Endurance is a much-prized attribute.  The bible even reminds us that there is something special for those who are able to endure ( Matt. 24:13; Rev. 2:10; James 1:12).  However, within the walls of that word endurance are the fierce biting fangs of suffering.  I can remember as a child the popularity of telling someone to “suffer” when they were going through life’s challenges. Telling someone to suffer meant that we either didn’t care about their suffering or felt they deserved whatever evil had come their way.  However, there is a spiritual type of suffering that comes upon someone who is doing the right thing, however unpopular it is.  They aren’t necessarily looking to enter the camp of suffering.  It’s just that their righteous actions are running up against an evil present in their world or culture.  They aren’t looking to become martyrs, their just looking to do the right thing for the right reasons.

         It’s somehow very odd that we only associate the miracles and powerful ministries of mercy and healing done among the people as a way to imitate Christ but never consider suffering as a part of that equation.  And yet it is clear that suffering — as uncomfortable and painful as it might seem to be — is never quite picked up by the radar of those of us who call ourselves Christian.  And at the same time suffering for righteousness sake is one of the primary ways our lives merge in similarity to that of Christ’s.  So,— for those of us who claim to be “slaves, servants, disciples, ministers, and/or ambassadors,” of Jesus Christ — suffering becomes the one human ordeal that most allows us to imitate Jesus in the fullness of who Jesus Christ is.  It was he who suffered and died (bore our sins) that we might live for righteous situations, even if it means we have to suffer because of them.  In this way and in this life, imitating Jesus is truly the highest form of praise.  After all, we can never be Jesus.  We can only aspire to be like him.

• At what point on your faith journey did suffering for righteousness sake become a way for you to imitate Jesus?
• What challenges do you face when you think about suffering in the same way that Jesus suffered?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving Christ, help me to walk in the paths of righteousness so that by my life, I am imitating You. When I am called to suffer for it, strengthen me to endure so that my suffering gives glory You, the Shepherd and Guardian of my soul.

         We’re all aware that difficult times befall all of us.  And God’s disapproval of our actions and great love for us invites both correction and blessing.  There is nothing more blessed than to know that our God is near.  This is especially true when we acknowledge (confess) that our actions have been unjust.  That, of course, is the first step toward drawing God near.  But there is a process involved — a process that God has established as the correct protocol.  God says first — humble ourselves.  Carrying around an attitude of pride or arrogance says to God that we believe we deserve more recognition than God.  Second — prayer and earnestly seeking God and turning from our wickedness.  We already know that God is typically found among the lowly and despised, yet our desire is often to be recognized among the high and mighty.  Yet, there is no one higher and mightier than God.  So, perhaps seeking God’s face will be found in the places that are most uncomfortable for us to look.  And oddly enough, those places among the lowly and despised are where Jesus hung out and where injustice is more than likely a rule of thumb and in need of the most attention from God’s people.  God’s justice is not rocket-science.  It’ just a matter of seeking God’s presence and being where God is most likely to be found, doing the things that give God the most pleasure, and then trusting that God will hear us.  And God’s eyes and heart will always be where God’s name is praised — in the place where God’s temple is.  And God is present with us and we are the temple of God when we are doing justice among the least of God’s children.

• What is one issue of injustice that you are willing to humble yourself before God and pray about, and seek God’s face where God is found this year?
• Who will you invite to join you on your journey to seek and find God’s face?
• How will these actions impact your life and the lives of those where you seek God?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer
Gracious God, empower me to put aside any prideful feelings I have, humble myself to seek and find your face through prayer and service to the least of Your children.

         We all long for better times.  We live for the day when justice and equality will be the norm for every living person — when (in effect) the kingdom of God comes on earth as it is in heaven and justice — God’s justice — rules the day.  And because living and wanting better times is such a personal thing, we all have our own ideas about how we should go about achieving it.  But we forget one important factor.  God also has an idea about how we should go about achieving it.  And God’s plan is to first address the injustice present in our personal lives.  If injustice is the cause of our misery — personally or communally — then the remedy is to get rid of injustice.  The problem is that injustice doesn’t just go away.  It has to become as intolerable as a poisonous  infection would be to our bodies.  It doesn’t seem like that’s the place where injustice begins.  But God is on point with this.  So, we are advised to put iniquity out of our hands and to deny injustice an active place in our lives.  God understands — even if we haven’t figured it out yet — that if sin and injustice are active in our hands, then they are active in our homes.  If there is injustice in our homes, then there is injustice in our communities.  If there is injustice in our communities, then there is injustice in our county.  And the cycle of injustice just grows like a malignant cancer until the entire world is infected with the life-threatening presence of injustice.  So, it is only by ridding injustice from the places we live that misery gets evicted from us and life begins to take on a new and revived existence.  It’s then that we can experience the bright and radiant sunshine of life and living in the presence of God.  We begin living and thriving instead of just existing and surviving.  That has always been God’s desire for us.

• In what ways are you able and willing to take an active role in making your home and community a more just place?
• How can you work to involve your friends and/or your church in your efforts?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer
Loving God, guide me into a greater awareness of where injustice is present in me. Help me to get rid of it so that I may become a more just person, helping your Kingdom come on earth.