SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/15/2020 10:16 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “The
Posture”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt. 5:12
Message of the verse: “12 “Rejoice and be
glad, for your reward in heaven is
great; for in
the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
I have to be honest that I have
thought about persecution for a very long time and wondered what I would when
it came to our country. My thoughts are
that I would move to a remote place and continue to write my blogs, or perhaps
move to another country to live. However
as John MacArthur writes “The believer’s response to persecution and affliction
should not be to retreat and hide. To
escape from the world is to escape responsibility. Because we belong to Christ, we are no longer
of this world, but He has sent us into this world to serve just as He
Himself came into this world to serve (John 17:14-18).”
According to Matthew 5:13-14 “13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Notice the two highlighted portions of these verses.) In order for our salt to flavor and our light to lighten the world we must be active in the world. The gospel of Jesus Christ is certainly not to be hidden but it is to enlighten those around us. Verses 15-16 tells us “15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
MacArthur
adds “When we become Christ’s salt and Christ’s light, our salt will sting the
world’s open wound of sin and our light will irritate its eyes that are used to
darkness. But even when our salt and
light are resented, rejected, and thrown back in our face, we should ‘rejoice,
and be glade.’”
Now
we will look at the words “Be glad.”
This comes from agalliao, and
this means to exult, to rejoice greatly, to be overjoyed, as is clear when we
look at the KJV of the Bible which says “be exceeding glad.” If we would look at the literal meaning it
would mean to skip and to jump with happy excitement. MacArthur adds “Jesus uses the imperative
mood, which makes His words more than a suggestion. We are commanded to ‘be glad.’ Not to be glad when we suffer for Christ’s
sake is to be untrusting and disobedient.”
I realize that these are difficult truths to understand and to do when
the time comes for us to do them.
As
we reflect on the story from our last SD we can see that the world can take a
lot from the believer, however it cannot take away their joy and their
happiness. What the world does to us is
not permanent, for we know that we have a home in heaven, which is our true
home as we are just aliens her on earth.
I have mentioned before that when people attack us they are actually
attacking our Lord Jesus Christ, and I don’t think that He is to be attacked
without punishment in the end. “From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on
my body the brand-marks of Jesus” Paul writes these words to the Galatians in
6:17. “Now I rejoice in my sufferings
for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is
the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (Col. 1:24).
6/15/2020 10:40 AM
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