When we tire we gain encouragement and strength in the very next verse, " our God quickens all things" ! Strength for the battle comes from Him. Our desire to succeed, our purpose, our being comes from Him. He is responsible for the eternity He has placed in our hearts. He is faithful and true. At the end of the Ages, Faithful and True are two of His names!
He is not only faithful and true when we feel that He is. HE IS, NO MATTER OUR FEELINGS! Jesus promise's He is with us always, even to the end of the earth. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Dispite our feelings He is always here. We walk this earth as eternal beings. Believers have a glorious eternity already dwelling and rising up within their hearts.
When I feel I have fallen short I must remember God sees my ways; He will heal, lead, and restore comforts as I repent. He creates the fruit of the lips; peace, peace to those who at times seem to be afar off. He will heal! (Isaiah 57:18,19) He will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are stayed upon Him. I must know Him to be stayed upon Him. I must cast down every vain imagination and anything that exalt itself against my knowledge of God. I must bring into captivity every thought into obedience in Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)
I have been reading this morning excerpts from a book I've had for sometime. It delves deeply into spiritual aspects of a Believer's walk in Christ. I can only read a few paragraphs before I am chasing thoughts and verses "like a rabbit" as things quickly come to mind of messages, scriptures, and life experiences. The book is by Watchman Nee. He spent years in Chinese prisons for preaching the gospel when the Communists took over China shortly after WW II.
Brother Nee speaks of the temple of Solomon consisting of Cedar and Cypress (fir) trees. Scripture says that the walls of the temple had cedar in them and the floors had cypress. Many Cypress trees came from an area of Judea called Death City. This area of growth for Cypress trees was used as graveyards. The walls of Solomon's temple consisted in many ways of Cedar trees which are tall, stately and strong trees.
The temple, which was God's habitation on earth in the years before Jesus came in the flesh, in more ways than we will ever know foretold of His nature, His purpose, His ways. He dwelled between the cypress and the cedar. Today we stand on the strong cedar floors, that came from the graveyard, the foundation of His substitutionary death for us. In Solomon's temple the walls of cypress were tall, stately and strong. Our place of standing, our place of rest, the abode in the spirit of God on this planet dwells likewise in us; His spiritual Body. As He did while on earth, we resist all forces that gather against Him to try to ruin His purposes.
One vain imagination I battle quite often is my place as a member of His Body. God has set the members of each one of us in His Body as He sees fit! There are many members, or parts, of a body; but only One Body! The part or place I play is up to Him. ( 1 Corinthians 12:18,20)
Often times, when I have an exceptionally bad season for various reasons, I feel this is evidence that I am out of God's will. I must remember that Yeshua had a very rough time of it while here also! He was mocked, ridiculed, slapped and spit upon. This was not a sign of rejection from the Father; it was a sign of acceptance. It pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief; when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall propser in His hand. (Isaiah 53:10)
In the context of having a "rough time of it" and the effect it has on my senses, the Apostle Paul said the "unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place, and labour, working with our own hands; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we enreat; we are made as the filth of the world, and are the off scouring of all things unto this day. (1 Corinthians 4:11)
Could this possibly be one of HIS WAYS? Christ was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed.(Isaiah 53) They spit in His face, and buffeted Him; and others smote Him with the palms of their hands. (Matthew 26:67) This pleases the LORD? Do I want to be pleasing to God? In this context?
Bruised, mocked, ridiculed, slapped, spit upon..."For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a Voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Do I have a broken heart like Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:15 to say I am of sorrowful spirit and have poured out my soul before the LORD? Is my mindset like King David's when his men broke through the Philistine lines and took a flask of well water for their king; and to have the king pour it out as an offering unto God? Can I pour out my spirit as water to God or do I complain about every circumstance. Is my comfort and pleasure more important than His?
In the coming days I feel terrors will come upon many of us. We are heading into days of which the Prophets could only warn. Days of great darkness are gathering around the earth. Troubles are coming that have never happened on such a scale before. Yeshua warned us. He said this must be before His return. Like Job we will feel that terrors have turned upon us; they pursue our soul as the wind; and our welfare passeth away as a cloud. And now our soul is poured out upon us and days of affliction have taken hold (Job 30:15,16). We need not feel as if we are the first. In a prophecy of Yeshua, Psalm 22 says, "our soul is poured out like water before the LORD. Our soul is poured out like wax; our bones are out of joint, we are as dry as a potsherd." We will have to, like Christ, go without the camp bearing His reproach. We, like Him, will have to suffer outside of the gate. This is from where our sanctification comes! (Hebrews 13:12)
At times, it pleases the LORD to bruise us. Even Christ pleased not Himself (Romans 15:3). Most of the time I pray for immediate deliverance when I suffer from anything! I may be praying for God to rescue me from the very situation that will bring Him pleasure as I suffer with and for Him. He is the most High; the possessor of both heaven and earth. I must yield under His mighty hand having great confidence that He is in total control.
When I falter and fail, I can be confident that a bruised reed He will not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quence; He shall bring forth judgment unto truth; He shall not fail nor be discouraged...(Isaiah 42:3,4) He will not cast me aside! He delights to teach, forgive, instruct and guide.
We can be confident that He will divide with us a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because we have poured out our soul unto death; and are numbered ourselves with the transgressors, because we are of Him tha bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. ( Isaiah 53:12)
He delights in mercy! His mercies are renewed daily. He gives strength to the humble and weak. Our sacrifices are pleasing to the Father and we live and breath in the knowledge that Christ died for us, and whether we wake or sleep, we will live together with Him! (1 Thessaloninas 5:10).
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