God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

It is true that God loves you, but you decide if His plan is "wonderful." If you have heard that happiness comes through Jesus Christ, you may like to think again. The first thing Jesus said of the Apostle Paul (who wrote most of the New Testament) was that He would show him "how great things he must suffer for (His) name's sake.¹ Three times Paul was beaten with rods, once he was stoned, three times he suffered shipwreck, a night and a day he spent in the sea.² There were times when Paul was so unhappy, he wanted to die. The Bible says, "All who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."³ It says we enter the Kingdom of God through much distress,⁴ and that we were appointed to afflictions.⁵

Jesus said if we followed Him we would be reviled, persecuted, hated, and all manner of evil would be said against us falsely, for His sake. He warned that we would have to take up our cross daily, deny ourselves and follow Him, saying, "In the world you shall have tribulation," and even that we may be called to die for our faith.⁶

My wife once spoke to a young man who had believed alluring television advertisements and joined the navy to see the world; and what did he see? He saw the sea . . . and found nothing but hard work. Now he couldn't wait to leave the navy. If they had been honest in their advertising, the navy may not have got as many recruits, but at least the ones they did get would be committed, rather than deserters at heart.

I have told you the truth about Christianity. Oh . . . I forgot to mention one thing along with the trials comes "the gift of God" . . .everlasting life!⁷ The Apostle Paul lost everything for the sake of his faith, and said that compared to what he had found in Jesus Christ, all the riches of this world were nothing but "dung."⁸

If you are interested in your eternal salvation, with a tender conscience, answer the following: Have you ever lied, hated, lusted, stolen, committed adultery, had sex outside of marriage (or desired to)? Have you kept the Sabbath holy, always honoured your parents, have you put God first in your affections, have you blasphemed His name (using it to curse), have you made a god to suit yourself (been guilty of "idolatry"making a god in your own image)?

If you have broken even one of those Ten Commandments, then you have "sinned against God." On Judgment Day you will be found to be guilty. Forget any thought of a "wonderful plan" without God's mercy, you will go to Hell. Unless you repent, you will perish.⁹ God doesn't ask you to consider His plan for your life, He commands you to repent.¹⁰ When Jesus died on the cross, He took the punishment which was due to you and me for our sins. In doing so, He satisfied the demands of Eternal Justice, and at the same time He demonstrated how much God loves us. If you repent and put your faith in Jesus, God will forgive your sins and grant you the gift of everlasting life. Don't say you will "give it some thought"instead obey the command.

If you stepped into a courtroom and offered to pay a £50,000 fine I couldn't pay, what an insult it would be for me to say I would give your offer of help "some thought." Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, then by the grace of God hold on, because you have just begun the "abundant life" you are going to be busy swimming upstream against the world (with all its sinful pleasures), the flesh (your sinful nature) and the devil (you'll find out about him). Read the Bible daily, obey what you read, and you will never fail.

For further reading Foxes Book of Martyrs (at your Christian bookstore).

Bible references:

1. Acts 9:16
2. 2 Corinthians 1:8
3. 2 Timothy 3:12
4. Acts 14:22
5. 1 Thessalonians 3:3


6. Matthew 24:9
7. Romans 6:23
8. Philippians 3:8
9. Luke 13:3
10. Acts 17:30

"God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life"

"He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that takes not his cross, and follows after me, is not worthy of me. He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it." Matthew 10:37-39

"People, who need people to walk with God, don't walk with God. They walk with people." - Emeal Zwayne

"Yes, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12)

Nice 1, op

caldermichaels:

Nice 1, op

If many people who call themselves Christians today really knew all that was in the package they would have thought twice before becoming one.

OLAADEGBU:

If many people who call themselves Christians today really knew all that was in the package they would have thought twice before becoming one.

Exactly, that is the problem I observed in The Word of Faith Movement aka prosperity gospel, they fail to preach this part of the gospel. They only accept the blessing accruing to Christians while rejecting the notion that Christians will also suffer pain because they av accepted Christ. And like Jesus Christ pointed out, we will av 2 carry our cross

caldermichaels:

Exactly, that is the problem I observed in The Word of Faith Movement aka prosperity gospel, they fail to preach this part of the gospel. They only accept the blessing accruing to Christians while rejecting the notion that Christians will also suffer pain because they av accepted Christ. And like Jesus Christ pointed out, we will av 2 carry our cross

Good point. I keep wondering whether the health and wealth message teach that Christians can suffer persecution which may be financial, physical or emotional in nature.

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you...

Objections:

"What's the point in serving God? If you know your Bible you will know that John the Baptist was killed at 33, James died young, so did Stephen, and all the disciples died early in life except for John. They were murdered for their faith. Plus thousands of God-loving Christians die in car accidents and from terrible diseases. A young pastor I knew was confined to a wheelchair and tragically died in a horrible fire. On the flip side there are atheists who have lived happy lives to a ripe old age. Then there's the question as to why God allowed Hitler to live as long as he did. There were many attempts on his life, and he miraculously survived them all."

The answer is that we trust in Jesus to escape the wrath that is coming on Judgment Day, not the problems and pains of this life. Check out the details of how to be saved from the long arm of the Law, see www.needGod.com

Daily Manna
Wednesday 08, January 2014

No Easy Task

TEXT: EXODUS 5:1-14

"And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go" (Exodus 5:2)

God has not promised us a bed of roses. Indeed, events of daily living reveal that we are bound to face difficult moments in life. Still, many people generally hate obstacles that task their patience. In carrying out God’s assignment, we sometimes assume that we will have easy passage. But usually, the contrary is the case.

Today’s text shows clearly the type of difficulty we could face in carrying out God’s work. God had commanded Moses and Aaron to go before Pharaoh to demand the freedom of the Israelites from slavery. But this godless king rejected God’s demand and derided Him. All the appeals and testimonies of Moses and Aaron fell on deaf ears, and Pharaoh, in a show of arrogance, increased the labour of the children of Israel. As if that was not enough, he subjected them to beatings and humiliation. Moses and Aaron would have wondered what kind of assignment this was; for instead of freedom, they met a stonewall.

The Great Commission is a God-given assignment to all believers. Yet, our obedience to it does not always yield the expected fruit as we desire. Sometimes, we meet with difficult people who deride God and persecute us. Though God’s assignment to Moses was a difficult one, it was binding on him. Rather than fear the heathen king, he chose to obey God. Such should be our attitude while evangelising resistant people. We should obey God and leave the result to Him. God is faithful as He has promised to be with us, come what may. So, continue to preach and serve Him in your own capacity whether the devil likes it or not.

Thought for the day: "God is faithful when we keep the faith"

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