Reading again “A FLOWER HAS TO GO THROUGH A LOT OF DIRT BEFORE IT CAN BLOOM,” on the sign which you find on Commerce Street here in Kaitaia, this morning, a verse from the Bible came to my mind, namely Acts 14:22, where it says:
“WE MUST GO THROUGH MANY HARDSHIPS TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD.”
Looking up the word ‘hardship’ in the Bible I learned this:
“A Flower …”
- We must endure hardship.
- We must endure hardship like a good soldier of Christ.
- We must endure hardship as discipline.
- Paul says that as servants of God we commend ourselves in great hardships.
- Paul says also that for Christ’s sake he delights in hardships.
- This is said to the Church in Ephesus: You have endured hardships.
“It is ordained of old that the cross of trouble should be engraved on every vessel of mercy, as a royal mark whereby the King’s vessels of honor are distinguished,” says Charles Haddon Spurgeon
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Second Timothy 4:5; Second Timothy 2:3; Hebrews 12:7; Second Corinthians 6:4; Second Corinthians 12:10; Revelation 2:3; Romans 8:35