Amor Perseverante

Suffering and trials will always have two results. It can draw us away from God or draw us closer to Him. In times of suffering we might want to blame God. However, most of the time it is our own selfishness, resentment, and rebellion that has led us to that point. The other times it’s just because we live in a fallen world. We find ourselves like Job wondering how is it possible for the wicked to have such abundant lives and we are on the other side going through great trials.  Seeing how many times the wicked will flourish before our eyes. Our mind can fool us into following the wicked ways. We may even start contemplating sin, playing with it and eventually falling into satan’s trap.

However, God in His righteousness and His unending mercy come violently and passionately interrupts satan’s plans. First he will uncover the sin. There is nothing that He does not know but He needs to unveil anything that is hiden. He will put us face to face with a mirror, face to face with our mess. He confronts us. He doesn’t avoid conflict, but rather deals it with firmly but with a benevolent heart. He exposes us, most of the time in front of those who loves us. All of this out of love that we may surely know that He is a jealous God. He is more passionate about us than any man on Earth can be. All of those acts of discipline are just raw manifestations of His thick, bold, unambiguous and determined LOVE . 

While I write this I picture the book of Hosea 1:10-11 “so now I will expose her tenderness, before the eyes of her lovers; NO ONE Will take her out of my hands. I will stop all her celebrations.” All of this He does with the purpose of rescuing her for His own delight and fulfillment of His purpose.  So would you just surrender to His great plans for your life?  Would you decide to let your heart be courted and lavished in love by your creator? 

  
God has done it all. God is giving us freedom in Christ to be able  to live and walk by the truth. All those thoughts of restrictions and disabilities are lies that keep us in bondage. So that we may continue to live as slaves being already free. For there is no condemnation to him or her who is in Jesus Christ. We must understand that all laziness and negativity all those thoughts of self-pity and overwhelmed are just thoughts that the enemy uses to keep us in bondage. It is true that we grow tired that this mortal body sometimes disables us from walking in freedom. But we must seek rest in the truth of God. We must rest our bodies for a while by sleeping or just pausing the activities, but physical rest is incomplete if we don’t draw near to Christ our redeemer the one who fills us back with strength. We are made of flesh but we are also spirit and we must draw near to our Heavenly Father that we may live and walk by the Spirit and not the flesh.  So in practicality if there is a sinful inclination that you are struggling with, know that you are no longer a slave to that. In Jesus Christ you are able to say no to that sin or temptation, in His strength! No more excuses for living a mediocre Christian life. By this I don’t mean you are not going to have struggles and temptations but I do mean that if you know that God has set you free you will be able to rise up above the situation and embrace what may come holding the hand of The Almighty God!  He has you and your life in the palm of His hand! 

In your walk with Christ many will look at your flaws and your failures. They may point at your area of struggle and weakness. They will laugh at you, they will judge you. Many will even dare to diagnose the cause of your struggle the reason for your pain. Mocking and scorning they will ask “where is your God” “aren’t you supposed to be a Christian?”
What they ignore is that as Christ followers we are all put up for a beautiful formation and transformation. We are put through a time where in our painful days we are able to feel the soft restoring hand of our HEALER. A time of dying to our selves where in the heavy breathing of surrender we are able to feel his incomparable GLORIOUS PRESENCE. We are able to experience something that is not of this world. Something that is unknown to the godless soul. We are able to experience JOY, incomprehensible, indescribable, exhilarating JOY.
In the midst of the times of pain, loss, shame, struggle and failure. Jesus grants us to experience this joy that is far more greater than any other things. Such as financial abundance, professional success, fame and glory. For all these things whit out JOY of the Lord are nothing! The JOY found in Jesus exceeds far more than any transient happiness this world can offer. That allows us to understand what exactly the psalmist was saying in Psalm 4:7 “You have put more JOY in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound”

Thank you Lord!

En medio de la culpa que traen los errores del pasado Dios tiene el Poder de hacerme nueva y de cambiar lo que el pasado a declarado dándome nueva identidad y un nuevo nombre. – Amor Perseverante