{"id":7745,"date":"2012-11-05T07:42:17","date_gmt":"2012-11-05T15:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wordpress\/?p=7745"},"modified":"2012-11-05T08:09:36","modified_gmt":"2012-11-05T16:09:36","slug":"partakers-of-his-suffering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=7745","title":{"rendered":"Partakers of His Suffering"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>. . . but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ\u2019s sufferings . . . \u2014<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?version=31&amp;search=1+Peter+4%3A13\" target=\"_blank\">1 Peter 4:13<\/a><\/h1>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eOOFAaUGfRE\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"620\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<!-- .entry-meta --><!-- .entry-header -->If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Because of this process, you will never be surprised by what comes your way. You say, \u201cOh, I can\u2019t deal with that person.\u201d Why can\u2019t you? God gave you sufficient opportunities to learn from Him about that problem; but you turned away, not heeding the lesson, because it seemed foolish to spend your time that way.<\/p>\n<p>The sufferings of Christ were not those of ordinary people. He suffered \u201caccording to the will of God\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=1+Peter+4:19\">1 Peter 4:19<\/a>), having a different point of view of suffering from ours. It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. When it comes to suffering, it is part of our Christian culture to want to know God\u2019s purpose beforehand. In the history of the Christian church, the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. People have sought to carry out God\u2019s orders through a shortcut of their own. God\u2019s way is always the way of suffering\u2014 the way of the \u201clong road home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Are we partakers of Christ\u2019s sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them? It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through\u2014 we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize\u2014 \u201cGod has strengthened me and I didn\u2019t even know it!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>____________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>November 5, 2012<\/p>\n<p>Journal Entry for Today-JDV<\/p>\n<p>Lord, I really do not want or need to hear one more lesson about suffering and why and how it is the process through which you help me grow as a believer. I have heard all the lessons and read all the scriptures about how and why suffering is something \u201cI get to go through\u201d\u2026.well when I am in the middle of some major hurting, all I want is \u201cout of it\u201d now! Like my cosmic bellhop I want and need you to stop my pain, heal my hurt, and dust me off and send me back refreshed and renewed and upbeat again. \u00a0I mean after all, you made me, you know how and why I hurt. You know my strong parts and weak parts, why not just tune them up a bit and get me back to square one? Lord, when I am hurting, I just want to stop hurting. Is that too much to ask?<\/p>\n<p><em>And God says\u2026\u201dNo it is not too much to ask, it is too little to ask. I love you too much to do so little for you. My ways are not your ways, and in your fallen earthly body, (mind and spirit) you want and desire more pleasure, less pain and less waiting. But less pain and more pleasure are not the nutrients for shaping you into the image of Jesus. Do not try to get out of suffering too early, let it have its perfect result. Do not pursue pleasure or distractions at the expense of\u00a0 feeling your pain and suffering, the pain and suffering are the building blocks I am able to use. Just like a silversmith heats silver until the impurities can be poured out, I will keep the heat on you (just the right amount) so your impurities and imperfections can be removed \u2026.over time. Trust Me. I loved you enough to give you My Son; you must know I love you enough to give you exactly what you need\u2026even if it may not be exactly what you want this very moment. Trust in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. And remember, all we have is time.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>. . . but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ\u2019s sufferings . . . \u20141 Peter 4:13 If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7745"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7745"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7747,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7745\/revisions\/7747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}