Blog Archives - IRONSTRIKES

Black dress

7/31/2016

Will she walk slowly
Or will she come at all
I can't believe that I was watching
Can't believe I made the call
I can't get a handle on my thoughts now
Guess I've already made my mind
He's a soldier in my battle
I'm the king with too much time

Will she wear that black dress
Will she wear that black dress
As holy as the night
As holy as I want to feel
I want to feel all right

What if she is angry
I know that we're both scared
Do I look her in the eye or do I even dare to care
I'm drowning in desire
I''ve been good for so long
I know I've got no right now
But no one can tell me that I'm wrong

Will she wear that black dress
Will she wear that black dress
As holy as the night
As holy as I want to feel
I want to feel all right

Maybe I'll be good
I could be gone when she gets here
I've still got a chance to make this one all right
My temptation's on the stairway
My temptation's at the door
My temptation is before me
She is standing before me in that black dress

This is a song by James Hills of The Normals. His lyrics remind us how temptation is near. God will always provide you a way out of temptation if you ask HIm. "...But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." I Cor 10:13b

To hear the song, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0qAqjaSXl4

Sunday Meditation

7/30/2016

Weak, Yet Having All Power

The Christian is weak, and yet he has all power. He has renounced his own strength, as well as his own wisdom. But having no power in himself, he may be said to have all power in God. He can almost say with the Savior, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” And He, who gives him strength, gives him also honor; so that he, who is despised among men, has all honor with God. His name is cast out as evil among men; but it is written and registered in bright letters on the heart of the Infinite.

It is in such views that we find an explanation of the contrasted but triumphant expressions of the Apostle Paul, in his second Epistle to the Corinthians: "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”

"For which cause," he adds, "we faint not; but, though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are unseen are eternal."

— edited from A Treatise on Divine Union (1851) Part 8, Chapter 8 Chapter 8 by Thomas Cogswell Upham. His blog is managed by Craig L Adams and can be found here: http://thomascupham.blogspot.com

Overcoming mood swings

7/29/2016

Are we condemned to be passive victims of our moods? Must we simply say: "I feel great today" or "I feel awful today," and require others to live with our moods?

Although it is very hard to control our moods, we can gradually overcome them by living a well-disciplined spiritual life. This can prevent us from acting out of our moods. We might not "feel" like getting up in the morning because we "feel" that life is not worth living, that nobody loves us, and that our work is boring. But if we get up anyhow, to spend some time reading the Gospels, praying the Psalms, and thanking God for a new day, our moods may lose their power over us.

For further reflection...

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. - Psalm 119:105 (NIV)

This post was written by Henri Nouwen. You can find his website here: henrinouwen.org

God speaks to you

7/29/2016

I am the good shepherd . . .
My sheep hear My voice—John 10:11, 27

God’s had direct, personal, reciprocally communicative relationships with a lot of men . . . Abraham, Moses, Gideon, David, Paul. What about you and me, though?

Many of us men—to the extent we think about it at all—assume those guys were special, different from us. And so, we decide God probably wants with us a differenttype of relationship—more indirect, impersonal, and non-reciprocal--go to church, read the Bible a bit, get on with our lives. That would mean, though, that God’s purpose in bringing us stories of these men was to simply demonstrate something unattainable—a divine taunt, of sorts. It would reveal a desire to impress upon us how special were his Biblical supermen, so we'd gaze upon them and wonder why he created us so . . . un-super.

Should we believe that? Or, could he have, through these stories, been showing us his heart, his father’s heart? Could it be that he wanted direct, personal, reciprocal relationships with Abraham, Moses, and an incalculable number of men since, and that he wants that kind of relationship with you and me too, right now?

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8)

Sure sounds direct . . . personal . . . reciprocal.

Okay, so what do we do?

Begin to open your mind.. God wants to speak to you—directly to you. In Scripture, He spoke with his own audible voice; through dreams and visions; through intermediaries, such as angels and other human beings; and directly into thoughts, using his “still, small voice.” While the others are admittedly rare, using people as his intermediaries and using His still, small voice are actually quite common.

Copyright © 2016 Gather Ministries, All rights reserved.

This post was written by Justin Camp of Gather Ministries. You can them at: www.gatherministries.com

Sarcasm and sincerity

7/28/2016

You must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart (1 Peter 1:22).

Sarcasm can cause us to laugh. But it can also become a shield. Why open ourselves to rejection when we can make sure that no one ever knows the real us? Ironically, such insincerity actually leaves us more vulnerable.

Some historians believe that the term sincerity comes from the Latin compound, sine—which means “without,” and cera—which means “wax.” In the ancient world, wax was often used to conceal cracks in pottery and buildings. For example, a poor family that couldn’t afford a perfectly smooth stone to seal their loved one’s grave would fill in the gaps with wax. While this looked fine at first, the wax would melt in the summer sun, providing an opening for creatures to enter and do what creatures do. Wealthy families who could buy the best told their craftsman to chisel a door sincerely, or without wax.

Sincerity seems to be essential for the safety of friendship. Only sincere people can have genuine friends. No one opens his heart to someone he can’t trust, but everyone wants to hang around people who are trustworthy. Paul told the Corinthians to open their hearts to him because he had opened his first. “We have spoken honestly with you, and our hearts are open to you. There is no lack of love on our part” (2 Corinthians 6:11-12).

Has sarcasm cost you friends? Do you need the “love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith”? (1 Timothy 1:5). Let the light of God’s Word reveal the “wax” in your life (Psalm 119:105). Then replace it with the solid substance of sincerity. Real friendship requires that we be real with others. And the Holy Spirit provides what we need to show them “sincere love” (2 Corinthians 6:6).

This post was written by Mike Wittmer from Our Daily Bread. You can find their website here: odb.org

"No porn!" The best decision I ever made!

7/27/2016

First off, I want to thank you guys for all the good that you’re doing! I know you’ve heard it so many times before, but I’m grateful for what you guys are doing.

I’ve seen a few stories of people that struggle with addiction to porn, and thought I’d take a moment to share mine with the world. I’ve never experienced a more reckless poison than pornography. It truly does kill every piece of self confidence, self worth, and your ability to truly experience feelings of love.

My first encounter with it was when I was in 5th grade, and my friends dared me to jump over the fence at school during recess to grab a porn magazine. I remember that day like it was yesterday because it had an immediate hold on me. Growing up I’d been involved with it because it seemed like everyone did it, but it really didn’t have a great effect on me until I was about 22.

I got married when I was 21 to the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on. She was everything I’d ever wanted in a wife. A year into our marriage, after going so long without porn, I’d gotten into it. This time was different than others because I couldn’t stop myself. There was something about it that gave me such a rush.

During the time that I was heavily looking at porn my wife was pregnant with our first child. The pregnancy was really hard for my wife. She was a high risk pregnancy, and it had a huge effect on our relationship. I felt as though there was a strain on our relationship because she had turned into this really mean person. I dove deeper into addiction. I couldn’t go a day without looking at it. It was something that became a necessity for me.

Fast forward about 13 months. We moved out to the mid-west where my wife is from originally. I had been so entrapped with porn that I didn’t realize what it was doing to my marriage, and family. I had an affair on my wife with a woman from work who was older, and also married. It was exciting. It was something new. It was a rush.

My wife eventually found out about everything, and my world felt like it was crashing down on me. I hurt the one person I promised to love and cherish forever.

The reason I share my story is because it’s one of hope for others out there who struggle. My wife and I are still together after everything that happened, and after all the hurt and pain I caused her. She has been the biggest help in ridding myself of this addiction. Porn caused me to lose sight of the love that I once had for my wife. it changed my view on what love is. I made her feel like an object. I caused her to lose all confidence in herself. I did it those things to her yet she’s still continues to love me.

We’ve never been happier, and we continue to strengthen our relationship. There is light at the end of this even though it may seem that there is no end to porn. I love my wife and even though I still struggle with my addiction I now have HOPE. I don’t need to look at porn to satisfy anything in my life. I have my family.

Thanks for letting me share my story. I hope that someone benefits from hearing it!

This complete post can be found at: http://fightthenewdrug.org/why-ridding-my-life-of-porn-was-the-best-decision-i-ever-made/

It's demeaning to say "men need porn"

7/26/2016

Not too long ago, Russell Brand joined the ranks of those speaking out against pornography in a video posted to his YouTube channel. In it, he gives a powerful and unapologetic assessment of soft-core pornography, not only listing its known negative effects on young men but corroborating them from personal experience. Voyeurism, objectification of women, the need to validate one’s masculinity through beautiful women, fear of true intimacy, the tendency to view women as trophies rather than individuals; all of these he admits to and attributes to his exposure to pornography.

More than simply acknowledging the devastating effects that porn has had on him, Brand also admits that he has, as of yet, fallen short of quitting it—despite his distaste for the stuff. “If I had total dominion over myself, I would never look at porn again,” he says.

These words, I think, strike an all too familiar chord in the pornography debate. Total dominion over one’s actions, self-control: Are these attainable goals for young men? For young women, too? That a man or woman who fully understands the harmful effects of pornography remains unable to avoid it raises doubts. Regardless of whether or not pornography is healthy, the question remains: Are men and women capable of abstaining from it?

The majority opinion—it seems—is a resounding “no.”

“All men look at porn… The handful of men who claim they don’t look at porn are liars or castrates,” Dan Savage famously remarked. And his statement only repeats a notion almost universally accepted.

And women’s magazines assume that women watch porn and like porn as much as men. It’s as if you’re not a sexual being if you don’t log on and watch it.

We see it manifested in countless male TV characters from Barney Stinson to Frank Underwood. We heard it reiterated in Jennifer Lawrence’s response to the celebrity nude photo leak: “Either your boyfriend is going to look at porn or he’s going to look at you.”

I have personally confronted the notion many times in everyday conversation. I once told a very close friend of mine that my fiancé does not look at pornography. In response, she raised her eyebrows, tilted her head, looked me in the eye, and exclaimed, “I think he might be lying to you about that.”

In a world filled with doubt and confusion, it seems that we, as a society, have come to believe in one immutable truth that people can’t help but look at porn. The only option for girlfriends/boyfriends, fiancées/fiancés, husbands/wives, it seems, is to accept it.

And yet, I cannot.

To be clear, I am not denying the widespread use of pornography among men, and ever increasingly among women. I am not trying to argue with statistics. But there is something disturbing about the way we discuss men and pornography. There is something more at stake here, and statements that porn-use is inevitable for all men are problematic for a number of reasons.

“Everyone Does It” Can’t Be Possible

First, to insist “all men look at porn” is, like most broad generalizations, simply false. Statistics on porn consumption range from claiming 64 percent to 80 percent of men are habitual users, but regardless of the precise numbers there is an active and growing movement against pornography of which men are a vital part—Fight the New Drug is just one part of it. What’s more, there are whole societies of people who fall in line with Russell Brand, who have found porn use damaging and addictive, and have found healing in self-restraint.

The Reddit community No Fap, in which members challenge themselves to give up porn, has garnered more than 140,000 members. The group provides support, camaraderie, advice, and—notably—success stories for those looking to “recover from porn-induced sexual dysfunction, stop objectifying and establish meaningful connections, improve your interpersonal relationships, live a more fulfilling life.” One needs only to peruse the wealth of success stories posted there to find that men, even those recovering from serious addictive behavior, are not powerless to resist it.

And yet, though this evidence of men avoiding porn is comforting and inspiring, it is ultimately beside the point. The insistence that men cannot help but look at porn is problematic for a much more serious reason than the mere fact that it is not true. Regardless of the number of men who look at porn—be it none, some, or all—to suggest they don’t have a choice in the matter is demeaning. To say that anyone, by their very natures, are slaves to their sexual appetites, is to deny them free will—and their very humanity.

The Difference Between “Common” And “Necessary”

There is a significant difference between acknowledging that porn use is common and insisting that it has to be. One does not necessarily follow from the other. Even if everyone partook in a particular activity it is not sufficient to prove that they have to. If it were, one might easily conclude that because all men have eaten fast food at some point, they are incapable of surviving without it.

This illogical reasoning is particularly problematic in a society striving for gender equality and against sexism. Indeed, excusing male behavior on account of some constrained view of “human nature” is reminiscent of that archaic brand of sexism that claims women can’t take on leadership roles because our decisions are invariably dictated by emotion. Or that women can’t properly manage our finances because our “natures” render us defenseless against the shiny gleam of a new pair of shoes. In these cases, “nature” is just another word for “prejudiced stereotype.” By insisting that financial irresponsibility or emotional recklessness are the necessary results of the female “nature,” we are at once absolved of these behaviors and shackled to them. Likewise, denying men’s ability to resist porn may excuse their conduct, but it also confines them to it. Porn addiction (which neuroscientists have compared to cocaine addiction), is not only a serious matter, but it can be overcome. To deny men the opportunity to do so isn’t kind to men; it does them a disservice.

We Can Do Better Than Assume

It is possible for men, and women, to reject pornography. I know this because I am engaged to a man who has done so for years. But even if he struggled and failed in his efforts to avoid pornography, I would never denigrate him by assuming he can’t control himself enough to refrain from it. So let’s change the way we discuss pornography. Let’s promote a dialogue that does not demean men by claiming that their natures render them powerless in the face of porn. Let’s elevate the conversation by refusing to deny anyone their choice in the matter. Because men—and we all—deserve that.

It’s not okay that society puts the expectation of watching porn on anyone, as if they cannot choose otherwise for themselves, and they’re uncool if they choose not to. By making porn seem like a manly pursuit, we ignore the individuality of every person and lump them all together as people who cannot think or act for themselves apart from porn.

It’s healthy to realize that every day, you do have a choice regardless of what anyone tells you. Watching porn doesn’t make you a ny more or less of a person, while it does have negative effects on your life and those around you. In the end, it’s degrading to assume that anyone needs porn, because everyone has a brain and the choice is ultimately up to them.

This post was written by Fight the New Drug. You can find this post at: http://fightthenewdrug.org/men-dont-need-porn-and-its-demeaning-to-say-they-do/

You wonder if you're addicted to porn...

7/25/2016

So how do you know if you are addicted to porn? And how do you know if you need help?

We created five questions that any porn viewer should ask themselves. Even if you feel like porn is not an addiction for you, it can still cause you to have unhealthy views of people, love, and relationships. Studies have shown that even a one-time exposure to porn leads to the user objectifying those around them and reporting less satisfaction in their real relationships.

If you answer yes to one or more of the questions below, you just might be addicted to porn.

1. Is the porn you watch now more graphic, extreme, and explicit than when you first started looking at porn?
When porn addicts look at porn, they find themselves progressively looking for more images, more often, and in a more hardcore version. This is often a sign of desensitization that happens in the pleasure centers of the brain as someone becomes addicted. If you find yourself in the process of viewing something arousing, then becoming bored and moving on to something else again, and again, and again, then that is a sign that your porn use is escalating. If you find yourself looking at harder material than when you first started, this is a sign as well.

2. Do you spend a lot of time looking at porn?
When you look at porn, do you end up viewing for much longer than you originally intended? Those who are addicted to pornography, have a hard time controlling their urges to look at porn and find themselves consumed in the material for large chunks of time. The process of constantly finding new material is time consuming and may be creating a problem in your daily schedule, even though looking at porn seems to be part of your daily routine. If using porn makes you late for school, work, or other activities, this is a big sign that your porn use is getting out of control.

3. Do you think about looking at porn even when you’re not looking at it?
The definition of compulsion is that you find yourself preoccupied with something that you feel you must do. In most cases, depression or anxiety set in if these compulsions are not satisfied. If you find yourself frequently thinking about the next time you are going to use porn, things might be getting out of hand. Pornography is a memory based drug and can be almost impossible to completely get out of your mind. Porn addicts are almost constantly thinking of when they last viewed porn and how they are going to view porn next.

4. Do you feel shame, remorse, cloudiness, anxiety, or depression after looking at porn?
Be in tune with yourself and follow your vibes. If you get any of the above negative feelings after looking at porn, it’s a solid bet that you feel you have a problem or that you know it is not a healthy behavior. Positive activities are almost always reinforced with positive feelings. If you find yourself feeling cloudy or down after using porn but keep doing it anyways, your porn use may be out of control.

5. Have you promised yourself or others that you’ll never look at porn again, only to keep looking at it?
The fifth and final question might be the most telling of all. If you’ve ever told yourself you were done using porn and promised to never look at it again, only to end up viewing it just a short while later down the road, then your porn use might be out of control. Addicts have a hard time keeping promises of sobriety to others, but especially to themselves. If you have told yourself or others, “I could stop if I wanted to,” but quickly found out otherwise, it might be time to get some help.

This post is taken from Fight the New Drug. You can find the original post here: http://fightthenewdrug.org/am-i-addicted-to-watching-porn/

Hope for the masturbation/porn addict

7/24/2016

Porn addiction has run rampant in the world today thanks to the internet. Anyone can access pornography from their computer, and thanks to phones and tablets, now it’s even easier to access porn! You don’t even have to be glued to a computer to look at it! I’ve seen many statistics of how many men and women are addicted to pornography. What pains me even more is how many Christian men and women are addicted to it! I won’t go into those statistics. You can look them up yourselves. But I think once you look at them, it’ll be clear to you that we’ve got an epidemic on our hands. As I said above, even many Christians are addicted to pornography, or they’re not addicted to porn, but they’re addicted to masturbation and pornography is only a means to that end.

For the truly born again Christian, being enslaved to such a sinful activity as masturbation can be extremely painful emotionally, for the one born of God loathes sin and desires not to have anything to do with it. As scripture says "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God." (1 John 3:9) and moreover, The Bible teaches that if we truly love Jesus, we will strive to do His will. We will try to please Him rather than displease Him. Jesus said “If you love me, you will obey my commandments” (John 14:2) and He said “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.” (John 14:23) So, if a person loves Jesus, he will do everything he can to make Him happy, and it will grieve him when he fails at that goal. Porn is clearly a sin, for Jesus said “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” – Matthew 5:28

I know of some people who have struggled with these things for years and have still yet to break free from the hold sexual sin has over them. They’ve prayed, and prayed, and prayed, and prayed, and prayed, they’ve struggled to resist, they’ve even tried to emulate Jesus by quoting scripture when the temptations came (see Matthew 4) to make the devil leave them alone, and they’ve scanned the scriptures for answers, but after years of fighting the addiction, the withdrawals still overcome them.

After a trillion failures, it can be next to impossible to continue to believe that you’ll ever be able to live a life without getting your sexual fix. It can be so easy to give into defeatism. I have a logical argument that will give any war wary Christian hope that he WILL be freed from his porn or masturbation addiction some day. It goes like this:

1: If we pray for something that is God's will, we will receive it.

2: It is God's will that I be freed from sexual immorality, to control my body, and to not live in lust like the pagans.

3: Therefore, if I pray to be freed from sexual immorality, to control my body, and to not live in lust like the pagans, God will answer this prayer.

This is a logically valid syllogism, following the rule modus ponens. Premise 1 is proven true by 1 John 5:14-15. Premise 2 is proven by 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5.

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him." - 1 John 5:14-15

"It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God;" - 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

Since both premises are true, the conclusion logically and necesarilly follows. God's Word is truth (John 17:17) because it is divinely inspired (2 Timothy 3:16) by the God who cannot lie (Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18). Not to mention we have very good independent reasons to believe that The Bible is divinely inspired besides The Bible's own attestation to its inspiration ((see "5 Reasons To Believe The Bible Is Divinely Inspired”)).

Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for this conclusion to be false! The only way for it to be false is if one of the premises were false! But the premise cannot be false! God's Word proves the premises of the argument! Therefore, anyone who struggles with sexual sin, be it masturbation addiction, porn addiction, or what have you, will be given the power to break these chains and be free, provided that freedom is truly what they desire ((i.e don’t be like Augustine and pray “Lord, make me chaste, but not yet.”)). If God hasn’t yet freed you from your pornography/masturbation addiction, the best (and only) explanation is that He plans to do it at some time in the future. The answer cannot be “yes” if you’re still enslaved, but it cannot be “no” either. The best (and only) possible explanation is that His answer is “not yet”.

Therefore, you would do well to remember the parable of thew persistant widow and the unjust judge (see Luke 18:1-8) and continue praying day after day until God finally answers your prayer and frees you from the chains of sexual addiction.

Keeping this argument in mind will help you be confident and certain that you will not carry this problem with you to your grave. It’s important that you believe God will do this because The Bible says “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." - James 1:6-8

This argument – the premises of which are backed up by scripture – should provide you a gigantic boost of faith. 1 John 5:14-15 tells us that if we pray for something knowing that it is God’s will, we will receive it. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 tells us that it’s God’s will that we avoid sexual immorality, that we be able to control ourselves, and not live in lust like unbelievers do. So since both of these are true, it follows that if you pray to God, asking Him to help you get freed from your porn/masturbation addiction, you WILL be freed from it. There’s no possible way you won’t be freed from it! Any argument that is logically valid and has true premises has a necessarily true conclusion! It is absolutely impossible for the conclusion to be false provided those conditions are in place! The only way the conclusion in an argument can be avoided is if either 1 or more of the premises are false or if the logic is invalid. Neither of these are the case. The argument is logically valid because it takes the form modus ponens. The premises are true because they are said to be true by God’s holy, inspired, inerrant word. The logic is valid and the premises are true, so only an irrational person could deny the conclusion.

Now, again, perhaps you’ve been praying and perhaps you’re still caving into to your withdrawals. Remember that God doesn’t always answer our prayers right away. Sometimes the answer isn’t “yes” or “no” but “wait”. Considering the soundness of the argument, it’s clear that only the third answer is the one that is true. God isn’t saying no to you, but to wait. He WILL do it some day!

If you’ve been severely doubting whether God will help you, there’s your problem right there. James 1:6-8 is clear that if ask and doubt, you won’t receive anything from The Lord. But hopefully this Bible based argument will remove the doubt factor and allow the blessing of freedom to flow into your life.

By the way, this applies not only to porn and masturbation addiction, but to any sin you can’t stop committing. This applies to alcoholism for scripture states that getting drunk is a sin (see Ephesians 5:18, Galatians 5:19-21, Romans 13:13), it applies to drug addiction, it applies to any sin. God’s will is for everyone to do what is right. If we pray to be strengthened to do what is right, God will help us. We can do all things through Him who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).

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Other relevant scriptures

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" -- Matthew 7:7-11

"if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself." - 2 Timothy 2:13

"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." - Hebrew 4:12

"Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’" - John 8:34-35

This post was written by Evan Minton. You can find his blog here: http://cerebralfaith.blogspot.com

Sunday Meditation

7/22/2016

Always Suffering, Yet Always Happy

Again, it may properly be said of the man who is truly regenerated, and is fashioned anew into the image of Christ, that he is always suffering, and yet always happy. The natural and necessary opposition between the state of his own soul and the condition of things around him causes affliction. The inhabitant of a dying body, and surrounded by a sinning world, pierced by the thorns of the flesh and by the arrows of Satan, the law of his outward position and the still lingering trials of his fallen nature necessarily constitute him, till his last footstep on this stricken and bleeding earth, "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." But if, in some departments of his mental being, he is always suffering, in others he is always happy. And he is so, because, being born of God and made a partaker of the divine nature, he cannot be otherwise. In the inmost recesses of the soul, in that part which is central and controlling to all the rest, faith stands unshaken; faith which gives sight to the blind and strength to the weak; faith which proclaims sunshine after the storm, victory after the contest, a present God and everlasting rest.

— edited from A Treatise on Divine Union (1851) Part 8, Chapter 8 by Thomas Cogswell Upham. His blog is managed by Craig L Adams and can be found here: http://thomascupham.blogspot.com