The Peninsula Experience
Eddie Snipes
Psalm 34:19
One of the great injustices the church does to its members is teaching that problems are not part of the life of faith. I've heard some say that if you have problems in your life, it is either a lack of faith or the judgment against your sin. This is false. Consider the promise of Psalm 34:19
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
Notice, the Bible says 'afflictions of the righteous', not of the sinner. Even Jesus alluded to this when He said, ''He that bears fruit will be pruned that he may bear more fruit.''
Your troubles are not the evidence of God's anger. Nor is the lack of trouble the evidence of God's favor. How many billionaires are great men of faith? The rich are rarely men focused on godliness. God directs our lives according to His will. Some will indeed have abundance and some will have the greater blessing of being God dependent. I say 'greater blessing' because the one who has to trust has the opportunity to grow in faith as part of their daily life.
When the church associates material wealth and a lifestyle of ease with spiritual maturity, they are depriving those whom God is refining, and they are denying the work of God. In the Old Testament, Job went through a time of intense testing. His spiritual friends came to comfort him, but ended up piling a greater burden upon Job. They said, ''God would never do this to anyone who doesn't have sin in his life.'' In the end, God said that Job spoke the truth, and his friends spoke falsely - even though one of them said their words to Job came from the Lord.
The human intellect associates good with karma. If I do good deeds or act righteously, good things will happen. The world believes in karma, as do many in the church. We call it blessing, but our belief system is mirroring the world.
Because the church believes hardship is the evidence of faithlessness, people are taught to resist inst ...
Eddie Snipes
Psalm 34:19
One of the great injustices the church does to its members is teaching that problems are not part of the life of faith. I've heard some say that if you have problems in your life, it is either a lack of faith or the judgment against your sin. This is false. Consider the promise of Psalm 34:19
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
Notice, the Bible says 'afflictions of the righteous', not of the sinner. Even Jesus alluded to this when He said, ''He that bears fruit will be pruned that he may bear more fruit.''
Your troubles are not the evidence of God's anger. Nor is the lack of trouble the evidence of God's favor. How many billionaires are great men of faith? The rich are rarely men focused on godliness. God directs our lives according to His will. Some will indeed have abundance and some will have the greater blessing of being God dependent. I say 'greater blessing' because the one who has to trust has the opportunity to grow in faith as part of their daily life.
When the church associates material wealth and a lifestyle of ease with spiritual maturity, they are depriving those whom God is refining, and they are denying the work of God. In the Old Testament, Job went through a time of intense testing. His spiritual friends came to comfort him, but ended up piling a greater burden upon Job. They said, ''God would never do this to anyone who doesn't have sin in his life.'' In the end, God said that Job spoke the truth, and his friends spoke falsely - even though one of them said their words to Job came from the Lord.
The human intellect associates good with karma. If I do good deeds or act righteously, good things will happen. The world believes in karma, as do many in the church. We call it blessing, but our belief system is mirroring the world.
Because the church believes hardship is the evidence of faithlessness, people are taught to resist inst ...
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