Keep The Christ In Christians - 6 of 12

CHRIST PERSEVERED THROUGH SUFFERING, RATHER THAN EXCHANGING IT FOR COMFORT & PLEASURE

I have a love-hate relationship with exercise. This is one of those areas in which my wife & I are completely different. She LOVES everything about exercise…thinking about it, doing it, preparing for it, reading about it, teaching it, etc. It’s like her love language. For me, exercise is a means to another end. I just want to stay in decent shape…and since I’ve been in the field of construction, this has taken on an even more important dimension. This year has been difficult for me physically. I’ve gotten hurt a lot, and as a result am having my first bout with atrophy…first of many, I suppose!

Atrophy is what happens to your muscles when you don’t use them enough to maintain their current level of size & strength…your body decides that you must not need all that muscle tissue anymore, so it starts cannibalizing the valuable resources there and diverts them to other areas that need more…or stores it as fat 🙂 It sucks, doesn’t it? Fighting your way back from atrophy into fitness sucks too! It’s hard, it steals time from my day, takes months to accomplish, and it HURTS! So why do it? Because what we gain by being faithful to the process far outweighs the pain of getting there!

There’s a lesson in there for us…reminds me of this scripture:

“We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:14-18)

Could it be that the lack of vitality & influence of Jesus’ Church in America may be due to the Spiritual Atrophy of His people?

What would spiritual atrophy look like, and what would cause it? Essentially, if a whole generation of individuals & churches started saying “no” to the ways of Jesus and “yes” to the ways of the world, in a persistent and self-justifying cycle, this could cause a crisis of spiritual atrophy that would effect His witness in an entire nation. The good news is that we’re the most wealthy & technologically advanced nation in the world…the bad news is that these types of blessing are not meant to be hoarded & treasured as we have done, and collectively the affections of God’s people have been diverted toward maintaining these false gods along with the rest of our country with an effort that leaves little time & energy & passion for the things of God. We’re damaging our own souls by lounging in temptation and neglecting spiritual exercise.

Let’s take an example from the Apostle Paul:

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

Perseverance means putting up with things that are really uncomfortable for a long time because of the prize that waits at the end. Jesus and His followers knew that this world was not home, but a place to learn & love & be about our Father’s business.

Here are a couple of parting shots. Allow them to buffet your spirit and produce the effect desired by The Master:

“All these people [God’s faithful servants in the Old Testament] were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:13-16)

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” (1 Peter 4:12-19)

By catalystshawn