Suffering in the Flesh-A Study in 1 Peter

1 Pet. 4:1-3 So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin.  ² You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. ³ You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy... (this was the New Living Translation)

Here is the New King James translation:

Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, ² that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. ³ For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles...

 
So the sense is, "As Christ suffered in his human nature, so do you, according to sin by self-denial and mortification; for, if you thus suffer, you will be conformable to Christ in your baptismal vow and profession, make your corrupt nature suffer, by putting to death the body of his death and resurrection, and will cease from sin.'" (quote from MATTHEW HENRY'S COMMENTARY)



As you might be able to see here there is a slightly different twist between the manner in which the NLT version translated this text and the manner in which Matthew Henry looked at it.  In the former text, it speaks about physical suffering we may undergo...either from disease or the injury we may incur in the violence that unbelievers may inflict upon us.  Peter prefaces this passage by saying that if we suffer as a result of natural physical suffering or violence done to us, there is no shame in such pain...in fact we are to welcome it because by it, we understand the pain that the Lord suffered for us...and we have fellowship with him through our suffering.

However Matthew Henry takes the word "flesh" and says that in the first usage of the word, Christ suffered physically (in his flesh) and because of the victory he thus won over sin, we are to do violence to our "fleshly nature", in other words, our sin nature...and therefore, once we have stopped our sinfulness in its tracks, we are then "free from sin"....and I would take this to mean that "there has no temptation taken us but such as is common to man" (1 Cor 10:3) Once we have put a stranglehold on our sinful selves, we are no longer powerless in the grip of sin.  We have "a way out that we may be able to bear it (the temptation)."

As a person who suffers physical pain, I would naturally most closely align my understanding of this passage to the first explanation given here.  I know for a fact that my suffering has drawn me closer to the Lord....as to stopping sin in its tracks?....It is true that your mind is not consumed with pursuing sinful desires and occupations....however there are new sins that present themselves.: self pity.  annoyance and impatience.  Anger.  blaming God.....  So these new sins would cast some doubt on the first interpretation of this text.

Yet, despite this, there is a tiny word in the NLT , that gives a different slant ...Peter is not talking about pain from illness necessarily.  He says "Those who suffer FOR Christ."  In other words, those who are beaten, enslaved, or martyred for the sake of their faith in Christ....these are the ones who are done with sin.  Because when your life is on the line, telling lies, gossiping, gluttony....all those temptations fade.

So does that mean that people, such as myself, who suffer physically--are excluded from this verse's meaning? No.  I believe it is possible to commit your suffering to the hands of the Almighty; to submit and say :"Lord, if it is your will today for me to continue in this illness, if, by it--you plan to accomplish something greater in me or in others as a result  of this pain, then Lord, have your way in  me."  This can be likened to the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.  "Not my will, but YOURS be done."   So I think this verse is large enough in its expanse to cover these two and possibly even these THREE interpretations.

I realize that today's post is something off the topic of the Christmas season we are in....However I encountered these things in my Bible study this morning and since I'm on my daughter's borrowed computer, I had no other way of making record of these thoughts and I wanted to put them in print to secure my understanding of this passage.  I hope you have gained something through my musings here today.
God bless your Christmas - and grant you safe travel if you are traveling to see loved ones.

Heaven's Light

Luke 1:78-79

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁷⁸ Because of God’s tender mercy,
    the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,
⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    and to guide us to the path of peace.”

How is it that these verses, the words of Zechariah at the birth of his son John (the Baptist), have escaped my notice these 51 years?  I was this morning looking at the Blue Letter Bible's list of Scriptures related to the Incarnation (the birth of Jesus, Y'shua, our salvation, and his birth on earth) and these verses caught my eye as if they were written in neon lights.

The reason I was looking at this list of Scriptures is because Christmas is coming on Wednesday--and I almost wish it wouldn't.  I feel - instead of "peace on earth, good will toward men" a great sadness and heaviness of heart.  This is not as it should be....even if we see the shadow of the cross on the manger that evening in Bethlehem....we should still rejoice at the salvation that both the manger and the cross were to bring to us...to me.  I decided to spend this day - the Monday before Christmas- in prayer and in reading hoping to find some of the joy this holiday merits. 

I just want to read and re-read these two verses...lavishing them on my mind, rekindling my sad spirit and reaching my heart out to Jesus--to capture some of that morning light from heaven and to tell him, "Here I am.  I sit in darkness awaiting the light.  I am in the shadows of death and I greatly need your peace.  Pour out your light and mercy on me, restore to me the joy of my salvation...the salvation that was born in a manger and died on a cross and ROSE again, buying once and for all : Joy.  Peace. and the display of God's good will toward men in the form of his son: the babe.  The man.  The God.  the Emmanuel--GOD WITH US.  God with me: here in this chair, listening to the cars splashing through the rain puddles.  With a heart that cries out for this light, who needs to find the pathway to Peace.  He is the Prince of Peace.  The way to peace finds its ending in Him.  He is the culmination of my sad searching.  

Bathe me in heaven's Light, oh Yahweh.---Reveal to me the joy that you bought for me....at such a great price. 

Thank you Lord for these verses....may they bring peace and joy and relief to others who suffer this Christmas.

Glaucoma and the Test of Faith

Christmas.
It's what is on most people's minds these days.

But what if God gave you something--not a present -- but something that draws your mind away from presents.  Celebrations all fade into the background when you are faced with something that knocks you flat.

For Christmas this year I was given : Glaucoma.

When I was a preteen I read a book about a young lady in college who was blind due to glaucoma.  In the book she got a seeing eye dog.  She also had to make a decision about having surgery....the surgery would either restore her sight or she would lose what little she had left.  I don't recall the outcome. 

These days we have laser surgeries.  I had the first of my laser surgeries yesterday.  With the laser the doctor burned some very small holes into my eye to drain some of the pressure that would have left me blind had he not intervened. Sounds great right?  It would be if it was a permanent fix.  However it's just to buy time.  Glaucoma does not have a cure.  It causes blindness.  I will likely be blind. I don't know how fast it happens.  I'm going to ask the doctor that today.

I'm really kind of in shock.   Even with all the diseases I have and have had, nothing has scared me as much as this.  I can deal with pain.  I can deal with a wheelchair....but to be blind?  That means I will be limited in using my computer.  It means no books.  No Kindle.  No chatting with friends.  No real freedom to go anywhere.  Is there a school where people can learn "blindness skills"?  How do you get a seeing eye dog and how blind do you have to be before you can get one?  Am I legally blind now?

More questions than answers.

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.  In all things give thanks.  I can thank God that I was not born blind ....that I had the gift of sight for these 51 years.  I can and DO thank God that the eyedrops I have to use are generic and therefore not expensive.  I thank God that he has entrusted me with suffering.  He is honing me like a knife.  For what purpose?  I sit here in my room, in my house, on a wooded mountain top---pretty isolated.   Why does God have me here? Why is he taking away my freedoms?  Why do I have darkness and pain? 

Lord, teach me what you want me to know.
Help me to trust you fully
Where ever I go....where ever these diseases take me...be with me.  Do not leave me EVER. 

Have you ever seen a horror movie....where the killer has broken into the house...and it's dark but the person he's after is blind and therefore the darkness is NOT dark to him...He or she was without a disadvantage...but the killer was blinded by the darkness.  God, make me like that.  Help me to get through my days being USED to trusting you. USED to being led by you.  USED to avoiding  things that could trip me up.  The darkness is as light to you.  Make it that way for me too.  Help me to rely on you totally.  Help me to avoid the stumbling blocks like self pity and anger.  Guide me around them.  Above all,...as my vision on this earth fades; may my vision of YOU grow ever brighter, ever more clear.  Help me to trust you to get me through this. I Love you Lord -- and I know you love me.
Thank you once again for trusting me enough to give me more to carry.  Make me strong...Make my faith unwavering.

Thank you my readers for going another mile with me.  The journey just keeps getting more and more interesting, doesn't it?

A Heart Full of Christmas

Well, Christmas is drawing near.  I am done with buying gifts....The house is not decorated, nor will it be.  I don't have the energy for things like that...

But my heart is full...full of the things the birth of the babe brought to me.  Joy at his arrival. Gratitude to the Father for sending Him and to Him for facing what he would face in a mere 33 years.
I am still counting my blessings and finding new things to be grateful for.  We are told to have grateful hearts....and since I got used to finding new things to thank him for in November, I hope to have a grateful heart EVERY month this year.


I want to share a passage with you that was in my morning's reading of the Word.  This really struck me...what an awesome GOOD God we serve!

 2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
    I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.

6 He made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them.
    He keeps every promise forever.
⁷ He gives justice to the oppressed
    and food to the hungry.
The Lord frees the prisoners.
⁸     The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down.
    The Lord loves the godly.
⁹ The Lord protects the foreigners among us.
    He cares for the orphans and widows,
    but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.

¹⁰ The Lord will reign forever.
    He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 146:2, 6-10

Are you in prison? A literal one...or one created by circumstance?  God can free you.

Are you oppressed? suffering from illness or injustice?  God will bring you  justice.

Are you blind?  God will give you sight...and insight.

Burdened?  He will lift you up and strengthen you.

Are you impoverished? Are you alone because of the death of those close to you?  Are you fatherless?  HE CARES FOR YOU...like a husband...like a father.

And he will cause those who want to hurt you to be frustrated in their plans to harm you.

This God...This loving, just, caring, competent , powerful, omnipotent , all seeing God will reign FOREVER AND EVER.

Does that amaze you like it amazes me?  Those who go to him, who call on his name with desperate, sinful hearts, will find him there, listening and ready to pour out good on those who pray for freedom from their sin.  That's all it takes to go from the black list to the list of those who are the Lord's beloved....Repent from your sin...make straight your path and ready you heart to welcome the Babe born in Bethlehem: the emissary from the Father...who came to die so that we might live and come to know the wonders of our God.

The State of the Union: Our Problems, Our Prayers

I apologize for the long silence.  My computer is broken (the part is on order) and I have had to beg borrow and steal my daughter's new computer.....Now it is 6:00 AM and she won't be needing it for a number of hours.

I've been going to the hospital once a month  for an infusion of Actemra for my RAD (Rheumatoid Arthritic Disease(s).  At first, I did not think it was working.  Then I was put on steroids when I was in the hospital for asthma last month and the relief I had was amazing.  I did not know if it was the steroids or the Actemra that so powerfully alleviated my pain.   Then I went off the steroids.....and pain returned...most especially in my right shoulder and my neck.....Then I got to the fourth week after my Actemra injection and pain intensified to unbearable....So the answer to the question is BOTH the steroid and the biologic were working...at least somewhat.

I had my infusion again on Friday.  Through out the weekend I  suffered great pain...however beginning yesterday I was finally able to knit again. Prior to  that , the pain in my shoulder made it almost impossible.   So yes, it is now beginning to wane (the pain).  I need to ask my rhuemy if I can have the infusion once every three weeks.  That would cover me better.

Yesterday we had a guest preacher in my church....a minister who is between "jobs" and is temporarily attending my church with his wife.  I will be sad to see them go.  Although I was struggling mightily to keep my eyes open, I really enjoyed his message.   I'm going to have to get a CD of it.....My memory is so bad...I am trying to recall the sermon. It was on the value of Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven.  The text was the the two  parables...the treasure the man discovered in a field...and he sold everything to purchase the field.  And the parable of the beautiful pearl --that the man sold all he had to possess it.  He talked about the "pricelessness" of belonging to the Kingdom of Heaven...How we should treasure it above all else...and how we should "give it away" in order to fully employ its worth in our lives.   That is really a simplified version of the sermon...I really need/ want to hear it again.

I do not give it away often enough.  I try to give it to you here, those who read my writing....and I try to give it to my internet friends.  Unfortunately I have very little contact with anyone other than my church family--and most of them already HAVE what I would want to give them.   I need to give it away by interceding for others....I have been moved of late to pray for our president.  It is easy to talk dirt about him...even to hate him....but God has laid it on my heart, rather than complaining about the economy and the disaster of the National Healthcare plan....to bring all of these issues to the Throne of Grace and to put them into God's hands to remedy.  I know that Pres. Obama is seemingly far from salvation....but really ...Is he more far from that then my husband is?  No.... He is not. 

I believe if people would just stop complaining and would start praying, we could see some remarkable changes in our government.  I challenge you. The next time you have a worrisome thought about the economy or the future---bring it to the throne.  The next time you hear a rumor --like the abolishing of term limits than Pres. Obama is seeking...bring it to the throne.  The next time you hear of another person having to go into  foreclosure...bring it (and them) to the throne.  The next time gas prices increase...you know it! Bring it to the feet of Jesus...lay down your worry and your fear and begin to rejoice in the salvation  that Jesus can bring to the problems. 

And while you are praying...do not forget to pray for your brothers and sisters in the Philippines.  I have not heard from my beloved sister there....I can only hope she and her three children are okay....I pray for them every time I think of them, please join your prayers with mine.