Living in the tension of the day is living in the space between living in this world (Jn 17:11,14, 16; 1Pe 2:11) , but being a citizen of another kingdom – that of our flesh feeling at home here, but our spirit, our life (in relationship with the Holy Spirit), desiring God’s will and purposes (Gal 5:17-18). As our faith is being tested by the suffering of this world – we must come to trust God’s promise that He DOES “work everything for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to those purposes.” That purpose? To bring Him glory. To delight in Him and one another. The miracle of being conformed into the likeness of Jesus. (Rom 8:28-30)
So here, on earth, we suffer, just as the world suffers – but with hope! And with that hope comes a witness and testimony of the One who saves us and loves us and has chosen to be seen and known by us. (Gal 2:2)
John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but haver eternal life. 17For God did send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but save the world through Him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believe in the name of God’s one and only son.”
John 14:1,27 “Do not let your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe in me also… …Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.”
John 15:18 “If the world hates you, understand, that it hated me first.”
John 16:32-33 “…Look, and hour is coming… I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Romans 8:37 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
2Corinthians 2:14 “But thank be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of Him.”
So rejoice in your tension, your suffering… the testing of our fidelity, our love and faithfulness, our appreciation and gratefulness for our good Father’s mercy!
Roman 5:1-5 “1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we a have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also glory, or rejoice, in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
James 1:2-5 “2Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, a whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
1Peter 1:3-9 “3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
