将来的荣耀
1月11日
现在的苦楚若比起将来要显于我们的荣耀，就不足介意了。（罗8:18）
圣经没有教导我们：基督徒会免受世界上的苦难和自然灾害；而是教导我们因着神所赐的力量去面对遇到的苦难，危机，灾害，以及个人糟害，这些力量在基督之外的人是不具备的。早期的基督徒在经历试探，苦难和沮丧时内心仍然充满了喜乐。他们不认为为基督受苦是负担或者不幸，而是看为一种极大的荣耀，一种见证——神使他们透过苦难做基督的见证。他们永远不会忘记基督为救赎他们付出了怎样的代价，他们也清楚因神的名受苦难是恩赐而不是惩罚。基督徒在苦难中也要喜乐因为有永恒的盼望，当压迫来临的时候，不要只看眼前的困境而要仰望天堂的荣耀。与将来尊贵和喜乐的生活相比，眼前的试探都不足介意了。
今日祷告
天父啊，求你帮助我不要只看当下的苦难。而是仰望你在天上为我们预备的荣耀。
Eternity
January 11
What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later.
—Romans 8:18 (TLB)
Nowhere does the Bible teach that Christians are to be exempt from the tribulations and natural disasters that come upon the world. It does teach that the Christian can face tribulation, crisis, calamity, and personal suffering with a supernatural power that is not available to the person outside Christ. The early Christians were able to experience joy in their hearts in the midst of trials, troubles, and depression. They counted suffering for Christ not as a burden or misfortune, but as a great honor, as evidence that Christ counted them worthy to witness to Him through suffering. They never forgot what Christ Himself had gone through for their salvation; and to suffer for His name’s sake was regarded as a gift rather than a cross. Christians can rejoice in tribulation because they have eternity’s values in view. When the pressures are on, they look beyond their present predicaments to the glories of heaven. The thought of the future life with its prerogatives and joys helps to make the trials of the present seem light and transient.
Prayer for the day
Father, help me to go beyond the afflictions and tribulations of our age, and to look toward the inheritance reserved for us in heaven.
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