Fearnot wrote:
Thank you Cindy. I have said to myself that if our children need to go thru the tribulation to be saved then so be it. It is so hard to think of the suffering they would have to face, but if it meant they would be saved in the end, then indeed so be it.
Still, I so hope they don't have to. I am especially thinking it may be Michael, my sweet, kind, compassionate one. However, I didn't realize how stubborn he was and is, until the last 10 years. I knew my daughter was stubborn from the day she was born, but at this point in time, I think she is the one closer to being saved.
So this was really good for me to read.
I've been trying to figure out how you got that from what I last wrote...the only thing I can figure is that you related "trials" to the Tribulation....is that it? That's fine too...I guess, although it's not at all what I was talking about lol
I was actually talking about people like us, just regular folks who've been through a lot in their lives. The world tends to think that because we've had a hard life that that's a "bad thing"; they see it as more like a curse then anything else and feel bad for us. Like we got the short end of the stick. But Christians, as they become more mature in their faith, won't see it that way at all. They'll understand that we're among the privileged in God's family. Many are given the chance to be among His privileged, but not all of them take advantage of the wonderful opportunity the Lord's given them, because they get stuck in the world's way of thinking that it's "bad". Those of us who finally "get it" though, we're at the top of the class. We're the ones that God is going to bless with a future so greatly, so tremendously beyond anything we can even dare to imagine! We probably won't see it in this life, although we may begin to, but most of that wonderful future the Lord has planned for those of us who've discovered that He was blessing us and not cursing us, will begin the moment we step into eternity. And honestly, I prefer it that way. After all, what happens here will only last a very, very short time - especially compared to eternity. So given the choice of having a billion dollars here for a few years, or having it there for all of eternity, I'll take eternity any day!
Whenever we finally began to get a glimmer of understanding that what the world calls "our hard life" has actually always been a blessing, is a day that's probably written in red and circled on the Lord's calendar, as the angels and saints all rejoiced for us.
If we can only remember that God teaches the opposite of what the world teaches, that can be helpful, as it can help us to keep our eyes open to the real blessings like "our hard life". It's our hard life that drew us to Him, that drew us into His Word to search for meaning and answers, so that we finally began to grow in our faith. All those folks out in the world today that have relatively easy lives are the ones to be pitied, not us! They have nothing to draw them to the Lord and His Word. They're content with their lives and they're not hurting. So really, they're the ones we should cry for.
The more trouble, pain, sickness, and hardship we have, the closer we draw to the Lord. The more hurt, grieving, and broken hearted we are, the faster we run to Him, the sooner we open His Word, and the quicker we are to bow before Him and hand Him the keys to our life, making Him Master and Lord over it instead of ourselves. Oh, there's generally a few keys we hold back from Him, often unknowingly, but eventually, we turn them all over to Him and can then rest knowing as Paul learned, that to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21 —For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.)
All those folks with the nice easy lives, they can't say that. For them, death is loss. it's loss of money, loss of their standing in the community, loss of power, loss of what they built in this life, loss of possessions, etc. So they fear death and will do all they can to avoid it. For us though, death doesn't mean loss. it means gain! HUGE gain! Because we don't live for the things the world does as we know none of it will last. We understand that as long as we have Christ, we have everything and that without Him, we have nothing. Nothing at all.
That's what Jesus was talking about when He said that those who love their lives will lose them. All those folks with the easy comfortable lives are going to die and lose all they had. They can't take any of it with them. All they could take is Jesus and they don't have Him.
Then, Jesus said of us, that those who lose their lives, will actually fine it! He means that when we give up control of our lives to Him, make Him Lord so that "to live is Christ", then we will gain everything we could ever want and more, because it all belongs to Him. Think of it this way: Jesus is King of Kings and the Father has given all things to Him. He owns the universe, this world, every human, every piece of land, every building, every person, every rock, tree, bird, animal, everything, right? We can't see that physically now, because this is our time to learn and grow and it's why the Lord told us to walk by faith and not by sight. However, when we get to heaven, THAT'S when we will see what it all really means; and when Jesus returns to judge the earth we'll be with him and THAT'S when the rest of the world will see what it really means!
When we get to Heaven we discover that Jesus really meant it when He said in His Word that we were heirs to all that is His. That means everything! Everything in heaven, on earth and in the universe is ours! Not just for a few years, not even just for 100 years, but for all of eternity! Now, listen again to what He tells us about that. Romans 8:17 —Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. * Notice that He didn't say that if we had a nice pleasant easy life here, we'd have a share in everything in Heaven, but "if we share in His sufferings". (read 1 Peter 4:12-19 too)
This is what will be rewarded to each of us during the Bema Judgment that we've talked about before. For those us us who the Lord has blessed with a "hard life" here though, and have turned to Him because of it, we will receive such tremendous blessings as rewards that we can't even begin to imagine it! Do we live in tiny hovels now? We'll have a grand beautiful home for eternity! We're our relationships with family members not the best? We'll have the best, most wonderful family we could ever hope for to be ours for all eternity! Did we have to go without many things in order to provide for our family? We'll never have to go without anything again. Were we sick or in pain for a long time? We'll have the best, most beautiful bodies that are perfectly healthy and will never experience another pain or illness for the rest of our lives, which will stretch on into eternity, forever. Of course, some of the things I mentioned, like the new bodies will be given to everyone, but other things, won't be. We'll be among the privileged few who will receive things too wonderful to imagine.
So for us who have had a hard life and turned to Him and who live for Him, it may look to the world as though we lose the things in this life that we love when we die, but that's because they can't see into Heaven. There, all the things we love in this life, will be replaced for us, only without the problems that go with them! Because we have Christ, we gain the whole world! Those who don't have Him, lose it all for all eternity.
So, we give Jesus the keys to our life and live for Him, meaning we no longer live for the world, we live for Him. So we "lose" our lives here by doing that. But when we do that, we find out that we've actually gained a much better life and the whole world will be ours.
.
Philippians 1:21 —For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Matthew 16:24–27 —Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. *For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. *What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? *For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. *
Matthew 10:39 —Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. *
John 12:25–26 —The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. *Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
Luke 17:33 —Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. *
1 Peter 4:12–19 —Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. *But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. *If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. *If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. *However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. *For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? *And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” *So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. *
Romans 8:17 —Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. *
I was actually talking about people like us, just regular folks who've been through a lot in their lives. The world tends to think that because we've had a hard life that that's a "bad thing"; they see it as more like a curse then anything else and feel bad for us. Like we got the short end of the stick. But Christians, as they become more mature in their faith, won't see it that way at all. They'll understand that we're among the privileged in God's family. Many are given the chance to be among His privileged, but not all of them take advantage of the wonderful opportunity the Lord's given them, because they get stuck in the world's way of thinking that it's "bad". Those of us who finally "get it" though, we're at the top of the class. We're the ones that God is going to bless with a future so greatly, so tremendously beyond anything we can even dare to imagine! We probably won't see it in this life, although we may begin to, but most of that wonderful future the Lord has planned for those of us who've discovered that He was blessing us and not cursing us, will begin the moment we step into eternity. And honestly, I prefer it that way. After all, what happens here will only last a very, very short time - especially compared to eternity. So given the choice of having a billion dollars here for a few years, or having it there for all of eternity, I'll take eternity any day!
Whenever we finally began to get a glimmer of understanding that what the world calls "our hard life" has actually always been a blessing, is a day that's probably written in red and circled on the Lord's calendar, as the angels and saints all rejoiced for us.
If we can only remember that God teaches the opposite of what the world teaches, that can be helpful, as it can help us to keep our eyes open to the real blessings like "our hard life". It's our hard life that drew us to Him, that drew us into His Word to search for meaning and answers, so that we finally began to grow in our faith. All those folks out in the world today that have relatively easy lives are the ones to be pitied, not us! They have nothing to draw them to the Lord and His Word. They're content with their lives and they're not hurting. So really, they're the ones we should cry for.
The more trouble, pain, sickness, and hardship we have, the closer we draw to the Lord. The more hurt, grieving, and broken hearted we are, the faster we run to Him, the sooner we open His Word, and the quicker we are to bow before Him and hand Him the keys to our life, making Him Master and Lord over it instead of ourselves. Oh, there's generally a few keys we hold back from Him, often unknowingly, but eventually, we turn them all over to Him and can then rest knowing as Paul learned, that to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21 —For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.)
All those folks with the nice easy lives, they can't say that. For them, death is loss. it's loss of money, loss of their standing in the community, loss of power, loss of what they built in this life, loss of possessions, etc. So they fear death and will do all they can to avoid it. For us though, death doesn't mean loss. it means gain! HUGE gain! Because we don't live for the things the world does as we know none of it will last. We understand that as long as we have Christ, we have everything and that without Him, we have nothing. Nothing at all.
That's what Jesus was talking about when He said that those who love their lives will lose them. All those folks with the easy comfortable lives are going to die and lose all they had. They can't take any of it with them. All they could take is Jesus and they don't have Him.
Then, Jesus said of us, that those who lose their lives, will actually fine it! He means that when we give up control of our lives to Him, make Him Lord so that "to live is Christ", then we will gain everything we could ever want and more, because it all belongs to Him. Think of it this way: Jesus is King of Kings and the Father has given all things to Him. He owns the universe, this world, every human, every piece of land, every building, every person, every rock, tree, bird, animal, everything, right? We can't see that physically now, because this is our time to learn and grow and it's why the Lord told us to walk by faith and not by sight. However, when we get to heaven, THAT'S when we will see what it all really means; and when Jesus returns to judge the earth we'll be with him and THAT'S when the rest of the world will see what it really means!
When we get to Heaven we discover that Jesus really meant it when He said in His Word that we were heirs to all that is His. That means everything! Everything in heaven, on earth and in the universe is ours! Not just for a few years, not even just for 100 years, but for all of eternity! Now, listen again to what He tells us about that. Romans 8:17 —Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. * Notice that He didn't say that if we had a nice pleasant easy life here, we'd have a share in everything in Heaven, but "if we share in His sufferings". (read 1 Peter 4:12-19 too)
This is what will be rewarded to each of us during the Bema Judgment that we've talked about before. For those us us who the Lord has blessed with a "hard life" here though, and have turned to Him because of it, we will receive such tremendous blessings as rewards that we can't even begin to imagine it! Do we live in tiny hovels now? We'll have a grand beautiful home for eternity! We're our relationships with family members not the best? We'll have the best, most wonderful family we could ever hope for to be ours for all eternity! Did we have to go without many things in order to provide for our family? We'll never have to go without anything again. Were we sick or in pain for a long time? We'll have the best, most beautiful bodies that are perfectly healthy and will never experience another pain or illness for the rest of our lives, which will stretch on into eternity, forever. Of course, some of the things I mentioned, like the new bodies will be given to everyone, but other things, won't be. We'll be among the privileged few who will receive things too wonderful to imagine.
So for us who have had a hard life and turned to Him and who live for Him, it may look to the world as though we lose the things in this life that we love when we die, but that's because they can't see into Heaven. There, all the things we love in this life, will be replaced for us, only without the problems that go with them! Because we have Christ, we gain the whole world! Those who don't have Him, lose it all for all eternity.
So, we give Jesus the keys to our life and live for Him, meaning we no longer live for the world, we live for Him. So we "lose" our lives here by doing that. But when we do that, we find out that we've actually gained a much better life and the whole world will be ours.
.
Philippians 1:21 —For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Matthew 16:24–27 —Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. *For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. *What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? *For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. *
Matthew 10:39 —Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. *
John 12:25–26 —The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. *Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
Luke 17:33 —Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. *
1 Peter 4:12–19 —Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. *But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. *If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. *If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. *However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. *For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? *And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” *So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. *
Romans 8:17 —Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. *
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