Psalm 119:67, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey Your Word." Affliction is never accidental for the believer. Every trial, pain, and hardship, is sovereignly appointed by God for His glory and our good. The world sees suffering as meaningless, or merely as an obstacle to their happiness. But Scripture teaches that suffering is a tool in the hands of our loving Father . . . to purify our faith, to humble our pride, and to draw us nearer to Jesus. "But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I will come forth as gold." Job 23:10 God often uses affliction: to bring His people to repentance, to teach them humility, to refine them in the furnace of affliction, to draw them closer to Himself, to cause them to live a more holy life, to strengthen their faith, and to conform them to Christ. God's rod is a pencil to draw Christ's image upon us! God's people never grow strong in grace without trials. Troubles are the tools with which God polishes His jewels. The pruning knife is never out of His hand, and it is never used without wisdom or love. Affliction is not the end of the story. One day, every tear will be wiped away, every pain will be no more, and we will see our trials as God's instruments that shaped us for eternity. Until that day, we endure with faith, knowing that God is working out His perfect plan. "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Romans 8:18 "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen--since what is seen is

The hearts of natural men are exceedingly full of sin. If they had but one sin in their hearts, it would be sufficient to render their condition dreadful. But they have not only one sin, but all kinds of sin. There is every kind of lust. The heart of man is a cesspool of sin, and a fountain of corruption, from whence proceed all kinds of filthy streams. There is not one filthy lust in the heart of the devil, that is not in the heart of man! Natural men are in the image of the devil. The image of God is erased out, and the image of the devil is stamped upon them. God is graciously pleased to restrain the wickedness of men, principally by: fear of consequences, respect to their reputation, and by education. And if it were not for such restraints as these, there is no kind of wickedness that men would not commit, whenever it came in their way. Men have not only every kind of lust, and wicked and perverse dispositions in their hearts--but they have them to a dreadful degree. There is not only pride, but an astonishing degree of it--pride whereby a man is disposed to set himself even above God! The hearts of natural men are mere sinks of sensuality. In placing his happiness in sensual enjoyments, man has become like the beasts. The heart is full of the most loathsome lusts. The souls of natural men are more vile and abominable than any reptile. If God should open a window in the heart, so that we might look into it--it would be the most loathsome spectacle that ever was set before our eyes! "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" Jeremiah 17:9

He prays that we may experience it! Charles Spurgeon, et al. "May you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully!" Ephesians 3:18-19 Paul acknowledges that the love of Jesus is too great to be fully understood, yet he prays that we may experience it! The apostle is not referring to a merely intellectual understanding, but a personal, transformative relationship with the Lord Jesus. We can only truly experience this love, through the Gospel. Christ's love is most clearly seen in the cross. "God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us!" Romans 5:8 As we meditate on Jesus' wondrous sacrifice for our sins, we are overwhelmed by the vastness of His love. Though we may never fully comprehend it, we can rest in the assurance that His love for us is infinite, and deeper than all of our sins and shame! May His measureless love for us, lead us to a life of . . . gratitude, worship, humility, and holiness. We shall never know the depths of Christ's love for us, until we feel the weight of our sin, and the worth of His sin-atoning death, which delivers us from the Hell that we rightly deserve. This unsearchable love of Jesus . . . humbles the pride of man, exalts the grace of God, and calls us to a life of holiness!

Canticles 1:2, "Your love is better than wine!" The believer finds his truest joy, not in the fleeting pleasures of this world, but in the enduring and soul-satisfying love of the Lord Jesus Christ. "Your love is better than wine," says the Bride to her Beloved—and the heart of every redeemed soul echoes the same. Earthly joys may sparkle for a moment, but they soon fade. Christ's love is better—it is . . . purer, deeper, richer, and forever satisfying. Wine may gladden the heart of man, but it cannot quiet his conscience. It may brighten the face, but it cannot cleanse the soul. But the love of Christ—what comfort, what peace, what delight it brings! One moment in communion with Him, outweighs a lifetime of the world's pleasures. We have tasted His love, and it is like honey from the comb—sweeter than anything earth can offer. His presence lifts the downcast. His fellowship strengthens the weary. His nearness satisfies every longing. Beloved, consider how Christ has poured out His love for you. Not in word only, but in blood—love proven on the cross, love triumphant over sin, death, and Hell. He loved you when you were unlovable. He sought you when you were wandering. He died for you when you were madly rushing to Hell. And now He bids you to draw near and drink deeply of His love. He is the Fountain of living waters, the true Vine from which every drop of heavenly joy flows. Has the world disappointed you? Has its wine turned sour in your mouth? Come again to the Savior. Let His love be your comfort, your song, and your strength. Here is no deceit, no regret, no after-bitterness—only pure delight, joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Ephesians 3:18-19, "May you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully!" The love of Jesus is not merely great, it is unsearchable. It defies measurement and surpasses comprehension. The Apostle Paul prayed that believers might understand this unknowable love, not by reason alone, but by the Spirit's illumination and heart-experience. The love of Christ is eternal in its origin, infinite in its depth, and effectual in its power. It is a love that stooped to the manger, and climbed willingly to the cross! He loved us when we were unlovely--when we were still sinners, enemies, rebels, and dead in transgressions! Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:4-5. Such wondrous love can neither be earned nor merited; it is sovereign and free. Christ's love never began, and it shall never end. He set His electing love upon His people from eternity past, and will never remove it in eternity future. No created mind can fully comprehend it. As the sea cannot be measured by the hand--so neither can Christ's love be contained by intellect. It is wide enough to embrace all the elect of God, long enough to stretch from eternity past to eternity future, deep enough to rescue the vilest sinner, and high enough to raise us to glory! When affliction comes, let us gaze again at Calvary. There the measure of His love is revealed, not in empty sentiment, but in His substitutionary sacrifice. There, Christ bore our sin. There, He endured the wrath that was ours. There, His love was proven beyond all doubt. Drink deeply, dear believer, from this well that

You have heard people say: "God hates the sin, but loves the sinner." That is a lie! He does not love the sinner who continues in his sin. One of the most cherished delusions of modern Christendom is the sentiment that "God hates the sin, but loves the sinner." This phrase is often quoted as though it were Scripture--yet not only does it appear nowhere in the Bible, it stands in direct contradiction to what God Himself declares. It is a subtle but deadly falsehood that seeks to soften the solemn reality of God's wrath against the ungodly, and it distorts His holy character. The Bible does not teach that God is angry merely at the sin in some abstract, impersonal way. Rather, Scripture consistently affirms that God is angry with the sinner himself. The sin has no existence, apart from the one who commits it. A theft has no moral quality, without a thief. Adultery does not happen, apart from an adulterer. It is the sinner--the moral agent who rebels against his Creator, who is the object of God's holy hatred and righteous indignation. This is not conjecture--it is clearly and repeatedly taught in the Word of God: "Because they did all these things, I abhorred them!" Leviticus 20:23 "I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you." Leviticus 26:30 "And when the LORD saw it, He abhorred them!" Deuteronomy 32:19 "God is angry with the wicked every day!" Psalm 7:11 "You hate all workers of iniquity . . . The Lord abhors murderers and deceitful men!" Psalm 5:5, 6 "The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence, His soul hates. On the wicked He wi

1 Samuel 7:12, "Hitherto has the Lord helped us!" The word "hitherto" is like a monument of grace planted in the path of every believer. It invites us to look back and remember the unbroken line of God's mercies. With Samuel, we too may raise our Ebenezer and say, "Hitherto has the Lord helped us"—through . . . every storm and every season, in times of plenty and times of need, through weariness and wonder, in valleys and on mountaintops. Not one step of our pilgrimage has been without the presence, power, and provision of our faithful God. Pause, dear believer, and look down the corridor of your past years. See the green boughs of God's mercy arching overhead, like a living cathedral of divine goodness. Each year, each trial, each answered prayer—these are like strong pillars holding up a sacred temple of remembrance. Listen carefully, and you will hear songs in the branches—sweet songs of God's providence, love, and care. The Lord has helped you. Not merely watched, not merely pitied—but helped with almighty grace and tender compassion. Yet "hitherto" also points us forward. It implies a future still unfolding under the shadow of the Almighty. The same God who has brought us this far, will not forsake us in the next step. Yes, more trials may come—but so will more grace. More burdens—but more strength. More temptations—but more deliverances. And when at last we reach the end of our earthly path, when sickness or age weakens the body and death approaches the door—will His help fail us then? Never! For death itself is but the final threshold into glory. And beyond it lies the eternal "help" of God: the face of Jesus, the fellowship of the redeemed, t

Proverbs 14:12, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." One of Satan's most subtle and damning deceptions is "moralism"—the idea that man, by his own supposed goodness, can commend himself to God. Moralism substitutes external reform, for internal regeneration. It preaches behavior change, apart from the new birth. It is content with polished external conduct, while the heart remains unwashed. And it is leading multitudes to Hell! Moralism often dresses itself in religious acts. It promotes virtue, and applauds kindness. It speaks of honesty, and decency. But its fatal flaw is this: It offers these things apart from Christ. It seeks to be right with God, without the righteousness of God. It promotes "virtue" without the power of the Holy Spirit. It promotes morality—but despises the Savior. The Pharisees of old were moral men. They fasted, prayed, and gave alms. Yet Jesus said to them, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs...outwardly you appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness!" (Matthew 23:27-28). Moralism is deadly because it convinces the sinner that he needs no Savior. It flatters human pride. It whispers, "You are not that bad! God will surely accept you—look at all your good deeds." It blinds the heart to man's true condition: "dead in trespasses and sins," utterly depraved, and without hope apart from the saving grace of God. No amount of morality can change the leper's spots, or cleanse the defiled soul. What then is the remedy? It is not to be better, but to be born again. It is not to do more, but to despair of do

Romans chapter 8:17-18, "Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings, in order that we may also share in His glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." What grace is this, that those who were once rebels and enemies of God, are now called His children. Not merely pardoned, not only adopted--but made heirs of God Himself and co-heirs with Christ. This is a staggering truth, and one far beyond human merit or imagination. It is God's sovereign grace on display, lifting the ruined sons of Adam into the royal family of Heaven. To be a child of God is the highest privilege known to man. It is not something earned, but granted by divine grace to those who are united to Christ by faith. And with sonship comes inheritance, not merely an inheritance from God, but God Himself as our portion. We are heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. But there is a condition, "If indeed we share in His sufferings." This is not a condition of merit, but of identity. To belong to Christ is to walk the path He walked. There can be no crown without the cross, no glory without the grief. This world that hated Him, will not embrace His followers. And while our afflictions may differ in kind and degree--every true believer will, in some form share in the fellowship of His sufferings. How can that be? Because the weight of glory is infinite. The suffering is momentary, yet the glory is eternal. The trials are temporal--yet the inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading. If we are to reign with Christ, we must be content to suffer with Him. T

We have fallen on very velvety days! Charles Spurgeon "All those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted!" 2 Timothy 3:12 A little persecution would be a grand thing for the church! We have fallen on very velvety days, when zeal for God is rare, and decision for truth is scarcely is to be met with. The church has compromised with the world, and went to sleep with Satan rocking her cradle. Many profess to be a Christian, who are really nothing better than a baptized worldling. In the same way, many a man claims to be a minister of Christ, who is really a hireling, and does little for the feeding and caring of the sheep. The winnowing fan of persecution, if it purged the threshing floor of the church, would bestow great benefits upon her! "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in Heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you!" Matthew 5:11-12