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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
March 9
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Today's Pathway:
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Yesterday we finished with the first half of verse 17. After enumerating several blessings that the child of God has, the second half of the verse adds a more difficult component: suffering. Suffering is going to be a part of the Christian life. Paul wrote in Philippians 1:29,
"For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake".
Paul went a step further in II Timothy 3:12 when he wrote,
"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution".
I am thankful that I live in a country where we have freedom to worship as we please, and where there has historically not been persecution of those who follow Christ. However, the statements above indicate that suffering for the cause of Christ should be considered the norm for believers, and if we never experience any opposition it may be because we are not living godly lives. Jesus said in His high-priestly prayer
"I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world" (John 17:14).
He also said,
"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:18-20).
The unbelieving world is not bothered by Christians who do not offend them by speaking and living out the truth of the Bible, and therefore the tendency would be to leave them alone. The outspoken Christian who is continually sharing the Gospel and trying to live a holy life is offensive to the unsaved, and thus that individual will receive opposition and persecution.
Missionary Amy Carmichael left her home in England to serve the Lord in India in 1895 and never returned, remaining in India until her death in 1951. She wrote the following, thought provoking poem.
Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land;
I hear them hail thy bright, ascendant star.
Hast thou no scar?
Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers; spent,
Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned.
Hast thou no wound?
No wound? No scar?
Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,
And piercèd are the feet that follow Me.
But thine are whole; can he have followed far
Who hast no wound or scar?
This is a difficult fact for the believer to hear. However, even in this, God has a blessing for His children. He adds in verse 17,
"that we may be also glorified together".
We will look at this great promise in more detail tomorrow.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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