Loved by Christian Love- 4 Strangers

Mat 19:19  Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Lev 19:18  Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Rom 13:9  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Rom 13:10  Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Gal 5:14  For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself

Jas 2:8  If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well

CHRISTIAN LOVE.

I experienced this notably THREE times today. I say notably three times because in all actuality it was probably a lot more but these three times really stand out.

1st-  At the theme park today a woman worker there came up to my family out of the blue and asked if we wanted her to take our picture. Now before you say, 'That's not unusual'  it was unusual because the woman wasn't one of those theme park employees who get paid to take your picture and get you to buy those pictures before you leave the park. She held her hands out to take our camera and took two pictures of all four of us. She was overly nice, overly because we passed well over a hundred employees over the last 3 days and she was the only one who offered to do this and it just seemed very nice, very kind. (CHRISTIAN LOVE)

2nd- In the theme park restroom my daughter (using her electric scooter) went inside and I went to watch the scooter which carried quite a few of our belongings. Sitting on the scooter waiting for her I decided to maneuver it a bit to have it pointing towards the door. A woman walked in and with great concern asked if I needed any help. She didn't know me, I didn't know her and yet she offered her assistance to me. I politely thanked her and told her no, I was just waiting for my daughter who uses the scooter and she smiled.  There was NO REASON for that stranger to offer help to me and yet she did.  KINDNESS! (CHRISTIAN LOVE)

3rd-  Our car had the hiccups on the way home, no seriously, it had the hiccups and they kept causing the engine to stall. This is NOT conducive to moving along an interstate highway at 75mph. So we pulled off the road several times burped out car (opened the gas cap) and finally we made it off the highway to the nearest gas station- well almost. We were in the gas station entrance stalled and two people came rushing over to help us, offering to push us to the gas pumps. TWO TOTAL STRANGERS offering instant help to us! (CHRISTIAN LOVE)

Now, do I know for a fact this is Christian love? No, I don't because for all I know they could have been believers of no God at all. What I do know is they exhibited the kind of love my SAVIOR wants us as HIS followers to display. So while they might not have even known Christ as their Savior they were showing kindness to a stranger and that IS CHRISTIAN LOVE.  Does that mean they're saved even if they don't believe in Christ? No, of course not. It means that CHRISTIAN LOVE exists in a very real way and those who are displaying it are doing so naturally and our God will offer HIS love to them as to all and God alone knows whether or not they will accept HIS LOVE.

CHRISTIAN LOVE.

Have you experienced this lately?

Think about it for a little bit, go back through your day, through your week and see if you can't recall some unexpected kindnesses done to you.

CHRISTIAN LOVE.

A love that acts.
A love that gains nothing selfishly from the acts is commits.
A love that is a deliberate offering- a choice made.

We have the opportunity all the time to reveal Christian love, don't we? Yet how often do we pass up those opportunities for one reason or another? Does self get in the way of being selfless?

CHRISTIAN LOVE.

We must truly LOVE our neighbors.

I have been LOVED by my neighbors today, three notable times by four strangers.

Please God, help me to love others as you have shown me others love with YOUR love.

Thank you Lord for blessing me so richly today by letting my life be touched with such an outpouring of YOUR LOVE.

All in YOU my LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

Our liking doesn't matter, we must love

 Continuing our study on the passages from Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

We're discussing CHRISTIAN LOVE. How amazing it is to have CHRISTIAN LOVE. It sounds strange even as I write it because I'm used to just saying love in the generic sense that included love being a Christian. I've found as I've studied this a bit that IT IS relevant, truly it is. At least in my estimation it's relevant because otherwise it is soooo incredibly easy to get caught up in the idea that we are supposed to equate love with feelings, with emotions.

We are very emotional people, even those who are cold hearted are emotional in their cold heartedness.  Men are equated with be less emotionally charged as women, but the truth is, men are using more somber emotions- it's not being emotionless very few people are truly emotionless and usually those who are emotionless end up as pyschopaths because we are not meant to be emotionless beings. People also confuse burying emotions with being emotionless, or controlling their emotions makes them emotionless, both are lies. The fact they have to control or bury any emotion means they have those emotions to control and bury.

Love has been called an emotion for so incredibly long that we scarcely imagine it to be anything else. If we don't FEEL a certain way that tells us something, that's what we've been taught. If we don't feel an emotional sensation of love for someone or something then it is so easy to believe we aren't loving that someone or something.

WHY would God tell us, command us, to LOVE ANOTHER if He meant feel that loving feeling towards everyone? He wouldn't! He doesn't mean LIKE everyone, He doesn't mean FEEL happy about everyone.  God is talking about an ACTION we are to portray towards others and that action is for us treat others- ALL OTHERS- in a fair way, the way YOU WANT to be treated- NOT the way you necessarily are treated.

Let's read more of the excerpt…

Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis  (EXCERPT)

'On the other hand, it is also necessary to keep a very sharp lookout for fear our liking for some one person makes us uncharitable, or even unfair, to someone else.'

When we LIKE someone we truly do have to be very careful we do NOT love that person we LIKE or even love emotionally- more than any others!

Crazy, you say? You have to LOVE those you like or love emotionally more than others it's only natural, and that's true it's of our flesh nature natural.  God would have us love ALL others and HE means with a CHRISTIAN love. 

Continuing...

'There are even cases where our liking conflicts with our charity towards the person we like. For example, a doting mother may -be tempted by natural affection to 'spoil' her child; that is, to gratify her own affectionate impulses at the expense of the child's real happiness later on. But though natural likings should normally be encouraged, it would be quite wrong to think that the way to become charitable is to sit trying to manufacture affectionate feelings.'

How true is this! In treating our own children with a SPECIAL love we are perpetuating the belief that they are MORE worthy of love than others. We are not only spoiling our children we are passing on the misconception of LOVE.

This part-- '… it would be quite wrong to think that the way to become charitable IS TO SIT TRYING to MANUFACTURE AFFECTIONATE FEELINGS.'

We really have to STOP equating love dare I say, especially CHRISTIAN love with feelings!

 Continuing…

'Some people are 'cold' by temperament; that may be a misfortune for them, but it is no more a sin than having a bad digestion is a sin; and it does not cut them out from the chance, or excuse them from the duty, of learning charity.'

'Cold by temperament'  Do you know anyone you'd consider cold by temperament? Perhaps you are cold by temperament. This is a reality and I love how C.S. Lewis says, ' IT IS NO MORE A SIN THAN HAVING A BAD DIGESTION IS A SIN.'

No one would ever say it's a sin to have heart problems, a sin to have bad sugar, a sin to be born with a weak bladder, a sin to be unhealthy beyond your control in any way. It's only a sin if you are purposely causing yourself to be unhealthy. Being cold by temperament is no more sin than being born with a seasicky stomach, and NO ONE whether with or without a cold temperament is exempt from LOVING OTHERS with CHRISTIAN LOVE.

Continuing...

'The rule for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbour; act as if you did.'

We cannot, and truly should not waste any of our time trying to FEEL an emotional sensation towards anyone! Our LIKING DOES NOT MATTER! We MUST LOVE THEM.  And if we are going to wait to feel something emotional before we allow ourselves to show CHRISTIAN LOVE, then we are NOT obeying God's Command!

We really do need to ACT as if we love that person if that means truly showing Christian love to them. We need to treat even our enemies, and maybe especially our enemies, as if we love them very, very much. 

THIS IS CHRISTIAN LOVE.

This is how we are LOVED.

We do not deserve any LOVE from God, not a bit of it.  Yet HE LOVES us and it's not because He has this overwhelming emotion for certain people and not others. 

Jesus died to offer ALL people a chance for salvation, not just a select few.
A few will accept that salvation, but it won't be because all were not offered it.

Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.


LOVE - CHRISTIAN LOVE!

More tomorrow by the GRACE of GOD!

All in HIS LOVE ALWAYS!

Praise, glory, honor and thanksgiving to our KING Jesus CHRIST!

 

Christian LOVE

'In the same way Christian Love (or Charity) for our neighbours is quite a different thing from liking or affection. We 'like' or are 'fond of some people, and not of others. It is important to understand that this natural 'liking' is neither a sin nor a virtue, any more than your likes and dislikes in food are a sin or a virtue. It is just a fact. But, of course, what we do about it is either sinful or virtuous.'

Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis

Christian love- DIFFERENT from LIKING or AFFECTION.
We 'LIKE' or are 'FOND' of SOME PEOPLE- and NOT OTHERS.

Automatically we tend to associate our feeling about someone with whether or not we are being Christian towards them. If we don't like them we instantly tell ourselves we are being uncharitable, but that's NOT the truth at all. You CAN love without LIKING someone.

I like what C.S. Lewis says next--

'It is important to understand that this natural 'liking' is neither a sin nor a virtue…'

It is NOT a sin to not like someone.
It is NOT a virtue to like someone.

If we do NOT USE CHRISTIAN LOVE towards someone we do not like then yes, it is a sin, just as it would be if we do not use CHRISTIAN LOVE towards someone we do like. We are to LOVE OTHERS this is the second great commandment and it is detailed a bit more in the last six of the ten commandments.  We are to LOVE OTHERS-  ALL OTHERS.

C.S. Lewis continues-

'It is important to understand that this natural 'liking' is neither a sin nor a virtue, any more than your likes and dislikes in food are a sin or a virtue. It is just a fact. But, of course, what we do about it is either sinful or virtuous. Natural liking or affection for people makes it easier to be 'charitable' towards them. It is, therefore, normally a duty to encourage our affections - to 'like' people as much as-we can (just as it is often our duty to encourage our liking for exercise or wholesome food) - not because this liking is itself the virtue of charity, but because it is a help to it. '

Natural liking or affection for people makes it EASIER to LOVE them with CHRISTIAN LOVE. This is so true. It is much easier to show Christian love towards someone you like, or even love as we generally love our family and our spouses. And yet, in some ways aren't we even more hurtful to those we love in that general way, at times? We lash out at them and still expect them to love us when the bad times are over. So while it is easier to be nice to someone you like or are fond of, it doesn't mean you won't show Christian love just to those, but also to those you like very, very much and have great affection for. We are to encourage 'liking' others in ourselves- simply because like C.S. Lewis says- it makes it easier. However, I have tried to encourage a liking of exercise and healthy food in myself and you know what- it really hasn't made it easier because I never really get to the place of liking those things. I might do them but it doesn't mean I like them and I probably never will 'like' them.  I also will probably never 'like' some  people but that doesn't mean I shouldn't 'LOVE them with CHRISTIAN LOVE'.

Christian love.

CHRISTIAN LOVE.

I really, really believe we NEED to make this distinction and SAY those words- CHRISTIAN LOVE.  It truly IS different than love as we know love to be.

CHRISTIAN LOVE.

Our SAVIOR said this--

Mat 5:43  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Mat 5:46  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Mat 5:47  And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Mat 5:48  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES.

ONLY with CHRISTIAN LOVE this is possible.

Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Love the LORD thy GOD.
Love thy neighbor as thyself.

C.S. Lewis talked about loving as we love ourselves.
MEANING we WISH OUR OWN GOOD.  We talked about that yesterday a bit, and it's truth.
Who among us does NOT wish our own good?

We are COMMANDED to love as we love ourselves.
We are COMMANDED to love God.

We really do need to study LOVE- CHRISTIAN LOVE, CHRIST's LOVE, GOD'S LOVE.

More tomorrow by the GRACE and MERCY of OUR LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

All in HIM!

God's will is LOVE

Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Today I want to start to go through the excerpted chapter from Mere Christianity-

' Charity means 'Love, in the Christian sense.

But love, in the Christian sense, does not mean an emotion.'

Love in the CHRISTIAN sense does NOT mean an emotion.  We have got so caught up in the emotion of love that we truly can't get past the emotion we associate with love. We grow up learning that if you love someone you feel something out of the ordinary. You have special emotions for those you love. We learn this and when we grow up we expect the emotions of love to be exceedingly special for those we partner with and we want those emotions to never go away. When the emotions do change we equate that with our love changing. People constantly want to know what the secret is for people married a long time and it most assuredly isn't a constant love emotion being felt for twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years. Love is so much more than emotion, Christian love - GOD'S LOVE.

'It is a state not of the feelings but of the will; that state of the will which we have naturally about ourselves, and must learn to have about other people.

I pointed out in the chapter on Forgiveness that our love for ourselves does not mean that we like ourselves.

It means that we wish our own good.'

Not the state of feelings but of the WILL.
The state of the WILL we NATURALLY HAVE ABOUT OURSELVES.
It means that we WISH OUR OWN GOOD.

Very few people do not wish their own good. WE call those people mentally unstable in some way. To not wish your own good is truly in a very basic way wrong. I'm not saying you wish for millions, stardom, etc. A general good for yourself, a general contentment in your life, a simple but real happiness, this is what we wish for, NOT what we necessarily will have.

We wish our own good naturally and CHRISTIAN LOVE-CHARITY is wishing that SAME good for OTHERS.

We have to believe this because it is truth.

Jesus did NOT tell us to get all emotionally lovey dovey and sentimentally attached with our emotions to others. He outlined what love was in HIS word.

1Co 13:4  Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
1Co 13:5  Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
1Co 13:6  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
1Co 13:7  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

LOVE- suffers long
LOVE-is kind
LOVE-envies not
LOVE-vaunts not itself
LOVE-is not puffed up
LOVE-does not behave itself unseemly
LOVE-seeks NOT her own
LOVE- is not easily provoked
LOVE-thinks no evil
LOVE- bears all things
LOVE-believes all things
LOVE-hopes all things
LOVE-endures all things

Where is the…love is feeling good? Where is the…love is feeling all giggly inside?

Love suffers- nothing about that feeling good here.
Love is kind- again nothing about feelings. You can be very, very kind without having to feel all gushy about someone, do I dare say without even generally liking them as we know what it means to like someone, wanting to spend time with them etc.
Love envies not, vaunts not, not puffed up, not behave unseemly, not seeking her own, not easily provoked, thinks no evil, bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things- again no feelings mentioned here about love being all emotional, all sentimental.

So WHY do we believe it needs to be all about our emotional state, how we are feeling? Why do we call that LOVE? Satan has done a grand job of making LOVE out to be something it's really not.

I love this- 'But love in the Christian sense does not mean an emotion. It is a state not of feelings but of the WILL.'

If only we would remember this, truly remember this.

God HELP us to remember this!

Your WILL is LOVE.
Our WILL should be LOVE- YOUR LOVE which is LOVE FOR YOU and LOVE FOR OTHERS!

You LORD are the source of LOVE. Please LORD, help us, we are so incredibly undeserving! Help us to be YOURS WHOLLY and to LOVE FULLY IN YOU, FOR YOU, BY YOU!

Love Others

We do things that hurt others, and we don't do things that help people all the time and if we'd ONLY take a few moments of consideration for others before we act maybe, just maybe we'd stop hurting others.  A lot of times the way we react has to do with HOW WE ARE FEELING at the moment.  Are we feeling nice? Are we feeling angry? Are we feeling loving? Are we feeling sad? Are we feeling relaxed? Are we feeling tired? A lot of how we react to others really has to do with US and not so much them. We make the choice to allow our own emotional, mental state interfere with HOW we SHOULD behave towards others.

I want to share with you now part of a chapter in the book Mere Christianity- read it please- study it- it holds a lot of truth.

Excerpt from Mere Christianity-

 Charity means 'Love, in the Christian sense'.

But love, in the Christian sense, does not mean an emotion.

It is a state not of the feelings but of the will; that state of the will which we have naturally about ourselves, and must learn to have about other people.

I pointed out in the chapter on Forgiveness that our love for ourselves does not mean that we like ourselves.

It means that we wish our own good.

 In the same way Christian Love (or Charity) for our neighbours is quite a different thing from liking or affection. We 'like' or are 'fond of some people, and not of others. It is important to understand that this natural 'liking' is neither a sin nor a virtue, any more than your likes and dislikes in food are a sin or a virtue. It is just a fact. But, of course, what we do about it is either sinful or virtuous.

Natural liking or affection for people makes it easier to be 'charitable' towards them. It is, therefore, normally a duty to encourage our affections - to 'like' people as much as-we can (just as it is often our duty to encourage our liking for exercise or wholesome food) - not because this liking is itself the virtue of charity, but because it is a help to it.

On the other hand, it is also necessary to keep a very sharp lookout for fear our liking for some one person makes us uncharitable, or even unfair, to someone else. There are even cases where our liking conflicts with our charity towards the person we like. For example, a doting mother may -be tempted by natural affection to 'spoil' her child; that is, to gratify her own affectionate impulses at the expense of the child's real happiness later on.

But though natural likings should normally be encouraged, it would be quite wrong to think that the way to become charitable is to sit trying to manufacture affectionate feelings.

 Some people are 'cold' by temperament; that may be a misfortune for them, but it is no more a sin than having a bad digestion is a sin; and it does not cut them out from the chance, or excuse them from the duty, of learning charity.

The rule for all of us is perfectly simple.

 Do not waste time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbour; act as if you did.

As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less. There is, indeed, one exception. If you do him a good turn, not to please God and obey the law of charity, but to show him what a fine forgiving chap you are, and to put him in your debt, and then sit down to wait for his 'gratitude,' you will probably, be disappointed. (People are not fools: they have a very quick eye for anything like. showing off, or patronage.)

But whenever we do good to another self, just because it is a self, made (like us) by God, and desiring its own happiness as we desire ours, we shall have learned to love it a little more or, at least, to dislike it less.

Consequently, though Christian charity sounds a very cold thing to people whose heads are full of sentimentality, and though it is quite distinct from affection, yet it leads to affection. The difference between a Christian and a worldly man is not that the worldly man has only affections or 'likings' and the Christian has only `charity'.

The worldly man treats certain people kindly because he 'likes' them: the Christian, trying to treat every one kindly, finds himself liking more and more people as he goes on -- including people he could not even have imagined himself liking at the beginning.

This same spiritual law works terribly in the opposite direction. The Germans, perhaps, at first ill-treated the Jews because they hated them: afterwards they hated them much more because they had ill-treated them. The more cruel you are, the more you will hate; and the more you hate, the more cruel you will become-and so on in a vicious circle for ever.

Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance.

The smallest good act to-day is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or, anger to-day is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.

Some writers use the word charity to describe not only Christian love between human beings, but also God's love for man and man's love for God. About the second of these two, people are often worried. They are told they ought to love God. They cannot find any such feeling in themselves. What are they to do? The answer is the same as before. Act as if you did. Do not sit trying to manufacture feelings. Ask yourself, 'If I were sure that I loved God, what would I do?' When you have found the answer, go and do it.

On the whole, God's love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for Him.

Nobody can always have devout feelings: and even if we could, feelings are not what God principally cares about.

Christian Love, either towards God or towards man, is an affair of the will.

If we are trying to do His will we are obeying the commandment, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.' He will give us feelings of love if He pleases.

We cannot create them for ourselves, and we must not demand them as a right.

But the great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not.

It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him.


-  Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis Chapter CHARITY

*******

May God bless and keep us in HIM and obeying His commandments always! 

Help us to LOVE as You would have us LOVE, GOD. Please help us by being with us, use us, let the Holy Spirit work in us all through YOUR GRACE and MERCY!

That which I see not teach thou me

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Not be condemned with the world.
Why is the world condemned?

Joh_14:30  Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

The prince of this world has NOTHING in JESUS.
The prince of this world is Satan.

Joh_18:36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

This world is NOT Jesus' kingdom.
It belongs to another.

Mat 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Mat 4:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
He could offer them to Jesus because they belonged to him.

This world is condemned because it belongs to Satan, he took if from Adam and Eve when he enticed Eve to sin and Eve, rather than follow God's command chose to follow Satan's deception.

The world is condemned.  All who are a part of the world are condemned as well.

Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Those who would be Christ's must NOT be a part of this world!

It can't get any clearer than that, can it?   'They are NOT of the world even as I AM NOT of the world.'

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
 
We are CHASTENED of the LORD that we should NOT BE CONDEMNED WITH THE WORLD!

This is the REASON for OUR CHASTENING!
God does NOT want us CONDEMNED!
He wants us to be HIS, truly HIS!

Job 33:18  He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
Job 33:19  He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain:
Job 33:20  So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.
Job 33:21  His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out.
Job 33:22  Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.
Job 33:23  If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:
Job 33:24  Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.
Job 33:25  His flesh shall be fresher than a child's: he shall return to the days of his youth:
Job 33:26  He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness.

Job 33:27  He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;
Job 33:28  He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.

Job 33:29  Lo, all these things worketh God OFTENTIMES WITH MAN,
Job 33:30  To BRING BACK HIS SOUL FROM THE PIT TO BE ENLIGHTENED WITH THE LIGHT OF THE LIVING.
*
As Job suffered horrifically- the loss of all his children, the loss of all his goods, the loss of his good health - his suffering was far from just emotional and mental, but also very, very physical-  he had NO clue that Satan and God were discussing Him and His relationship with God. He was clueless as to why everything bad was happening to him.  Along come Elihu, after three older, supposedly wiser men came to talk to Job, and Elihu explains in part here that God works this way OFTENTIMES to save the man.

OFTENTIMES! OFTEN! God allows this sort of thing to happen for our own good. Can we comprehend it? Not while it's happening usually. All we know is the pain and suffering going on. We don't want to hear about God doing this for our own good, it makes us angry, furious to think that we are allowed this suffering- even for our own good. 

We have to examine our lives and yes, we need to see if there is any evil in us and then repent, seek forgiveness and go and sin no more through GOD'S GRACE. God doesn't want us accepting any sin in ourselves, not one sin.

Was Job being chastised? Not so much as it was Satan instigating a situation to test his integrity towards God.  But Job didn't know that. And truthfully we are often chastised in horrific ways.

Today many children around the world have suffered and died tragically, some were murdered, others knifed, and yes, many are being abused all over the world, and many are going hungry and are suffering, dying, sick and left with little hope. Some children have had their lives taken unexpectedly while some have wasted away slowly only to end today. The loved ones of these children can rightly believe they are being chastised, I say rightly because whenever we suffer the unspeakable we HAVE to believe that somehow, some way it will work out for good because we LOVE GOD. I'm not saying it because I believe all those suffering brought these things on themselves- not for one single moment! I'm saying that we need to use these horrific tragedies to bring us CLOSER to our LOVING GOD not let Satan steal us away from the only source of true love.  And if we are called to suffer we can allow ourselves by God's grace use it as a time to examine ourselves as God would have us do. Maybe there is something that has kept us from a real relationship with our Savior, or maybe our profession of Christ is only lip service, or maybe we are walking the broad path in some way and we NEED to seek forgiveness, repenting and seeking the grace of God- growing ever closer to Him- to be known by and to know HIM.  I have to emphasize here though, that I truly do not believe every single suffering loved one has done something to warrant chastisement. Job, himself suffered the worst and he wasn't suffering through his own wrong doing, but rather his right doing.  There could be many loved ones who are faced with this inexplicable loss and like Job are faced with it undeservingly, yet they must (by God's GRACE) grow ever stronger in their love for God, not let this turn them from God in any way.

Chastisement is painful and that pain comes in many, many forms.

Job 34:31  Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:
Job 34:32  THAT WHICH I SEE NOT TEACH THOU ME: IF I HAVE DONE INIQUITY, I WILL DO NO MORE.

Psa 94:12  Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;
Psa 94:13  That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.

Teach us LORD, teach us to love YOU more than anything else, more than our own lives.

Bless those who are enduring the anguish of tragedy today, please LORD help them all grow closer to YOU through this adversity. Bless all those little ones who have fallen into death's sleep today please forgive them any sins that were not unpardonable, please LORD, mercy on them all. Heal those who have been wounded today, LORD. Be with them LORD, help them to come to know YOU and YOUR ETERNAL LOVE.

Come quickly, Lord, please come quickly.

Thank you.
Thank you.

In Jesus Christ's holy name, through His love, His righteousness.

Satan would have us NOT believe

Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

We are REBUKED and CHASTENED.

We feel the rebuke and the chastening of the LORD for a reason and that reason is for our own good.  It's painful, it's horrible, it tries us to the bitter end. We feel the pain and agony of our own chastening and we LOVE to blame God for it as if He weren't doing it for our ultimate good. 

Pro 3:11  My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
Pro 3:12  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

How do we envision the chastening and correction of the LORD? A slap on our wrists? Do we EVER believe it can be something devastating in our lives? Can we accept the corrections when they break our hearts in a million pieces and tries us to the point of almost despairing?

Remember this--

2Sa 12:1  And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
2Sa 12:2  The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:
2Sa 12:3  But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
2Sa 12:4  And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
2Sa 12:5  And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
2Sa 12:6  And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

2Sa 12:7  And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
2Sa 12:8  And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
2Sa 12:9  Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
2Sa 12:10  Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
2Sa 12:11  Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
2Sa 12:12  For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

2Sa 12:13  And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

2Sa 12:14  Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
2Sa 12:15  And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.
2Sa 12:16  David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
2Sa 12:17  And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.
2Sa 12:18  And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?
2Sa 12:19  But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.

And this--

Psa 118:18  The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.

David was chastened sore by the Lord. 

The sickness and death of his child.

Doesn't everything inside you want to scream of the unfairness of a child suffering and dying? It's normal for us to feel the pain, the absolute horror and agony of a child being allowed to suffer and die. David knew because Nathan told Him, what was happening with His son. He knew the suffering of his own child was HIS FAULT! He didn't BLAME God! He didn't try to wiggle out of his own guilt! The death of his son was on HIS HEAD!

Now before anyone gets up in arms, I'm not saying the suffering and death of every child is a result of the parents sin, we know that's not how it works.  But we also know that GOD knows exceedingly infinitely more than we do and while we look upon the suffering and death of a child as heinous- His mercy may be keeping that child from a future of horror and pain beyond what we can imagine. We just DO NOT know what HE KNOWS!

We do know that we ARE chastened by the LORD.
We do know that David was chastened by the LORD.
We do know that David's son sickened and died and this was all a part of David's chastisement.

David's own life was spared but he was to suffer and continue to suffer under the chastisement given him.

We sin and we are rebuked and chastened by the Lord.

We MUST be ZEALOUS to REPENT! 

Does this mean that we won't feel the chastisement we deserve? No, it means that we can still be God's if we choose to accept the chastisement no matter what form it comes in. The chastisement is for our own ultimate good.

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Our chastening will result in us being PARTAKERS of CHRIST'S HOLINESS, CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS. We will get understanding of it all one day-

1Co 13:10  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
1Co 13:11  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
1Co 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
1Co 13:13  And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

We will one day understand.

We have to have faith and understand that we will be chastened and maybe the things we suffer are a result of our being chastened so we learn and trust in God more and more, and maybe they aren't, but we have to understand GOD will NOT do anything that isn't for our good if we LOVE HIM.

Rom_8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

We have to believe!

Satan would have us not believe.
Satan would have us doubt.
Satan would have us hate God because then He's won us and Christ does not get us.
Satan loves when we blame God and stop trusting that somehow some way even the most horrific happenings are for our own good.

Please LORD help us NOT to despise the chastening you allow us to endure. Please LORD help us to TRUST YOU ALWAYS even if we are brought to death, or near death, longing for death as we watch others suffer as a result of our own chastisement. Please LORD… please… our hearts long for YOU, to be YOURS, always YOURS.

Help us, please.