Cleansed from Cursing
“Let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good for edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” – Ephesians 4:29
building up and equipping the body of Christ
Living in Hostile Territory
I recently heard Jamie speak on a Zoom call and what he said resounded with my soul. The LORD has used him to stoke the fire in my spirit. I have since found his teachings on his YouTube page and am not only enjoying them, but am also being convicted by the Holy Spirit and encouraged in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Take a listen to the abridged video on Living in Hostile Territory.
I Will Never Forget
I was sitting in my office at the Circuit City Training Dept. on Thalbro St. in Richmond, VA when a coworker came in frantically saying that an airplane crashed into one of the Twin Tower buildings. At first I had no idea what she was talking about, but I knew it was bad. None of us had any idea how bad it really was. We all thought that it was just a really bad accident.
All of the training & design team that were in the office at the time gathered in a conference room and turned on the news to see what was happening. After a few minutes of listening to the newscasters bewildered comments, we saw the second plane hit the second building…
For a few moments, a complete stunned silence fell on all of us. None of us could comprehend what was happening, what we were seeing. I think that’s when we all realized this was no accident and was really a lot worse than we could have imagined. We were vulnerable, and we were being attacked.
Next, we started hearing about the plane that hit the Pentagon. My response was to pray and seek the LORD for help and strength. One of my coworkers became frantic because his grandmother lived in New York. I took him outside the conference room and prayed for the Lord’s protection upon her.
That day was the longest day I think I’ve ever experienced. I will never forget. #neverforget
Why does God let us suffer?
Answering another question from Jon of Hawk Nelson.
There are multiple parts to this answer and I am only going to cover a few. First, in order to understand why God allows suffering, we need to understand where suffering comes from. Suffering is a result of the curse on creation because of Adam’s transgression against God… when Adam disobeyed God, he abdicated the position God had placed him in as Prime Minister & caretaker over all creation and became a slave to sin. By obeying the serpent, Adam handed his authority over to Satan. As a result, the entire human race became slaves to sin, death and suffering entered into creation.
Secondly, since suffering is now part of our earthly existence & experience, the LORD uses it as to instruct us and develop our character. Through suffering we learn empathy, compassion, patience, endurance, humility, the consequences of sin (both ours & others), and ultimately we learn obedience.
“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4 NASB https://www.bible.com/100/jas.1.2-4.nasb
“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.” 1 Peter 5:10 NASB https://www.bible.com/100/1pe.5.10.nasb
Finally, the LORD uses suffering to show us His own love for us and the depth & breadth of His commitment to making salvation available to each of us through His own suffering.
In John’s gospel we read: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:2, 14 NASB https://www.bible.com/100/jhn.1.2,14.nasb
And in Philippians we read: “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:6-8 NASB https://www.bible.com/100/php.2.6-8.nasb
“For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.” Hebrews 2:10 NASB https://www.bible.com/100/heb.2.10.nasb
So, until the LORD puts a final end to sin, suffering is a part of our reality and experience. But God is able to use suffering to teach us eternal lessons, shape us into the image of Christ Jesus our LORD, and prepare us for His kingdom.
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