"O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! When I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised." (S.O.S. 8:1)
"For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath a husband." (Galatians 4:27)
Nothing is more important to God than the growth and healthiness of His children; this is something we must understand and keep at the forefront of our minds! Whatever might be happening in this life, if it causes us to look more for His protection, then it causes us to look more to Him! This is pretty simple to understand, because this is the way that God would have us to live our lives.
If you know me, you might know that I am not one that cares too much for money. If I loan someone any money, it is usually not written down; and if it is, it is usually not something I really care about. There is good reason for that, because that money is not mine to begin with: everything I have, everything I get to hold onto, it all belongs to the Lord! Nothing we have belongs to us; we must realize this is so, and we must make sure that it is always the way we understand it to be.
Understanding, is something that requires thought; it requires that we not only know it to be so, but that we know how it works, and, what it looks like when it doesn't work; or more importantly, we know when it is not working. If we are going to be drawn closer and closer to the Lord, then it will usually require that we draw further away from something else. This something else can be a whole list of things, material, physical, or anything else that might have some sort of grip upon our lives; which means, it could also be something very personal or something we deeply care about.
Believe it or not, but your salvation is not your own; even that belongs to the Lord! We really need to understand that, because it is 100% His: He provides it, He keeps it, and He owns every bit of it! There is nothing that we have or get to hold onto that is ours: "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether the be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him." (Colossians 1:16)
This is my understanding of what we are in Christ: We belong to Him! He made me and He loves me; He loves me more than I could ever really know, more than I usually appreciate, and more than I could ever match! What else is there left for me to do...
"And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envy: but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof." (Romans 13:11-14)
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