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1 Peter 4:12<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Truth to Learn<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Christians have suffered for their faith throughout history. Therefore, don\u2019t think it strange if it happens to you.<\/p>\n Behind the Words<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The expression \u201cdo not think it strange<\/span>\u201d comes from two Greek words, m\u0113<\/span><\/em> and a form of xenidzo<\/span><\/em>. M\u0113<\/span><\/em> means \u201cnot\u201d and the verb zenidzo<\/span><\/em> means \u201cto think of something as strange.\u201d This verb is expressed in the imperative mood, indicating a command.<\/p>\n The words \u201cfiery trial<\/span>\u201d are translated from pur\u014dsis<\/span><\/em>, which refers specifically to \u201cthe act of smelting metals.\u201d Figuratively, it refers to any time of intense trial.<\/p>\n \u201cWhich is to try you<\/span>\u201d is translated from peirasmon humin ginomen\u0113<\/span><\/em>. The word peirasmon<\/span><\/em> refers to \u201ca trial or temptation,\u201d that is, \u201ca time of testing.\u201d The word humin<\/span><\/em> means \u201cyou (plural).\u201d And ginomen\u0113<\/span><\/em> is the present participle of the verb meaning \u201cto begin\u201d or \u201cto come about.\u201d Hence, this expression can be translated as \u201ca trying time which is currently coming upon you.\u201d<\/p>\n Meaning Explained<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Peter now returns again to the theme that he has been repeating throughout this letter, suffering for righteousness sake. It is true that the Christians in the early church suffered persecution repeatedly at the hands of jealous Jews and tyrannical Roman rulers. But members of the Church have suffered persecution throughout history. In fact, there have been few times in history when the church has not suffered persecution, so Peter\u2019s message is relevant for all generations of believers.<\/p>\n Consider, after all, the spiritual warfare that is going on, and has been going on in the heavenlies since time began. Satan and his demons have been opposed to God\u2019s plan and His faithful servants from the beginning. We sometimes think it a strange thing that we are coming under heavier and heavier attack from the humanists and secularist who want to get God out of our school systems and out of our government. But wasn\u2019t this country founded on Christian ideals and values? Of course it was. However, that doesn\u2019t mean that our enemy won\u2019t do everything in his power to neutralize God\u2019s influence. Actually, in this country we have had such religious freedom for the past 250 years that we think all of history has been like that. Not so, I\u2019m afraid.<\/p>\n And, there are places in the world right now where Christians are being persecuted and murdered simply because they believe that Jesus Christ died for their sins.<\/p>\n The time is coming when, even in this country, Christians will be persecuted and caused to suffer simply for believing in the Creator-God and the sacrificial atonement of His Son. So Peter\u2019s message is just as relevant to us today as it has been throughout history. Therefore, don\u2019t think it strange if it happens to you.<\/p>\n Application<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Let\u2019s proclaim the message of freedom and salvation, though it may fall on deaf ears, even if it means that we will be persecuted and suffer for it. And if you do suffer, don\u2019t think it unusual, give Him the glory!<\/p>\n In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2009 <\/span>Will <\/span>Krause. All rights reserved.<\/span><\/p>\n – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n <\/span>If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; Truth to Learn Christians have suffered for their faith throughout history. Therefore, don\u2019t think it strange if it happens to you. Behind the Words The expression \u201cdo not think […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[139,140,89],"class_list":["post-733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christian","tag-strange","tag-suffering"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-bP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"signature\"](\"\/signature.gif\")
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