Choosing to suffer means that there must be something wrong with you, but choosing God’s will— even if it means you will suffer— is something very different. No normal, healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he simply chooses God’s will, just as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not. And no saint should ever dare to interfere with the lesson of suffering being taught in another saint’s life.The saint who satisfies the heart of Jesus will make other saints strong and mature for God. But the people used to strengthen us are never those who sympathize with us; in fact, we are hindered by those who give us their sympathy, because sympathy only serves to weaken us. No one better understands a saint than the saint who is as close and as intimate with Jesus as possible. If we accept the sympathy of another saint, our spontaneous feeling is, “God is dealing too harshly with me and making my life too difficult.” That is why Jesus said that self-pity was of the devil (see Matthew 16:21-23). We must be merciful to God’s reputation. It is easy for us to tarnish God’s character because He never argues back; He never tries to defend or vindicate Himself. Beware of thinking that Jesus needed sympathy during His life on earth. He refused the sympathy of people because in His great wisdom He knew that no one on earth understood His purpose (see Matthew 16:23). He accepted only the sympathy of His Father and the angels (see Luke 15:10).Look at God’s incredible waste of His saints, according to the world’s judgment. God seems to plant His saints in the most useless places. And then we say, “God intends for me to be here because I am so useful to Him.” Yet Jesus never measured His life by how or where He was of the greatest use. God places His saints where they will bring the most glory to Him, and we are totally incapable of judging where that may be.

_________________________________________________________________

August 10 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, this seems like a very difficult teaching; that we should be prepared and accepting of pain and suffering for our own lives and that we should not offer sympathy to Christians going through pain and suffering. This seems somewhat counter intuitive to the two commandments of Jesus: love God with all your heart mind and soul and to love your neighbor as yourself. What do I do when I see a Christian brother or sister suffering? What do we do when we are suffering? Do we accept the suffering, simply assuming You will use the suffering and pain to make us stronger? If You came to give us life and life more abundantly, how does this fit?

And God says…(Romans 12:1-2) “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and visually, in your mind, daily,  place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

“As you are being transformed by this process, and begin living surrendered, connected, curious, and obedient, you will know when to reach out and offer comfort, and when to stay within your own connection with Jesus. You will know when and how to respond to the many difficult and challenging circumstances you are bound to face. Acknowledge Me in all your ways and I will make your paths straight. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus and I will provide everything you require, including discernment and a peace that passes all understanding.”