Living Above Difficulty
Part 1: Suffering
Upon further contemplation, I came to know about Precept from an interview I watched from Real Lives a couple of weeks back with Nigel Watts who was being interviewed by Roger Carswell, who mentioned about Precept Bible studies. After watching the interview, I then Googled Precept and saw their website and looked into the books available. I emailed Precept that I wanted to order some books but would prefer ebooks as I want to carry them along while travelling. The admin, Sharon Goldie, was kind enough to inform me that they only have physical books but there are ebooks on Amazon. So I quickly bought my books on Kindle so I can start reading. It just so happened that they have an upcoming Bible Study online on one of the books that I happen to be interested in so she then passed along my details to Melanie and one thing lead to another. So, I am now part of an online Bible study group and we are now studying the book on Living Victoriously in Difficult Times by Precept Ministries, UK. So we have just started our first of the six weeks of online Bible study.
On this and in future blog posts, I will share my thoughts, personal reflections and introspections on what we are studying.
So what are my reasons for taking this online studies? Why am I doing this? I have always believed in life long learning. I fully believe that the Bible is not only a list of rules, do’s and don’ts and laws to follow- but a manual for living life as a prelude to the next life. I am re-visiting the Bible, to attempt (with all my weaknesses and ignorance), to know and understand the God who made the heavens and the Earth and what He requires from me. To rekindle my understanding of who He really is in my life. Even if I know from the start, that I will never know Him perfectly enough as He ought to. We all can’t conceive His greatness and majesty with our limited understanding and theology but that doesn’t mean that we can’t experience intimacy with Him. We can't limit how God speaks (He even used a donkey to speak for Him) and how He treats every person individually. I need to know what it really means in the practical sense and day to day living, to abide in Him. I don’t want to waste anymore of my time pursuing matters that doesn’t have any eternal value. I am giving up temporal interests and pursue what really matters. Drop my social media flicking including TikTok, shorts, (although I am not against these) but because it takes quite a chunk of my time. I would rather say NO and drop them like a cold turkey. I want to stop chasing what isn’t important in God’s eyes. I don’t want to be better or feel better in my own eyes but to be what God intends me to be. I want to stop appearing religious but to really know what it means to walk with God. Because I know deep inside that, I am the person who is described in Romans 1: 21 that although I know there is a God, I didn’t honour Him. I honoured Him with my lips. That needs to change.
So let's go to my thoughts on our Week 1 study. Week 1 is about suffering. We read 2 Thessalonians 1: 4-8. There are many causes and forms of suffering. Suffering can be caused by ourselves, other people or circumstances. Suffering maybe in the form of a physical ailment, emotional distress, relational conflicts, etc.
When I experience any difficulty, any set backs, any suffering and any negative thing in my life, I would immediately ask myself the question, “is this a test (or a trial) or a chastisement? Is this a result of my negligence, my ignorance, a bad choice? my own mistake or even my forgetfulness?”
In contrast, week 1 focuses on (life’s) suffering due to persecution.
All of us will experience suffering at some point in our lives. Nobody is immune from it. The Thessalonians suffered because they embraced the Gospel just as the Apostle Paul suffered because he was the one who delivered the Gospel to them. They were considered worthy of the Kingdom of God because they endured their affliction with steadfast faith and trust in God.
So what is the Gospel and why are they being persecuted because of it? and what does it mean to trust God? what is so “bad” about the Gospel that people are so angry with it?
First, I am thankful that, we (still) live in a world where freedom of speech is still enforced by most of modern society and free countries. However, there are a lot of countries today where you can’t say, write or do anything that pertains on topics about faith, religion and spirituality. Throughout history we know that there were many people who suffered terribly including being imprisoned (that includes Apostle Paul and the disciples) and even died heinous deaths because of what they believed in. I can’t compare my sacrifices with them because it’s like comparing a giant and a dwarf. Them being the giants of faith albeit, how can I be like them in this modern age and times?
As 2 Timothy 3: 12 says, Indeed all who desire to live Godly lives will be persecuted. That’s the cost of being with Christ.
We are a privileged generation. There are a lot of avenues to get to know God with liberty and freedom but we have to be picky and wise in spending our time and attention to God. We might not be experiencing persecution to the point of imprisonment or death however, we need to use whatever resources we have, to do what God wants us to do.
We may not suffer like the Thessalonians but they are a good role model to follow.
Personally, there are many sacrifices that I have to make. One of them is (and not limited to), re-prioritising my time and schedule. I have to be careful because I suffer from workaholism. It’s not something I am proud of. Nowadays, God gets to be my number 1 priority. Before I spend time at work and at sleep, I make sure that my first hour and last hour of the day should be to spend time with Him. How? by verbally thanking Him (a thank you is not a thank you if not done through words or in writing), by confessing my sins, opening my thoughts to Him, submitting my day to Him, things that I want to accomplish during that day, telling God that I am at His disposal that day, He also reminds me of people that I need to intercede for, asking Him what He thinks of my plans like plans for the day, for my vacation, where would I go and what would I do. I regret not doing this a long time ago simply because I didn’t really enjoy it. I remember all those vacations I spent my time and days on, not even consulting God. Money that I spend on without asking God where would you like me to spend my salary, my bonus, my 13th month pay, my profit? Where would I put my extra money to advance His Kingdom? will this investment glorify God? will this shoes, dress and beauty products take care of this temple that He gave me? Will this choice of dress glorify God? what would you want me to do? what would you want me to say? what would you want me to say to this and that person? how would you like me to spend my day? and on and on….oh well....
So to answer my previous question about what is the Gospel and why do people hate it and they persecute people who believe in it?
I am not a Bible scholar, so I will explain the simplest way to explain the Gospel…. You and I, everyone on this planet Earth who is living and who has ever lived, were born with an original sin inherited from Adam and Eve. Because of sin we all are spiritually dead. One way to look at it is, everyone broke the moral laws of God (yes, the Ten commandments) and in order to restore that broken relationship, God gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). In that respect, we have to accept and confess with our mouth that Jesus Christ died for our sins. We have to repent from our sins and turn from our wicked ways. We have to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth and The Life and no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). He is not a way, a truth or a life. Jesus Christ is THE (specific pronoun) only way, the only Truth and the only Life- Giver. He is not one of the ways to the Father. He is not one of the many ways (including religion). Not by our good works, not by giving donations and alms, not by joining a church, not by being religious, not by giving tithes, not by doing ministry and many other good things- although all of these are physical manifestations of a regenerated heart, it is not the way to heaven, not the way to earn salvation and certainly not the way to God. The only way is through grace (which means unmerited favour) by the blood sacrifice of God’s only Son Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the sacrifice made for the atonement of my (and everybody else’s sins of the past, present and future). He rose from the dead to prove that He defeated death. Jesus Christ is not only a prophet, a teacher, or a man. He is 100% man and 100% God. He is the Messiah. As John the Baptist pointed out, Jesus Christ is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Now, that is the Gospel in it’s very naive (albeit incomplete) explanation. Now you see, why the people who believes the Gospel (before) were being persecuted. We live in a generation of cultural sensitivity so to say all these things in it’s raw and plain form will also generate a lot of controversy.
I will touch on my view about repentance some other time. But suffice to say for now, that it is turning away from sin and dying to self. Start living for God. However, it doesn’t mean being perfect, far from it. It means that we are being renewed daily.
Secondly, another topic I would like to write about is the proliferation of people, especially in the community of so-called "Christians" or "believers" as they call themselves, who propagate the doctrine that if you would become a follower of Christ, all of your problems will be gone, you are already perfect and that you are immune to sin or all your suffering will be done away with, all the things you want will be given as long as you have enough faith, enough words and photos to confess blessings including that mansion, that yacht, this Bugatti, that Rolls-Royce or that Hermes bag. That is not Biblical, there are people who will be blessed materially but there are people who will not. It also doesn’t mean that if you become a follower of God, that life will go on as planned or life will be a bed of roses. It also doesn’t mean that life will be free from pain, problems and sickness. Far from it! As in Exodus 33: 19 - God will have mercy to whom He pleases and compassion to whom He wants to. Everything is at God’s discretion. My point is, if God’s Kingdom and His righteousness will be shown greater through our suffering, then be it... but if God’s Kingdom and His righteousness will be shown greater by blessing us with material wealth, then it is up to God too. So I think the “prosperity Gospel” is amiss in that respect.
Last but not the least, how will I deal with the fact that so many people would hate me when they read this blog? That I might have pivoted from my health and wellness blog to something spiritual. Sorry to say folks, TRUE health and wellness is only found in Christ and in an intimate relationship with the Creator of Heaven and Earth. When people would say bad things about me, I get hurt. But if they say bad things about me because of what I wrote here, I would remember that they persecuted Christ first. Per contra, there’s a gigantic difference because nobody ever had a reason to persecute Christ. Christ lived a perfect life that I can never ever live. There is not a single iota of wrongdoing with Christ but there’s a lot of wrong in me. So if someone doesn’t like what I wrote. I have to suffer the consequences of what I believe in.
So much for this week, I will write more about my thoughts next time….
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If you want to know more about Precept, here’s their website:
They have locations in the UK, US, etc. There are also online Bible studies available.
To get the book on Living Victoriously Through Difficult Times, you can go to Amazon to buy any or both physical or digital copies.
If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Shalom!
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