Phil 3:10 “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (KJV)

This is a powerful verse in the scriptures and if we truly analyze this – we see 3 things

1. The desire to Know Christ
2. The power of His resurrection
3. The fellowship of His suffering.

This scripture embodies the Pilgrim’s progress in a nutshell and within lies the answer to the question “why do bad things happen to good people” and the understanding that although you do good things with good intentions and in theory it has all the facets of being a good thing… yet it results in such pain and persecution that you sometimes doubt whether you should have done these things in the first place.

And then -even though you do 99 good things and 1 bad thing- it is the bad thing that people remember. We are quick to make outcasts of people and to judge them if they do not fit in with us.

This gets me to think about the parable in Luke 15:4. About the lost sheep. That sheep was lost and was an outcast.

We are so quick to judge others based on our understanding, our beliefs, our customs and traditions and our culture that sometimes we do not give the other person a chance or seek out the person who made a mistake. For this reason and in these situations, I ask myself the question…

“What would Jesus do”

It is a question we need to ask ourselves in our daily walk, in our daily life. When the opportunity for doing good arises…just do it.. in spite of the consequences. If you see a person in need… help them to the best of your ability.

For if indeed we want to know Christ and to walk in the power of His resurrection, we will suffer persecution, rejection, pain and a multitude of “bad things”.  But like Paul in Phil 3:14, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” So too, for His glory..we ask ourselves the important question of “WWJD” and then we set our gaze towards Him. Phil 1:6 tells us ” Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”.

Christ came to cast us in… we who were once outcasts and destitute in spirit. He came to give us grace… CAST IN GRACE.