With Tears and With Trials

[Christsfreeservant]

“And when they had come to him, he said to them, ‘You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.’” (Acts 20:18-24 NASB1995)​

A Godly Example

The apostle Paul set the example for all of us with regard to what our attitudes and our actions should be like as followers and as servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. We should be those who serve one another with humility. And humility does not mean that we don’t share our experiences and our testimonies of what the Lord is doing in us and through us, by his grace, and in his power. Paul shared his testimony and his experiences with the people regularly, for their encouragement, and so they would pray for him.

And if we are genuine followers of Jesus Christ, meaning that we are actually following his lead, doing what he says, going where he sends us, and saying what he gives us to say, to whom he gives us to say it, then especially in our present day culture, including the “church” culture, we too will be faced with trials and tribulations to test our faith and to grow us and to mature us in our walks of obedience to our Lord. And depending upon how severe the trials may be, they may bring us to tears, for it hurts to be persecuted.

But, despite Paul’s trials, tribulations, and persecutions, which were many, he did not shrink from declaring to the people anything that was spiritually profitable (beneficial, helpful, useful) to them. He did not let his trials and persecutions stop him from sharing the truth of the gospel with the people, that they must repent of (turn from, die to, forsake) their sins and have faith in Jesus Christ, a faith which comes from God, and which is persuaded of God, and which is gifted to us by God, and is not of our own doing.

And the word “faith” means “to be persuaded,” and in this context it has to do with being persuaded of God as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die with Christ to sin and to now walk with him in obedience to his commands in holy living, by the grace of God, in the power of God. For Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross to put our sins to death with him so that, by faith in him, we will die to sin and now follow him in his ways, no longer conformed to the desires of the flesh.

Not The Easy Life!

Now God did not promise Paul that life would be easy for him if he followed Jesus Christ with his life, and if he did what the Lord commanded him to do. He promised him, and he promises us the opposite of that. All of us who are genuine followers of Jesus Christ are promised of God that we will be persecuted for our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord, and that we will be falsely accused of wrongdoing, lied about, called all sorts of names, verbally and physically attacked, and kicked to the curb because of our faith.

And who were Paul’s main persecutors? The same ones that persecuted Jesus. They were his own people, of his own race, who professed faith in the same God, who were religious, at least in form. And our main persecutors may not be the people of the world, but they may be other professing Christians and pastors and elders of “church” congregations who are following after the marketing schemes of the world in order to draw in large crowds of people from the world to their gatherings. We don’t fit with them.

And so we may be told that they were “warned about people like you, people with strong convictions,” and so “you should go someplace else where you will be a better fit.” Or we may be banned from a “church” property for speaking the truth of God’s word, in love, to the people. Or we may be lied about, and they may have a set up to where we must lie to be accepted, and if we refuse to lie, then we are cast off. And we may be screamed at and told that we need to be like the majority, and not like the minority, etc.

But we must, like Paul, not consider our lives of any account as dear to ourselves to the point to where we would choose the acceptance of other people over the calling of God upon our lives. We must be diligent in our walks of surrender and in obedience to our Lord, in going wherever he sends us, and in saying what he commands us to say, for the salvation of human lives from sin and from hell, and so that they may, too, become followers of Jesus Christ who do his will and who follow in his ways. For..

By God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Broken and Contrite

An Original Work / May 13, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

I come before You, Lord, my Savior,
With humble heart and crushed in spirit.
I bow before You, I implore You,
Heal my broken heart, I pray.
Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,
You are the King of my heart.
Lord, purify my heart within me;
Sanctify me, whole within.

Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully
The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.
I pray You give me grace and mercy,
Strength and wisdom to obey.
Father God, my heart’s desire,
Won’t You set my heart on fire?
Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders
My walk with You, now I pray.

Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,
My heart cries out for understanding.
I want to follow You in all ways,
Never straying from Your truth.
Holy Spirit, come in power,
Fill me with Your love today.
Lord, mold and make me;
Your hands formed me;
Live Your life through me, I pray.

With Tears and With Trials
An Original Work / May 28, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

[Hoping2]

“And when they had come to him, he said to them, ‘You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.’” (Acts 20:18-24 NASB1995)​

A Godly Example

The apostle Paul set the example for all of us with regard to what our attitudes and our actions should be like as followers and as servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. We should be those who serve one another with humility. And humility does not mean that we don’t share our experiences and our testimonies of what the Lord is doing in us and through us, by his grace, and in his power. Paul shared his testimony and his experiences with the people regularly, for their encouragement, and so they would pray for him.

And if we are genuine followers of Jesus Christ, meaning that we are actually following his lead, doing what he says, going where he sends us, and saying what he gives us to say, to whom he gives us to say it, then especially in our present day culture, including the “church” culture, we too will be faced with trials and tribulations to test our faith and to grow us and to mature us in our walks of obedience to our Lord. And depending upon how severe the trials may be, they may bring us to tears, for it hurts to be persecuted.

But, despite Paul’s trials, tribulations, and persecutions, which were many, he did not shrink from declaring to the people anything that was spiritually profitable (beneficial, helpful, useful) to them. He did not let his trials and persecutions stop him from sharing the truth of the gospel with the people, that they must repent of (turn from, die to, forsake) their sins and have faith in Jesus Christ, a faith which comes from God, and which is persuaded of God, and which is gifted to us by God, and is not of our own doing.

And the word “faith” means “to be persuaded,” and in this context it has to do with being persuaded of God as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die with Christ to sin and to now walk with him in obedience to his commands in holy living, by the grace of God, in the power of God. For Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross to put our sins to death with him so that, by faith in him, we will die to sin and now follow him in his ways, no longer conformed to the desires of the flesh.

Not The Easy Life!

Now God did not promise Paul that life would be easy for him if he followed Jesus Christ with his life, and if he did what the Lord commanded him to do. He promised him, and he promises us the opposite of that. All of us who are genuine followers of Jesus Christ are promised of God that we will be persecuted for our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord, and that we will be falsely accused of wrongdoing, lied about, called all sorts of names, verbally and physically attacked, and kicked to the curb because of our faith.

And who were Paul’s main persecutors? The same ones that persecuted Jesus. They were his own people, of his own race, who professed faith in the same God, who were religious, at least in form. And our main persecutors may not be the people of the world, but they may be other professing Christians and pastors and elders of “church” congregations who are following after the marketing schemes of the world in order to draw in large crowds of people from the world to their gatherings. We don’t fit with them.

And so we may be told that they were “warned about people like you, people with strong convictions,” and so “you should go someplace else where you will be a better fit.” Or we may be banned from a “church” property for speaking the truth of God’s word, in love, to the people. Or we may be lied about, and they may have a set up to where we must lie to be accepted, and if we refuse to lie, then we are cast off. And we may be screamed at and told that we need to be like the majority, and not like the minority, etc.

But we must, like Paul, not consider our lives of any account as dear to ourselves to the point to where we would choose the acceptance of other people over the calling of God upon our lives. We must be diligent in our walks of surrender and in obedience to our Lord, in going wherever he sends us, and in saying what he commands us to say, for the salvation of human lives from sin and from hell, and so that they may, too, become followers of Jesus Christ who do his will and who follow in his ways. For..

By God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

That is right !

 

[Christsfreeservant]

That is right !

Thank you! Glory to God!