He Never Promised Us A Rose Garden~

PHILIPPIANS 1:29 (KING JAMES VERSION)

 ²⁹For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

Somewhere in our thinking as Christians ~we grow to believe that we will always be blessed with health and wealth if we are living for God. It is just not so. Don't be surprised if you're living your life according to the Bible and you find it is not all a bed of roses.

MATTHEW 5:11-12

 ¹¹Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
 ¹²Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

The Bible tells us that all who live Godly will suffer persecution, but the promise is that if we suffer or are persecuted for Christ sake will be rewarded.

Christ suffered for us on that cruel~rugged tree to pay for our sins. He paid a debt I could not pay. The JUST for the unjust!

ISAIAH 53:3 

 ³He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

If we walk with Christ~we will suffer at times. The world hated Him~why would we expect it to love us, his followers.

PHILIPPIANS 3:10 

 ¹⁰That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;


Accepting Christ as my Saviour was the greatest decision I ever made. You see hard times, persecution, trials and troubles will come to all mankind. God never promised we would be exempt from it but He does promise to hold our hand and walk through the difficult days with us. I just would not choose to live life any other way.