Yow! When fire comes what’s inside always comes out, yet God is merciful. Is there a possible way to express what agony one endures when the battle is mostly within? The stiff neck of pride shall be broken and that without remedy but that same one’s Redeemer is strong and mighty to save. The cross of Jesus Christ is the only answer. A ruthless but freeing alternative to trusting one’s self. Not my will Lord but thine. May that heart cry flow in truth from me and be answered continually. When God takes us through fire and deep waters we shall be refined for His Glory. We are in His hands and no one can snatch us out. Yet we must trust Him every step of the way.
“ For My name’s sake I will defer My anger, and for My praise I will restrain it from you, So that I do not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another.”-Is. 48:9-11
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I found the perfect Psalm today. It was almost as if every line of it jumped out to me. Word for word, this is my testimony:
Psalm 56 (NKJV)
1 Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;
Fighting all day he oppresses me.
2 My enemies would hound me all day,
For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.
3 Whenever I am afraid,
I will trust in You.
4 In God (I will praise His word),
In God I have put my trust;
I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day they twist my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They gather together,
They hide, they mark my steps,
When they lie in wait for my life.
7 Shall they escape by iniquity?
In anger cast down the peoples, O God!
8 You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
Are they not in Your book?
9 When I cry out to You,
Then my enemies will turn back;
This I know, because God is for me.
10 In God (I will praise His word),
In the LORD (I will praise His word),
11 In God I have put my trust;
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God;
I will render praises to You,
13 For You have delivered my soul from death.
Have You not kept my feet from falling,
That I may walk before God
In the light of the living?
God bless you,
-Verious