Well, I started to endure some fires of affliction shortly thereafter, and I am thinking to myself, "I am suffering for Christ". Well, yes and no. As a Christian, you will go through trials and tribulations and some persecution for the name of Christ, and all Christians do have to go through the continuous pruning throughout their Christian walk to bring forth glorious fruit for the kingdom, but that is only a small part of suffering for Christ (although there are people in other countries who truly suffer to the point of physical death for the gospel of Christ!). But for the most part, many of us think if we have to go through any hardship whatsoever in the name of Christ, we are "suffering for Christ", and I am no different.
 So I was talking to Jesus the other day about an unhappy incident which affected a few members within the body of Christ, and as I was talking, a brief vision flashed across my mind and I suddenly saw a whip come out of the air and slash across Jesus' back, cutting through His clothing into His skin and leaving a big slash across His back. I was stunned into silence. I could sense that He was in pain and realized that what happened within His body (His bride) happened to Him! I just sat with Him, not sure what to say or to do in that moment...and the moment passed and the picture went away. A day later I was talking to God about the incident again (having forgotten the little scene with Christ), and because I find humor in almost everything, I wryly made a remark to God about the fact that some disturbances in the body of Christ have the distinct, unpleasant feel of a gladiator sport with people vying for ringside seats...and just as I said that, the word "AGONY" was heard in my mind; and I realized that the Spirit of God was feeling agony at what was happening in His body. And when I heard the word "AGONY" and knew God was experiencing it, I thought to myself, "People will not believe that God experiences agony!" And as I thought that, all of a sudden my own spirit felt a part of what God was feeling and I had to fight the tears to keep from crying. And I felt the hurt in God for His body. And the revelation hit me! To share in the sufferings of Christ is not just to suffer for Christ, it is to suffer with Christ, to feel His His heart for His body, to feel His heart for the lost!  And I remembered a picture vision I had one day when I was praying. In this brief vision I was standing next to Jesus, standing on a hill I believe, and He was slightly turned away from me looking out over this city in the distance, and I knew He was seeing the world and His face was tortured with grief; and I could see He was in great emotional pain and grief, and there were no words to say to help ease His pain.
 Some people think they are sharing His cross and sharing His suffering when they endure poverty or sickness or emotional grief, and there is no denying that there is suffering in that, but we do not have to share the suffering in that. He became poor that we might become rich, He bore our griefs and our sorrows and gives us peace that passes understanding (Phil 4:7) and joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Pet 1:8) and by His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). Yet we do share in His cross and share in His sufferings when we come to know His heart, and His hurt, and His love for the bride, and His longing and love toward the lost! Let us take on His heart and His suffering that we may also be partakers of His glory!