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[Darlene]

The Price of Freedom

"And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him" (Mark 9:26).

Evil never surrenders its hold without a sore fight. We never pass into any spiritual inheritance through the delightful exercises of a picnic, but always through the grim contentions of the battle field. It is so in the secret realm of the soul. Every faculty which wins its spiritual freedom does so at the price of blood. Apollyon is not put to flight by a courteous request; he straddles across the full breadth of the way, and our progress has to be registered in blood and tears. This we must remember or we shall add to all the other burdens of life the gall of misinterpretation. We are not "born again" into soft and protected nurseries, but in the open country where we suck strength from the very terror of the tempest. "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." Dr. J. H. Jowett

***

"Faith of our Fathers! living still,
In spite of dungeon, fire and sword:
O how our hearts beat high with joy
Whene'er we hear that glorious word.
Faith of our Fathers! Holy Faith!
We will be true to Thee till death!

"Our fathers, chained in prisons dark,
Were still in heart and conscience free;
How sweet would be their children's fate,
If they, like them, could die for Thee!


Kind of blunt but so true...

The journey to our spiritual inheritance is no picnic...it is wrought with blood, sweat and tears...literally at times. How true is that?

The word "misinterpretation" really struck me. How often do I misinterpret what is going on in my life spiritually. How often are the burdens on my heart weighed heavier because I am looking at the circumstances from the wrong perspective? How often these days do I reflect back on days gone by through rose colored glasses, remembering a time when it all didn't seem so hard...till His Spirit refreshes my memory and reminds me of many burdens that lay on my heart back then too. Many of the burdens these days are different, but just like back then, there is a balance in my life...good and not so good. The difference these days is that I don't just "read about the spiritual war in books or newspapers" (per say...no literally but figuratively). I'm in the battle instead.

It's easy to have high ideals, especially about oneself before entering into such a battle field. But when one is shot after and hunted spiritually, the truth of oneself tends to become clearer.

I don't know about you but I've been discovering that I'm 'so not all that' all the time. That is a rude and sad awakening so when I have found myself beginning to sink to my knees, the enemy's sites zeroed in on my heart looking to end it once and for all, I find His hand placed over my heart and His other hand lifting me back to my feet moving me closer to Him as He whispers in a way that only He can that comforts my heart...

"No, you're so not all that. But I am."

He's my only hope. That's the song that He has been singing over me lately. I can't say that I completely understand it yet. I understand it to some extent intellectually but He's in the process of birthing it in my heart.

And that's my miscellaneous ramble at 5:30am this morning.

[Mt_Rider]

MtRider [...sometimes so weary that crawling the next step is enough...with HIM, it is enough ]