October 23
‘I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’ Philippians 3:14
Bible reading: Romans 8:18-25 (Go to the Bible passage)
In this passage, Paul testifies to the great source of power in the life of a Christian.
How many people are depressed because of the suffering nobody escapes… Tribulations can terribly paralyze and even destroy people. But we also see people who mature and grow in strength through the adversities of life.
During the Second World War many entered the concentration camps as unbelievers, but in the distress and tribulations they learned to call upon God, and they received faith and strength to survive these dark times. Others entered this hell with no more than a religious background. The God they only knew from hearsay proved to be dead… They died as betrayed people or came home embittered.
Before we are put to the test, it is necessary to be fully aware that the present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed. Whoever has really knelt down before God to devote his entire life to Him, learns to live out of the indestructible hope that God will have the final word in everything.
The whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth, Paul said. What he saw then, is now a terrible reality. Millions live in this world without hope. But those who put their trust in Jesus, are set ablaze with this indestructible hope, and they wait with perseverance for the moment the trumpet will sound. Then the perishable will clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53) and those who believed in Him will rejoice at His coming.

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