Glory In Suffering - Britt Merrick

 

John 16:33

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Phillipians 1:29 

"For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, "

2nd Corinthians 4:17 

"For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,"

In Jesus,

Tyrone 

 

Weaknesses VS The Spirit Of God

Well….what I know is that I have many weaknesses and have been praying to the Lord in order to overcome them by the power of the Holy Spirit. But something I have been experiencing in the years I have been walking with God: In my weakness His power is manifested and His strength is perfected in me and even in the midst of my weaknesses I feel strong in the Lord’s power which is manifested in me and I can always see that He gives me strength to overcome my weaknesses through His Holy Spirit that operates inside my vessel! Praise the Name of Jesus!

But is there anybody else who has weaknesses in the Scriptures and could overcome them? And How did they do that? Let us see together:

Paul pleaded with the Lord about his weaknesses and the Lord talked to him

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Here we see how we must rely on the grace of God and His strength in order to keep ourselves strong, we cannot keep ourselves standing up for righteousness by our own flesh, by our own human efforts, we need His grace and strength.

Many men and women who overcame their weaknesses by faith

Hebrews 11:32-35

And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, escaped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the mouths of the sword, acquired power from weakness (*769), became strong in war, made armies of foreigners to yield. 35 Women received their dead by ressurection.

Here we see that FAITH is the key to deliver us from many things for it is impossible to please God without faith, that is why it is so important to HEAR the word of God and obey it, for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Take a quiet time every single day to get out of the busy and noisy life you live and and separate yourself and pray to Him with all your heart and in sincerity, knowing that if you rest in Him and trust He is in control, you will be able to be strong in difficult situations and see His mighty hands and tremendous power.

Paul is saying He was with those brothers and sisters in weakness

1 Corinthians 2:2-5

For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness (*769), in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human[b] wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Here we see that strength is not in what a man can know, in men’s wisdom or speech, but in the Holy Spirit, He is the One who has the power and all wisdom to teach us how to walk as true disciples of Jesus Christ and be filled with faith to be strong in every situation always, no matter how hard and impossible it might be for the human eyes.

Jesus was crucified in weaknesses and we are weak in Him too

2 Corinthians 13:4

For though He was crucified in weakness (*769), yet He lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you.

Here it shows that many saw Jesus as a weak and helpless man in His crucifixion, but His resurrection showed that He holds life and death in His hands and that death could not hold Him at all for He even has the keys of death and Hades Himself. Many people can see us (followers of Jesus Christ) today as weak and helpless people, but the power of God is the one that keeps us protected and joyful and that CHRIST in us is the power that does everything! We are to display to the world the light and power of God which is in us through the Holy Spirit.

(*769) weakness = 769. astheneia as-then'-i-ah from 772; feebleness (of mind or body); by implication, malady; morally, frailty:--disease, infirmity, sickness, weakness.

But I praise God that He left us the Comforter who helps us in our weaknesses as:

Romans 8:26 says:

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[b] with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Here we see that God knows that we do not know how to pray and what to ask many times, and the Holy Spirit intercedes for us to the Father in the correct way in order for us to have an answer to our needs. But it is necessary that you pray every day to the Father though.

I hope this message can encourage you to be on your knees every single day and pray to the Father and tell Him all your weaknesses and how much you need Him for everything and the Holy Spirit will take your prayers to the Father interceding for you. If you are not a born again Christian yet, repent and confess your sins to the Father, be baptized and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, so you can also be helped by Him in your weaknesses. Keep faithful and trust the word of God always!

Much love in Christ,
Cynthia R. Palmer

Spiritual Delivery

Peace and Grace Be Upon All the Saints of God;

I would like to share some of the experiences I recently had becoming a mother. I was meditating in pregnancy until delivery. It is indeed a pretty long journey, for some women it is very painful and for others less painful. Some women have their babies prematurely, some have them past due and some do not even have the time to meet their babies when the baby dies in the womb. But the bottom line here is that from conception until delivery there is a period of time necessary for the development of the baby and also for the preparation of the mother and father-to-be to receive the baby!

Think about conception in a spiritual level, as well as to conceive a child in the flesh has pains, for Christ to be conceived in us there are many pains we must pass through in order to be like Him:

Galatians 4:19- My children, I am suffering birth pains for you again until Christ is formed in you.

John 16:21 -A woman has pain when her time to give birth comes. But after the child is born, she doesn’t remember the pain anymore because she’s happy that a child has been brought into the world. ( Jesus was trying to tell His disciples that He would die and all of them would suffer a lot with His death , but after they would be glad because He would resurrect from the dead and be with them all the time through the Holy Spirit).

So, all I am trying to express here is that with NO suffering, there is no LIFE in Christ. Everybody wants to go about and say that when you want to follow Christ everything is going to be absolutely perfect in your life and you will have all your problems solved. NOT TRUE! Following Christ is followed by suffering as well as HE suffered if we want to be His disciples.

1 Peter 2:21 - God called you to endure suffering because Christ suffered for you. He left you an example so that you could follow in his footsteps.

Philippians 1:29-30 - For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.

1 Peter 4:13-14 -Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

As you can see by the Scriptures there is pain in order to deliver a child and spiritually, there are birth pains too in order to have Christ formed in you. It is not an experience that will come only with joy and laughter, but it will also bring much pain inward and outward if you really want to live the life Christ expects from you as His witness in this earth.

I pray that this short message can edify you and build you up in the faith of Jesus Christ,

Love in Christ,

Cynthia R. Palmer

Being Perfected Through Suffering

May the grace of God be upon you,

I would like to share some words that really touched my heart today while I was reading the word of the Almighty God. I hope these words may also lift you up and encourage you during times of sufferings in your flesh or in your spiritual man. All suffering has a profit to you IF your life is on the hands of God. Humble yourself under the mighty hands of the Lord and He will exalt you in due time, but accept what He has for you first for your own profit, growth, strength and perfection.

1 Peter 5:10 - But may the God of all grace, who called us  to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

See how wonderful this is: Suffering is NOT eternal with the Lord, the sufferings He makes us pass in this life they have a limit date, they have an end, but we must be tested and proved as well, but after a while, these sufferings will bring : perfection in our inner man, He will establish us, He will strengthen us, and He will settle us!!! This sanctification process is amazing! I know that sometimes is not joyful when you are corrected, when you are purged, when you are exhorted, but it produces much fruit afterwards. And we can be witness of His mighty work in us and glorify His Holy name.

You know that it is easy to be reading the Scriptures every single day, all day long like a book? Or even be listening to preachings in churches or internet all day as well? But, if the things that you read or listen about the gospel of the kingdom are not believed, they will profit you absolutely NOTHING! Pay attention to these scriptures below:

Hebrews 4:2 -For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.

You must believe that sufferings will profit your soul and your growth in the Lord, you must stand firm in the faith when they reach you, for the Lord corrects and purges those who He loves. Your faith is the element that touches the Heart of God. Faith always moved the heart of God and will always do!

Why would we be different from our Lord? Look at all the sufferings Jesus Christ had to pass through to learn obedience as well, and the scriptures says:

Hebrews 2:10 - For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

(Amazing Scriptures right here to be meditated upon every single day) Hebrews 5: 5-11 -So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: “ You are My Son,Today I have begotten You.”  As He also says in another place:“ You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek”; who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,  called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,” of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.


I pray that these words may encourage you and lift you up in much faith that all sufferings are temporary and profitable and that your faith is the element that will move you forward in everything the Lord has for you!

May the Lord of peace and rest be with you always,
Cynthia R. Palmer