SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/27/2017
7:58 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
We Know We Are Going to Glory
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1Peter
5:10-14
Message of the
verse: “10 After you have suffered
for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ,
will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”
Let us look at 1 Peter 1:4 “to obtain an inheritance
which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven
for you.” This verse tells that we have
a wonderful inheritance into which we were born. Dr. Wiersbe writes that “Whatever begins with
God’s grace will always lead to God’s glory (Ps. 84:11).” “11
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No
good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” “If we depend on God’s grace when we suffer,
that suffering will result in glory (1 Peter 4:13-14).” “13 but to the degree that you share the
sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His
glory you may rejoice with exultation. 14 If you are reviled for the name of
Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” “The road may be difficult, but it leads to
glory, and that is all that really counts.”
I first looked at 1 Peter 4:13-14 when I posted the
Spiritual Diary onto my blog a few weeks ago and the Spiritual Diary that I
wrote back in 2004 had a lot of meaning for me today. Let me explain: In recent months many people in the Central African
Republic have been under some extreme persecution and one of the members of our
Church was raised there as a missionary’s son.
Right after he left after a visit the persecution began and I have
wanted to pray for them, but was not sure that I knew the best way to do it
until I came across the Spiritual Diary for 1 Peter 4:13. I will copy the SD here and then as you read
through it you will understand how this has caused me to pray for these people
in a way that I believe that God is pleased.
Message of the verse: “13 but to
the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that
also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.” (NASB95)
The truth of this verse is hard for
believers to understand, but it is impossible for those who are not believers
to understand. Why should believers
rejoice in their sufferings? Peter gives
a number of reasons, and also we can see Jesus Christ as our example who for
the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.
First
our suffering means fellowship with Christ. “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s
sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,” “that I may know Him and the power of His
resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His
death;” (Phil. 1:29, & 3:10) (Acts 5:41)
“So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing
that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.” Dr. Wiersbe says that “not every believer
grows to the point where God can trust him with this kind of experience, so we
ought to rejoice when the privilege comes to us.”
Believers
can take courage in the fact that God is with us as we go through these trials. Isaiah 41:10, & 42:2 give us
comfort: “10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with
you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you,
surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right
hand.’” “2 “When you pass through the
waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame
burn you.”
Next
we can see is that our suffering means glory in the future. Peter has written about sufferings and glory
throughout this letter. The world
believes that the absence of suffering means glory, but a Christian’s outlook
is different. As believers go through
trials today we can be assured they will be turned into glory when Christ
returns. 1Peter 1:7-8 “so that the proof
of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though
tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the
revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and
though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy
inexpressible and full of glory,”
God
does not replace suffering with glory, but He will transform suffering into
glory, and Jesus gave the illustration of a woman giving birth in John
16:20-22 to show this truth. “20 "Truly, truly, I say to you, that you
will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your
grief will be turned into joy. 21 "Whenever a woman is in labor she has
pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no
longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into
the world. 22 “Therefore you too have
grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one
will take your joy away from you.”
7/27/2017 8:13 PM
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