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Forasmuch then as Christ hath
suffered
For us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise With the same mind: for he that hath suffered In the flesh hath ceased from sin; 1Pt4:1 For about the last three Saturdays I have awakened in the morning with a suffering that I couldn’t put my finger on. I felt like I was a hundred years old and every bone in my body ached. This Saturday I realized that this was an attack of Satan to keep me from preaching when I went to the nursing home. When I received discernment I bound the spirit and told it to depart and I was restored to normal health. I had suffered in the flesh as I’m sure Jesus suffered. Last Wednesday night I prayed for a person who was experiencing tooth pain. When I laid hands on her she was slain in the Spirit. On Friday as I began to pray, I could feel pain in my right upper molar. I had just been to the dentist and was declared cavity free so I began to intercede for her. One hour and a half later I felt I had gotten the victory. I called my Wednesday Pastor and he told me that he thought her pain was more of a demonic attack than a cavity. This is another example of the suffering of Christ. When Christ suffered in the flesh it was a spiritual suffering that was manifested in his body. At Gethsemane he suffered so badly that his body sweat blood. This is a suffering of a different order. It is a suffering that when experienced indicates a spiritual breakthrough and a pressing in to the things of God. When you begin to suffer like this you cease from sin and begin a new chapter in your walk with God. I have suffered a great deal for Christ over the last thirty years I have been a Christian. As the saying goes, faith claims and patient endurance obtains. That suffering was working out my own salvation. That suffering produced separation from the world, intense word study, and a great deal of prayer. It has prepared me to begin to suffer, not for self, but for others: a suffering of a different order. It is to share in the sufferings of Christ and to know that I will share in the resurrection as well. I thank God that he has counted me worthy to share in the work of Christ. It is truly a blessed and humble calling. May all of the body of Christ reach the place of the high calling of God. Amen |