I left the end of the title open because it needs to be. All of us go through life with pain at some point. Arthritis, achy joints because of age or other problems, or plain, worn-out joints, so just getting up from a chair or bed is sometimes painful. Whether this causes us “suffering” is an individual thing. The pain can be sharp or intense sometimes but most days it doesn’t last for long. On other days the pain is a constant ache and it seems to become less achy as the day goes on but it never really goes away. What is my point in beginning my writing today in such a manner?
The point is that each of us has to deal with pain at some point in our lives. Sometimes it is because of age or disease. Sometimes it is because of the loss of a family member or a close friend. In either instance, the loss is felt deeply and it may take a long time for us to learn how to handle it. Emotional pain is the kind that never goes away. We need to seek God’s strength to help us through it every day.
Our world and the problems that we have to live with each day are caused by the sin that Adam brought into the world. We can’t fix them on our own and we can’t fix the problems brought on by the sins against God in the garden. Our sins cause the problems that we have in our world today. We can’t blame the problems that we have today on our parents or grandparents. Our world and its tribulations were brought on because of our sinful ways today, not because of someone else’s actions that were done years ago.
Jesus said that we would have trials in this world but He also said that we should have faith in Him because He overcame the world. Have faith in Him for your salvation and your provision for today and tomorrow and for your eternity that is to come. He is the only way to gain access to Heaven. It is our faith and belief in Jesus that brings us salvation and nothing else.
Sad faces in the church. It seems that nearly every service I watch on TV has people in the audience who are either sad that they have come or they wish they were somewhere else. Why is that? With all of the shows being performed at some churches, you would think that everyone there would be happy. The point of coming to church is to worship God and thank Him for your Savior, Jesus Christ. You don’t have to be smiling and happy to do this but having an expression on your face as if you just ate something sour doesn’t show that you are grateful for His atonement of your sins!
I know that life isn’t going to be all wonderful days with no problems for anyone, whether you are a Christian or not, but seek your Savior with joy for the forgiveness that you will have through your faith in Him. Joy can’t be taken from you regardless of your situation because your joy is in Him by faith. It doesn’t depend on your feelings. Happiness is based on your emotional state and how you feel in the moment. That is why being happy is not a permanent state of mind.
Being joyful is a permanent state because Jesus has provided us with the only way to salvation. The absolute joy of knowing that God loves you and me enough to redeem us and call us to be His is an experience that is impossible to describe. The “Left Behind” series of books was an eye-opener because it illustrated in detail what we can read in the book of Revelation. God has not left us without a map or a directory of how things will go when the church is taken away from the Earth. All of the details are there even if the language is a bit hard to understand.
Revelation is easier to understand today because of the new translations such as the Christian Standard and the Message. Reading the Bible itself is hard for many just because it tells so much about the Jewish people and their history, the good and the bad. Most historical documents don’t include anything “bad” in them. God inspired the writers to include it because it shows just how patient and loving God is.
Jesus came to bring the possibility of forgiveness and redemption to everyone and He brought it to His people first, yet they rejected His offer and His teaching because it wasn’t the same as their idea of a Savior. Can we have salvation in Jesus even when we are sad? Yes, we can. God loves us but not our sinful lives which is why we have to turn to Jesus for our salvation.
What does it mean to be redeemed? The word, redeemed, can mean many things. It can mean that you are saved from the situation that you were in. Whether that situation was slavery or sin or debt, redemption from any one of these can bring joy and peace to you and your family. Redemption from sin is the one that I’m writing about here because it was and is part of the message and the mission of the church that Jesus and His disciples began so many years ago.
What does redemption mean to you? In my life, it has brought peace and joy that I never imagined I would ever have. Mainly because those two emotions can’t be gained by anything that we can do ourselves. Peace and joy only become real in your life when you have something that you cannot lose regardless of how the world around you tries to take it from you. Salvation and redemption come to us through our belief in Jesus and only by our belief in Him.
The Living Message of Christ 