Scripture
Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no longer.
~Nahum 1:12, NASB
Quote
It is not hard for the LORD to turn night into day: He does it all the time.
~Charles H. Spurgeon
The LORD took ownership of Israel’s affliction. Nahum lived is one of the darkest periods of Jewish history, the reign of Manasseh. Manasseh was probably the most wicked of all Judah’s kings. He was an idolater and a promoter of idolatry. He was mean spirited and cruel: had some of his own children sacrificed to Molech and had Isaiah the prophet sawn into by a crosscut saw. Inserted the prophet into a hollow log and then had in sawn in half. Supposedly, he had a kind of death bed conversion but I’m not very confident about his sincerity. The point is: God afflicted the Jews for their idolatry and they spent 70 years in captivity. The good news is there was a time limit.
Growing up on a small farm 60 plus years ago, I was afflicted more than once. My mother was the source of most of my affliction which came in the form of a peach tree limb. She always grabbed my wrist to keep me from running. She held on with one hand and beat with the others and she would always repeat this refrain, “Are you going to do it again?” Of course, I answered no the first time she asked the question and I also yelled “stop, I will not do it again.” But of course she kept beating until she was convinced in her great wisdom that she had beat the devil out me. If had any say in the matter, no whipping would have lasted more than one lick. This describes modern Christians, as soon as God afflicts us with start hollowing for Him to stop. Whereas, we should not wish that His affliction would stop until God had completed His purpose in our affliction.
The very fact that God is trying us is proof that He sees something in us worth redeeming. The iron skillets we cook in or not extracted from the earth as pure iron. We mine the ore and from the refining of the ore, we get iron and steel. To get steel, it takes a lot of heat and pressure over an extended period of time. Now there is a cheap short cut to the process and the results is pig iron. It looks like iron but will break like glass under pressure. Trust the Refiner: He is tempering us. He knows when enough is enough: we don’t.
Clara’s surgery went great and she may come home today: PTL. There was some slight change for the better in Jimmy yesterday and the doctors talked about trying some other things…a tiny ray of hope and I am clinging to it. Thank you for your prayers and keep praying. We had a good crowd last night at the POINT. I think the good weather is helping.
I do hate that the Danville boys lost. I was hoping to get to see them in state. They are fun to watch. Everyone knows how I feel about Winfield, there is no way this school is 3-A: they have restaurants, shopping centers, all kinds of fast food and Danville has one dollar general. Someone is not being honest about the numbers. That my story and I am sticking to it.
I watched a documentary yesterday on the STAR OF BETHLEHEM and it was fascinating; right at the very end, he mentioned the star clock. The universe is laid out in mathematical precision. By studying the stars, we know exactly when the star stopped over Bethlehem, we know exactly to the day and hour when Jesus was crucified. It starts slow and the man is a lawyer so he over talks but hang in there and you will be amazed. I am giving you the link…