Romans 6:23 For The Wages Of Sin Is Death, But The Gift Of God Is Eternal Life In Christ Jesus Our Lord.

The phrase "we're all gonna die" sounds like a trite phrase from a B-grade horror movie. However, none of us will survive our ride on planet earth, or at least we will not survive in our physical body. For some of us, we see death as our ultimate pain reliever. For those of us who do not fear death but who will welcome a new eternal life of eternal love and peace, death has little sting. Unfortunately, some of us will not see an eternal life full of love and peace. Some of us will see an eternal life of outer darkness. Looking at an eternity of total darkness with no contact with anything or anyone is a horrifying thought. No wonder so many who have not accepted Christ are afraid to die! In these matters, we must not believe living in pain gives us an excuse to not fully follow Christ. We have no excuse to go our way rather than His way.

2 Tim. 1:10 But It Has Now Been Revealed Through The Appearing Of Our Savior, Christ Jesus, Who Has Destroyed Death And Has Brought Life And Immortality To Light Through The Gospel.

No one would want to live forever in pain and suffering. Christ does not want any of us to live in pain and suffering forever. When Christ died on the cross for each of us He gave His life so each of us could escape our pain and suffering forever. Each of us can look forward to a time of no suffering lasting for eternity. Those of us in pain can live in hope of no more pain. Instead of living in pain, we can look forward to living in peace, in joy, and in the exhilaration of our soul forever. The immensity of Christ's suffering is beyond our comprehension. The magnitude of Christ's suffering we will never comprehend. Imagine all the suffering being taken away from the earth. We can only imagine for we are not capable of fully comprehending how much He loves us.

John 14:3 And If I Go And Prepare A Place For You, I Will Come Again, And Receive You Unto Myself; That Where I Am, There Ye May Be Also.

We are not left upon the earth as orphans. Our pain cuts us off from others and from our world. We do not want to be cut off. We want to be one with others and with God. However, there is infinite and eternal hope for us, for those of us who suffer. Our hope is real and tangible. Our hope rests upon the reality of Christ, the reality of God, and the reality of the Holy Spirit. When we cast our suffering upon Christ, when we take our suffering to Him, we know He will take us in. He is now preparing a place for us, a place of love, peace, and dazzling grandeur made out of the majesty of His being. We know we will be with Him in the future. We do not know the hour or day but the hour or day makes no difference for our hope is greater than a calendar, clock, or date. We know we shall never have a moment of loneliness put on us ever again. Even now, even in our pain, our hope is our balm and comfort. If we look, we can see Him in a not too distant place waiting for us. All our earthly pain and sorrows will be replaced by joy in the eternal morning of new life with Him.

Romans 8:16 The Spirit Itself Beareth Witness With Our Spirit, That We Are The Children Of God

Our pain can consume our heart, mind, and soul. Our pain can cut us off from our reality. Although we know we have a parent or parents, our pain can make us think we have no mother and father. However, no matter how much we hurt, we are never without a parent who loves us and cares for us in infinite ways. No matter if we ever know our parent or parents on earth, we always have a Father in heaven. We are children of God and to Him we shall always belong. Our Lord does not leave us alone, even in our deepest pain, for He is always with us, caring for us, keeping us close within His heart. We must always grasp hold of Him with all our might, all our heart, and all our soul…especially when we hurt. The more we hold fast to Him, the more certain beyond all doubt, we shall see Him. We shall fully know beyond all doubt He is fully our Father in heaven.

John 16:7 But I Tell You The Truth: It Is For Your Good That I Am Going Away. Unless I Go Away, The Counselor Will Not Come To You; But If I Go, I Will Send Him To You.

We see in this verse, Christ's desire to be near to us. Jesus was aware of the pain and grief of loss among His followers when Jesus must disappear in His physical form (which Jesus had to do). We see in this verse God is bound by certain physical realities, some of which are still mysteries to us. We see in this verse how God has presented to us a way for Him to be in many places at one time. We see in this verse how the Holy Spirit is with us every moment no matter where we are. In His physical form, Jesus could not be in many places at one time. However, when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit (in this verse called the Counselor) Jesus would then be able to be in all places at one time. We live in a world of contradictions. Our physical world limits us. Our spiritual world is unlimited. We see in this verse the love and compassion Jesus has for us. Most of all, we see in this verse the Counselor was sent to us because Christ loves us and wants to be near us.

Romans 8:26 In The Same Way, The Spirit Helps Us In Our Weakness. We Do Not Know What We Ought To Pray For, But The Spirit Himself Intercedes For Us With Groans That Words Cannot Express.

Pain makes us weak. Pain takes away our heart, soul, and mind. In pain, we become a lost child. In our weakness, we have an intercessor. In our weakness, the Holy Spirit stands by to help us through every battle. When we are weak and helpless, we do not always have words to pray. In our weakness, we are left speechless before God. The Lord knows our every moment. The Lord knows when we need help. When we need help, the Holy Spirit comes to connect us to the Lord is mighty and powerful ways. Living with the power of the Holy Spirit within us, we come to see we are not weak and helpless after all.

1 John 4:13 We Know That We Live In Him And He In Us, Because He Has Given Us Of His Spirit.

The worst pain in the world is to be alone…as in loneliness. When we have accepted Christ, we are never alone. Even when we run away from God, even when we turn our back on God, even when our pain puts an impenetrable wall between us and God, we are never alone. Satan's attack upon us using satanic pain to kill our spirit tries to make us think there is no God. If Satan can make us think there is no God or God is out of our reach, we end up believing there is no God in our pain. However, we can never be separated from God because He lives in us. God lives in us and we live in Him. When we live in God and He within us, we will live forever. We will outlive our pain. Over God's timeless infinity of love, pain becomes nothing. The more we let His timeless infinity of love become part of our being in the here and now the more power we have over Satan's attacks.

Romans 5:5 And Hope Does Not Disappoint Us, Because God Has Poured Out His Love Into Our Hearts By The Holy Spirit, Whom He Has Given Us.

When we hurt, we can lose hope and give up. When we hurt, we need the fuel of life to keep us moving into the future. The fuel of life is hope. In Christ, we have the source of all hope eternal. We can always get through the day and deal with our pain…if we have hope. Hope is the great pain reliever not only for our souls, but also for our body. When God's love is upon us, we have His hope within us…His hope showing us we have life eternal.

Psalms 23:6 Surely Goodness And Mercy Shall Follow Me All The Days Of My Life: And I Will Dwell In The House Of The Lord For Ever.

When we are in pain, we have trouble getting to the kind of affirmation we read in this verse. However, when we are in pain, we must not let Satan ground us to the earth. When we are in pain, we must let our heart, mind, and soul soar up toward heaven moment by moment. No matter what our circumstances might be, we must always know the goodness and mercy of God will always be with us all of our days on earth. The goodness and mercy of God will also be with us all of our days in heaven. The power of our faith, even in our pain, transports us to God's infinite place of love and grace. God's infinite place of love is His house in heaven, His house where we will live forever and ever.

Psalms 23:5 Thou Preparest A Table Before Me In The Presence Of Mine Enemies: Thou Anointest My Head With Oil; My Cup Runneth Over.

Our pain is the enemy. We live amongst our enemies. Our enemies live within us. On the surface, the idea of God preparing a table before us while we are doing battle with our enemy the pain is ludicrous. However, we must realize God wants victory from us. God is not the author of our pain. In our pain God wants victory. God loves us beyond measure and beyond our ability to fully know. In our pain God wants us fully nourished so we can be strong to do battle against our pain. To make us fully nourished, God has prepared a table of plenty before us.

When a sheep gets into trouble and scraps the flesh of the sheep causing an injury, the shepherd rubs healing oil on the injury. In our pain, God applies His healing love to our heart, mind, and soul. God's healing love enables us to recover from our injuries. God's healing love enables us to live more fully in spite of our pain.

Satan is the author of our pain. Using our pain, Satan wants to destroy us. In the middle of our pain, we can look up to God to see how God has blessed us, loved us, and kept us in the palm of His hand. If there is one activity to lift us up, to heal us, to disable and minimize Satan's power, the activity to defeat Satan is giving thanks. When we look to God and say to Him, "my cup runneth over" even in our pain, we become the victor instead of remaining a victim.

Psalms 23:4 Yea, Though I Walk Through The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death, I Will Fear No Evil: For Thou Art With Me; Thy Rod And Thy Staff They Comfort Me.

Death and evil are equated in this verse. The Psalmist is consistent with other writers in the New and Old Testament in grouping death and evil together. The author of life is God the Father. The author of death is Satan. Satan came into the world and brought death to the world. Satan brought pain and suffering into the world. All of walk in the shadow of death for we all know we are going to physically die at some point. What we must also know is our death in the physical body need not be death in our heart, soul, or spirit. We need not have any fear of death for Christ brought an end to the death of our spirit when Christ died for us on the cross. Christ is indeed with us if we chose to be with Him. Christ is the protector of our soul or spirit.

The shepherd who keeps watch over his flock keeps a rod or club with him, along with a staff. A staff is a long pole with a hook on one end of the pole. The shepherd uses the staff to pull a sheep out of crevices in the rocks, out of bushes, briars, and dangerous places. Sheep have no real defenses against predators and are nearly helpless for sheep have limited physical abilities. We call Christ our shepherd for Christ protects us in many ways like the shepherd protects the sheep.

Human fear is a natural occurrence. We tend to experience more and more fear the more pain we suffer.

Psalms 23:3 He Restoreth My Soul: He Leadeth Me In The Paths Of Righteousness For His Name's Sake.

In pain, our soul seems to be emptied out. In pain, our pain can seem so dominant we can seem to have no soul. Our Great Shepherd comes to us in our pain and restores us. Our Great Shepherd is the Great Healer and the Great Physician. The worst result of pain is the loss of hope. Pain chews into our heart and soul giving us a feeling of hopelessness. Christ, our Great Shepherd, restores our hope for a better tomorrow and a better eternity.

A shepherd in the field must keep his sheep walking on the right path for if a sheep walks on the wrong path, disaster is sure to follow. A sheep on the wrong path can stumble and fall, get caught in briars and bushes, or get attacked by predators like wolves. Sheep in the field need the leadership, protection, and guidance of a shepherd.

When we are in pain, with a loss of soul, and with a loss of hope, we can so very easily walk on a path of unrighteousness because we do not care any more. When we stumble and fall off the path of righteousness, our Great Shepherd comes to us to get us to walk on His path of righteousness.

Psalm 23:2 He Maketh Me To Lie Down In Green Pastures: He Leadeth Me Beside The Still Waters.

If you are a lamb, lying down in green pastures is attractive because you will know when you get hungry you will have plenty to eat. If you are a lamb, you want still waters because moving water frightens you. In our pain, we want the comfort of rest...the kind of rest a lamb would find while lying down in green pastures. In our pain, we thirst for relief, the kind of relief we find only in drinking the living water of God. When we are in pain we can wonder "Where is God?" We can wonder "Why doesn't God do something?" In this verse, we find God actually doing something to help us, comfort us, nourish us, and quench our thirst. So often in our pain, we are not able to fend for ourselves like we might desire. Yet even in our pain, God is looking out for us. If we let God do His work in our life, even in our most painful moments, He will direct our path. He will set our destiny to a point where we glorify His name. If we open our hearts, we can see the Lord making us do His will, even when we are not aware. If we open our hearts, we can see the Lord leading us through our pain. In our pain, we serve a gentle and loving God. In our pain, we serve a loving God who will always be with us.

Psalm 23:1 The LORD Is My Shepherd; I Shall Not Want. (2)

In pain, we lose track of where we are and what we are supposed to be about. We often hunger and thirst for relief, too often finding too little too late here on earth. In all of our efforts, we battle pain day in and day out. We grow weary. We grow hungry and thirsty for a respite. Yet, when we look past our present state of painful days, we can see Him. When we look into the future, into the time when we will finally see Him, we see how He will supply our every need. Our Great Shepherd will give us living water and an abundance of food for our soul. In the future in infinity, we shall no longer want. We shall no longer want relief. We shall no longer want an end to our fear.

Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

How can we not want when we are in pain? Pain makes us want. Pain tries to destroy us. Sometimes pain does destroy us. Yet, even in pain we must try to look over the horizon. We must look above the clouds. We must look for what we cannot see. For if we look for what we cannot see, we can see our Great Shepherd. We will see Him reaching out to us. When we hurt, our shepherd reaches down to comfort us. He reaches down to dry every tear. When we feel alone, He gently touches us to remind us He is near us. He is always near and never far away.