… it is
not only believing certain things about Me that helps and heals, but
knowing Me, sensing My Presence in a flower, My message in its beauty and
perfume.
You can
truly live a life not of earth - a heaven-life here and now. Joy - Joy - Joy.
…because I’ve
been struggling with the issue of suffering.
I know in my head that this life is temporary. I know in my head that the Christian life
involves suffering – Christ suffered, (for us, for me no less!) and as His
followers, we are each to bear our own individual cross, and give up our lives
for Him.
Herein
is our love made perfect, that we
may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
These
things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but
be of good cheer; I have overcome
the world.
Whosoever
shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall
preserve it.
The depth of
what this “giving up” of our lives entails – specifics of what it means, what
is involved - differs for each person.
So the Oswald Chambers devotional My
Utmost For His Highest really touched on this for me today:
To become one with Jesus
Christ, a person must be willing not only to give up sin, but also to surrender
his whole way of looking at things. Being born again by the Spirit of God means
that we must first be willing to let go before we can grasp something else. …
Along each step of this process, we will have to give up our claims to our
rights to ourselves. Are we willing to surrender our grasp on all that we
possess, our desires, and everything else in our lives? Are we ready to be
identified with the death of Jesus Christ?
We will suffer a sharp
painful disillusionment before we fully surrender. When people really see
themselves as the Lord sees them, it is not the terribly offensive sins of the
flesh that shock them, but the awful nature of the pride of their own hearts
opposing Jesus Christ. When they see themselves in the light of the Lord, the
shame, horror, and desperate conviction hit home for them.
If you are faced with the
question of whether or not to surrender, make a determination to go on through
the crisis, surrendering all that you have and all that you are to Him. And God
will then equip you to do all that He requires of you.
Letting go,
changing my “whole way of looking at things” to be with the mind of Christ, suffering
disillusionment, giving up my claim to my rights to myself … LORD, please help me make the “determination to go on through the
crisis, surrendering” all that I have and all that I am to You, no matter the
cost. Thank You for reminding me that some things are only accomplished in this
life through suffering, through death – even the suffering and death of Your
Son on behalf of sinful humanity. You
did not insulate Yourself, Your Son from the suffering…Thank You for the hope
of Heaven, the promise of Your Presence, the leading of Your Spirit, the
comfort of Your Word, the wisdom of Your working, the exaltation of Your Son –
that holiness, majesty, power is Yours, that
love is Your nature, faithfulness is Your character, goodness is
Your disposition, that mercy, grace,
righteousness are found with You. Thank
You for the transformation of mind and heart
that can be accomplished by focusing on You in reverential awe, and
yielding to Your will…
Blessed
be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and
the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may
be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we
ourselves are comforted of God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
… and my journey with Him continues
…
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