Co - Partnering Pain

"Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:14-17 ...Have you ever felt so alone, so abandoned that life lost its purpose? Have the days ever took on a grey lifeless tone from which you wanted to escape? If you've experienced this take hope, do not despair. ...We are not left to flounder on our own, nor are we abandoned. We have a Great High Priest who sympathizes with us because He knows what it is to be tried; and yet has not sinned. He was abandoned, shunned by God so that we will never be alone. Our Co- Partner in pain is our victory, He has gone before - lived, died and rose again - that we might partake of Him and be saved. ...The cross is more but not less than a symbol of our salvation. It is our boast and the life we now live in Christ. Whether in need or plenty, weakness or strength, if we are at the center of God's Will for our life then we have purpose; life has meaning and hope. We have died with Christ, let us now live in Christ as well. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20 ...Do your trials seem hard? Is your heart laden with worry, your body afflicted with pain? Accept your cross with joy as Christ did and run the race on His strength. Carry your burdens to Jesus, lay them at His feet. Then watch them fade away, not from life but your heart and mind. Soon you will find that there's a joy so sweet, a communion so divine, only to be found where suffering and Gods Sovereignty meet. "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 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 12:1-3 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." Romans 8:28-29

...Test your faith where the rubber meets the road, when the goings rough and the path steep. Its easy to trust when everything seems smooth; but I've learned to treasure life's potholes. Pain can become a lens through which our eyesight is strengthened; Its in moments when the pains most intense that I have felt closest to God. And when the suffering has passed, when joy comes in the morning, then God's children rejoice in their deliverance. A greater, deeper love springs forth for those who have never known what it meant to be delivered; and we have the assurance of being heirs with Christ for all eternity.

"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." Romans 8:15-17

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:8-10