I do not mean to discourage anyone, but if you think that the Christian life is anything like a picnic or a party, you have not figured it out yet. We come into God's Kingdom struggling, prayer is a struggle, self-control and discipline is a struggle, disciple-making is a struggle, interceding for people around the world is a struggle, holy living is a life-long life and death struggle with our flesh that lives within us that is seeking to come out from the grave where it is buried. Â AGONIDZOMAI, the word we have been seeing in these verses is translated into English AV - strive 3, fight 3, labor fervently 1; 7 It means 1) to enter a contest: contend in the gymnastic games 2) to contend with adversaries, fight 3) metaph. to contend, struggle, with difficulties and dangers 4) to endeavor with strenuous zeal, strive: to obtain something This is the word the Lord through the Spirit of God picked to go into your Bible and mine to describe what life is like in Christ. And that is what we are called to as Christians! Â Turn with me to Genesis 12 to look at a fellow struggler. Abraham struggled as he learned to wait. He waited 25 years to see the promises of God fulfilled. Abraham is a fellow pilgrim struggling on the road of faith. He grew in faith waiting for what had been promised. Â We have been studying the lives of fellow strugglers in this series. Each of them has been so powerful as God exposes their lives in the Scriptures. Â I. Job struggled to See God, and through his pain, he saw Him as never before. If you have ever struggled and triumphed through the pain you learn to see God in a different way. All of a sudden, a lot of things do not matter much when you have a t
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Pastor John Barnett has been devouring the Word of God for over 30 years. John, now the teaching pastor of Calvary Bible Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan has served congregations in Oklahoma, New England, Georgia and California. He also served on the Faculty of the Master's College...
