We suffer in Christ:

We suffer in Christ:

By having a heart of freshly cut flesh.
When we want to hate,

but must forgive.

When we love that neighbor who is most unlovable.

It is suffering when we love others at our own expense.

When you lose a child, or have a friend that does.

When you lift up Christ and are mocked.

I mean truly lift Him up in glory not in that way some do so they can get the spotlight.
When family won’t listen.When friends turn away.
When you stand alone with your God…
In His Grace…

By Faith.

In a way to be taken captive and tossed to lions would almost be easier.

Yet, it is in the realization of our failings and shortcomings I think we really learn.
It is as we put the truth we hold,

on trial by fire and see if we believe mere words on a page,

or truly trust in a Person to stand by our side.

In affect it is about if we believe Jesus is Real...

Most just get angry and not face this issue,

they leave that church gathering for another,

or become bitter and hold it in.

They do not practice communion with God or their brother,

but choose to be divisive and despise their brother to gain position...

they are of this world...

and do not know it.

We are not of this world when in Christ;

We walk in three worlds...

but are only subject to the Kingdom of God.
Darkness now runs, this worlds system tries to get us to submit...

and we stand on Christ as our foundation....

The pagans rage against us...

even those in their religious pious

who claim the Bible as their foundation and that is the problem...

our foundation is Jesus.

Theirs is the bible...

Without a Relationship with the Author.

The Book is not alive unless the One Who wrote it lived.

I do not mean the bible is evil...

It is the Revelation of who Jesus is...

yet when it is held as the sole ideology without relationship with Jesus...

but as the relationship itself,

it loses its Authority.

Some are conforming to the book

and miss that they are to conform to the image of Jesus

who was the last Adam,

the last image bearer...

they hold to this world thinking that it will last until Jesus returns,

and miss that the New Creation is now and we live it now...

yes also in the future in it's fullness.

We now live in that New Creation as we live in Christ.

We conform to Jesus by His Spirit, Who leads us in understanding the book.
We now live in God’s words as we live in Christ.

The Words live in us in the Person Who is the Word’s Spoken Himself.

It is that Christ living in us and us in Him we share His sufferings.

It is in His living His vocation of reconciliation in us now

and that being our own vocation,
We live that suffering.

It is not us, or about us...

the pagans do not care about us.
They hate Christ in us...

We need to let He Who gave His life for us,

then gave His Life to us,

now also Live His Life through us...

With that we face the world...

and people will either accept Jesus in us or reject Jesus...
We are witnesses to that acceptance/rejection,

as we see that it is not us accepted/rejected but again as I said,

Christ in us.

The fear is the first step,

but the joy is in the walking it out.

If I am to face horrors,

it is better to know that it is because one hates Jesus in us...

for that way we know

Christ is truly

alive.

Blessings,
iggy

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