Good Morning 07-27

"I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
- Romans 8:18

In addition to the ailments which he shared with all mankind the Apostle Paul had to endure many hardships and much suffering for the sake of Christ and His Gospel. He refers to these sufferings in 2 Cor. 11. As he was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, so he was not ashamed of these scars of battle. But, as he looks back over it all, he declares happily that all the sufferings that he had endured were not worthy to be compared with the glory yet to be revealed. He was joyously convinced that the glory of heaven would far outweigh all the denials and hardships he had endured for Christ.

Christian friends, even today some of us are called upon to suffer for our faith, to endure shame and reproach, or physical hardships and pain for the sake of Christ and His Gospel. All such may well fix our eyes of faith on the crown of glory and rejoice in hope. But we may also apply the words of the great Apostle to the hardships and sorrows of life that we have in common with all men. Sometimes we permit ourselves to become unduly anxious and depressed by the tribulations of earth. As Christ looked up from Gethsemane and Calvary to the glory of heaven to which He was about to return, so may we who by faith are in Him confidently look to glory that will far outweigh all of earth's sorrows.