“A little thorn may cause much suffering. A little cloud may hide the sun. Little foxes spoil the vines; and little sins do mischief to the tender heart. These little sins burrow in the soul, and make it so full of that which is hateful to Christ, that he will hold no comfortable fellowship and communion with us. A great sin cannot destroy a Christian, but a little sin can make him miserable….

“Christian, what hast thou to do with sin? Hath it not cost thee enough already? Burnt child, wilt thou play with the fire? What! when thou hast already been between the jaws of the lion, wilt thou step a second time into his den? Hast thou not had enough of the old serpent?” – from Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

     11 Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. 1 Chronicles 29:11

I have written to you with great truth and conviction about the keys to a forgiving heart and walking through those steps.  I wrote yesterday morning about God being my buckler, quickly shielding from all the fiery darts.  I stand firm on all those convictions, then last night at the meeting why did I break down, crying, unable to stop as my mouth began to talk.  All of the feelings of perceived pain, sorrow, frustration, and rejection came bubbling out of me.  What part of trusting God came out in that?  Where did my faith go for those fleeting moments?  I dare say I don’t know; but, this I do know.  Once more, I was trying too hard to work to prove my worth, since deep within me I battle that thought that no matter how hard I try, I will never be good enough.  I was too tired and I forgot to pray before the meeting. Additionally, that little thorn had been left in for the last year; despite my searching for it to remove it.  It had festered and grown.  If I had told them of my perceived pain last year then it could not have grown; I would have known for a fact that it was only perceived and never intended.   So today, once more I bow before my Father and am so grateful that..as David tells us in Psalm 103:

12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.

14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

And I am forever so glad to be His Chosen Child, unconditionally loved by God.  God Alone is My only hope of Victory against the thorns.

So today, I start again,  I will once more go forth into this world (though I would really love to just sit with my Father).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRbWAtU6LPw

 

Where can we find the strength each day to face the day before us?  Where is the hope that will allow us to one more day step forth from our beds to face the struggles set before us and within us? How can we ever hope to win our own battles against the covetous, self exalting desires of our own hearts to defeat sin’s hold upon us?  Wherein lies our hope of salvation?  It is Jesus Christ, our only hope.  Even David in the Old Testament knew this.  If the Messiah never came, there was no hope for us who are no better than maggots as David had come to realize in Psalm 22.  The old Testament frequently points us to a portrait of Christ who would be the only hope.  Look at Psalm 20. 

Psalm 206 Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.

7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

Christ is that saving strength of God’s right hand as is demonstrated further in Hebrews 12.

2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Our only hope in this battle against sin is the Saving Grace provided by Christ’s sacrificial offering for our sin on the Cross.  He died and rose victorious against sin; that we might be clothed in His Righteousness.  It is in His strength that we face each step that lies before us.  Fully trusting and hoping in Him to perform that which I am incapable of.  That kind of hope causes every fiber of my being to pour forth love, devotion, and praise to Him. He has won the victory for me.  Look once more to a Psalm of David which enumerates this.

Psalm 18: I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.

2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Imagine this.  Christ is that unmovable rock, the foundation of my salvation.  A stone that cannot be moved, though the earth tremble or the tornado winds destroy all else–the foundation holds firm.  (Luke 6:48)  He is my fortress–a hiding place protected from Satan’s flaming arrows of doubt.  He is my deliverer from my own foolish desires for counterfeit desires.  He is my strength when the central core of my being is beaten, wounded and tired from the battles of this life as I run into His arms for solace and comfort while He cradles me in His arms and sings a song of Joy over me. (Zephaniah 3:17).  I can trust Him, who sacrificed everything that I might be His Child so He could pour out His Love, His Joy, and His Glory upon me.  He is my buckler.  A buckler was a weapon used to protect against the enemy:

• Hand protection: The primary use of the buckler was to protect the sword hand.
• Deflector: The buckler’s lightness and curved center made it excellent for deflecting attacking blades.
• Blinder: The light blades used in conjunction with the buckler depended on rapid movements, which meant that a single second was an important advantage. The wielder of the buckler could use the buckler to shield his sword-hand’s position from view, keeping his opponent from guessing his next strike.
• "Metal fist": A buckler could be used to directly attack an opponent by punching with either its flat face or its rim.
• Binder: The buckler could be used to bind an opponent’s sword hand and weapon as well as their buckler against their body. The buckler was also very useful in grappling, where it allowed an opponent’s arms to be easily wrapped up and controlled.

Can you imagine God being the buckler while shouting to Satan–"Ha, that arrow can’t touch my child.  Take that.  Watch how I wrap this buckler around your hand, Satan and render you powerless."  He did that on the cross and continues to each day stand as your shield against Satan’s blows.  Do you really know and believe that?  The horn of my Salvation is Jesus. 

Luke 1 68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,

69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us

The horn referred to is the one referred to by David in Psalm 92: 10 which was one that destroyed the enemy and protected one against the poisonous darts of the enemy.  Christ is He who destroyed the power of Sin over us, for all who would believe and claim this His Gift of Mercy and Grace. 

And He is my High Tower.  Remember when the people of Babel decided in their own strength to build a "tower to God"; they couldn’t and neither can I.  But Jesus Christ completed that High Tower so that I might commune with God.  I can boldly go before His throne of Grace.  Hebrews 4:16

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 

So my Hope to have the strength to take the next step is based upon Jesus Christ.  I can trust that I will be provided the future Grace for each step I must take today with His power to keep my foot from sinking into the quicksand that lies ahead.  My part in this?  To keep my eyes focused on Him. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlaZ2Jrem7I

 

Yesterday, we began to look at pain, sorrow and suffering in the Christian Life as a means of our being able to seek, savor and thus display the comforting beauty of God to a world in need of comfort.  We seek comfort, we seek beauty, and we seek to see or feel Glory.  God’s created us so that He can share His love, His joy, and His glory with us.  Yet, our finite minds though seeking that; get caught up in counterfeit love, counterfeit joy and counterfeit glory; unless the Spirit unveils the truth so that we might see the beauty of perfect righteousness, perfect love, and perfect joy as displayed on the cross when Jesus was willing to suffer and die to take the penalty for our sins.  Perfect righteousness because He knew no sin.  Perfect Love that was willing to sacrifice everything and take the full wrath that sin deserves upon Himself so as to restore a relationship with man allowing man to experience real love, real joy, and share in that beauty, that glory which was His in eternity past and future.  Perfect Joy, a joy that comes as a final product when all those who would believe are gathered around the throne of heaven with him, was willing to take the shame of the cross forever looking forward to that joy that was to come.  (much like a parent who sacrificially gives of themselves so that they might see the wonder of their children and then grandchildren as they develop into men and women of whom they are proud–though this even pales in comparison; I thought it might help some of you understand).  When Moses stood upon the mount to receive the law written in stone, he was unable to look upon God’s full glory and beauty.  A Glory so great that his own face reflected that glory and required a veil be placed.  That veil became broken when Christ died on the cross, the ultimate display of Glory and beauty wrapped into one.  Once you are able to see the display of Beauty and Glory that God would do such a thing for a world who rejected Him and sought after counterfeit beauties–how wondrously beautiful beyond our comprehension, only then can you begin to fathom His Glory displayed, His Beauty showcased as more deserving of our praise, worship, and awe than anything else we can seek after.  Look at the following verses. 

2 Corinthians 3: 7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:

8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.

11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:

13 And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Once I begin to see the Glory and Beauty of the Lord and focus my gaze upon Him, seeking Him, savoring Him; I am transformed by the work of the Spirit.  Little changes in my image, little glimpses of His Glory displayed by my actions.  Ever so tiny at first are the changes; yet, little by little I lay aside other counterfeit desires to exchange them for His.  As that happens the trivialities of this world fade into the background.  Yes, I said trivialities, because however meaningful or important your moment of suffering or moment of joy in worldly things; they pale into nothingness when you begin to see the Magnificence of His Glory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhvXOIVsRv4

 

This world in the which we are journeying is filled with potholes, pains, conflicts, and sorrows.  We look around us and see bleeding, suffering hearts filled with bitterness and anger.  We look within and see pains, sorrows, conflicts within our own heart.  Whispering to our minds are those words of doubt.  We wonder how is it that we have made such a mess of our lives.  We have loved God, wanted to follow Him with all our hearts; yet, that thread of doubt–those words which constantly play back that "I am a failure"  haunt our minds penetrating deep into our souls.  Whispers come pounding into our minds, ripping at our soul;  "What makes you think that God really loves you?"  We stuff them down and don’t want anyone to know they are there; because after all, who would ever believe us again.  We feel that we must never let anyone know that doubts, fears, and pains ever find a place in our hearts; because then they would wonder about our sincerity when we talk about God’s love, joy, hope and peace.  When we stop to read the epistles of Paul so filled with strength and hope, have you ever noticed His sincerity?  The depth of His pains, sorrows, tribulations which are overwhelmed and dispelled by His proclamations of Joy, Hope, and a Righteousness not of Works–but founded in Grace.  He points us to that Hope which abounds within us because of the Hope founded in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the Cross.  He ever reminds us that this life of trials and conflicts has a purpose.  If I never had doubt; how, could I help you see God’s truth when doubt comes?  If I never bore the pain of illness, then how could I help you when you are facing it?  If I did not need to daily cling with all my might to God’s promises of sufficient grace to just take that next step; then, how could I tell you that it is OK? His Grace is Sufficient.  Look closely at what Paul said to the church at Corinth. 

2 Corinthians 1: 2 Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.

7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

So let me tell you what I do know.  God is my strength, when I am weak.  He is my hope, when all that surrounds me seems to be caving in upon me.  He is my Joy, when this worlds counterfeit joys lay heaped in a pile, burning into ashes.  He is my righteousness, for on my own I have nothing to bring.

2 Corinthians 2: 14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

But I urge you not to fail to return tomorrow for the second part of Glory to Glory, this journey which is transforming us to see, savour (like a sweet, rich morsel) the Glory of Christ so that we, ourselves, are being transformed day by day, step by step, little glory by little glory until one day we stand before our Savior.  Then we may understand, there is no pain too great for the salvation of one soul. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mmgV6mPvb0

 

How do you see God?  Do you see Him as a loving Father in whom you can trust? Or do you see Him as far and distant, frightening, always about judgement?  He paid the ultimate price so that you might share in His righteousness with all your sins paid for at the cross.  He desires to meet you right where you are.  He loves you more than you could ever imagine. 

Deuteronomy 23:

the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee.

I John 4:

16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

19 We love him, because he first loved us.

I hope you watch this video. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpSE3eZTCNo