I’ve written before of the support group Susan and I attend.\u00a0 Each month, thirty to forty people gather to encourage one another and talk about the common struggle with our disease.\u00a0 There is definitely fellowship in suffering, but there is also a celebration of life.\u00a0 Each person may be at a different place in his own battle, but we all have a special appreciation for each day we live.<\/p>\n
Though there are differences, something about this group reminds me of church.\u00a0 God intends there to be fellowship among His children.\u00a0 He wants our eyes open to realities that the rest of the world often ignores.\u00a0 How do the mature view their days on earth?\u00a0 “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.\u00a0 What is your life?\u00a0 You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”\u00a0 Do we live with such truth in mind?<\/p>\n
Difficulty has a way of bringing focus.\u00a0 Fellowship in suffering can make the focus even sharper.\u00a0 Some of the most passionate songs about Jesus and Heaven were composed and sung by slaves many years ago.\u00a0 Sufferers who know Christ have hope in their hearts and have so much to share.<\/p>\n
I am thankful for healthy days and sunny skies, but fellowship is not just about my present circumstance.\u00a0 Do I have a friend in difficulty?\u00a0 Perhaps I can carry a bit of his load.\u00a0 I can always enter the place of prayer on behalf of others.<\/p>\n
Richard Wurmbrand was a Romanian Christian who spent 14 years in prison for his faith.\u00a0 He often boldly challenged Christians to remember those who suffer for Christ.\u00a0 May such fellowship bring us joy in the Lord.\u00a0 From Richard’s book In the Face of Surrender<\/em>:<\/p>\n Our brothers and sisters in jail volunteered to take beatings for others.\u00a0 When it was cold, prisoners gave away sweaters so that others might feel warm.\u00a0 I have witnessed such scenes myself.\u00a0 Concern for others drowns out your own troubles.\u00a0 Focus on God as the saints in prison do, and you will know that heavenly peace comes from patient cross-bearing.\u00a0 To get out of the neurosis of lawlessness, begin to practice the law of love, at least in the little things.\u00a0 Deny yourself for a period the food you love most, or some luxury of clothing, and think of those who eat unbearable food and are in rags.\u00a0 Interrupt your sleep for prayer on behalf of those interrogated during the night.\u00a0 Give up some item of cosmetics for those who cannot wash.\u00a0 Renounce an hour of television for those who for years have been in solitary confinement in underground cells and see nothing.\u00a0 Sacrifice your complaining and grumbling for one day.\u00a0 Take time from other preoccupations to pray for the persecuted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort of his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.\u00a0 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.\u00a0 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”\u00a0 Philippians 2:1-4<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve written before of the support group Susan and I attend.\u00a0 Each month, thirty to forty people gather to encourage one another and talk about the common struggle with our disease.\u00a0 There is definitely fellowship in suffering, but there is also a celebration of life.\u00a0 Each person may be at a different place in his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-persecution"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1708"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1710,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1708\/revisions\/1710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}