Commandments Manifested.

Jesus manifested to us. We all want this, don't we?

John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Rev 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 

Jesus will come in and sup with us. Just imagine this. The wonder of sharing a meal with Jesus.

Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. 

Luk 12:37  Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.

Luk 17:8  And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? 

The marriage supper, how incredible this will be.  And those servants of Christ's who are WATCHING will be blessed by Christ. Christ will serve them! Can we even imagine this fully?

Christ will know us when He returns if He is in us, and there is no other way He can know us. If Christ isn't living in us, a part of our lives in a very real way beyond a casual acquaintance, He won't know us. We can do all sorts of things using Christ's name without ever having Him live in us, without His ever knowing us. It's a scary thought that we can believe we have Christ without really having Him. How do we know we truly have Him in us?

John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

This is one way. You need to truly ask yourself if you have Jesus' commandments, and if you have them if you keep them, truly keep them in your heart, in the way our Savior would have us keep them- in love.

Have commands.

Keep commands.

Exo 20:2  I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

Exo 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.   (((God our only GOD))))

Exo 20:4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 

Exo 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 

Exo 20:6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.  (((NO idols! NO tangible object of worship. Nothing worshiped besides GOD, nothing. We bow down to ONLY GOD and God is not found in any object whatsoever!))))

Exo 20:7  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.  ((( The LORD our GOD's name is powerful, holy, sacred. The name of our LORD GOD should never be used senselessly, but always with reverence, always with the acknowledgement that our LORD GOD hears us every time His name is spoken. ))))

Exo 20:8  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 

Exo 20:9  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 

Exo 20:10  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 

Exo 20:11  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.  (((At creation the Sabbath day was created. At the Exodus the Sabbath was reinforced. At Mount Sinai the Sabbath was etched in stone by the finger of God Himself, by the Creator. The commandments in tables of stone were placed in the very Ark of the Covenant which resided in the tabernacle of God. The Sabbath was kept holy by Jesus Christ our Lord, God in flesh on earth. The Holy time given to us still today- weekly it is ours to draw as close to the Lord our God as we can ever get until He returns.))))

Exo 20:12  Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. (((Giving honor to those who are our parents- honor, great respect to those who raise us, care for us, who love us.))))

Exo 20:13  Thou shalt not kill. (((Do not murder, no deliberate taking of another's life through anger, spite, hatred, jealousy, planning to end a life for your own gain in any way.))))

Exo 20:14  Thou shalt not commit adultery. (((No defiling one that belongs to another - not in thought, not in deed.))))

Exo 20:15  Thou shalt not steal.  (((Never take something that isn't yours to take.))))

Exo 20:16  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. (((Do not lie about anyone for any reason.))))

Exo 20:17  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.  (((Do not desire the things of others- not their spouses, not their servants, friends, possessions of any kind.))))

We read these commandments and we live in a world that has condoned breaking all of them. Yes, even murder. We may have laws against them, but often law enforcers themselves are guilty of murder. We have no law against the murder we commit in our hearts, but not in deed. We say it's fine to commit mental murder because it hurts no one. It's not true. Jesus told us that if we desire to murder another it is wrong, it is sin and needs to be repented of, to gain forgiveness for.

It is NO wonder we are told that if we love God we will keep His commandments, as well as being told few will do so compared to the many. We have to study the commandments and study the word of God, we need to pray always for comprehension of the commandments and what Jesus revealed to us of them. He wants us to love Him and love others, and we need to do this by understanding the commandments given to us will lead to this love.

Such wondrous love.

Jesus will manifest Himself to us in so many ways, real ways.

All through HIS amazing love!

Be Ready- Accounted Worthy.

Be ready.

Accounted Worthy.

Watch and pray. We will not be accounted worthy without watching and praying. Worthy to ESCAPE.

Worthy to escape-

-all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

ALL these things that SHALL come to pass.

In escaping you will be able to STAND BEFORE THE SON OF MAN.

When will we have an opportunity to stand before the Son of Man?

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 

1Th 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words

We will meet the LORD face to face when He descends from heaven and we rise to meet Him in the air.

To see the Lord face to face to stand before the Son of Man we need to be worthy. We are told to WATCH and to PRAY that we may escape what has to come to pass BEFORE we get to stand before the LORD.

We need to watch and pray for escape and for the gift of being able to stand before Christ our Savior.  Only those who escape who are alive when Christ returns will see Him.

I don't know about you but I LONG to be accounted worthy to escape, worthy to see Christ when He returns, worthy to stand before the Son of Man.

The seven last plagues will be real.

What this world goes through between now, and when those plagues come, is a probationary time which gives us the opportunity to make a choice. We will have to choose between God and Satan and the choice needs to be a life changing choice, not a silent choice that means no life changes at all. The choice for God means living for our Heaven Home, not for this earthly mess of a planet. When we live for God and our treasures are in heaven we have a life pointing to our heaven home. Does your life point to your heaven home?

We need to realize that there will be no escape from the prophetic plagues unless we are accounted worthy to escape BEFORE they ever start because once they start ALL has been decided. Not a single plague will touch those who are worthy through Christ.

The evil in our world today truly is a wake-up call for all people. I hear there is a great revival at this time because people are scared, people want to be saved from the evil. This great revival needs to spur these people to a true heart repentance, a true turning from evil in all its form, a true dedication to accepting Christ as their Savior, a true life that is lived now for heaven.

God help us all!

Prophetic plagues-

Rev_15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Rev_15:6  And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.

Rev_15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Rev_16:9  And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

Rev_18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

Rev_22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book

Luk 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Luk 12:37  Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. 

Luk 12:38  And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 

Luk 12:39  And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. 

Luk 12:40  Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. 

Your Life- Eternal or Temporary?

Luk 12:40  Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. 

We are to be ready.  It doesn't matter whether we believe our Savior will return today, tomorrow, next year, or fifty years from now, He will return and we don't have the date of His return. 

Luk 21:34  And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 

Luk 21:35  For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 

Luk 21:36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. 

We have to pay attention to ourselves, to our lives. We have to recognize whether or not we are caught up in self-pursuits as opposed to God-pursuits. Eating, drinking, worrying about this life, these are the things that WILL take our attention away from God.

The Lord will return and His return will be like a snare. A snare only works if the prey you are trying to ensnare is unaware of the trap. If the Lord's return will be like a trap, who is being trapped? We all are. Not a single person is going to know ahead of time when Christ returns. We are given signs, a lot of signs and we are told to pray and watch. We are told to be ready at all times. We need to be ready right now. You might be shaking your head and saying you don't need to be ready right now, that obviously the Savior isn't returning right now. You might be patting yourself on the back for having not been ready your entire life up to this point, but it is not something you should ever be congratulating yourself for. We need to be ready at all times and I know you know why. Because you could die at any moment. None of us is promised life. A brain aneurysm could stop your life at any single moment and that is only one instance.  Being ready always is the answer, not waiting for certain signs that you may not live to witness.

Eating, drinking, worrying about this life. Which are you guilty of… to excess. Notice I said to excess because being overcharged is to excess. We all need to eat, to drink, and concerns of living are natural. The problem comes in when we eat to excess, when we drink to excess, when we worry to excess. When our lives are so caught up in this temporary life we forget our eternal life we are not going to be ready for Christ when He returns.

None of us will know when Christ will return, but we can be ready for Him always.

Luk 21:36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. 

A lot of really awful things are going to happen. The seven last plagues are REAL. By the time the first plague falls, all our fates will be sealed. You can't wait until the plagues start, the things you are praying to be accounted worthy to escape, because it'll be too late, much too late and there will be no more chances, not a single one. Is it any wonder we are given so much time to be ready?!  This is it, this is your life and it will be either eternal, or temporary.

God help us all!

May we be worthy to escape all that is to come, and may we stand before the Son of man, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! All through His love!

Imperfect Love.

Do you think being loved is having your whims indulged? Do you think being loved means having another person tell you they love you? Every single day of our lives there are people who have told other people they love them and then they go and hurt those people. They abandon them, they abuse them, they ridicule them, they cheat on them, they lie to them, they scorn them, the list goes on and on.  Out of the mouth comes those words of love, but out of their actions is a much different story.

Do we know what love is? For many it is merely an idea caught up in a familial or romantic form.

Love is a longing for something we know exists yet has been warped in so many twisted ways it is barely recognizable any more. People truly believe they love one another even as they exhibit plenty of actions that would say otherwise.

Some believe love is a bottom line, and above that line is a lot of murky, messed up stuff that never does away with the bottom line. That bottom line remains all the while a swamp rises up over it, and we war against the thick muddy sludge that threatens to erase the bottom line. Daily we push back just enough filth to keep the bottom line visible. We might hear the words- everything I do is out of love for you, it's for your own good, it's because I love you, I would never hurt you intentionally- yet, impulses seemingly beyond the ability to control will rise up and erase those spoken and believed words. The love hasn't gone, the bottom line remains, but it was temporarily invisible as the inescapable lusts took over muddying the water.

We are only human we cry out! We are fallible! We are tempted by a powerful evil, and we succumb all the while hating that we do! We love so incredibly imperfectly, ALL OF US! We love yet we hurt over and over and over again. We love yet our actions constantly say otherwise because we aren't comprehending fully the forces at play in our world. My idea of love and your idea of love can be at odds, whose would be considered right? One is right for you, and the other right for me. When two people try to merge their ideas of love they are in for a battle because the ideas will never align perfectly and the invisible forces of evil in our world will use the misalignments, no matter how slight, to its every advantage.

You say you love me, but you hurt me! You say you love me, but you do things that make me hurt you! These are all signs of the evil behind our lives. Clearly love does not want to hurt you, yet the forces of evil in our world don't want you to be loved and revel in your pain. Where real intentioned hurt is NOT present, we go further and imagine the hurt is intentioned. We think we know the thoughts of others and sometimes we do, when we catch glimpses of the private things they seek to hide from us. We think we know the thoughts of others when we know the evil forces are enticing them towards their temptations. We wallow in the misery of knowing we are far from what people know is the idea of perfection and we can't help but believe others want the perfection but merely settle for us with all our incredibly many flaws. We flail about life in a constant ebb and flow of imperfect love- loving and being loved imperfectly.

Love.  God's love is the only perfect love that exists. Our attempts to love are riddled with the fiery darts of Satan's evil. Yet we must keep attempting love, we must strive to love always! We must never give in to Satan's despair of keeping us from love.

We need to accept that ALL our love is imperfectly given and imperfectly received. We need to recognize, even if we don't always agree with, others ideas of love, which will differ from our own. We need to strive to align when Satan throws the misalignments up in our faces. You're not perfect, I'm not perfect… we agree to live imperfectly together striving to keep things on as even a keel as possible. We agree that storms will arise throwing us off keel violently as hurricane force storms can, but we recognize the storm will eventually pass, and as we will push the debris aside brought down by the chaotic forces at play we will be able to see the bottom line- the imperfect love line that tells us we agreed to live this life together imperfectly- needing to forgive and to be forgiven- over and over, and over again.

Whether it is familial love, romantic love, or the love of friendships- it is all imperfect love, and it needs to be cherished, not discarded. It needs to be healed, not put out of its misery. It needs to be recognized and fed hope. One day, one day very soon, when our Savior returns, then the love we've protected through HIM against the fiery darts of Satan, will be finally perfected.

Sin, Satan and all the evil he has introduced into existence will forever fight against us, we must don our Spiritual armor and hold fast to the LOVE OF GOD.

All through the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord now and forever!!!!!!!

Joh 14:21 KJV He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Joh 14:23 KJV Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

When We Love We Are Keeping the Commandments.

Joh 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Jesus will manifest Himself to us!

Do we have Jesus' commandments?

Do we keep Jesus' commandments?

If we don't have Jesus' commandments and if we don't keep those commandments, then we DO NOT love Jesus.

What are Jesus' commandments?

Joh 15:12  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 

1Jn 3:23  And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 

1Jn 3:24  And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. 

1Jn 4:21  And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. 

We are to LOVE God and to LOVE one another.

Jesus said this--

Mat 22:36  Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 

Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 

Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment. 

Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 

We know the royal law, the commandments in the law that were being spoken of, they are the ten commandments. The first four of those ten commandments are pointing us towards our duty to God. The last six point us towards our duty to one another. Our love is revealed through these commandments. God's love and our love for each other.

Jesus would have us keep all ten commandments, they are from Him.

Look at this bit of Bible Study from William Grotheer, truly Jesus was our Creator as well as the Lawgiver at Sinai.

'Section 3 -- THE CREATOR

John 1:1-3 -- All things were made by Him.

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God. 

Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 

Ephesians 3:9 -- God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ

Colossians 1:14-16 -- By Him were all things created ... visible and invisible.

Note - From the invisible atom to the mightiest star, all is the handiwork of man's Redeemer. The hand that spaced the heavens, and formed from the dust of the earth, man in His own likeness, is the same hand that was nailed to the cross of Calvary for man's redemption. 

Col 1:14  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 

Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 

Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him

Section 4 -- THE LAWGIVER

Nehemiah 9:12-15 -- Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai.

Neh 9:12  Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go. 

Neh 9:13  Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: 

Neh 9:14  And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant: 

Neh 9:15  And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.

Note - Who is this - "THOU"? Who is the One that led the children of Israel from Egypt to the promised land? Who is the One who appeared to Moses in Mount Sinai? Again, we must use the Bible method of interpretation as outlined by the Holy Spirit - comparing one Scripture with another.

I Corinthians 10:1-4 -- That Rock was Christ.

1Co 10:1  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 

1Co 10:2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 

1Co 10:3  And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 

1Co 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 

Note - It was Jesus Christ Himself, who amid the glory and flame of Sinai, proclaimed the Law of the Council of God - even the Ten Commandments. Thus Jesus is OUR Creator, Lawgiver, and Redeemer.'

*******

Jesus was there in the beginning of creation, and Jesus was there when the children of Israel were led out of Egypt and to the mountain where Moses was given the ten royal laws. These commandments weren't new to Jesus. Jesus- God with us, God who created, God who commanded. When we try to separate Jesus from the royal law we are attempting the impossible.

Mat 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 

Mat 5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 

Mat 5:19  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 

So, when we read this-

Joh 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

We have to realize that the commandments are the revelation of the love of God. It is only sin that makes any of the commandments grievous to us.

When we keep the commandments we are revealing our love towards God by recognizing the love in the commandments, the revelation of God, of God our Savior, of God the Father.

Jesus can say to us- that if we have the commandments, if we keep the commandments, we LOVE HIM.  And we will be LOVED OF THE FATHER. And JESUS will love us, and MANIFEST HIMSELF TO US! This is the truth from our SAVIOR. When we love we are keeping the commandments.

LOVE.

More on this tomorrow by the grace of our LORD and SAVIOR, all through HIS WILL!

Sons of God.

Receive Jesus.

Become a son of God by Jesus given power.

Believe on Jesus' name.

Be born by the will of God.

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 

Joh 1:13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 

God said to Satan, Adam and Eve, to all their descendants-

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 

I will put a hatred between you (Satan) and the woman.

I will put a hatred between your seed (Satan) and the seed of the woman.

The seed of the woman will bruise your head.

You will bruise the heel of the woman's seed.

Satan would use his own seed to bruise the heal of the woman's seed.

Satan's seed are those who walk after Satan's ways. In the very beginning Cain was Satan's. I'm not making this up.

1Jn_3:12  Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

The first child born to mankind chose Satan over God.  Cain was Satan's seed.

Those who crucified Christ were of Satan's seed. Christ - the seed of the woman defeated Satan, death could not hold Him. And through our risen Savior we are all able to become sons (daughters) of God.

All by HIS grace through HIS love we are given the power to be truly God's, seed of the woman (human birthed-God birthed-spiritual born).

Suffering.

Suffering.

There are so many ways we can suffer. For a lot of people suffering is a daily occurrence. I'm not just talking about physical suffering, but mental, emotional, and yes, spiritual suffering, we suffer.

This life pains us in ways too numerous to really count.

Have you ever heard someone tell you that you've brought hardship on yourself? That you're the cause of your own suffering? They might not be wrong, but that doesn't make it any less painful. I'm sure you've all heard the not so nice phrase- 'Suck it up.' Meaning stop feeling sorry for yourself, we all have issues yours aren't so special that you need the monopoly on the pity stage. Yet, there are times we do need that monopoly, right? During a severe crisis no one begrudges someone their time in the spotlight of suffering. For the everyday- day to day- sufferings we all share in commonly, those are the sufferings we'd rather not see looked upon as being uniquely special to any one person, share that world-wide stage.

Suffering. Did you suffer in any way at all today?

Sometimes the world's suffering cause us to suffer, doesn't it?

Belonging to Christ does not mean we will not suffer, quite the contrary.

Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake

In the behalf of Christ… we are to believe on Him, also we are to suffer for Him.

How do we suffer for Christ? We know we are to believe on Him, but how do we suffer for Him? Right now in this world I live in there are people who are claiming Jesus Christ as their Savior and because they make this claim they are being beaten, tortured, murdered. There are people watching their families, wives, daughters, sons, husbands being killed because they say they believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Just for a moment imagine such horror. It's real. It's not movie horror, it's real, it's happening. These people are truly suffering for Christ in the ultimate form of suffering, they are giving their lives as a testimony for Jesus Christ, their Savior.

By the grace of God this isn't so extremely common that most people in the world today have to fear facing such suffering. In most places people can worship Jesus Christ without fear, I say that but do I have all the facts of the matter, no. I think of China where there is such a severe crackdown on Christianity. The government of China wants to control the people and what they believe and they go to great lengths to do so, and China is huge! It's not some small country with a tiny population.

A possibly fact from the internet-

'How much of the world's population is Chinese?

More than half of all people around the globe (3.97 billion) live in just seven countries, according to the UN's estimates. China has the world's largest population (1.42 billion), followed by India (1.35 billion).Jul 11, 2018'

Did you read that? China  has the world's largest population.  That is a country with great strictures on religion. The people there suffer for Christ.

Truly, people suffer for just believing in Christ in many places around the world.

If you're blessed to live in a country that allows you freedom to worship as you choose, then that is one way you aren't exposed to suffering- at least not in that particular form.

As I stated earlier, we all suffer in our own way. I don't know a single person who doesn't have some sort of suffering in their lives. This world is just that bad. We do all we can to stop the suffering we have some control over. We take pills to ease pain, we offer counseling for those with mental and emotional suffering. We try to ease suffering we really do. The world doesn’t just sit back and ignore all the suffering, it tries. It often fails, but it tries to eliminate as much suffering as it can.

Until our Savior returns and evil is ended, we will live with suffering. We will have tribulations and just because we believe in Jesus Christ doesn't make us exempt from suffering.

Our Savior knew we'd suffer not only all the sufferings of this world, but for our belief in Him. You might not be living in fear for your life for your belief, but you will be spiritually hunted by Satan and his spiritual minions- as all Christ followers are. The manifestations of the hunt are littered throughout our lives. Obstacles will be constantly thrown up all around us in all sorts of ways. People just assume that bad things happen all the time to everyone, but all those bad things are orchestrated by Satan and yes, allowed to happen by God. God allows things for the ultimate good to those that are His, this is the hope we have as Christ followers, knowing our suffering is in ways we cannot fully comprehend meant for our good.

Rom 5:1  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 

Rom 5:2  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

Rom 5:3  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 

Rom 5:4  And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 

Rom 5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 

1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 

1Pe 4:14  If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 

1Pe 2:19  For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 

1Pe 2:20  For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 

1Pe 3:14  But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled

Mat 5:11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 

Mat 5:12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. 

Luk 6:22  Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. 

Luk 6:23  Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. 

More on all of this tomorrow by the grace of our LORD, by His love, His will.

May we have some comprehension that all the suffering will one day soon be over for all of us watching and praying as we await the soon return of our Savior, Jesus Christ.