Persecutions And Afflictions (Daily Devotional)

Greetings, thank you for joining with us through this week, where we’ve been looking at the nine marks of a Minister of God as written for us by the apostle Paul in second Timothy chapter three verses 10 and 11, he said to Timothy, ‘But you have carefully followed my doctrine, my manner of life, purpose, faith, long suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions.’ So, he says Timothy, you've seen all of these things in me, as a man of God. And I believe Paul wanted to highlight these nine things because it wasn't just picking things at random, he felt these are important things which Timothy has seen in my life and I want him, as the next generation leader to pursue, to walk in, to be strong in. So, these nine marks are not there as an accident, their intentional written there by the apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And so, we've been examining each one of these nine marks. Today we're talking about the last two, which is persecutions, afflictions. Persecutions has to do with people, what they do against you; afflictions, talking about hardships, the challenges of trying circumstances and situations. The apostle Paul is telling Timothy, Timothy, you saw how I went through both these and Paul, many of the places that he went to, faced persecutions, people opposed him many times, there were times he was beaten, he was stoned, he was dragged out of the city, was chased out of the city, people accused him. Hardships, Paul writes about this in second Corinthians chapter 11, he talks about sleepless nights, he talks about being shipwrecked, he talks about going hungry and so on, Hardships, difficulties that he faced all in order to be a minister of God, to serve Jesus Christ. Do people see this in our lives, or do they see that we prefer a life of comfort and ease, that we’re unable to handle persecutions or things that people speak against us to do against us? Do they see that we avoid hardships? What do they see in our lives as ministers of God? Paul said, Timothy, you've seen me as I've gone through persecutions, as I've gone through afflictions, you've seen me, God was with me, God delivered me, but I went through, I was not afraid and that is indicative or those are marks of an anointed minister of God. Now, what kind of persecutions and afflictions you and I may face, we don't know, it's all different for each of us, but we must be willing to go through them and not be ashamed, not be afraid. Just remember a minister of God journeys through persecutions and afflictions, but the Lord delivers us from them all. Nine marks of a minister of God- doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long suffering or patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions. Let's pray, Father, we ask that you will help us walk as ministers of God in all these nine areas, may people see that we are true, called, anointed by God, serving God and serving people, in Jesus’s name, Amen.

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