Philippians 1:29 For you have been granted [the privilege] for Christ’s sake, not only to believe and confidently trust in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, (AMP)

The term “for Christ’s sake” was not always deemed to be cussing. We changed that and it became a form of cussing. That changed the day it stopped being a privilege to suffer for Christ.

There was a time when men and women sought out suffering because it identified them as servants of Christ, that they were not of this world but merely lived in it. Hidden within the lyrics of this old hippie’s music was a line that asked “are you living comfortably.” The music was built around the illusions of the mind and telling ourselves everything is fine even though we have lost control.

Are you in control of your life? If so, what choices do you make to suffer for Christ’s sake? There are those who do make that choice, even today. There are those who chose to put there very lives at risk for the sake of the gospel. Some have died violently. Does that make you uncomfortable? Are you living comfortably?

Ecclesiastes 5:19 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.

The fact that you can rejoice in your labors is a gift from God but do we acknowledge that with praise and honor to the God who bestowed those gifts or do we live comfortably?

I am not trying to guilt anyone into doing anything. I just want each of us to acknowledge God for all that He has done and is doing in our live, whether we suffer or living comfortably. There is no way to repay the debt we owe for what He has done except perhaps to love Him better today than yesterday. How you do that isn’t up to me. That is between you and God, it is your relationship.

Am I living comfortably? No, thank God.

Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

This is the sure foundation Isaiah was talking about.

Matthew 7:24-25 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

Now I must ask; what are you building? If the Rock is the foundation, isn’t the design and purpose behind your structure dependent upon the cornerstone?

Ephesians 2:19-21 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. (NIV)

Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

John 14:2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?