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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman
You
Can Handle It Many
of us read the Book of Revelation in an attempt to figure out the future
without seeing any present-day importance within its pages.
If that is all Revelation means to you, then you will miss much
of the book's significance. Revelation
2:24, for example, is important to our daily lives as Christians.
"Now
I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her
teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets, 'I will
not impose any other burden on you.'" One
thing we learn from this verse is that sometimes Jesus imposes burdens
on both the individual believer and the church community.
He does so as a means of discipline.
That's not a popular concept these days, but this fact remains.
Discipline produces maturity, and the maturing process is a daily
experience for the Christian and the church.
Another
thing we learn from what Jesus said on this occasion is that He does
limit the intensity of the burden He places on us and our church
community. He only burdens
us down with that which we can handle.
It is not difficult to figure out, then, that if you or your
church family are carrying a burden, Jesus believes you can handle it.
That being the case, there is no use complaining about a burden
that Jesus feels you can handle. There
is also no sense blaming the devil for the burden that originates with
Jesus. So,
the next time you or your church community feel like complaining or
asking Jesus to rescue you from a burdensome trial, you might want to
think about the lesson to be learned from being disciplined.
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