Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 64 – Suffering and Comfort
by TJ Bates Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. –2 Corinthians 1:3-5 It isn't uncommon to hear cancer patients describe how they were
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 45: The Gift of Suffering
by TJ Bates via Theology Mix For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. –Philippians 1:29-30 A question often asked is, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" What does it mean? "What Paul is saying in this passage can easily slip by us in a too-quick reading. Suffering
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 33 – The Hiding Place
by TJ Bates You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. -Psalm 32:7 I have been quoting only a portion of Pastor John's comments each day. Today, I am going to quote everything he says about this particular passage. I feel it is too important to leave out any portion of it: It was Corrie ten Boom who titled her amazing biography after this phrase in Psalm 32. In The Hiding Place, she
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 24 – Who’s Behind It?
"For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men." -Lamentations 3:31-33 The question of the day: Why does God allow bad things happen to good people? "So there's a huge gulf separating God from Satan, good from evil, but God can still bring us grief and affliction whenever it contributes in some way to
From the Pastor: Love, Suffering, Grief, and Joy: The Last Four Days of Holy Week
If you were asked to associate one word each for the four days from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday, what would those four words be? For me, they are as follows: Maundy Thursday – Love A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. –John 13:34 Jesus’ new commandment is intended for the disciples’ welfare, for them to enjoy lives of meaning and purpose. In his ministry, he gives us a model
When Trouble Comes
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. -1 Peter 1:6-7 Peter was writing to believers who were suffering in all kinds of ways. They lived in the midst of some of the
