The token of your salvation

[Disciple]

2 thessalonians 1:4,5
Persecution & suffering are not foreign to Gods children, in fact is what makes us strong, God uses these things for our good and edification. Patience and faith our made perfect through what we endure; it is written that we should glory in our sufferings.. How can we do that??
Well our sufferings, if we endure w\ faith and patience is a token of the righteous judgement of God it is our way or token into becoming worthy of Gods kingdom
Paul in one of his epistles wrote 'I will glory in NOTHING save the sufferings of the Lord Jesus'; because to be delivered you must first suffer to have something to be delivered from..

 

[jiggyfly]

Good post Disciple, it reminded me of something that Leonard Ravenhill said "You can't develop character by reading books. You develop it from conflict."

 

[aspen]

I agree. I am glad Christ is bringing something good out of the evil that is present in the World, but it sure wasn't worth the Fall.

 

[Disciple]

Thanks Jiggy, that's true.

 

[jiggyfly]

Here's a small excerpt from on of Austin Sparks teachings.

[font="verdana][color="#4D528C"]

The Supreme Glory - No Smell of Fire, but Joy Unspeakable
But to me, the crown of this whole matter is what follows after, and it is this that is the real burden on my heart. They came out of the fire, and there was not even the smell of fire upon them. I think that is wonderful. Yes, greater knowledge of the Lord; yes, a liberation and an emancipating; yes, but not even the smell of burning! What is the interpretation of that? Well, I think there is no doubt that one very great effort of the adversary in the fiery furnace, if he cannot stop us getting out and cannot consume us in the fire, is so to leave the marks and smell upon us that for all succeeding days people will associate with us the matter of suffering and trial.

You see what that does, it draws attention to us; and the devil does not mind that, because if attention is drawn to us, the Lord is hidden. Having a smell of burning about us means that the suffering and the trial that we have been through have beclouded the glory.

[/color][/font]

 

[Disciple]

So true, If I walk around weary from trials people will see the suffering, or if I walk around worried people see that.. We gotta be a light to others..