I'm
giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year,
following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post
whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A
friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as
reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change
me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we
can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!
- Andy Catts
Day 99, March 29, 2014
Readings: Psalm 99, Leviticus 5:14-19, Leviticus 6:1-7, Isaiah 3, Isaiah 4, 2 Corinthians 1:1-11
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. (2nd Corinthians 1:3-7)
I think we have missed the boat in America, and I think this passage is very telling:
who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Even in the midst of our suffering, God is preparing us for something! But take careful note of what we are to do with this: comfort those who are in any affliction. My suffering is not merely to strengthen my character. My suffering is so that I can support others when they suffer. Conversely, my comfort is not so I can bask in it myself, but so I can share it with others who need comforting.
God uses our suffering and our comfort to help those in need.
At one time I thought that the ideal living was a country life, with lots of land and peace. Removed from the stressors of the world, isolated from those who would interrupt my comfortable life. God is shattering that decidedly un-Christlike dream. For what good is my comfortable lifestyle if it doesn't benefit anyone but me? What good is any suffering I go through if I wallow in it alone, never learning how to support someone else who is going through the same thing?
At our highest highs, lowest lows, and everywhere in-between, God is calling us to be in community with one another. Loving one another. Serving one another. Learning from every circumstance God puts in our way so that we can learn to serve the world around us. Nothing we go through is merely for our good, it for is the good of those around us. But it's up to us to reach out, to meet their needs with what God has given us.
How can you use your suffering and comfort to serve your community?
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. (2nd Corinthians 1:3-7)
I think we have missed the boat in America, and I think this passage is very telling:
who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Even in the midst of our suffering, God is preparing us for something! But take careful note of what we are to do with this: comfort those who are in any affliction. My suffering is not merely to strengthen my character. My suffering is so that I can support others when they suffer. Conversely, my comfort is not so I can bask in it myself, but so I can share it with others who need comforting.
God uses our suffering and our comfort to help those in need.
At one time I thought that the ideal living was a country life, with lots of land and peace. Removed from the stressors of the world, isolated from those who would interrupt my comfortable life. God is shattering that decidedly un-Christlike dream. For what good is my comfortable lifestyle if it doesn't benefit anyone but me? What good is any suffering I go through if I wallow in it alone, never learning how to support someone else who is going through the same thing?
At our highest highs, lowest lows, and everywhere in-between, God is calling us to be in community with one another. Loving one another. Serving one another. Learning from every circumstance God puts in our way so that we can learn to serve the world around us. Nothing we go through is merely for our good, it for is the good of those around us. But it's up to us to reach out, to meet their needs with what God has given us.
How can you use your suffering and comfort to serve your community?
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