You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
13
Wherefore[dio] I desire[aiteo] that ye
faint[ekkakeo] not[me] at[en] my[mou] tribulations[thlipsis] for
[huper] you,[humon] which[hostis] is[esti] your[humon] glory.[doxa] KJV-Interlinear
13
Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for
they are your glory. NASB
Faint, 'ekkakeo,' means to cower, to become a coward, to waiver, to lose ones courage, to be fainthearted, to doubt.
Paul was under great pressures and sufferings due to his teaching of scripture. His primary adversaries were the traditional Jews who opposed his teaching of grace, salvation by faith, the end of the Levitical offering system, and so forth, and he was doing this to the gentiles, 'of all people.' The Jews were disgusted and insulted and tried to quiet him, just as the attempt to rid the world of Jesus was done decades before.
Therefore Christianity, the 'new' thought of the day, was being explained as the original intent of the scriptures all along, and not new at all.
But the prevailing thought of the day was that the scriptures presented a Messiah who would come and rid the world of gentile oppression, and set up the Jews in Gods Kingdom, as they presumed they had a right.
But not so.
And here Paul was teaching salvation and blessings and eternity and so forth for everyone, and yet he was a living example of suffering. So, what of this 'new' faith where there seemed to be only suffering and no blessing?
And today, far too many folks believe that if you are suffering, your life is somehow unblessed, while if you are successful, then your life is blessed of God. The general expectation of society is that God blesses and relieves the sufferings of people, and if your life is full of pressures, then you must be doing something wrong or this Christian stuff just does not work.
And in some cases where there is true rejection of truth, then there is suffering - India, China, Africa. And, where there is a foundation of truth, then there is blessing and prosperity - USA and many other countries.
However, this does not mean that evil people cannot be prosperous, for the world is full of prosperous evil types.
And, this does not mean that spiritually advancing people cannot suffer, for one of the primary and fundamental principles of learning and spiritual growth requires some form of suffering, just so you can learn and see life from all aspects and perspectives. Often times you cannot understand until you have experienced. And that too is grace from God. Hardships are often times the best teachers.
If you are spiritually negative, then your economic or physical or social status, be they good or bad, are all irrelevant, for they cannot gain you anything for eternity.
If you are spiritually positive, as legitimately defined by the scriptures (not by your own definition), then your economic or physical or social status, be they good or bad, are all still irrelevant. For, again, it is your spiritual status that determines your future, not your worldly status.
It was Lazarus that was poor and destitute and died at the gate of the rich man. Lazarus went to Paradise, the rich man went to Torments. So, you cannot judge anyone by their external presentation.
Likewise you cannot lose heart, or faith, because the world drops the stinky stuff all over you. People will lose their health. People will lose their jobs. People will lose their business. People will lose their homes. People will lose their marriage. People will lose their family.
This is the devils world and all evil, all wickedness, all bad things regardless of what they are, are due to Satan, never God.
The Garden was perfect, life was perfect. Satan brought in temptation and then sin and that started all of the deterioration of the human existence, including, but certainly not limited to, death, genetic defects, disease, handicaps of all sorts, and on and on and on.
So, Paul teaches us here, 'Do not lose heart.' Regardless of your situation, your faith is far more powerful than your circumstances and certainly more powerful than what people might think of you.
It is far better to lose everything in this life, and maintain your faith, and end up for all of eternity as a winner as a result of your faith.
It is a terrible loss to lose faith, lose everything and never have anything ever.
Faith is the key and power, and faith is maintained by wisdom and wisdom is developed on understanding, and understanding is centered on knowledge, and knowledge must be learned, and learning comes by a daily study of the word of God.
Faith is not by accident or wishes or magic. Faith is constructed bit by bit, systematically by means of doctrine.
