Every Christian lives with a paradox.  Our spirit is now alive because God's Spirit has indwelt us; and yet our body is dying and one day will be dead (Romans 5:12).  At the same time as we are enjoying our relationship with the living Lord and look forward to meeting Him, we live in a corrupt world with a corrupted body which can fail to function properly.  One day it will stop functioning completely.

When we trusted in Christ Jesus as Saviour and Lord, something remarkable happened.  God sent His Holy Spirit into our hearts (Acts 15:8)!  His holy presence is so different to the enslaving control of sin.  All graceless religion enslaves its followers.  To be accepted, adherents must change their behaviour or suffer punishment.  Their pious actions may help to bind them to a committed community who are afraid of sanctions if they step out of line, but cannot bind them to God who looks for a reborn heart (1 Samuel 16:7; John 3:3).  Religion, without being born again, is a weighty and inesc

It should be no surprise that our earthly pathway, as believers in Jesus, is marked by suffering (1 Peter 4:12-14).  Some experience very little, and when it comes it is a nasty shock; for others the suffering is constant, only the intensity varies.  Of course, suffering is a part of the fallen and rebellious world.  We are not in the Garden of Eden, nor are we in heaven.  Everywhere we look, something is not quite right, and affects us adversely, fulfilling the promises of Genesis 3.  Such suffering is common to all people, whether they believe or not.

It only needs average eyesight to realise that the world is not right; in fact, everything is dysfunctional in some way or another.  It is hard work to live here, confronting daily challenges to our bodies, minds and spirits.  Although it would be nice to think that following Jesus would eliminate all struggles, the reality is that the more closely we follow Him, the more struggles we have.