April 20, 2020
Philippians 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
The fellowship of His sufferings. Notice the conjunction “and”. This tells me that when you desire to know Jesus and the power of his resurrection, it comes with the fellowship of his sufferings. What? Yes, the fellowship of his sufferings.
Most of us are not interested in suffering. In fact, we spend most of our time and a lot of money to avoid suffering. There are a few reasons we avoid suffering.
The first is because it hurts! You may be thinking, no kidding genius. I know it is an obvious reason. There are more and we will talk about them for a couple of days, but today I want you to think with me about a scenario of a parent. A parent, at times, has to take their child through a painful experience for their benefit. For instance, a child may have to endure the discomfort of getting a shot, but the short-term discomfort is necessary for the long time health of the child.
As our Heavenly Father sends us through trying times, He is thinking of our good and His Glory. He knows there are things in our life that need to be “conformed to the image of his dear Son”.
Today please open your heart to the idea of suffering. It is a process, but remember whatever we go through our Father is working to make us look more like JESUS.
Be Blessed,
Bro. Dewayne