{"id":5608,"date":"2022-03-31T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=5608"},"modified":"2022-03-12T11:46:38","modified_gmt":"2022-03-12T16:46:38","slug":"suffer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2022\/03\/31\/suffer\/","title":{"rendered":"SUFFER"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2 minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Daily Reading:<\/strong> Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20 ESV<\/a>, Luke 9:7-27 ESV<\/a>, Psalm 72:1-20 ESV<\/a>, Proverbs 12:8-9 ESV<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily Verse:<\/strong> \u201cSaying,\u00a0\u201cThe Son of Man must\u00a0suffer<\/em> many things and\u00a0be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on\u00a0the third day be raised.\u201d (Luke 9:22 ESV)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PASCHO (3958): <\/strong>\u201cUsed only in certain tenses for it; appar. A primary verb; to experience a sensation or impression (usually painful).  Of the \u2018sufferings\u2019 of Christ at the hands of men.\u201d[i]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Painful impression.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I think of suffering, a painful impression doesn\u2019t describe my thoughts.  Agony, physical and mental, align with my definition of suffering better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ suffered physically at the hands of men, tortured with whips that dug into His flesh.  When they placed the crown of thorns on Jesus\u2019s head, the pointy spikes pressed into His scalp, causing streams of blood to pour down His face.  And the guards drove spikes through Jesus\u2019 hands and feet, just a few ways the Lord suffered on our behalf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mentally, Jesus endured the taunts of the guards and people.  At the height of His pain, Jesus cried out to God:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEli, Eli, lema sabachthani?\u201d that is, \u201cMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?\u201d (Matthew 27:46 ESV<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enduring pain.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus endured pain and suffering because He understood His purpose.  Without a doubt, Christ knew why He did what He did.  Because Jesus knew His mission, He could endure the pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we understand the end game, it helps us keep going.  Knowing God uses the circumstances of this world to build our character and prepare us for eternity helps us endure the sufferings we encounter.  When pain comes our way, we can persevere, knowing God will use it for His good, like He used Jesus\u2019 sufferings for our good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

C.S. Lewis, <\/em>The Problem of Pain[ii]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pain gets our attention like nothing else.  We don\u2019t think as much about God during the good times of life.  But when we experience pain, we want God to intervene.  Suffering draws us closer to God, leading us to His grace, helping us discover unspeakable joy through Jesus.
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[i]<\/a> Strong, J., & Strong, J. (2010). The New Strong’s expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible<\/em>. Greek Dictionary of the New Testament<\/em> (p. 194) Thomas Nelson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[ii]<\/a> https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B08KH8MR8Z\/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check out my new release on Amazon<\/a>. Learn how I used prayer to control my emotions and develop healthier relationships in my life. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2 minute read. Daily Reading: Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20 ESV, Luke 9:7-27 ESV, Psalm 72:1-20 ESV, Proverbs 12:8-9 ESV Daily Verse: \u201cSaying,\u00a0\u201cThe Son of Man must\u00a0suffer many things and\u00a0be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on\u00a0the third day be raised.\u201d (Luke 9:22 ESV) PASCHO (3958): \u201cUsed only in certain tenses… Continue reading SUFFER<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5608"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5610,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5608\/revisions\/5610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}