The Love of Your Espousals

By James Smith

Love is a noble passion, and when fixed upon a worthy object, and wisely reciprocated — it is a source of the sweetest pleasure. God intended Himself to be the highest object of our love; and that He might win back our affections to Himself — He has revealed Himself in Jesus, in the most lovely and attractive form. God in Jesus is love, and only love — unto all who come to Him in His name. He prizes our love, and has therefore entered into every near and dear relation, in order to draw forth and fix our love upon himself. He proposes a union with himself, as near and dear as the marriage union is among men. This was set forth in his dealings with his people of old, and in their attachment to him, alluding to which he says, "I remember the love of your espousals." Jeremiah 2:2.

THE FACT. God and man become united, as does the husband and the wife. Just so it is with Jesus, and those who believe on his name.

Just look at the parties. Israel, a poor, sinful, unworthy people; and the infinitely great and glorious God. So still. On the one side a poor sinner, so insignificant, so base, so vile, so miserable, that it is difficult to set it forth. On the other side, Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, the brightness of His Father's glory, and the express image of His person. Jesus, who is infinitely great, supremely glorious, perfectly holy, and eternally happy. 

Look to the act, "your espousals." Jesus moved first, by His word and Spirit, on the conscience and the affections. Then the sinner moved toward Him with fear, desire, hope, faith, and at length love. 

Then came the agreement, Jesus said, "I will be for you, and you shall be for me." And the soul said, "I am yours, yours only, yours forever!" The union was now formed, the soul was betrothed to the Savior; and by and by, the union will be consummated at the marriage supper of the Lamb. 

THE AFFECTION. "The love of your espousals." There was a love of pity and benevolence before — now there is the love of delight, on the part of Jesus. There may have been a love of gratitude on the part of the sinner — but now it is his purest, strongest love. It is more than filial love, or the love of a child to its parent. It is more than fraternal love, or the love of brother to his brother. It is espousal love, or the love of the espoused one toward Him whom she desired, and preferred to all others. It is love to the person, and the person alone; and such love as leads us to surrender all for Him, and to Him. It is as strong as death — nothing can destroy it. It is more pleasing than all things besides. It is a source of the sweetest, purest, sublimest happiness. 

It is love, near akin to the love of Jesus, being reflected by it, and flowing from it. It is an increasing love, for the more we know of Jesus — the more we love Him, and shall do so, to all eternity. 

Where there is no love, there is no espousal. Jesus never espouses one who does not love Him. He first wins the heart — and then gives the hand. He fixes on the person, determines to be united, wins the affection, and the espousal follows. No espousal — no marriage. If we are not espoused to Jesus while He is away — we shall not be married to Him at His glorious appearing. 

This is the design of the preaching of the gospel, as Paul said to the Corinthians, "I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy; for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." 

No marriage — no inheritance. We inherit through Jesus, and by virtue of our union with Him. If we are Christ's — then His wealth is ours! And if the wealth of Christ is ours — then we shall possess the kingdom, and reign forever and ever. No possession — no real Heaven. Our Heaven, is having Christ for ours, and being with Him, and enjoying Him forever and ever.

As espoused to Him — we expect to be publicly married; as married to Him — we shall have full and eternal possession of Him; and eternally possessing Him — we shall have a Heaven comprising all we can desire or enjoy!

Reader, are you espoused? Has He taken your hand — and have you given Him your heart? Have you forsaken all besides — to seek your happiness, your all, in him alone? He is worthy of your highest love. He is necessary to your perfect happiness. 

Do you desire to be espoused to Jesus? You may be. Jesus is willing to be the husband, of every soul that desires to be married to Him. He has sent His servants, as Abraham sent Eliezer, to woo and win a wife for Him. He has beauty, He has nobility, He has wealth. In Him dwells, and dwells in perfection — all that is necessary to meet the wants, wishes, or desires of anyone, and everyone who is willing to be holy and happy. 

Espoused to Jesus — your fortune is made. You have an ever-living, ever-loving, never-changing husband. He will never leave, never forsake, never fail you. He will . . .
guide you with His eye, 
guard you with His hand,
and satisfy you with His love.

O happy, happy soul, that is espoused to Jesus!

Holy and eternal Spirit, lead every reader to Jesus, unfold His beauty, reveal His love — and so win the heart; and may the reading of these few remarks lead some to love Jesus, to give their hearts to Jesus, and so join themselves to Jesus in an everlasting covenant, which shall neither be forgotten nor broken!

The Blessings of Freedom In Christ By D. L. Moody

The next thing the Spirit of God does is to give us liberty. He first imparts love; He next inspires hope, and then gives liberty, and that is about the last thing we have in a good many of our churches at the present day. And I am sorry to say there must be a funeral in a good many churches before there is much work done, we shall have to bury the formalism so deep that it will never have any resurrection. The last thing to be found in many a church is liberty.

If the Gospel happens to be preached, the people criticise, as they would a theatrical performance. It is exactly the same, and many a professed Christian never thinks of listening to what the man of God has to say. It is hard work to preach to carnally-minded critics, but “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

Very often a woman will hear a hundred good things in a sermon, and there may be one thing that strikes her as a little out of place, and she will go home and sit down to the table and talk right out before her children and magnify that one wrong thing, and not say a word about the hundred good things that were said. That is what people do who criticise.

God does not use men in captivity. The condition of many is like Lazarus when he came out of the sepulcher bound hand and foot. The bandage was not taken off his mouth, and he could not speak. He had life, and if you had said Lazarus was not alive, you would have told a falsehood, because he was raised from the dead. There are a great many people, the moment you talk to them and insinuate they are not doing what they might, they say: “I have life. I am a Christian.” Well, you can’t deny it, but they are bound hand and foot.

May God snap these fetters and set His children free, that they may have liberty. I believe He comes to set us free, and wants us to work for Him, and speak for Him. How many people would like to get up in a social prayer-meeting to say a few words for Christ, but there is such a cold spirit of criticism in the Church that they dare not do it. They have not the liberty to do it. If they get up, they are so frightened with these critics that they begin to tremble and sit down. They can not say anything. Now, that is all wrong. The Spirit of God comes just to give liberty, and wherever you see the Lord’s work going on, you will see that Spirit of liberty. People won’t be afraid of speaking to one another. And when the meeting is over they will not get their hats and see how quick they can get out of the church, but will begin to shake hands with one another, and there will be liberty there. A good many go to the prayer-meeting out of a mere cold sense of duty. They think “I must attend because I feel it is my duty.” They don’t think it is a glorious privilege to meet and pray, and to be strengthened, and to help some one else in the wilderness journey.

What we need to-day is love in our hearts. Don’t we want it? Don’t we want hope in our lives? Don’t we want to be hopeful? Don’t we want liberty? Now, all this is the work of the Spirit of God, and let us pray God daily to give us love, and hope, and liberty. We read in Hebrews, “Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.” If you will turn to the passage and read the margin—it says: “Having, therefore, brethren, liberty to enter into the holiest.” We can go into the holiest, having freedom of access, and plead for this love and liberty and glorious hope, that we may not rest until God gives us the power to work for Him.

If I know my own heart to-day, I would rather die than live as I once did, a mere nominal Christian, and not used by God in building up His kingdom. It seems a poor empty life to live for the sake of self.

Let us seek to be useful. Let us seek to be vessels meet for the Master’s use, that God, the Holy Spirit, may shine fully through us.

“Know, my soul, thy full salvation;

Rise o’er sin, and fear, and care;

Joy to find, in every station,

Something still to do or bear.

Think what Spirit dwells within thee;

Think what Father’s smiles are thine;

Think that Jesus died to win thee:

Child of heaven, canst thou repine?

Haste thee on from grace to glory,

Armed by faith, and winged by prayer,

Heaven’s eternal day’s before thee:

God’s own hand shall guide thee there.

Soon shall close thy earthly mission,

Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days,

Hope shall change to glad fruition,

Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.”

“I am so weak, dear Lord! I can not stand

One moment without Thee;

But oh, the tenderness of Thy enfolding,

And oh, the faithfulness of Thine upholding,

And oh, the strength of Thy right hand!

That strength is enough for me.

I am so needy, Lord! and yet I know

All fullness dwells in Thee;

And hour by hour that never-failing treasure

Supplies and fills in overflowing measure

My last and greatest need. And so

Thy grace is enough for me.

It is so sweet to trust Thy word alone!

I do not ask to see

The unveiling of Thy purpose, or the shining

Of future light on mysteries untwining;

Thy promise-roll is all my own—

Thy word is enough for me.

There were strange soul-depths, restless, vast, and broad,

Unfathomed as the sea,

An infinite craving for some infinite stilling;

But now Thy perfect love is perfect filling!

Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord, my God,

Thou, Thou art enough for me!”

The Holy Spirit and The Reservoir of Love By D.L. Moody

We read that the fruit of the Spirit is love. God is love, Christ is love, and we should not be surprised to read about the love of the Spirit. What a blessed attribute is this. May I call it the dome of the temple of the graces. Better still, it is the crown of crowns worn by the Triune God. Human love is a natural emotion which flows forth towards the object of our affections. But Divine love is as high above human love as the heaven is above the earth. The natural man is of the earth, earthy, and however pure his love may be, it is weak and imperfect at best. But the love of God is perfect and entire, wanting nothing. It is as a mighty ocean in its greatness, dwelling with and flowing from the Eternal Spirit.

In Romans v, 5, we read: “And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us.” Now if we are co-workers with God, there is one thing we must possess, and that is love. A man may be a very successful lawyer and have no love for his clients, and yet get on very well. A man may be a very successful physician and have no love for his patients, and yet be a very good physician; a man may be a very successful merchant and have no love for his customers, and yet he may do a good business and succeed; but no man can be a co-worker with God without love. If our service is mere profession on our part, the quicker we renounce it the better. If a man takes up God’s work as he would take up any profession, the sooner he gets out of it the better.

We can not work for God without love. It is the only tree that can produce fruit on this sin-cursed earth, that is acceptable to God. If I have no love for God nor for my fellow man, then I can not work acceptably. I am like sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. We are told that “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.” Now, if we have had that love shed abroad in our hearts, we are ready for God’s service; if we have not, we are not ready. It is so easy to reach a man when you love him; all barriers are broken down and swept away.

Paul when writing to Titus, second chapter and first verse, tells him to be sound in faith, in charity, and in patience. 

Now in this age, ever since I can remember, the Church has been very jealous about men being unsound in the faith. If a man becomes unsound in the faith, they draw their ecclesiastical sword and cut at him; but he may be ever so unsound in love, and they don’t say anything. He may be ever so defective in patience; he may be irritable and fretful all the time, but they never deal with him. Now the Bible teaches us, that we are not only to be sound in the faith, but in charity and in patience. 

I believe God can not use many of his servants, because they are full of irritability and impatience; they are fretting all the time, from morning until night. God can not use them; their mouths are sealed; they can not speak for Jesus Christ, and if they have not love, they can not work for God. I do not mean love for those that love me; it don’t take grace to do that; the rudest Hottentot in the world can do that; the greatest heathen that ever lived can do that; the vilest man that ever walked the earth can do that. It don’t take any grace at all. I did that before I ever became a Christian. Love begets love; hatred begets hatred. If I know a man loves me first, I know my love will be going out towards him. Suppose a man comes to me, saying, “Mr. Moody, a certain man told me to-day that he thought you were the meanest man living.” 

Well, if I didn’t have a good deal of the grace of God in my heart, then I know there would be hard feelings that would spring up in my heart against that man, and it would not be long before I would be talking against him. Hatred begets hatred. But suppose a man comes to me and says, “Mr. Moody, do you know that such a man that I met to-day says that he thinks a great deal of you?” and though I may never have heard of him, there would be love springing up in my heart. Love begets love; we all know that; but it takes the grace of God to love the man that lies about me, the man that slanders me, the man that is trying to tear down my character; it takes the grace of God to love that man. You may hate the sin he has committed; there is a difference between the sin and the sinner; you may hate the one with a perfect hatred, but you must love the sinner. I can not otherwise do him any good. Now you know the first impulse of a young convert is to love. Do you remember the day you were converted? Was not your heart full of sweet peace and love?

God's love-letter

Thomas Brooks

The Scripture is God's love-letter to men. Here the 
lamb may wade—and here the elephant may swim!

The blessed Scriptures are of infinite worth 
and value! Here you may find . . .
  a remedy for every disease,
  balm for every wound,
  a plaster for every sore,
  milk for babes,
  meat for strong men,
  comfort for the afflicted,
  support for the tempted,
  solace for the distressed,
  ease for the wearied,
  a staff to support the feeble,
  a sword to defend the weak.

The holy Scriptures are . . .
  the map of God's mercy—and man's misery,
  the touchstone of truth,
  the shop of remedies against all maladies,
  the hammer of vices,
  the treasury of virtues,
  the exposer of all sensual and worldly vanities,
  the balance of equity,
  the most perfect rule of all justice and honesty.

Ah, friends, no book befits your hands like the Bible!

The Bible is the best preacher. This book,
this preacher will preach to you . . .
  in your shops,
  in your chambers,
  in your closets,
  yes, in your own bosoms!
This book will preach to you at home and abroad;
it will preach to you in all companies; and it will
preach to you in all conditions.

By this book you shall be saved—or
by this book you shall be damned!
By this book you must live.
By this book you must die.
By this book you shall be judged in the great day!

Oh, therefore . . .
  love this book above all other books,
  prize this book above all other books,
  read this book before all other books,
  study this book more than all other books!
For he who reads much—and understands nothing,
is like him who hunts much—and catches nothing.

"Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all
 day long!" Psalm 119:97

Refreshment for the Savior's Flock Through Bible Verses/Part 5

by: James Smith, 1871 "The righteous shall hold on His way!" Job 17:9Nothing can be more certain than the Savior's promise, that His sheep shall never perish! Nothing can be more plain, than the assurance that the righteous shall hold on his way.Yes, I to the end shall endure,As sure as the earnest is given;More happy — but not more secure,The glorified spirits in Heaven!

"Godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:6If our godliness is thorough — we shall be content with all God's allotments; and being content, we shall be happy. Contentment is always a great blessing.

"They shall be My people — and I will be their God!" Jeremiah 32:38The people of God are His choice, His care, and His portion! And He is their confidence, comfort, and all.

 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart!" Deuteronomy 6:5Jehovah claims and deserves our highest and constant love — and it is at once our duty and our happiness to observe this precept!Wherever my foolish wandering heart,Attracted by a creature's power,Would from this blissful center start,Lord, fix it there to stray no more!

 "The Lord hears your murmurings which you murmur against Him! Your murmurings are not against us — but against the Lord!" Exodus 16:8If we murmur against any of God's instruments — He takes it as done against Himself! Murmuring can never befit us as children of God — or be profitable to us.I would submit to all Your will,For You are good and wise;Let every anxious thought be still,Nor one faint murmur rise!

 "Behold, I have engraved you upon the palms of My hands!" Isaiah 49:16The nails by which our Savior was fastened to the tree for us — engraved our names on His hands!My name from the palms of His hands,Eternity will never erase!Impressed on His heart, it remains,In marks of indelible grace!

 "Though have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing!" 1 Corinthians 13:2That is — supreme love to God, and constant love to man. Whatever we have, if we have not love, we are not Christians!Oh, grant me, Lord, this one request,And I'll be satisfied —That love divine may rule my breast,And all my actions guide!

 "Fear not, neither be discouraged!" Deuteronomy 1:21Without God's promises — we have enough to discourage an angel! But with them, nothing ought to discourage us.You in His wisdom, power, and love,May confidently trust;His wisdom guides, His power protects,His grace rewards the just.

 "The Lord gives wisdom." Proverbs 2:6We daily need wisdom — and the Lord daily gives it! If we . . .feel our need,ardently desire it,earnestly seek it, andperseveringly expect it— the Lord will bestow it!

 "I am in a desperate situation! Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercy is great. Do not let me fall into the hands of man!" 2 Samuel 24:14If the hand of Providence brings us into desperate situation — let us fall into the hand of Mercy! While the one tries us — the other will sustain us!

 "Return, O backsliding children — and I will heal your backslidings!" Jeremiah 3:22Backsliding from God brings us into a state of disease — which no one but God can heal!Return, O wanderer, return,Your Savior bids your spirit live;Go to His bleeding feet and learn,How freely Jesus can forgive!
 

"I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God! Do not be conformed to this world; but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:1-2As those who are born from above, and whose treasure is in Heaven — we should be heavenly-minded, and holy in every part of our behavior!Born by a new celestial birth,Why should we grovel here on earth?Why grasp at transitory toys —So near to Heaven's eternal joys?

 "That I might finish my course with joy!" Acts 20:24This is the object which the apostle constantly kept in view. Let us daily pray, and daily live — so that we may expect to finish our course with joy.With joy may we our course pursue,And keep the crown of life in view.That crown which in one hour repays,The labor of ten thousand days!
 "To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne!" Revelation 3:21"Be faithful, even to the point of death — and I will give you the crown of life!" Revelation 2:10Only conquerors are crowned! We must therefore fight and overcome every foe — if we would be crowned by the hand of Jesus!

"He who overcomes will inherit all this — and I will be his God and he will be My son!" Revelation 21:7Rouse, rouse, my soul, and fight your way,Should earth and Hell oppose;Though you are not, your Savior is,A match for all your foes!

 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord — whose confidence is in Him!" Jeremiah 17:7If we trust in men — we shall be disappointed and discouraged.But if we trust in the Lord — we shall be safe and successful.

 "Fight the good fight of faith — lay hold on eternal life!" 1 Timothy 6:12Faith has to fight with corruption within and opposition without. There is no way of laying hold on eternal life — but by fighting for it!From strength to strength go on,Wrestle, and fight, and pray;Tread all the powers of darkness down,And win the well-fought day!

 "What do you want Me to do for you?" Mark 10:36Jesus is able to do all we can ask — and He is willing to do whatever will really benefit us; but He will have us ask Him.Oh, grant me all a God can give,And all that mortals can receive;Grace to believe in Jesus' blood,Grace to enjoy and walk with God.fight 

 "Even if my father and mother abandon me — the Lord will hold me close!" Psalm 27:10 Every creature may cast me off — but the Lord never will! Yes, even if my father and mother abandon me — He draws nearer to me, to comfort and bless me!Should every earthly friend depart,And kindness leave a parent's heart;My God, on whom my hopes depend,Will be my Father and my Friend!

The Beloved - Excerpt from the book "Sacred Romance"

I am my beloved’s and his desire is for me. 
Song of Song

We will draw our identity from outside ourselves; the question is, from whom? In the End, it will be from those moments and those people with whom we’ve had the biggest impact. Think again about Helen of Troy. Why “of Troy”? Wasn’t she really Helen of Greece, Menelaus’s wife? In calling her “Helen of Troy” we are forever reminded of the impact she had on the Mediterranean world of the tenth century b.c. She is not Helen the Beauty or Helen Like No Other Woman. Those are qualities she could possess alone. 

No, she is Helen of Troy, which really means something like Helen the Fought Over, Helen the Captive and Rescued, Helen the Pursued. Her identity is inseparable from her relationships; it has been bestowed upon her. Maybe she enjoyed the attention, maybe not. Perhaps in the end she merely played the part of the rare art object, stolen from Menelaus’s  palace to be put on display in Troy. I hope that someone in all those thousands was pursuing her for her heart. But whatever else she felt, as the center of an international crisis Helen must have known beyond a shadow of a doubt that she mattered. 

The gospel says that we, who are God’s beloved, created a cosmic crisis. It says we, too, 
were stolen from our True Love and that he launched the greatest campaign in the history
of the world to get us back. God created us for intimacy with him. When we turned our  
back on him he promised to come for us. He sent personal messengers; he used beauty 
and affliction to recapture our hearts. After all else failed, he conceived the most daring 
of plans. Under the cover of night he stole into the enemy’s camp incognito, the Ancient 
of Days disguised as a newborn. The Incarnation, as Phil Yancey reminds us, was a 
daring raid into enemy territory. The whole world lay under the power of the evil one and 
we were held in the dungeons of darkness. God risked it all to rescue us. Why? What is it
that he sees in us that causes him to act the jealous lover, to lay siege both on the kingdom
of darkness and on our own idolatries as if on Troy—not to annihilate, but to win us once 
again for himself? This fierce intention, this reckless ambition that shoves all conventions aside,willing literally to move heaven and earth—What does he want from us?

We’ve been offered many explanations. From one religious camp we’re told that what God wants is obedience, or sacrifice, or adherence to the right doctrines, or morality. Those are the answers offered by conservative churches. The more therapeutic churches  suggest that no, God is after our contentment, or happiness, or self­actualization, or  something else along those lines. He is concerned about all these things, of course, but they are not his primary concern. What he is after is us—our laughter, our tears, our dreams, our fears, our heart of hearts. Remember his lament in Isaiah, that though his  people were performing all their duties, “their hearts are far from me” (29:13 italics  added). How few of us truly believe this. We’ve never been wanted for our heart, our  truest self, not really, not for long. The thought that God wants our heart seems too good  to be true. 

Sacred Romance is written by by Brent Curtis & John Eldridge

I Live To Know You Lord Should Be our Motto as Christians!

Today I was reading Deuteronomy 27-29, I found several verses such as:

Deut. 28:9 "The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.” Here is what Matthew Henry has to say about it.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

“Deut. 28:1-14 - This chapter is a very large exposition of two words, the blessing and the curse. They are real things and have real effects. The blessings are here put before the curses. God is slow to anger, but swift to show mercy. It is his delight to bless. It is better that we should be drawn to what is good by a child-like hope of God's favour, than that we be frightened to it by a slavish fear of his wrath. The blessing is promised, upon condition that they diligently hearken to the voice of God. Let them keep up religion, the form and power of it, in their families and nation, then the providence of God would prosper all their outward concerns.”

Deut. 28:47 “If you do not serve the LORD your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received,”

I like this verse because it shows how God expects to be served and worshiped. But if we have not learned to be grateful for who He is and what He has done for us through Christ, we end up living the type of Christianity where we feel obligated to fulfill our obligations to Him. So, while we are religious, we are so resistant to changes that the Holy Spirit cannot make a dent in us. The real love, the enthusiasm and the joy of it all will always be missing in our walk.

Deut. 28:63 “Just as the LORD has found great pleasure in causing you to prosper and multiply, the LORD will find pleasure in destroying you. You will be torn from the land you are about to enter and occupy.”

This verse might sound off a bit to some, and we might even question God. But this is who God is.  His love and wrath has the same intensity. So, yes He will find pleasure in destroying them. The pleasure comes from the fact that He simply has no tolerance for wickedness and His Holiness demands it. For us Christian our wickedness comes from the fact that we want to butt heads with Him at any cost, because we have His promises and He cannot lie.

This kind of Christianity is drilled into us day in day out. Most Churches today, along with social media, and everywhere on the internet we find joy in claiming verses we like, that speak of His promises. In reality, these verses do not stand by themselves as they are not complete. We learned to cultivate that mentality where we think He owes us something and we can get away with murder.  God has no tolerance for this kind of self-serving Salvation. The hearts of the Israelites were not right with Him, just as us today. When we insist on having our way instead of His, well, we share in the same symptoms and diseases as the Israelites. Like God showed me, there is a big difference between those who love Him and will be losing some rewards, and those who do not love Him at all as if Salvation never touched their hearts.

Moses example is one that shows Moses love for God, but his disobedience caused him not to see the Promised Land. VS God, destroying the Israelites because of their lack of love for Him, they could not follow at all.  God does not expect us to be perfect until we die because perfection belongs to Him. But, we have to learn to examine ourselves, not through our eyes, but His.

ON ANOTHER NOTE….

I shared with you in yesterday’s post. God touched my heart and I understand that I made it all sound so bad, as if God has not done anything good for me while I am waiting on Him, upon Him and for Him. The reality is that He showered blessings on me through my two sons. The past three months have been incredible. Each news I received from them is earth shattering.  There has been a lot as if God has opened a flow of blessings from heaven.

Last week I was praying and asking God how long will I have to wait? I even told Him whenever He tells me to do something, I do it, and then it is like He uses my obedience to humble me in a way that things always turn sort of sour for me. In His defense, I have to say, even though my life is truly rough and my soul could use a break from this divine training, I still pray for Him to keep me where I am. My relentless prayer goes along this line: “Teach me and train me to be like Paul so that I, too, have no aim, no end and no purpose but you my Lord.” Yes, it seems crazy that after such a long period of time I am still spending long hours with God asking Him to make me this person.

I have to be honest, there was a time I stopped praying this way because I realized God was giving me the desires of my heart, in a painful way. After a few months of not praying this kind of prayer,  God showed me how my heart was letting Him go slowly as my first love. The only thing that had changed was the way I prayed on purpose I avoided this kind of prayer.  Because God has given me the ability to touch His heart, I am able to feel His pain and joy, (only when He wants to) which is both a blessing and a curse as far as I am concerned. I had no choice but to stop the pain that I was causing Him and go back to praying Him to keep me like Paul with no aim, no end and no purpose but Him. Since then, I never deviated from the path.

So during my prayer time last week while I was talking to God as if He had forgotten me in the waiting process, I felt suddenly a flow of peace all over me. This awesome, still, peaceful and comforting voice told me “it has to be this way for now my child, but have you noticed that you are not forgotten because all the blessings that should come to you is happening to your children?” I was speechless for a moment. Then, I realized it is true; God has blessed my two boys so much. Yet, even in the midst of all these news I had received, I saw these things as “my children’s own lives” and did not associate them with me at all.

Right after that, I went to my laptop I found an email that my son sent to us his parents and wife together to announce another major news in his life. I checked the time to see when the email came in; it was less than a minute. I grabbed the phone to call him. He told me he was about to call his wife when he saw my number, needless to say he was surprised with the speed of my phone call. As I talked to him all I could see was how everything my boy touches turns into blessings in his life. It is unreal how God lined up people on his path to accomplish His will in his life.

I did not stay on the phone because I wanted him to call his wife and rejoice in the news together. As I hung up the phone God confirmed in my heart how my son’s life is about me and my walk with Him. Something inside of me could not take it anymore and I wept from the depth of my soul for about half an hour. My tears were tears of joy, couple with how real God is and how awesome my God is. If I were to list all that has happened in my two boys lives, it would look like I am bragging. Even today as I am writing this post today, I still cannot believe someone like me would have ever had the blessings that I received through them.

My point is, it is not all that bad while someone could look at my life and ask where is my God, but I know He has not abandoned me. No matter how hard things are for me, I would not have it any other way because it brings joy to my Savior.

When you read Deuteronomy 29: 24-29 I rejoice in the way He ends it. These verses tell us what people will say about the Israelites. Notice while these people will say those things in verses 24 28, they will not understand why God is doing all that He is doing in the Israelites lives because they are not privy to the whole story. So, in verse 29 He says: Deut.29:29 "The LORD our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.”

Deuteronomy Salvation Gratitude and Love! 2/2

Deuteronomy 8:11
"But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the LORD your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today."

Deuteronomy 12:1
"These are the decrees and regulations you must be careful to obey when you live in the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must obey them as long as you live."

Deuteronomy 12:8
"Your pattern of worship will change. Today all of you are doing as you please,"

When you digest the contents of the book of Deuteronomy, you can vividly see why so many Christians today are wrong. They find the true Christianity too hard and tedious and most of us are not quite acquainted with the inner life. Like the Israelites, God is taken for granted at every turn. In Deuteronomy 8:11 Moses told the Israelites “be aware not to forget the Lord by not keeping His commandments, His statutes and His ordinances.” We can clearly see as we read God’s word, that by keeping them we have life. In the February 7^th post, I mentioned that the Christian life God taught me was a busy one because it takes every ounce of one’s strength and every bit of who you are must abide. I want to elaborate a bit further on it because it could be misconstrued. In Deuteronomy like in today’s Christian life, God’s plan has not changed. He always wanted for all those that are His to learn to keep His word to regulate their lives. He wanted His word to be what they fed on, to sustain and guide them. He wanted through it all, to become their God and their sanctifier. Anyone who tries to walk in this manner will tell you that at the level of the mind, this life is extremely busy because you cannot achieve this level of obedience and intimacy with Him without making the effort, moment by moment to constantly keep His business in the forefront of your mind.

The Israelites missed out on God’s leading and they missed out on the activities of God’s transforming power in their lives. This is usually what happens when we reject His leadership while we get comfortable and take Him for granted. Most of the time you will find in the absence of God’s transforming activities in one’s life, there is a need to change our behaviour as we mimic the qualities and attributes of a model Christian, all in the flesh with no spiritual values.

Years ago I bought a water heater and put it on my fuel bill. But the interest rates were so high; it was like borrowing money from the mafia. So the next month, I decided to make a big payment that would cover at least half of the cost of the water heater. I intended to pay it in full in the next three months instead of two years as they laid it out for me. When I called customer service to have them apply the payment toward the water heater, during the conversation the lady at the end of the line told me, well by making this payment, you completely altered the terms of this contract with us. In my mind I remember thinking “so what?” But, even though I was a brand new Christian, I never forgot her words because I knew God is a covenant God. God does not take it kindly to have a bunch of pretenders in the Church. He does not take kindly to those who are butting heads with Him and expect Him to pay up because He cannot lie.

Most of what I see around me is people following their Pastors, their Priests and spouses and God is no longer the head of most Churches or households. We have learned to practice our religion while learning to behave well to get our hearts in a place of conformity. Believe me, I wish what I am talking about was simply my own opinion. But, it is not. Anyone with a sound spiritual mind can see this is the situation in today’s Church.  When God opened my spiritual eyes, I found out, me too, I was following my pastor instead of God and I was trying very hard to learn to conform even though I was not good at it. When we fail to make God’s word the very thing we feed on, meditate on it and live by it, and when we fail to let His word and activities transform us we become easy prey. Someone can stand in front of the pulpit, utter the grossest stupidities about God and we are so numb inside we can’t differentiate between truth, lies or wrong beliefs.

In the end, all He wants on a global scale is to lead us to become a people being changed from glory to glory. He wants us to love, serve and obey Him in His way. He wants to purify us, preserve us and renew us day by day as He uses us to influence those around us. This was His goal thousands years ago with the Israelites and it is still His goal today with us Christians. We serve a changeless God. Why do we insist on living like sheep without a shepherd, is beyond me.