'For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake' (Philippians 1:29).
Those who believe on Christ, must also suffer for his sake. This is part of the Christian life, to live faithful in Christ.
Paul makes it quite clear, that when we follow the will of God, we may have to suffer for Christ, even though we are faithfully living for God.
The world hated Christ because of what he stood for, and will certainly hate all who follow and are obedient to Him. In following Christ and living a godly life in Him, will lead to persecution for His name sake.
Christ's disciples suffered for him, as well as the Apostle Paul, who in Philippians 3:8 said he counted all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus His Lord; for whom he had suffered the lost of all things, counting them but dung, that he may win Christ.
Christ is worthy of whatever sufferings we might face on our Christian journey, and we ought to rejoice in doing so. Christ himself suffered for us, leaving us an example to follow his steps.
We must remember, we are not exempt from sufferings because we are Christians; but are called to share our faith, which at times may lead us to face opposition. Therefore to believe Christ is to suffer for his sake. It is indeed a privilege to suffer for Christ sake; it points others to Him, when they see how we stand boldly for Christ in our adversity.
We have been favoured by God to suffer for Christ, not only to believe on Him. We contributed nothing to salvation, it's a gift from God; but to trust in what He has given us - the gift of suffering for Christ's sake. Suffering is not a good thing in itself, but we see the beauty and value in it because we are suffering for Christ's sake.
Let us count it as joy to suffer for our Lord, knowing this world is not our final home. We are looking for a city whose builder and maker is Christ, to live with him for eternity. So don't be surprised or dismayed at any time for your sufferings. Expect opposition!
Have a wonderful day
'But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you' (Matthew 6:33). The Lord is our Provider and knows all that we are in need of before we even ask. We do not need to worry or fret ourselves about what we shall eat or drink. Our Father in heaven will take care of these things we need. We are told by Jesus, 'To seek first the kingdom of God.' What does that mean? It means we should lean on, and trust in the grace of Jesus Christ. We should repent of our sins and have a desire to turn away from it. We should seek to put God first in our praise to Him, in our worship of Him, to put our total trust in Him and to rely on Him rather than ourselves or others. We need to seek Him first in our reassurance and acknowledging who He is and what He can do. We also need to seek God's righteousness by loving our neighbors and feeding the poor and destitute, seek justice for the vulnerable. We should put God's plan and
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