Time has remained a precious commodity right now. School is going well, and there is always studying, reading, and papers to write. Currently I am working on my paper on one of the Minor Prophets Books in the Old Testament, Zephaniah. It is a blessing to get to study scripture for school. In my research today I came across an article that examined the major themes of Zephaniah, and I appreciated that the author mentioned that we tend to not focus on books such as Zephaniah. It seems almost as if we somehow think these shorter books are less important than others. As an author he emphasized using each and every verse of Zephaniah as facts pertaining to the author's theology. This article made me stop and think about how I know I do at least tend to overlook some of the shorter books of scripture, more specifically, the Book of the 12 Minor Prophets. I do not believe these books are of less importance than other books of the Bible so I am not sure why my tendency remains to divert my focus elsewhere. I am going to try to learn more about these books in the future. (It does help that one of my classes now is Biblical Prophets and History):) My class at church on Monday nights is going great. We talk about challenging subjects, why we undergo suffering and trials in life. It has been amazing so far, and I can tell that I am not going to want it to end. It's a blessing to have the teacher I do, and I appreciate her willingness to invite the Holy Spirit to work through her in each class. Also, it's wonderful to hear others' experiences and what they have learned in life.
Last week we looked at the Thessalonians and how they suffered because they embraced the gospel. They did not try to run from their troubles, however. Instead, they trusted God and He alone enabled them to perservere. This Monday we took a closer look at Paul to discover why believers suffer and the what forms of suffering exist. We looked at Acts 9:15-16 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake." in order to see why Paul suffered. We deducted from this passage that Paul suffered for Christ's name's sake. We then looked at Acts 13:44-45, 49-50 and saw that the Jews responded to Paul's preaching of the Word of God by contradicting it and blaspheming. It seems you can expect to come against opposition and even suffering while trying to proclaim God's truth. 2 Timothy 3:10-12 was studied and we concluded that Paul had been dealing with persecutions and suffering that he endured. God rescued him out of them all. Timothy was following Paul's example. We can learn from Paul's example how to endure by remembering God's grace is sufficient for us, and that we should expect suffering. I love the next passage that we studied - 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 For we do not want you to be unaware, bretheren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond out strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead." From this passage we saw that the purpose of this suffering was so that they would trust God NOT themselves. I think that is a powerful lesson, and we spoke of how worrying and being anxious about things in our lives is a form of not trusting God. I have heard this before, but wow. haha That's all I will say about that. I did learn, though, to be aware of ways I trust myself (and by doing so I am not trusting Him). Next, we read 2 Corinthians 4:7-11 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted but not foresaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that teh life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh." They suffered in many ways, but they were not destroyed. This leads us to the conclusion they must have been trusting in God as their foundation. We are told that they are suffering in order for the life of Jesus to be revealed in our mortal flesh. God's role in all of this was to give them the power to overcome by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit which lives inside of believers in Christ is the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead! We spoke about so much more in the study which I may add at a later time, but for now I will end on this joyous note.
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