Your broken heart is proof that you are a daughter of God. Even though our present afflictions feel unbearable now, we have the promise that they will yield the fruit of righteousness. Hebrews 12:11 says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

Listen to Matthew Henry’s commentary:

“But the Father of our souls never willingly grieves nor afflicts his children. It is always for our profit. Our whole life here is a state of childhood, and imperfect as to spiritual things; therefore we must submit to the discipline of such a state. When we come to a perfect state, we shall be fully reconciled to all God’s chastisement of us now. God’s correction is not condemnation; the chastening may be borne with patience, and greatly promote holiness. Let us then learn to consider the afflictions brought on us by the malice of men, as corrections sent by our wise and gracious Father, for our spiritual good.”

You are growing in grace and knowledge and I am honored to be your friend & sister in the Lord!

What precious words these are!! Yes, humiliating ourselves because of our miserable failures is one of if not the best thing that can happen to us.
There is something so freeing about knowing we are nothing, have nothing and will always be nothing apart from the outpouring of God’s wonderful grace and mercy towards us!

“that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,” (The Valley of Vision)

Regarding riches and prosperity this also reminds me of one of my favorite verses:

“Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion,
That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the LORD?”
Or that I not be in want and steal,
And profane the name of my God.” Proverbs 30:8-9

I always love your posts Christina! Thank you very much!

thanks for posting those beautiful words.
Couldn’t come at a better time. This past week has been extremely tough.
Growing and trusting. I have done it MY way for so many years and it has never gotten me anywhere good. Let me accept the situation I am in and trust it’s for the better.

love you lots

I read “The Pursuit of Holiness” by Jerry Bridges the first week I got saved. I don’t think I can ever overstate how significant his teaching has been to me. And, it continues to be so. His teachings are classics that just never grow old – no matter how long you’ve been serving the Lord.

So, Robert will write your next post! I will look forward to reading your guest blogger!!!

So true! I would love to read this book. There MUST be that balance lest we err to extremes. On one side there’s antinomianism where we adopt a quietist approach, and sin reigns. Or the other we are consumed with self loathing to a fault and fail to recognize the infinite mercy and power of the blood of Christ. Systematic Theology is an absolute must – and we’re finding more and more that it is being rejected which is where the trouble begins.

So, funny you posted this just now, Christiana as Robert and I are discussing this embalance just now. I’m having him write my next post. Thanks for posting this!

“let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:22

How true. Is 43:25 says that GOD forgets our sins. Us, well, not so much! We still have memories. And, I agree with you in that God would have it that way. I listened to a sermon not too long ago by Voddie Baucham…I think it was called “Brokenness” but I can’t remember. He was talking about the same exact thing. He called it “scar tissue.”

It’s almost like we have to learn how to master making the distinction between “facts” and “Truth.” The facts are the sin that is worthy of judgement. The truth is that Jesus Christ paid the price and that we wear His righteousness!

God is love, but He is to be feared also. He’s a perfect blend of love and justice. The danger comes when we forget how much we need Him. The kings in the Old Testament were a perfect example of that. A conscience that realizes it is doomed without Him, is the perfect place to be.

Should we allow the memories to beat us up constantly? Of course not, however, without that constant reminder, most of us might forget to keep ourselves Holy. I say a conscience that sharply remembers how bad our behavior once was, is an incredible gift. Now our part becomes turning that memory into a positive action, by thanking satan for the reminder and holding ever tighter to Jesus.

“There is no personal accountablility this way and no checks and balances for maintaining doctrinal and personal purity.” If ever a statement were true! I have seen that dynamic in action first hand and have been blessed by it!

Church, when done right (according to the Bible), is a set-up for such joy and edification for the believers. It’s a gift!! Of course, I understand that many who reject “belonging to a church” have had negative experiences however that is no excuse. If God expects this from us He will help us to do it. When a Church is operating the way that God intends (not perfect but biblically) there is such ocassion for joy and thanksgiving when the saints gather! There are too many benefits to list!

I think the folks described in Acts 13:51 were ungrateful too! Ha! That was funny! And, it would appear that they never would be either!