Dead men do not get discouraged. They feel no disappointment. They have no dreams to risk, they have no pride to defend. They have no concern for their own well-being, no ambition to promote their cause, and no concern for their reputation. No one can offend a dead man, no one can cause him to fear or worry, and no sudden catastrophe could ever shake his faith.
To assume that we will be resurrected with Christ without first dying to sin and to our own will shows that at best we are deceived and at worst we are hypocrites and false brethren. (see Romans 6:5, Philippians 3:10-11) The Apostle Paul ran toward suffering, not shrinking back even when shipwrecked, beaten, tortured, and put in prison.Even Jesus had to choose God's will over His own in the Garden. We can't assume that God loves us too much to let us suffer. That kind of thinking sets us up for discouragement and makes us easy targets for the enemy to take out, all he has to do is bring some kind of catastrophe in our lives, and our faith crumbles because it was not based on the truth of God's Word, but on our pride. Do we think we are better than our Master? He was crucified, and He called us to take up our cross and follow Him up that hill considering our lives to be nothing but garbage compared to the eternal value of knowing Christ and the fellowship of His sufferings and the power of His resurrection.
To assume that we will be resurrected with Christ without first dying to sin and to our own will shows that at best we are deceived and at worst we are hypocrites and false brethren. (see Romans 6:5, Philippians 3:10-11) The Apostle Paul ran toward suffering, not shrinking back even when shipwrecked, beaten, tortured, and put in prison.Even Jesus had to choose God's will over His own in the Garden. We can't assume that God loves us too much to let us suffer. That kind of thinking sets us up for discouragement and makes us easy targets for the enemy to take out, all he has to do is bring some kind of catastrophe in our lives, and our faith crumbles because it was not based on the truth of God's Word, but on our pride. Do we think we are better than our Master? He was crucified, and He called us to take up our cross and follow Him up that hill considering our lives to be nothing but garbage compared to the eternal value of knowing Christ and the fellowship of His sufferings and the power of His resurrection.
It's so much easier to talk about than to actually do, this dying to self. It hurts, it's hard, it's dark and lonely sometimes, often we feel like God has abandoned us. But we have a promise that if we do not grow weary in the middle of it, if we do not faint and give up, there is a great reward.
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me."
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me."
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
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