Scripture
Since Christ endured bodily suffering, you also must arm yourselves with the same disposition.
~I Peter 4:1 REB
Quote
Suffering, rightly met, forges deep friendships and empowers our witness.
~Timothy Keller
As we mentioned yesterday; the Psalmist said, “He was good for me to be afflicted that I might learn.” We humans have a strong desire for comfort and this passion gets worse with age. Our philosophy is–It is never good to be afflicted or to suffer. In the very next stanza {Psalm 119}, the Psalmist says, “I know LORD that your laws are righteous and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.” Wow! First affliction is good and then it comes from the LORD Himself. But are we not His children, the sheep of His pasture? Of course we are and God loves us so much that He gave us His only Son without sin as a sacrifice for our sins.
Lets look at the entire passage in the NLT which makes it crystal clear… So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. We all know that Jesus is the favorite Son and we have no problem with this fact and He suffered because it was the Father’s will. Isaiah 53:10, Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in His hand. Did you get that? It was the Father’s will for Jesus to suffer but it was His suffering that delivers us from sin.
So do not despair with suffering comes and do not waste your sorrows. There is a divine purpose in your suffering and it will lead to a glorious end. Paul said, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Tim, Josh and Doug are students of the Andy Griffin Show. Tim and Doug have been to the original set, Mount Airy, North Carolina where you can see Floyd’s barber shop. They pointed out things to me that I had never considered. Every member of the cast was single except Otis the miserable town drunk. Is there a subliminal message here? I don’t know. All I know is that I am happily married. I don’t want to be single for more than one reason. I don’t want women chasing me for my money. There are three stages to marriage: [1] In youth, your wife is your lover, [2] In middle age she is your companion, but [3] When you get old she becomes your nurse. I know how older women think: “I’ll take his money but I’m not taking care of him.” I forgot to take by BP medicine twice last week so trust me, I need taking care of…that may explain the bad headaches, you think!
I think I am going to watch the game but if it gets ugly, I am coming home. I hope Vegas is right on this one. I think the best four teams in the country are LSU, Clemson, Georgia and Alabama. I don’t think Ohio State can beat any of the four. The Penn State thing is a joke. They can beat Ohio State let alone Clemson.