I plan to start sharing some treasures I have copied into my journal that is filled with years of things I have written down that edified me. Hope my readers will also find edification in these things. I will put them under the topic "Journal Treasures"
Today I have typed up the following from out of my journal:
“You wake up in the morning, Take a few minutes to ponder the events of the coming day. Then, think of your bed as an altar & on the altar sacrifice yourself: possessions, pride, power to God. If you take that attitude in the morning then nothing that comes up during the day should frustrate or disturb you. ...The crucified will is not frustrated. The man who willingly, cheerfully & daily presents himself as a ‘living sacrifice’ can excellently adapt to the most severe situations & with Paul be more than a conqueror Romans 8:37 ‘Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.’
One may ask, ‘Isn’t it foolish to give up our rights?’ Perhaps it is not foolish, since in giving up our rights we improve both our health & happiness. In giving the other fellow a piece of our mind we always lose our peace of mind. To the unregenerate man it is unthinkable that he should give in when he is right, he refuses to sacrifice his pride, but in doing so he sacrifices his health… Yeshua (Jesus) said, ‘Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth’ Mt.5:5 Christians must renounce every right of their own & live for the sake of Jesus Christ (Yeshua ha Mashiyach).
As the World War 2 martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote & lived:
‘They will not go to law to defend their rights or make a scene when they suffer injustice nor do they insist on their legal rights.’
We may suffer in this life but the earth belongs to us. As Dietrich declared,
‘Those who now possess it (the world) by violence & injustice shall lose it, & those who here have utterly renounced it, who were meek to the point of the cross, shall rule the New Earth.
Sticking up for our rights calls forth many excess hormones. Much stress and sickness results from our unwillingness to sacrifice ‘our own rights.’ Christians must remember that ‘their right is in the will of their Lord----that and no more.’
Living by this principle as Christ did is, ‘the way of the cross.’ As it did for Paul & Dietrich, this path will often lead to persecution in this life. But, ‘the way of the cross’ is the only way to spiritual fulfillment & freedom from the diseases caused by negative attitudes & personal goals. Contrary people can help us if we make the necessary adjustments in our mental rigging. On the water they call it tacking, but on land they call it tact. ...most Christians are not mortified & crucified to the world, not acquainted with word of God & the promises as they ought to be, nor so resolved to follow God fully, as they ought and therefore are so dejected & discontented when affliction comes. Here is solid truth. Since our attitudes of mind are more important than the daily insults of life, we should condition our minds before life’s major catastrophes hit us. Armies recognize this basic truth & put their troops through rigorous training. If Christians would practice Biblical discipleship-such as fasting, meditation, solitude, and prayer we would not have so many ‘chocolate soldiers’ who melt and crumble when they are forced to endure hot & fierce experiences such as unexpected death of a loved one, or persecution of a hostile government.”
---Anonymous
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