen’.                              (1 Peter 5:10)

 

For more in this Series:

Resilient in Suffering

If you are going to live for Christ, are you willing to make a stand?

Living for Christ will involve Suffering!

Strategies for Resilience in Suffering

Suffering and Judgement

How does a Christian become more resilient in suffering?

 

Suffering and Judgement (Part 5 of 6)

Suffering and Judgement

Personally, I don’t really like the idea of suffering, even for a good cause. It is a brave person who prays – ‘Lord, make me suffer so that you will get the glory!’

I wonder, what the original readers of 1 Peter might have been thinking as they contemplated all the different kinds of suffering that might lie before them. Like us, I am sure they would have been uncertain.

Peter, seems to have understood that uncertainty and offers some perspective by looking at the role judgement plays in suffering.

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Living for Christ will involve Suffering! (Part 3 of 6)

Here is a truth that is hard to swallow: Living for Christ will involve suffering!

Peter puts this truth into perspective in his first letter. First he spoke of a a Christ-centred hope (1:3-2:10), then he taught his readers how to live with a Christ-centred hope (2:11-4:11). In the final section of his letter, Peter wants to ensure that his readers understand what it means to suffer under a Christ-centred hope (4:12-5:11).

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If you are going to live for Christ, are you willing to make a stand? (Part 2 of 6)

‘The ultimate test of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and moments of convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge and moments of controversy.’ so said Martin Luther King Jnr, the great American Black Civil Rights Leader and Preacher at a Nobel Peace Prize Recognition Dinner on 27th January 1965.[1]

It is a profound statement and one which many Christians should be able to relate too. Christians can say what they believe, but that belief is most clearly tested, most obvious, when Christians have to stand firm through challenge, conflict or persecution.

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Resilient in Suffering (Part 1 of 6)

My job was to care for the widows. Our church was growing so quickly and it was a joy to see that together we could care well for those who were more vulnerable. I would help distribute food particularly to our new Christian sisters – Grecian and Hebraic Jewish ladies who had come to faith and needed material support – we wanted to make sure no one was overlooked.

It was privilege to serve in this way, because it meant that the apostles were freed up to focus on what we all knew was a priority – prayer and the ministry of the word of God.

I got myself into a little bit of a fix, I wish it didn’t happen – a fight that was blown way out of proportion.

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