The Pilgram Prisoner
Sometimes I like to give a short update before I go into a newsletter. As you will see, I am living what I write about. And to be honest, this newsletter has been a struggle for me. It has taken over a month to finally come to fruition, and still I feel it is lacking. But please bear with me. I live and learn from what I have been led to go through. Before we go into the study, I would like to let everyone know how grateful I am to the LORD and everyone who prays and supports us in this battle that we are living in. Over a month ago, my mom and my wife were able to visit Jordan in the prison that he is held captive in New Jersey. The joy and happiness that mom, Jordan and my wife have from that visit has flowed through messages and phone calls to me. It helps me look forward to living everyday one day at a time. My time will come, my family is excited about visiting me one day. Although we must wait a bit more due to a few reasons. We tried to have them visit but hurricane Helene put a stop to that weekend visit, so we have put it off. What I have been living these years in prison has led me to write this newsletter and I continue to live it. As you can see, the name of the newsletter is “The perils of godliness can lead to a Longsuffering attitude and spirit”. There are many perils/dangers for one who lives a godly life, we will be focusing on a possible outcome called: Longsuffering. I believe there is a lot to this subject and topic, so I will try to break it down and sum it up a bit. Using my personal experience and of course the Word of God and other information that has come to me. I hope that you not only enjoy it but learn and apply this information in your lives. It is part of our calling, so you might as well be knowledgeable about it.
So let’s begin with the perils of godliness and what this is. One of the great mysteries is the perilous nature of godliness. All who pursue a close walk with God move into dangerous territory. You make yourself vulnerable by spending time with the LORD. If you determine to invest your life in God and cultivate an intimacy with the Almighty, your asking for it. You’re marching directly into a minefield. It won’t be long before you begin to experience what we could call “The Peril Principle”.
Webster defines “peril” as “exposure to the risk of being injured; danger”.
Peril speaks of the threat of injury, not its certainty. An activity described as perilous doesn’t inevitably happen, but it can.
Here are just a few perils of godliness to help you understand some of the things you will be up against as you try to lead a godly life. Discouragement, depression, jealousy, envy, indispensability, misunderstood, misrepresented, ignored, rejected, resentment, revenge, bitterness, anger and so on. There are to many to put them all down here, but I believe you get the point. I don’t say all of this to scare you, I am saying this to remind you that Jesus calls the shots, He alone is number One! That is His Sovereign right. Nothing is or can be done without His knowledge. Our problem arises when we get to thinking we’re sovereign.
I would like to point out 3 truths about a godly life.
(1) The godly life is never easy- It needs thick skin!!! What do I mean by thick skin? Spiritual Maturity. Maturity is moving from soft skin and a tough heart to a tough skin and a soft heart. Sage advice: “Don’t let your heart get hard, but allow your hide to get tough.”
(2) The godly life is often endangered. Looking for a no-hassles existence, maybe not your type of path.
(3) The godly life is always eventful-“I can promise you one thing: If your walk with Christ is consistent, all hell will break loose. But all heaven will come to your rescue!!! And you’ll be right in the middle of a cosmic high stakes warfare. You never find people on the front lines going to sleep. They’re in the fray. The war is exploding. But if you’re God’s Joshua, you don’t need to worry that you’ll be forgotten. In fact, you don’t need to worry about anything. If your God’s Joshua, you’re right where you ought to be. Remind yourself that God is Sovereign. He has everything under control. He will have it His way, in His time, for His glory, which includes your life, your position, and your future. Worrying over any of this is a waste, He’s got every detail covered, -everyone!!! Think of it this way: There is no such thing as God begin almost Sovereign.
Always remember that God has a way of leading you to where you’re supposed to be at the moment you’re supposed to be there.
Now that you have a good idea of what the perils of godliness is and that it is a major part of the lives of believers in Christ. I would like to show you what I believe the LORD is doing in my life. The perils of godliness cause suffering to come to one’s life. But suffering is the setback from which we can take our greatest spiritual leaps forward. Or course, this takes a dynamic change in our mind-set about the LORD. This entails a dramatic stretching of our faith. This requires us to acknowledge that as children of our Sovereign God, we are never victims of our circumstances. This forces us to choose to believe Him over what we see, feel and hear-for us to answer the question, what is real? With, “Let God be found true!!!”
Romans 3:4.
So what happens when you suffer for a long time? Well, if you surrender to the will of God then you acquire a Longsuffering spirit and attitude. Lets look at the Biblical definition of Longsuffering before we proceed. The Greek word makrothumeo explains and defines Longsuffering very thoroughly.
(Definitions): to be long spirited, forbearing, patient, have long patience, bear long, “suffer long” , patiently endure, enduring…
(Summary): Makrothumeo is (1)to be of a long spirit, not to lose heart; (2)to persevere patiently and bravely in enduring misfortunes and troubles; (3)to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others and to be mild and slow to avenge (4)to be longsuffering, slow to anger, slow to punish. (5) It means “to be long tempered” (makros, “long,” thumos, temper”) and is translated (5a) ” to be patient”. In certain situations, it is one who possesses makrothumia and has the power to avenge but refrains from doing so.
So now that you have a Biblical understanding of Longsuffering. How can it help us in our Christian life? Think about it like this: “You might not win many battles in this life, but you will be able to lose again, and again and again and never give up.
Longsuffering teaches us to surrender and silence our pride and therefore the Power of Christ arises in our lives. “You cannot beat a river into submission, you have to surrender to its current and use it’s power as your own.”
So as we surrender to the Father’s will, we are then moved by His Power. What is this Power? In I Corinthians 1:18 it says-“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” I suggest you read the rest of I Corinthians chapter 1.
I want to speak a bit on the Lord Jesus Christ and His crucifixion. I will prove to you that Longsuffering is essential for us to be moved by the Spirit of God. During the Messiah’s crucifixion the words King of the Jews were nailed on the cross over His head. The crucifixion led to resurrection. A people or nation is to follow its king. If our Lord Jesus was resurrected-so too would be His people.
So the Enemy’s persecution of God’s people is connected to his war against Messiah. And the sufferings of Messiah are connected to the sufferings of His people. The one is the microcosm of the other, and the other, the macrocosm of the one.
The Lamb/Christ Jesus is the antithesis of the Dragon/Satan, and the Dragon of the Lamb. The war between the two comes to its head on the cross. It is there that the forces of hell converge against the incarnation of good and there that the darkness crucifies the Light. There the Dragon strikes his blow against the Lamb. It is the evillest of things, the Crucifixion of the good. And yet it is, at the same time, the most beautiful, the LOVE OF GOD giving of itself as a sacrifice to bring redemption and life. It is the pinnacle of good and evil.
The cross is the epitome of the Dragon’s war against all who follow and belong to God, and all who bear His image. It is a shadow of the end of that war-as it is through the cross that the LOVE OF GOD overcomes all judgement and hatred, the light prevails against the darkness and life overcomes death.
I want you to take notice in the previous paragraphs where it states the LOVE OF GOD. Go back and reread those 2 sections. I even capitalized it for you. In the 1st part of I Corinthians 13:4 is says-“Charity suffereth long.” There it is people!!! The LOVE OF GOD is Longsuffering… We need the LOVE OF GOD to be able to have a spirit of Longsuffering. We are not able to do this on our own, it is impossible. But with GOD, all things are possible!!! Everyone should go and read
I John chapter 4. GOD is LOVE!!! Amen, Praise our LORD Jesus Christ for evermore…
If you decided on your own to read the entire “Love chapter” of I Corinthians 13, good by you. And if you didn’t, then take time to read it. You will see that the LOVE of GOD is everything. The Power of GOD is His LOVE and without this great LOVE we cannot be Longsuffering.
Now I want everyone to know that because of the prolonged suffering that I have endured. I have noticed trauma in my life. You might not know this, but I yell, scream and fight in my sleep very often. My celly has to wake me up at times, thinking that I might have a heart attack. He says it gets intense. Just because I continue to serve the LORD does not mean that I won’t suffer. Actually, just the opposite, it means that I will suffer long. But through that Longsuffering, I am dying daily to myself and my will. And His LOVE is what helps me to go on. Without the LORD Jesus Christ in my life, I am nothing. Therefore, I must decrease and He increase. Galatians 2:20 says-“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” (Note: Thanks brother Dick for reminding me of this verse, fits perfect here).
The apostle Paul said it well in Romans 5:3-5-“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
That tribulation he speaks of leads us to a Longsuffering spirit because of the harsh suffering we experience for extended periods of time. But it doesn’t end there my brothers and sisters. Through out our struggles and experiences the LOVE OF GOD is shed abroad in our hearts!!!
Remember my favorite verse? John 3:16-“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Jesus suffered and died for us because He loves us.
2 Peter 3: 9&15 says-” The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is Longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And account that the Longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;”
Therefore if our wonderful Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is and has been Longsuffering towards us, leading us to salvation. We, His son’s and daughter’s must be willing to put ourselves in danger and peril for the saving of souls. Praise the wonderful name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May God bless you all my fellow brothers and sisters. We will be with the Saviour together forever, Hallelujah, Amen.
PS. Please don’t think that because I encourage everyone through the words the Holy Spirit has led me to write, that I am not hurting and going through my own doubts, struggles, sufferings and so on. This was a very hard newsletter for me to write, not because of the content (which encourages me to go on), but because some days I feel like a hypocrite because I seem to not live up to what I am writing. Just ask my dad, he gets the blunt of it, thanks dad for listening to me. I love and miss you very much. The devil has and is trying to destroy our relationship, but the LORD Jesus Christ will not allow it. :’(Tears…
Jonathan David
The servant of the LORD
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