No Pain, No Gain

Coaches used to tell us, “no pain, no gain”. They meant that unless we endured the suffering of practices, we wouldn’t reap the rewards come gametime. Muscles are built through repeated use under stress. Maturity comes through right reactions to the problems of life, thus building character into our lives.

Romans 5:3-5 says, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit wo has been given to us.” We can rejoice while suffering because it produces good things in us like endurance, character, and hope. Suffering is also one way that God reveals His love to us through the Holy Spirit working in our lives.

Courtroom Drama

The courtroom is silent. Lawyers for the plaintiff and defendent have presented their cases. From the evidence it is plain to everyone that the defendent is guilty. Suddenly, the son of the victim comes forward and asks the judge if it is possible that he addresses the judge and jury. He asks for more than leniency for the defendent. Instead, out of compassion, he asks the judge to declare that he suffer the punishment and that the defendent go free. The crowd of witnesses, the jurors, and the judge are amazed and don’t understand the son’s reasoning. But the son remains a staunch advocate for the defendent and takes upon himself the discipline of the court.

Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Before a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ, he/she makes himself or herself an enemy of God by rejecting Him and living according to their own selfish desires. But once we trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, God removes the condemnation of our enemy status and we are declared not guilty, removing all condemnation from us and giving us peace with God. Jesus Christ offered Himself as the sacrifice to remove the condemnation as sinners from us and grant us salvation from the Father’s judgement of our sin.

Covered By Blood

Romans 4:7-8 says, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” We all sin, but the blood of Jesus covers our sins so that they are removed from us and God does not count them against those who have trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation.

Picture Jesus Christ hanging on the cross. Why does He stay there? He could call on thousands of angels to remove Himself from the cross. Perhaps, He sees your face and my face, and is filled with compassion for us. He knows that without His sacrifice we would be lost forever and would not be able to spend eternity with Him. So He would suffer and go through hell for us, rather than return to heaven without us. Imagine that attached to the nails in His hands is a list of your sins and my sins. My list would probably be longer than yours. But as He stays upon that cross, His blood drips down and begins to cover the list of our sins, one by one. Eventually the whole list is covered by His blood and our sins cannot be seen any longer. The blood of Jesus Christ brings forgiveness from God to all who believe in Jesus and trust Him as Lord and Savior.

Receiving Honor

What if you were chosen to receive a distinguished honor? And what if that honor was to be bestowed to you by a person or group that you greatly admire, making the honor that much more meaningful to you? But, what if they placed some requirements upon you that you didn’t really care for, like the clothing you must wear at the honor ceremony? Would you still want the honor and would you still attend the ceremony?

Romans 3:22-25 says, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, who God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” We must never forget what God has given to us through Jesus Christ. Though we were sinners, God made the sacrifice that provides us with forgiveness, redemption, and justification. This means that the blood of Jesus was the full and complete payment for our salvation from judgment for our sins. God wants to honor us with the gracious and free gift of salvation and redemption. But, He has placed a restriction upon this gift. We must accept it by faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for our sins. Will you accept the honor?

Brokenness Comes

Lately, many of our friends have received devasting health prognosis. One man learned that he has MLS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and he is fading fast. While he has been surprising upbeat, his wife is suffering. Another male friend recently found out that he has prostrate cancer. This sad news comes after losing a daughter to a devasting disease. Other friends are battling chronic disease while also losing employment. What can I say to these friends? I don’t know, because I have not suffered like they are. But I choose to listen and be there for them.

Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” God knows the hurts that we suffer and He feels those hurts also. But we can trust Him to comfort us and walk us through the hurt to healing. Then we can share the comfort that we experienced with others who need comfort.