“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.” Philippians 1:29-30 (ESV)
Which one of us likes the idea of suffering? Not really, right? Yet we are in God's family because Jesus suffered for us on the cross and died for the sins of all. After rising from the dead, as He promised He would, and before He returned to heaven and to His Father, He instructed his followers to spread the Good News about His suffering, death and resurrection. It is believing in Jesus and what He did that gives us access to becoming children of God. We are His followers. Our salvation comes from what Jesus did for us, in our place. So it is understandable that we are also given the opportunity to experience suffering for our faith in Him. Some will mock, hate, and even persecute or kill us for doing so. This is our promise. The experience of suffering has been given to us when we take the name of Jesus and engage the enemy of God just as the apostle Paul did. He was eventually killed because of his faith in Christ.
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