I found this on another christian website. I think it is a very good teaching message. Very very good. I didnt write this. I found it... and its good.


Why do Christians Suffer?


The first and foremost answer is that Satan is the ruler of this world:

John 12:31 (Jesus speaking) Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.

John 14:30 (Jesus speaking) I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming , and he has nothing in Me.

John 16:11 (Jesus speaking) “…the ruler of this world is judged.”

Furthermore, it is Satan’s nature to kill, steal and destroy.

John 10:10 (Jesus speaking) “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they might have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Also remember, Satan hates God. He will do anything he can to hurt God. By extension, he will do anything he can to hurt God’s children. Isn’t this the best way to hurt a parent, by hurting their kids?

How did Satan become the ruler of this world--how did he get that authority? He stole it. In the beginning, Adam and Eve were given authority to rule the earth:

Genesis 1:28 Then God blessed them (Adam and Eve), and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

When Adam and Eve fell, their authority was usurped by Satan. We know this because of the conversation Satan had with Jesus when He fasted in the wilderness. One of the temptations was to have authority over the earth without having to go to the cross:

Matthew 4:8-9 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."
Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you , Satan! For it is written, ’You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

Satan had those kingdoms, Jesus did not deny this. Instead Jesus resisted Satan, with the word of God. Satan left.

In all this, Scripture, there is this hope: although Satan is the ruler of this world, Jesus said in John 16:11 that the ruler of this world is judged, and in John 14:30 that Satan has nothing in Him. That is, that Satan has no authority over Jesus.

Here is our hope: when Jesus went to the cross, all the requirements--all the legal consequences that were against us were nailed to the cross, Col 2:14. Therefore, in Christ Jesus, we may have life and life abundantly, John 10:10. Furthermore, we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us, Romans 8:37.

Still, Christians suffer. Satan attacks and comes to steal, kill and destroy. Sometimes he is successful, sometimes not. Why?

The following is a list of reasons of why Christians suffer. I have arranged these from the easiest answers to the more complex.

Please understand. I do not have a complete understanding of this topic myself. I can only offer what I have garnered from years of study. Still, I offer these answers in hope that they may help someone who is under the attack of the evil one, our foe and adversary Satan.

Christians may suffer because of one of the following reasons:

1. Sin.

It is clear in Scripture that there are consequences of sin:

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

What is less clear to Christians is that when they sin, they are opening the door for Satan, or more precisely his demons, to attack them.

Psalm 94:20 Shall the throne of iniquity which devises evil by law, have fellowship with You?

The “throne of iniquity” is Satan. To “devise evil by law” means that he has to have a legal reason to attack. Sin gives him this, see Gal. 6:7, quoted above.

But Satan is canny enough to know that if every time a Christian sins they immediately reap the consequences then there would be a lot less sinning! “Sin profits for a season,” Scripture says. For a season, there is enjoyment and no seeming consequences.

But if that Christian becomes aware of their sin and turns back to God, then it seems the consequences catch up with them! Suddenly they are under tremendous attack!

I had a friend who came out of witchcraft who experienced this. She got saved one night while watching television. She repented of everything and turned to the Lord. But from that moment onward it seemed as if Satan attacked her on every side: her disintegrated, she lost her job, her family turned against her.

I went to the Lord to pray for her, and also to ask for wisdom. Here is what the Lord told me: that although my friend’s sin had been forgiven, the consequences were still there. Is this Scriptural? Yes! For example, Samson lost his eyes when Delilah tricked him. He eventually repented and regained his strength. But he never regained his eyesight. Sometimes there are consequences of past sin that we are still dealing with! The sin is forgiven, but the consequences continue.

I asked the Lord how to pray. He said, “Pray for an attenuated harvest.” I had to look that word up, attenuated. According to Webster’s it means, “to reduce the severity, virulence or vitality of.” The Lord was telling me to pray for crop failure! Yes, my friend had sown unrighteous seed through years of witchcraft. But I prayed for crop failure of that seed. The Lord also told me to pray for a quick harvest of the good seed she was now sowing. I did. My friend’s health and finances improved greatly.

In addition to consequences of our own sin, we need to realize that there can be consequences of sins of the generations before us. Here is where examples in Scripture help, because several of the patriarchs prayed for forgiveness not only for their own sin, but also for the forgiveness of the generations before them:

For example, in 722 BC, the northern kingdom Samaria fell, in large part because of idolatry. In 586 BC, Israel fell, for the same reason. The Israelites had been told by Moses that there was set before them a blessing and a curse, and that the result of the curse was that they would lose the Presence of God and His protection, Deut. 30:14-19. They sinned anyway. In fact, Israel never fully gave up their idols, even carrying those idols with them as God took them out of Egypt, Amos 5:25-26.

Yet in about 423 BC--more than thirty years later, Nehemiah prayed for his people and the generations before him to be forgiven:

Neh. 1:6-7 "please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, the You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.”

Similar prayers asking for forgiveness of the sins of the generations before them can be found in Daniel 9, especially 9:20, Ezra 9:5-7, Jer. 3:22-25, Psalm 106:6-7. The reason for the effectiveness of this kind prayer is found in God’s instruction to Moses:

Lev. 26:40-42 But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me--if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt--then I will remember My covenant with [them] …I will remember the land.


What to do if you suspect the attack against you has come because of sin.

First, repent! Scripture reassures us that no matter what, no matter how deep the sin, or how prolonged, we can be forgiven:

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Ask God to search your heart as you do this, Psalm 139:23-24. Propose in your heart that you will not only ask to be forgiven, but turn from sin. Ask God to help you see the consequences of sin and hate it.

Second, ask God if there are any sins of the generations before you which could be the cause behind this attack. It helps to know some family history here, but even without it, it is possible to ask God to make you aware of sin that needs to be confessed and forgiven.

Third, ask God if the attack against you is the result of past sin, seeds which were sown in unrighteousness and now are producing a harvest. Ask for crop failure for any unrighteous seed that you or others have sown, and for a quick harvest for the good seed--righteous deeds--which you are now sowing.




The people who were slandering my pastor knew who I was, though. And they came against me with vehemence, tearing me down to others in the church. Here I was new, and my church was coming against me. I did not know until a long time later that my pastor had put me on speaker phone, when he told me what he had done.

As the situation grew worse and the hatred more manifest I went to the Lord, now in tears. I will never forget what He said to me: “Grow up.”

That seems like a harsh word, but it was the word I needed. I realized that I could not continue to be emotionally hurt every time someone came against me. I needed to stand my ground and continue to believe in the Lord and His goodness. Here was a challenge. Would I obey God, and die to self? Or would I continue to allow the arrows of the enemy to penetrate my shield? I chose the first.

If I had chosen to continue to entertain thoughts of hurt and discouragement, the enemy would have won. I couldn’t let that happen. I had to die to self.

Here is a postscript of that situation. I did stand my ground. As for the growing up part--I am still working on it. Our pastor continued to serve our church for two more years before the Lord moved him elsewhere. The man who had come against our pastor started his own church with some of his friends--people in our church--pulling our little church apart. We eventually got some of those people back. Then, years later, this man was convicted of a felony and sent to prison.

Here is what I learned--

Inevitably, a Christian who is going on with God is going to pierce through the darkness with the light of the Lord Jesus Christ, and inevitably that offended darkness will try to pierce us in turn. If we allow those fiery darts to penetrate our hearts and minds, then we will suffer needlessly.

We need to die to self. We need to change.

Paul said it well, speaking of himself:

Galatians 2:20 “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.”

But Paul also addresses all Christians later in the same epistle:

Galatians 5:24 “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

We need to crucify our flesh with its passions and desires.

In part some of this is done as we each die to our old self and put on the new man, Col. 3:1-10; Eph. 4:22-32. We leave our old sinful patterns behind and act more like Christ. We begin to look more like Christ as well, as we worship and come into His presence, 2 Cor. 3:18. As we walk in obedience, not giving way to the flesh and dying to self, the fruit of the Spirit becomes manifest in us. Instead of sin, there is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, Gal, 5:22-23.

This process continues as we walk in the discipline of the Lord, fixing our eyes on Jesus, Heb. 12:2, seeking those things above, Col. 3:1, setting our eyes on the goal which is Christ Jesus our Lord, and laying aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles, Heb. 12:1.

This process also continues as we learn to tear down every thought that exalts itself against the Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. 10:5, and guard our minds, thinking on what is “true, notable, just, pure, lovely, of good report,” looking for good things which are praise worthy, Phil. 4:8.

We go on with the Lord. We learn to guard our speech, realizing that death and life are in the power of the tongue, Prov. 18:21. We learn to shun evil and “pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart,” 2 Tim. 2:22. We learn to walk in holiness, seeking to be holy, because our Father is holy, 1 Peter 1:15; Lev. 11:44.

We learn to forgive, realizing that if we don’t forgive we will not be forgiven ourselves, Matthew 6:14-15; Matthew 18:21-35.

We learn to hate sin, because we realize its consequences, Gal. 6:7, and the legal hold sin gives Satan when we enter into sin, Ps. 94:20.

We change. We must change, if we are to go on to the victory which is in Jesus Christ, and live in that victory here on earth.

“The Lord is my Shepherd,” David says in Psalm 23. Yes, our Lord Jesus Christ is our Shepherd. But let us also remember that this same psalm also says, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

God may not take us out of every dark time in our life. Instead, He may take us through. It is during these times that we learn to cling to Him, and to not be afraid, because He is with us.

It is during these times that we change the most.

God does not cause the evil that comes into our lives. We live in an unsaved world, a world which was cursed from the beginning of times, Gen. 3:17; Rom. 8:19-21. We have been warned that Satan is the ruler of this world, John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11. Jesus Himself said that in this world we would have tribulation,

John 16:33 (Jesus speaking) “These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.“

Yet with this warning Jesus gives us hope. He has overcome the world! In Him, we can too. But we must die to self.


Diana Clancy
Copyright November

To my readers--I give you permission to use these notes for Bible studies and classes. Please include my name. Be blessed!

Is some of this missing? It jumps from 1. Sin to some story about her former pastor that I didn't understand....was curious

You know what I was wondering the same thing when I was trying to post it. It was so long it wouldnt let me post it all in one reply and I might have missed it. Ill get back to it and edit it. it is a good read.

gen

Ive tried to edit but they 'system' isnt letting me edit again. Anticlimax or What! anyway. When I can edit it Ill do so.

Gen,

If you find that you cannot edit it here... maybe you could just post the link that you found it in to share with us?

Thanks for sharing and trying to fix this!
God Bless, Heather

It is a very good message. Ill have to repost it when I get a chance in a seperate post because the link would lead to another christian forum and a section that you would need to be a member of before you viewed it. lol. Silly me. I will get it up there tho.

Founding missing parts:

2. A second reason why Christians suffer: Failure to pray--or failure to pray effectively.

Here is another cause for why Christians suffer: they fail to pray.

James 4:2 …you do not have because you do not ask.

I believe that all of us have experienced this. We have dealt with a problem alone, and only later remembered that there is One who is awesome, Who can not only give wisdom, but also intervene. When going through trials, pray! Let the Lord lead you, give you help in adversity and intervene in the attack of the enemy.

Why do we need to pray? I believe the answer lies in the fact that in the beginning, God gave man dominion to rule the earth:

Genesis 1:28 Then God blessed them (Adam and Eve), and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

When we pray, we are taking our place again in that dominion, this time in the name of Jesus. As this saying goes,

“Without God, we can’t, and without us, He won’t.”

We need to pray.

But we must also pray effectively:

James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

The prayer which avails much is first of all offered by a righteous man.

Here is where we often stumble as well! Prayers filled with pride instead of humility are not heard.

James 4:5-6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

1 Peter 5:5 …Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble," Therefore, humble yourselves under the might hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.

All of us have heard people prayer lovely, flowery prayers. Yet are they always heard? I asked the Lord once why something evil had happened in a home group right after a leader had prayed. The Lord’s answer shook me. He said that prayers filled with self go no higher than the ceiling. I believe that what I heard is Scriptural:

Isaiah 66:2 "…But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word."


Also, remember that if we are entertaining sin in our heart, the Lord will not hear!

Psalm 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

Therefore, before going into prayer, ask the Lord to search your heart, Ps. 139:23-24, and confess anything He shows you. Remember that when we confess our sins He cleanses us from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1:9.

So then what is effective prayer? Effective prayer is first of all from a clean, humble, pure heart, a heart that does not have self-serving motives, James 4:3, a heart which seeks God above all else and puts Him first.

I believe that persistence in prayer also helps! Jesus told the parable of the unfair judge and the woman who continued to petition him, Luke 18:5. This woman was heard because of her persistence. Now, I don’t believe that this means we should throw the same words at heaven over and over again. But I do believe that when we pray and keep on praying our hearts change. If we are truly seeking, then we also become willing to listen. A prayer journey that starts with self may end with others, and often that petition is heard. As an example, I heard the testimony of a woman who was diagnosed with cancer. At first her prayer was, “Oh God, heal me.” In time, though, her heart changed. Her prayer became, “Father, I need to finish raising my children. I want to love and serve my husband. Father, help me!” She was completely delivered.


What to do if you are under attack and having difficulty praying.

Pray anyway. There is one prayer that is always heard, the prayer of repentance. Start there. Ask God to search your heart and show you any sin which you need to confess. Remember that when He says He cleanses all unrighteousness, He means ALL unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Continue in prayer. Remember that God is not looking for flowery words, but a humble, contrite heart:

Isaiah 66:2 ”…But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.”

God is looking for brokenness:

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart--
These, O God, You will not despise.

This is a brokenness which leans on Him, seeking Him for direction:

Song of Solomon 8:5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
Leaning upon her beloved?

Song of Solomon 3:4 Scarcely had I passed by them, when I found the one I love.
I held him and would not let him go.

Fix your eyes on Jesus, not the problem!

Hebrews 12:2 [NIV] Fix you eyes on Jesus…
Let the Lord show you how to pray:

John 12:26 (Jesus speaking) If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me…”

A humble heart which seeks God to know how to pray, which keeps on praying and doesn’t let go--this is a heart which will be heard.

3. A third reason why Christians suffer: Failure to fight.

I have heard people in the body of Christ pray for God to deliver them from Satan, and to come against him for them. But this is not Scriptural.

In Ephesians 6:10-18, who is supposed to put on the full armor of God? Who is supposed to stand?

Eph. 6:10-18 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil…Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth….praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--

In this passage, who is supposed to resist?

James 4:7-8 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

And in this passage, who is supposed to resist?

1 Peter 5:8-9 Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith…

In all these passages, it is our responsibility to resist Satan.

I believe that warfare is up to us. If we don’t do this, then God will not. This goes back to the dominion which God have us in the first place. As with prayer, we must exercise our dominion, resisting every fiery brand of the enemy.

There are only two exceptions I have found to this rule. One is that worship fuels warfare. When we are in worship, God takes care of our enemies for us. This is consistent with Israel’s experience in 2 Chron. 20:22.

The second exception is in Malachi 3:11 where God says that He will rebuke the devourer for our sakes when we honor Him with our tithes. These are the only two exceptions.

What to do if you have not been fighting, and have been attacked.

Learn to fight! Warfare is taught in James 4:7-8: Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

We submit to God by confessing any sin in our hearts He shows us and choosing to turn from that sin. We resist the devil in Jesus’ name. Do this out loud. Say something like, “You demon that just said such-and-such to me (or name the temptation), I resist you now in the name of Jesus Christ, and I command you to flee! Scripture says, ’resist the devil and he will flee from you.’ I resist you now, and you must go!” You may have to do this more than once through the day as these demons try to come back and tempt you with thoughts again. Just keep going. The attacks will lessen and decrease.

The third part is to draw near to God. The fastest way I’ve found of drawing near to God is to worship and praise God, out loud, sing songs, or even take my Bible and read whole passages out loud. Romans 6 is good to read out loud if you are fighting habitual sin, especially verses 6. 11 and 14. Sin shall not have dominion over us!

For further help with warfare, I am giving the URL for a teaching here:

http://foru.ms/t6341028-rewrite-spir...oser-walk.html



4. Christians suffer because Satan hates them.

Satan hates Christians. He hates God’s children, who were formed in His image. He hates God, and would like nothing better to hurt God by hurting God’s kids.

But Satan hates God’s children for another reason as well. He is afraid of their power.

Satan in his hatred will look for ways to put stumbling blocks and snares in Christian’s lives. If he can get them into sin, then he has a legal hold on them. For example, if someone comes against us and we do not forgive them, we will not be forgiven ourselves, Matthew 6:14-15, and our prayer life will be ineffective, Ps. 66:18. Of course Satan wants this!

So one of Satan’s favorite snares is to get us to be offended. He will use his own people against us. More to his liking, Satan will use weak Christians to come against us.

Jesus Himself experienced this when Peter told Him “Not so, Lord.” Peter didn’t want Jesus to be killed. Jesus in turned rebuked Satan who was speaking through Peter at that moment.

When Jesus came into the world to die for our sin He brought with Him the promise of new life. This life is free to those who ask Him to be their Lord and Savior. But this life is at odds with the kingdom of darkness which reigns on this earth, John 14:30.

There is no lack of Scripture to support this assertion, that Christians will suffer because we belong to God. Jesus spoke the following verses concerning the end times. But has there ever been a time when this was not true?

Matthew 13:9, 13 But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them….And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake….

What prophet died a natural death? Was there ever one? I believe the only two exceptions may have been Elijah and the apostle John.

What Christian as never experienced the attack of the enemy as they go about their Father’s business? I have never known a time in my life when I was offering the salvation message to others, or interceding, or strengthening my brothers and sisters in the Lord when I was not attacked in some way, most often by malicious words or slander.

Yet this is nothing compared to what Christians in others countries suffer. In Africa, there are little girls who have been raped by Muslims and had their hands cuts off because they were Christians.

In Acts 14, we are told that Paul was stoned and left for dead. I believe he was dead, and that God raised him up. He says right after this, We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God, Acts 14:22.

Yes, we enter God’s kingdom even while walking through trial, persecution and tribulation. “We are hard pressed on every side,“ Paul says, “yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed--always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh,” 2 Cor. 4:8-11.

So yes, we suffer. But infused in this passage is also this message of hope that tells us how to enter into the kingdom of God: die to self. This is what we must do, if we are to live here on earth as more than conquerors in Christ Jesus our Lord, Romans 8:37.

Part 5: Why Christians Suffer: Failure to Die to Self and Change


Some years ago I was praying for my pastor when the Lord gave me a prophetic word. I also felt an urgency in my spirit to phone him and give this word to him immediately. Now, this is difficult for me. I have a tendency to not give prophetic words, but rather sit on them and wait. Still, that urgency was there and after more prayer I decided that I would obey the Lord.

So I did. I called my pastor up and gave him the word which was in my spirit. I told him that I felt that the Lord was telling me to tell him that the people who were coming against him were acting and speaking out of the evil in their own heart. I used the Scripture in Matthew 12:34 where Jesus says, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

That is where it picks up with the pastor story :)

Where did you find the missing parts!?

some forums...
http://foru.ms/

strange little url

I just did a yahoo search for Diana Clancy suffering

ok. Thats where I got it from. I wasnt sure if you were a member there too. Its a very big christian forum. If you do check it out again check out the deeper fellowship section. They are very good. Thank you btw.

Nope not a member. Don't have time for c'moms, let alone any other forums :D