PAIN
Webster defines 'pain' as punishment; unpleasant or distressing sensation due to bodily injury or disorder; acute mental or emotional distress or suffering: Grief, the throes of childbirth; care, trouble; to make suffer or cause distress: Hurt. To put (oneself) to trouble or exertion. Syffer.
So when I say, "it pains me to see people troubled or giving in to problems and doubt," what I'm saying is, "I care." For us to experience ' caring' is to share a glimpse of how much we grieve our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As a parent, and lover of my children, it's grevious to witness their fears, doubts, and disobedience...knowing how much I care for them. Therefore, my concern is an experince that comes from the Lord and keeps me prayerful and growing in faith. This is truth and comes from the depth of my being...my soul!
You see only God (Who is Love, our Keeper, and our Source) places concern for us on the hearts and minds of His people (born-again, Spirit-filled Christians who are walking in the Spirit and hears and obeys the voice of the Lord) to pray for our safety, our peace, joy and strength; to keep us safe from all danger and destruction; to keep us free from worry; so that we can be happy, content and safe from falling into divers temptations and tricks of our enemy(Satan). We are sure to be blessed when God's obedient people pray. We NEED their prayers.
Our Father knows our needs, and He cares for us so much that He gave us His only Son; Jesus who shed His blood, suffered for us and gave His life. His shed blood is available to wash away our sins. His blood is the 'only' blood with cleansing power. His body carried our sins to the grave where they were buried with Him...and He left them there when He arose. He is the'only' Savior who arose from the dead and is still alive. He appeared before His followers to assure them that He had kept the Words of His Father and the promise that He had made to them. For a while He remained on earth with them; reassuring them of His promise and establishing them in the truth before ascending to His Father. He ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe.
We can refuse to 'grieve' our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He suffered for us and set us free by His death on the cross...only believe, accept and obey His Word. Just like David; I can attest to God's love for me. I had to face threats of my enemies, consequences of my sins, and challenges of deep sorrow. Through it all, I came to recognize God's healing power and unmerited grace. He forgave me, healed me, redeemed me, crowned me with love and compassion; He satisfies my desires and renews me daily. God provides justice and righteousness and is gracious and loving. He never leaves us. His love is unconditional. We NEED to praise Him; praising God puts hope in our troubled hearts. We are responsible for working out our own soul's salvation. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. We are God's children and He does not force us to love Him...He allowed us to choose life or death. Whatever the choice; He still loves us. However, we must keep in mind that we will reap what we sow and the consequences of our choices.
We as parents must not exasperate(irritate, make grevious) our children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Our children are to obey us in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother...which is the first commandment with promise...that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."
We can live in obedience to God, by putting off the old self which is corrupted by its deceitful desires. We can be made new in the attitude of our mind by putting on the new self; created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
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Supporting Scriptures: Psalm 103; Matthew 28:1-8; Ephesians 4:9, 17-20; 6:1-4
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