Hebrews 12:2 “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 11:24- 26 “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.”
Matthew 5:11-12 ““Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
1 John 3:1-3 “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
2 Corinthians 4:17 “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,”
Trials, temptations, persecutions, pain, rejection and self-denial for the sake of Christ might seem overwhelming when we look at them. But when weighed against our eternal hope and the joy of meeting our Lord and saviour, they pale, they become as light as froth, they become a reason to rejoice. One thing the Lord uses to strengthen a believer in his sojourn here on earth, is a reminder of his eternal destination and the reward waiting for him. This hope invigorates, it encourages and sets our focus right.
When you feel weighed down by weights of discouragement, dear believer in Christ, weigh it against your eternal weight of glory and like chaff before the wind it shall fizzle.
2019-05-16