Sharing is Caring

Benefits of sufferings       “and he said, "I called out of my distress to the LORD, And He answered me I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice” (Jonah 2:2).                     How do we respond to the hardships we have in our lives?   Henry Nowen suggests to response in four ways in his book, "Turn My Mourning into Dancing."   There are 4 steps to dance with God:   (1)     The first step is to grieve the pain and suffering we go through.   We have to cry when we have to cry.   We must weep in front of the cross.   And when we go through pain and suffering, we must go to our Heavenly Father and tell him what we are going through.   But I think many of us don’t want to acknowledge our pain and suffering, but rather try to deny, ignore, or suppress them in our hearts deeply.   If we do, then our suf...

Present sufferings and future glory             [Romans 8:18]                        Look at Romans 8:18 – “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”   I would like to think about two things based on this verse: (1) “the sufferings of this present time” and (2) “the glory that is to be revealed”.               First, let us think about “the sufferings of this present time”.                   The Apostle Paul speaks of “the sufferings of this present time” in Romans 8:18, and “this present” here refers to this world.   Therefore, “the suffering of this present time” refer to the sufferings of this world.   There are many suf...

  The result of justification (6): Fulfillment of completed hope by passing through sufferings, perseverance, and character     “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4)                      Romans 5:3 says, “…   because we know that suffering produces perseverance.”   We rejoice in suffering, because “suffering produces perseverance” (v. 3).   The Bible speaks of “perseverance” a lot.   For example, Jesus spoke of the perseverance of prayer in Luke 18:1-9.   Jesus Himself set the example of perseverance in prayer.   See Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.   Jesus prayed three times.   He persevered until the prayer was answered and prayed to the end (Mt.26:36-42).   The sixth of the seven words Jes...

The result of justification (4): Rejoice in sufferings     “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4)                      Here, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings” (Rom. 5:3), “only this” refers to Romans 5:2b “And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”   In other words, it is not just about rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.   Here, “the glory of God” is Jesus Christ, who will come again in the glory of God that we hope for.   In John 19:30, the Bible says, “It is finished”.   This is the sixth word of Jesus on the cross.   What have He accomplished?   That is our redemption.   Redemption here means that Jesus Christ shed His blood to pay for all our sins with His life (crucifixion) to redeem us a...

  Benefits of sufferings     “and he said, "I called out of my distress to the LORD, And He answered me I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice” (Jonah 2:2).                 How do we respond to the hardships we have in our lives?  Henry Nowen suggests to response in four ways in his book, "Turn My Mourning into Dancing."  There are 4 steps to dance with God:   (1)     The first step is to grieve the pain and suffering we go through.   We have to cry when we have to cry.  We must weep in front of the cross.  And when we go through pain and suffering, we must go to our Heavenly Father and tell him what we are going through.  But I think many of us don’t want to acknowledge our pain and suffering, but rather try to deny, ignore, or suppress them in our hearts deeply.  If we do, then our sufferings wil...