I want to talk about the Love and the grace of God in my
life of Jesus demonstrating His love in me. Jesus came to destroy the works of
the devil and to set as free from sin and also to come and live in us to make
us suitable for His Kingdom to be holy, to be useful for His Kingdom. I thank
Jesus for the work that He has done in my life. I asked the Lord I prayed:
“Lord if I go wrong, please just don’t leave me alone, chastise me, bring me
back, give me a hiding , trip me up, do whatever is necessary but don’t let me
go to hell. If I go wrong please fetch me please don’t leave me.” God has been
so true to me, He has tripped me up so many times in my life when I went
astray, He let me fall on my face and He brought me back.
King David also knew that it is better to be chastised by
god than to go astray. David was a man to the heart of God, he loved God. He
also wrote it in Psalms 38:1-4 “O LORD, rebuke me
not in Your wrath, and chasten me not in Your burning anger. 2 For Your
arrows have sunk deep into me, and Your hand has pressed down on me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; There is
no health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities are gone over my head;”
David recognized his own foolishness and the need that we
have of God in our lives, because we don’t see our own error. We sometimes just
go ahead and do wrong, we think that because God does not chastise us
immediately, that He does not care, but it is not true. God sees and He hates
what we do. We should seek the
chastisement of the Lord, His chastisement is often severe. It has been severe
in my life and I thank Him for that. That works character in us, that teaches
us, it moulds us, it makes us it teaches us to obey God, to respect Him, to fear
Him and that respect and fear brings love, because we appreciate Him. If we
don’t feel the Hand of God in our lives and we don’t take a good fright then we
never learn to respect God. But once He has put His Hand heavy on you, then you
love Him again and you appreciate Him for whom He is and realize He is God
Almighty.
We also read in Psalms 66:10-12 “For You have tried us, O
God; You have refined us as silver is refined. 11 You brought us into the
net; You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins. 12 You made men ride
over our heads; We went through fire and through water, yet You brought us out
into a place of abundance.” God chastise us but then He brings you out
in abundance. It is important to be chastised. If you have never been hungry in
your life you cannot appreciate how it feels to be hungry, if you haven’t been
homeless, or desolate, then you don’t have any compassion with another person
in that position. God has to teach us,
we need to go through tough circumstances ourselves. People think that it must
always go well with you, if you are a child of God. If you have never been
sick, how would you have compassion with a sick person. It is through those
dark times that I have come closest to God. I had dark times in my life, I
thought that God had left me alone, I felt that I am deserted. He never left me
alone He was teaching me. And only afterwards that I realize that He was doing
it for my good.
We read in Psalms 73:10- “Therefore His people return to
this place, and waters of abundance are drunk by them. 11 They say, “How
does God know?” He is talking about the godless man they just carry on thus
thaw God does not exist. And you as a Christian you feel that you have been
beaten up all the time, that God has something against you. We read in verse 11
again “They say, How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked; and always at ease, they have increased in
wealth. 13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure (As a child of God I try to
keep my heart pure.) and washed my hands in innocence; 14 For I have been
stricken all day long and chastened every morning. 15 If I had said, “I will
speak thus,” Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.
16 When I pondered to understand this, It was troublesome in my sight. (He
was worried about this, he says wow how is this that the Godless people, that
everything is going well with them and he is suffering.) 17 Until I came into
the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end.18 Surely You set them
in slippery places;”
When God takes us through these chastisements and makes us
battle to understand, then it is not nice. It is very tuff on us and we just
feel that does God hates me, no He doesn’t He love us. Even the Son of God,
Jesus Christ Himself, learned through what He suffered and we shall go through
suffering, by the grace of God.
We read in Philippians 4:12 Paul said “I know how to get
along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and
every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry,
both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things
through Him who strengthens me.” That is so wonderful that we can be in the
peace of God even in the worst circumstances and that is what it is about. Our
circumstance should not determine our peace and our relationship with Jesus
Christ. Our peace is from within from our relationship with Christ.
God wants to give us the best, but He has to give us
the best training so that we can learn to trust in Him, learn to depend on Him.
I thank God more for the chastisements than the good times. In the good times
in my life I drifted away from the Lord, but in the tough times I prayed more
and I came closer to God, I learned more. I battled, I suffered but Jesus never left me alone. And I thank God
for those rough times, those tough times because it is in them that I really
got to feel and to know the love of God in my life and I learned that He will
never ever let me down.
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