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. Hebrews 12:11
Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 12:12 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. 12:13
Sometimes, nay, oftentimes, our chastening brings us to us yet another battle: SELF-PITY.
SELF-PITY, the bane of the sorrowful, the crush of the bitter, the burden of the resentful . . . the source of OPPRESSION in our lives.
HOW LONG, O LORD, Worthy and True, must we wallow in self-inflicted self-pity before we gain the Victory ? Or . . . is it really “self-inflicted” ?
NO.
· Its source is satan;
· its avenue is our own Adamic nature.
· Its power over us comes when we let go of the TRUTH of who we are in JESUS CHRIST.
We are adopted sons of Our Heavenly FATHER, Rom. 8:14-15 joint heirs with CHRIST, Rom. 8:17 bought with a Price 1 Cor.6:20, washed in HIS+ Blood Rev. 1:5,
yet we are
Learning to STAND ON HIS+ TRUTH
His+ TRUTH: That all things work together for good to them that love GOD, to them who are the called according to HIS purpose. Rom. 8:28
Self-pity, sad to say, is a well-disguised function of a MURMURING spirit . Yes, we murmur AGAINST GOD’S Will when it is very hard to embrace.
To have VICTORY in CHRIST, we must also have
TRUTH
in the inner man.
Here is GOD’S answer to Job’s inquiry --- Job, who suffered as the target of satan’s foul schemes for so long:
Wilt thou also disannul MY judgment?
Wilt thou condemn ME,
that thou mayest be righteous?
The LORD GOD doeth all things well. Brother Job did not have the advantage --- the Great Advantage --- of knowing JESUS CHRIST The LORD. WE DO.
Brother Job did not have the advantage of having The HOLY SPIRIT living inside of him, directing his ways. WE DO .
YET, even to Job unto whom NO promises from the Risen CHRIST were given, The LORD GOD said, in essence,
“ Are you, Job, telling ME
that you have better judgment
than I do?”
“ Are you, Job, condemning ME ?”
JOB 40:8 Explanation courtesy of Christian Sister Magdelene R.
+ + +
And Job said,
“ Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Job 42:6
+ + +
Is the entire Book of Job about having a complaining spirit
when The LORD ALLOWS hard times to come to us ?
Christians are being beaten and persecuted for CHRIST, spending years in filthy prisons. They have had to embrace horrible treatment for years on end.
The Chinese house church congregation --- among many others --- know what it is like to be persecuted .
They know what it is like to lose family members and friends, to have their earning-power taken from them, to lose the use of their bodies and watch their loved ones suffer.
YET THEY ARE REQUIRED TO STAND ON GOD’S TRUTH in the inner man.
Let us take heed to our complaining spirit which so easily besets us.
Let us set a guard over our murmuring hearts when tough things in this life are set before us .
Let us put our heart “in dust and ashes” and repent, KNOWING that The LORD has not changed His+ Character since the days of Job. . . nor forever.
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