August 7

Acts 5:41
“They departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name”— Acts 5:4141And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. (Acts 5:41).
THERE is a difference between suffering with Christ (Rom. 8:1717And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Romans 8:17)) and suffering for Him (Acts 5:4141And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. (Acts 5:41)). All Christians suffer with Him because of the very fact that they are partakers of the divine nature, and therefore are quick to feel the adverse conditions through which they are called to pass. But to suffer for Him is to bear shame and reproach—even unto persecution and death—for Christ’s name’s sake (Acts 9:1616For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. (Acts 9:16)). We are told that unto us it is given, not only to believe on Him but to suffer for His sake.
“Blest are the sufferers, who partake
Of pain and shame for Jesus’ sake;
Their souls shall triumph in the Lord;
Glory and joy are their reward.”
—Isaac Watts.
“‘A little while’— ‘twill soon be past,
Why should we shun the promised cross?
Oh, let us in His footsteps haste,
Counting for Him all else but loss;
For how will recompense His smile
The sufferings of this ‘little while.’”
―J. G. Deck.