FAVOR IS UNFAIR (Genesis 21:22-34)

 ²² And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do.

²³ Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.”

²⁴ And Abraham said, “I will swear.”

²⁵ Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants had seized.

. . .

³¹ Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.

³² Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines.

 ³³ Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.

³⁴ And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.  (Genesis 21: 22 - 34)

And it came to pass at that time. . .

The timing is important.  From Genesis 20 we know that Abraham and his people had been camping in Philistine territory since before Isaac was born.  From Genesis 21:8, we know that Isaac is 2 or 3 years old.  Understanding the timing tells us that  Abraham and his people had been living in peace with Abimelech and the Philistines for at least 3 years.

For more than 3 years,  the Philistines had watched Abraham and heard the stories about him.  This Abraham was an old man and a foreigner with no country and no extended family, but he prospered under impossible circumstances.   This guy had  beaten 4 armies at once with only 318 men (Genesis 14), witnessed the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah  (Genesis 19:27, 28), and  conned the kings of Egypt and  Philistia without being executed or even fined.  In fact, this Abraham guy had been given honors by the kings AFTER they found him guilty of tricking them (Genesis 12; 20). 

And then, at that time,  word got around that 100 year old Abraham and his 90 year old wife Sarah had conceived, successfully birthed, and the son had survived into toddlerhood (which wasn’t a given in those times).  Abraham must have a secret: some supernatural edge that gave him a ridiculously unfair advantage over every one and everything that ran up on him.

Abimelech understood that the secret of Abraham’s success was his God.

And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do.

Notice that the Philistine commanders-in-chief went to Abraham.  Abraham didn’t go to them. And they begged Abraham for assurances that he wouldn’t attack. 

 Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you,

 you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.” (Genesis 21:23)

And Abraham said, “I will swear.” (Genesis 21: 24)

When Abraham complained about a disputed well, the king of the Philistines became defensive and apologetic.   

 And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.” (Genesis 21: 25-26)

They let Abraham impose an amendment to their treaty under which the nation of Philistia surrendered the disputed water rights to Abraham (Genesis 21: 27 - 31).

Clearly, Abraham had the superior negotiating position.  But that doesn’t make sense.  I mean, Abraham was a rich sheik with a small personal army, but he was sheik of a small nomadic clan camping on borrowed land surrounded by Philistine cities and armies.  Yet, Abraham so consistently came out on top in every encounter that King Abimelech made the strategic decision to sign a treaty lopsided in Abraham’s favor.

Why?

Because God was with Abraham in all that he did (Genesis 21:22).  Because messing with Abraham meant messing with Abraham’s God.  Because, what’s the word we use?   Oh yeah.

Because FAVOR.

“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts. (Zechariah 4:6)

In the church we talk a lot about favor in the first person. 

“The favor of God is upon ME.” 

“I’M blessed and highly favored.”

Abimelech recognized God’s favor on Abraham’s life.  Do you acknowledge God’s favor when it’s not about you?  Are you happy for your brothers and sisters when they get good that they don’t deserve?  I don’t mean jump on the bandwagon with financially profitable sin.  I mean ask the question “Why did God bless them?” but not rhetorically.  Ask and listen, observe, learn the actual answer.   

Abraham wasn’t perfect.  In some scenarios he was a genuine jerk, but he was the jerk God had chosen to fulfill an important role in the divine plan. God’s favor nudged Abraham back on the path when he strayed.  God’s favor protected him when danger threatened his role in God’s plan.  God’s favor provided what Abraham needed to pass to the descendants who would carry out the next phase of God’s plan.  And the favor on Abraham rewarded righteous people, like Hagar and Ishmael, who got caught in the orbit of God’s main plan for Abraham.

Favor didn’t put Ishmael in the messianic line despite Abraham’s request.   In the book of Jonah, favor sent a storm and a giant fish to “help” Jonah find his way to Nineveh.  Favor blinded Saul on the Damascus road so he could become the missionary and prolific author of Scripture God intended.  None of those blessed and highly favored men asked for the path God imposed upon them. 

But favor isn’t fair.  Not even to the favored. 

The favor of God isn’t about the person; it’s really about the plan:  God’s plan.

So you don’t need to jump on anybody’s bandwagon or kiss anybody’s butt to benefit from the favor of God in THEIR life.  You just have to understand their role in God’s plan and then find your place in or around that plan. 

Favor isn’t about the person; it’s about the plan:  God’s plan.

When you experience favor, remember what it’s for and remember Whom it’s from.

You’re good, but you’re not THAT good.  God did it.  You’re smart but --- be honest --- you weren’t smart enough to see that coming.  God revealed it to you.  People like you, but seriously, not THAT much.  Your opportunities, your second and third plus chances aren’t your doing. 

God is the secret to your success. 

After the phenomenally successful meeting with the Philistines,  Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God (Genesis 21:33).  Abraham gave praise to God and planted a reminder that his favored position in Philistine territory was because of God.

When that meeting goes waaaay better than it should have, don’t forget to have a praise party when everyone else has left ---- maybe even before.  When you’re in that new office, new home, new position, better situation, plant something there: a plant, a plaque, a screensaver, a symbol that you pass every day to remind you that life isn’t fair; but God has made it unfair in your FAVOR.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

Click here to support this ministry with a donation.  Or go to andersontgraves.blogspot.com and click on the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

AUDACIOUS EXPECTATIONS

This is the final message in the 3-part series from the Biblical story of “The Rich Young Ruler.”  I preached this series for revival at Ferguson Chapel CME Church (Opelika, AL).

Message #3 is called: AUDACIOUS EXPECTATIONS.

Listen well.

If you can’t get the audio on your device, visit the main podcast page at http://revandersongraves.podomatic.com/

The podcast is on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/anderson-graves-podcast/id918990482

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves  #Awordtothewise 

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

JONAH'S TOMB

(Explosions at the tomb of the prophet Jonah, in Mosul, Iraq. Read the CNN report. ) 

In July 2014, ISIS militants blew up the tomb of Jonah.  Yes, that Jonah.  The one from the Bible.  The fish guy.  Jonah.

Don’t feel bad.  I didn’t know Jonah had a tomb either.

Ancient Jews, Christians, and Muslims (who haven’t agreed on much since) agreed that the Old Testament prophet died and was buried in the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh.  Today, we know Nineveh as the Iraqui city of Mosul.

Centuries after Jonah died, Muslims built a mosque around his tomb, and ISIS hates the fact that there’s anything that Muslims, Jews, and Christians have in common, so they strapped explosives to the mosque and killed it.

That bit of current events matters because the book of Jonah ends without closure.  Jonah is last seen sitting under a withered gourd vine griping to God about the redemption of Nineveh.

But now, we know the rest of the story.  Now I understand why Jonah was so mad.

I knew that the Ninevites were Israel’s ethnic, religious, and political enemies, but every time I read Jonah chapter 4, it sounded like Jonah was taking the whole thing way too personally.  But I get it now.

Jonah was a prosperity prophet. 

2 Kings 14: 25 says: King Jeroboam restored the territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which the Lord God had spoken through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath Hepher.

Jonah ministered in Israel to a prosperous people in a time  that the national economy, and especially the real estate sector, were expanding.  Jonah’s name means “Dove.” Jonah’s father name, Amittai, means “Truth.” 

The prophet would have been introduced as “The Son of Truth, the Dove of the Lord, the Prophet of Increase--- Jonah of Galilee!”

When God told Jonah to leave his prosperous ministry in Israel and go to Nineveh, it was like God telling Creflo Dollar to leave the World Changers Church International and go preach repentance  to ISIS militants in Mosul.

The prosperity preacher said, “I’d rather quit, cash in my stocks, move out of the country, and retire in Tarshish.”  (Jonah 1: 1-3) 

But Jonah prophetic gift was genuine; so when the Lord told him to preach in Nineveh-Mosul, Jonah understood that God wasn’t just calling him to speak at a conference and then fly his private jet back home.

If the pagan Ninevites accepted his message and turned to God, then they would need more than a prophet.  They would need a PASTOR.  And since Jonah was the only qualified clergy in town, he’d be stuck in Nineveh, serving over 120,000 baby-believers whose relationship to God was based on repentance and fasting --- not prosperity.   Jonah would be stuck there for the rest of his life.

And that is exactly what happened.

So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish.” (Jonah 4: 2)

Here are the two major lessons for you and me:

1.      The thing you’re afraid God is going to ask you to do is quite possibly the thing God is going to ask you to do. 

And since you can’t stop God from asking you (and chasing you down with a storm and a giant fish to get you to do it), then you might as well get over being afraid.

2.      There’s always closure. From the outside, in the now, we may only be able to see what we’re losing.  In the moment others may only see you defeated by your fears. 

But, if you persist in obedience, God will build for you a legacy that still stands centuries later, a legacy that not even explosives can erase.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

WHICH CHRISTIANITY?

I saw this picture on Pinterest.  I choked down the reflexive indignation and took a moment to really, really think about what the poster was saying.  

I see her point.

Think about it.  If all you knew of Christianity was what you saw on tv then what would you know?  More importantly, what would you NOT know?

You wouldn’t know about the Methodist preacher pastoring 2 churches every other Sunday and working a 3^rd job because those two salaries together still aren’t enough to cover gas money on the 4 hour commute.  But that pastor still teaches Bible study at both churches, still visits all of the sick, elderly, and incarcerated, still makes graduations (even the GED ceremonies), and still gives more financially than any other member of either congregation.

But that pastor doesn’t get on “Preachers of L.A.”

If all you knew of Christianity was tv, then you’d see us spending all our time waving flags, toting guns, and yelling hate at gays, pregnant teens, Democrats, Republicans who vote with Democrats, and soldiers coming home in caskets.  If you got your Christianity from tv, you’d think that we sat around idly watching Black communities dissolve into violent, drug-ridden 3^rd-world type neighborhoods.  You’d think we walked out of church stepping over the bodies of Black men until somebody White pulled the trigger so we could march downtown and elbow each other for camera time in our gaudy suits.

You wouldn’t know about the 20 person congregation that picks up cans to keep the hot water on, and only keeps the hot water on because they let homeless families sleep in the sanctuary even though they aren’t zoned for that.

That congregation won’t get a featured segment on TBN.

If you got your Christianity from tv, you’d know about “Preachers’ Wives” and “Preachers’ Daughters,” but you wouldn’t know about the pastor who has to explain to his family why he spent the Disney World money saving somebody else’s family from eviction.

Those pastors don’t get their own show.

I understand why the poster of that picture is so indignant.  If seeing is believing, then how can she believe anything other than that Christians suck?

^ [You]…rest on the law, and make your boast in God, ^and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, ^and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ^an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. ^

You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? ^You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? ^

For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written. (Romans 2: 17-24)

And what does it say about us---- us church folks---- that these are our representatives? What DOES it say that we make their shows possible with our credit card donations, dvd purchases, and orders of prayer cloths and anointed miracle water?

Where ARE the shows about community ministries?  Where are the features on the pastors who were reaching out on behalf of young men in Michael Brown’s neighborhood while he was still ALIVE?  Where are the special reports about good old-fashioned, boring, Jesus-style Christianity?

Would we support that with our one-time gifts of any amount?  Would we consider being a gold-level partner to make those broadcasts possible?

I hope the person who put up that picture on Pinterest gets to see some boring, not-made-for-tv Christianity.  I hope she gets to see love, and mercy, and grace, and self-sacrifice like I see (and try to live) every day.  I hope she gets to see Jesus Christianity not just channel 10 Christianity.

I hope we get the chance to show it---- in person, not just on tv.

---Rev. Anderson T. Graves II   (email:  atgravestwo2@aol.com )

Anderson T. Graves II is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church (5220 Myron Massey Boulevard) in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my blog at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com  

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Are You Asking or Telling?

“I can have this candy,” said my son.

But there was something about the way he said it:  arm extended over the candy bar, fingers already closing around the wrapper.

It wasn’t just the imprecise grammar of a toddler.  My son sounded------ casual.

Presumptive.

It affected me.

My head tilted.  My face tightened.  My eyebrows rose.  As I leaned toward him I could feel the rumble in the back of my throat riding out on the words.

I growled, “Boy!  Are you asking me, or telling me?”

My son paused.  At 3 years old he seemed to understand. 

This was the most important and dangerous question he’d ever been asked.

The toddler understood, but apparently the church doesn’t.

The other day, I heard a preacher tell his congregation to “Tell the Holy Spirit that you need a right now blessing!”

Tell?  And right now?

"This is what the LORD says-- the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:

Concerning things to come, do you question Me about my children, or give Me orders about the work of my hands? (Isaiah 45: 11, NIV)

God our Father wants to know:  Are we asking Him or telling Him?

How do we approach God when we want something from Him?   

Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God.

For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. (Mark 11: 22-24)

But somehow, at some point, we took a sharp, wrong turn with the concepts of believing and asking in faith.  We started acting like God’s promises to us had made God subordinate to us and we could make God do what we want Him to do.

We forgot basic protocol in the child-Father relationship.

…whatever things you ASK when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ASK the Father in My name He will give you.  (John 16:23)

ASK, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (Matthew 7: 7)

Children ask their Father.  They don’t tell Him.

We the children of God pray to our Father.  We don’t command Him.

I know.  I know. 

“But the Bible says that I can have WHATEVER I ask.”

Don’t forget to stomp your foot when you throw that tantrum.

Believer can have whatever they ask IN JESUS’ NAME.

That doesn’t mean that we simplistically say the magic words, ”in Jesus’ name” when we ask for foolishness and God has to give it to us.

God is not a genie locked in a bottle that you rub with prayer “in the name of Jesus.”

The Holy Ghost is not a familiar spirit summoned by your praise and held for your pleasure in a circle drawn by your will.

God is GOD!

“In Jesus’ name” means under Jesus’ authority.

We ask under Jesus’ authority because our requests are subject to His authority, meaning that our requests are subject to His “yes” and to His “no.”

Yes, all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. (2 Corinthians 1: 20)

But what has God promised?

He has promised to give us what we ask---- subject to His authority (and approval). 

He has promised to never give us more than we can bear/ handle.  (1 Corinthians 10: 13)

So, Would God withhold your request if He knows that you aren’t really spiritually ready to deal with getting it? 

Yes.

He has promised not to tempt us to sin. (James 1: 13)

So, you mean that even if I believe and pray “in the name of Jesus” God won’t give something that will lead me away from Him.

Let the church say, “Amen.”

The promises of God do not override the sovereignty of God.

If I promise my son that I’ll get him whatever he wants for his birthday, I’m still not going to get him a flamethrower or a box of rat poison no matter how fervently he asks for it.

What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Mathew 7: 9-11)

Daddy can say, “No,” if He wants to.

And if we were honest, we’d testify about all the times that God has told us, ”No.”  Because honestly, for each time you claimed it and received it there were a dozen when you claimed it and got----- nothing.

 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. (James 4: 3)

Daddy can say, “No,” if He wants to.

Today, some Christians talk about getting stuff out of God as though God has no choice in the matter.  As though, when one of us puny humans knows the right scriptures, we take away God’s control over Himself.

They’ve forgotten that God has free will, too.

They’ve forgotten that though Christians have authority in/ under Jesus name; Jesus has ALL authority and power in Himself. 

We’ve accepted the popular dysfunctionality of families in the larger culture and transferred that dysfunction onto our relationship with God.   The church thinks it can use the same disrespectful tone with God that church members allow their children to use with them.

Ya’ll forgot Whose house this is.

The Lord says:

I have made the earth,

And created man on it.

I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,

And all their host I have commanded.

I have raised him up in righteousness,

And I will direct all his ways;

He shall build My city … (Isaiah 45: 12, 13)

He is the Dadddy.  We are the children. 

Doubtless You are our Father, Though Abraham was ignorant of us, And Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Lord, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name. (Isaiah 63: 16)

When you speak to that demon, remember your authority and  COMMAND IT to come out. (Mark 3: 14, 15)

When you speak to that mountain, remember who you are and TELL IT to be uprooted and cast into the sea. (Mark 11: 23)

But when you speak to your Father in Heaven, also remember who you are----Ask Him.  Don’t tell.

For thus says the Lord,

Who created the heavens,

Who is God,

Who formed the earth and made it,

Who has established it,

Who did not create it in vain,

Who formed it to be inhabited:

“I am the Lord, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45: 18)

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

To listen to sermons and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can help support this ministry by clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to

Hall Memorial CME Church

541 Seibles Road

Montgomery, AL 36116

THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST(IANS)

Romans 8:17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 

2 Corinthians 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. 

1 Pet 4:13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

The Bible repeatedly says that we Christians suffer with Jesus.  We participate in Jesus’ suffering.  Jesus’ pain is our pain.

How is that even possible?

In the past, Christians have misunderstood this concept to refer only to Jesus’ physical pain.  Some went so far as to whip themselves and physically nail each other to crosses in order to partake of Christ’s suffering.  We have to admire their commitment to the process, but they missed the point.

Jesus’ suffering didn’t begin with physical torture and crucifixion, and it didn’t end there (Hebrews 6: 6).

Every day that Jesus walked in a world that He had created and loved and experienced rejection (Luke 13: 34) ----- He suffered.  Every time Jesus told people the Truth, the liberating, soul-saving, life-abounding Truth, and they called Him crazy (Mark 3: 20, 21), and they called Him possessed (Mark 3: 22), and they talked about His mama (John 9: 34)----- Jesus suffered.

The sufferings of Christ were not limited to the excruciating physical pain of the Passion.   They hurt Jesus’ feelings.  They broke Jesus’ heart.  They betrayed Jesus.  They refused to receive Him.  They cut Him off from the support of the established institutions of worship.  And it hurt because He loved them.

Most Western Christians won’t ever have physically suffer for the gospel, but  to the extent that we expect to participate in Jesus’ glory, we should expect to also partake of Christ’s suffering (1 Peter 4: 13).

Today, Christians generally understand that they don’t have to be physically beaten or fed to lions in a coliseum as a condition of church membership.   But somehow we have adopted the incorrect idea that the absence of physical suffering means also the absence of ANY suffering. 

It’s an enticing view.  The problem is that it’s exactly the opposite of what Jesus said.

Jesus said In the world you will have tribulation (John 16: 33).

He promised that we would overcome this world and it’s tribulations, but in the meantime---- it would still hurt.

Paul preached that There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Romans 8: 1).  Believers are exempted from eternal condemnation.   We are not exempted from earthly pain.

Isaiah declared that no weapon formed against us can shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment has to face the condemnation of God.  But read the rest of Isaiah and see that the weapons will strike you.  Read the rest of Isaiah and see that those hateful tongues will speak their hateful words.  Those words and those weapons will hurt.

In Christ, we cannot be defeated.  But we can be wounded.

In Jesus there is no condemnation.  But, there is suffering.  

The power of the Christian life is that though we suffer from time to time, we have consistent, crazy, doesn’t-make-sense-to-feel-so-good-while-things-are-going-so-bad peace that passes understanding.

The power of the Christian life is that though bad things happen to good people, good people do not have to become bad.

Our victory is already assured, but so also is our suffering. 

When we misunderstand the Biblical truth of suffering then we force ourselves to live lies of self-inflicted suffering or self-deluding denial of suffering .  The Lord does not want you to hurt yourself.  It is not piety to make yourself miserable.   But the Lord does want you to endure suffering when it comes instead of blaming yourself for not being invulnerable to it in the first place.

It’s O.K. to hurt. It’s Christian to feel pain.  Stop pretending it doesn’t hurt “in the name of Jesus.”  Jesus wept.  It’s all right if you want to do the same.

Two truths that are true at the same time:

     Weeping does endure for the night.
     And JOY DOES COME IN THE MORNING.

As Paul wrote,
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed;

We are perplexed, but not in despair;
Persecuted, but not forsaken;
Struck down, but not destroyed—
Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,
that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
(2 Corinthians 4: 8-10)

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can read more on Pastor Graves's personal blog at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com  .

If this message helps or touches you, please help support this ministry. Send a donation of any amount by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116

THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST(IANS)

Romans 8:17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 

2 Corinthians 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. 

1 Pet 4:13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

The Bible repeatedly says that we Christians suffer with Jesus.  We participate in Jesus’ suffering.  Jesus’ pain is our pain.

How is that even possible?

In the past, Christians have misunderstood this concept to refer only to Jesus’ physical pain.  Some went so far as to whip themselves and physically nail each other to crosses in order to partake of Christ’s suffering.  We have to admire their commitment to the process, but they missed the point.

Jesus’ suffering didn’t begin with physical torture and crucifixion, and it didn’t end there (Hebrews 6: 6).

Every day that Jesus walked in a world that He had created and loved and experienced rejection (Luke 13: 34) ----- He suffered.  Every time Jesus told people the Truth, the liberating, soul-saving, life-abounding Truth, and they called Him crazy (Mark 3: 20, 21), and they called Him possessed (Mark 3: 22), and they talked about His mama (John 9: 34)----- Jesus suffered.

The sufferings of Christ were not limited to the excruciating physical pain of the Passion.   They hurt Jesus’ feelings.  They broke Jesus’ heart.  They betrayed Jesus.  They refused to receive Him.  They cut Him off from the support of the established institutions of worship.  And it hurt because He loved them.

Most Western Christians won’t ever have physically suffer for the gospel, but  to the extent that we expect to participate in Jesus’ glory, we should expect to also partake of Christ’s suffering (1 Peter 4: 13).

Today, Christians generally understand that they don’t have to be physically beaten or fed to lions in a coliseum as a condition of church membership.   But somehow we have adopted the incorrect idea that the absence of physical suffering means also the absence of ANY suffering. 

It’s an enticing view.  The problem is that it’s exactly the opposite of what Jesus said.

Jesus said In the world you will have tribulation (John 16: 33).

He promised that we would overcome this world and it’s tribulations, but in the meantime---- it would still hurt.

Paul preached that There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Romans 8: 1).  Believers are exempted from eternal condemnation.   We are not exempted from earthly pain.

Isaiah declared that no weapon formed against us can shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment has to face the condemnation of God.  But read the rest of Isaiah and see that the weapons will strike you.  Read the rest of Isaiah and see that those hateful tongues will speak their hateful words.  Those words and those weapons will hurt.

In Christ, we cannot be defeated.  But we can be wounded.

In Jesus there is no condemnation.  But, there is suffering.  

The power of the Christian life is that though we suffer from time to time, we have consistent, crazy, doesn’t-make-sense-to-feel-so-good-while-things-are-going-so-bad peace that passes understanding.

The power of the Christian life is that though bad things happen to good people, good people do not have to become bad.

Our victory is already assured, but so also is our suffering. 

When we misunderstand the Biblical truth of suffering then we force ourselves to live lies of self-inflicted suffering or self-deluding denial of suffering .  The Lord does not want you to hurt yourself.  It is not piety to make yourself miserable.   But the Lord does want you to endure suffering when it comes instead of blaming yourself for not being invulnerable to it in the first place.

It’s O.K. to hurt. It’s Christian to feel pain.  Stop pretending it doesn’t hurt “in the name of Jesus.”  Jesus wept.  It’s all right if you want to do the same.

Two truths that are true at the same time:

     Weeping does endure for the night.
     And JOY DOES COME IN THE MORNING.

As Paul wrote,
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed;

We are perplexed, but not in despair;
Persecuted, but not forsaken;
Struck down, but not destroyed—
Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,
that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
(2 Corinthians 4: 8-10)

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can read more on Pastor Graves's personal blog at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com  .

If this message helps or touches you, please help support this ministry. Send a donation of any amount by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116