Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 129

May 9;   I Thessalonians 3:3;   185/260(I);   ‘Afflictions’

I Thessalonians 3:3 that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this.

Afflictions and persecution are an important part of being a Christian.  They will cause you to grow and mature, or they will cause you to back off the things of God.  To get stronger in the natural, you lift weights.  The weights exert pressure on your muscles and cause you to get stronger.  Afflictions are spiritual weights.  They exert pressure on your ‘spiritual muscles’ and cause you to get stronger spiritually.  Life is not some deep philosophical journey.  Life is a never ending battle between good (God) and evil (the devil).  Until you become Born Again, you do not really understand this and the secular world makes up all kinds of theories about life and its meaning.  You probably hook up with something they promote.  Without Jesus, the devil has you and the everyday challenges you face are simply the result of living in a world that is cursed.  Once you do become Born Again, the devil has lost you eternally, you are not going to hell, so there is nothing he can do about that.  With minimal effort on your part to grow, your spirit is alive unto God, but your life will be little different than it was before salvation.  You are no threat to the kingdom of darkness.  When you become excited about the things of God and determine to share the gospel and lead people to Jesus, the devil will try to stop you – hence afflictions.  Do not feel you are doing something wrong when afflictions come, you are doing something right.  Use the Word to overcome these challenges.  Jesus did in the wilderness when he as tempted by satan.  He rebuked the devil with the Word.  It’s an honor to ‘suffer’ for Jesus.