A fitting follow-up to the last piece that was published...
Amen! Amen! Amen!
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"The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share his inner experiences he is forced to walk alone. The unsatisfied longings of the prophets for human understanding caused them to cry out in their complaint, and even our Lord Himself suffered in the same way. The man [or woman] who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and over-serious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens. He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces, and finding few or none he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart. It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else."
A.W. Tozer
Amen! Amen! Amen!
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8 Comments:
jeff
yes, I resemble that remark!
I understand exactly what is being said here, and I do not regret it in any way. you see part of the process in becoming a real CHRISTIAN, is letting the old carnal you die.
then being REBORN in the SPIRIT of the HOLY LORD JESUS CHRIST!!! CHRIST HIMSELF stated how HE was hated first, and that those that follow HIM will suffer the same fate!!!
in this process you become incompatable with most of human sociaty, and it is not because they hate you. it is because they hate GOD the REAL ONE, and because you walk in HIS SPIRIT they can not except you.
if they were to except you they would have to admit first, that they were sinners! and fallen!
secondly, that you understand GOD, HIS ways and what HE expects from us, and they don't!
so it is JUST as the apostle PAUL said many times, and we are warned against all over scripture (PRIDE)!
sound like the spirit of someone else we should know about (lucifer)
being a real follower of JESUS CHRIST is a humanly lonely existance!!! but once you know the truth, you can never look back you must keep on plugging forward. the blessings will come!!! you are never truly alone because in this walk CHRIST JESUS is always with you, that is HIS promise to HIS children. the TRUE ISRAEL of GOD the CHRISTIANS!!!!!!!
there is only ONE saved group, and ONE way to HEAVEN. that being CHRIST JESUS!!! amen
john
Jeff: Thank you so much for this article. How many times have I felt like there was absolutely nobody, even my Christian relatives, who understood where I am coming from. That is why I read blogs like yours and the comments because there is always someone there that I can identify with. Praise the LOrd for that! Maybe all of us who feel so alone where we are can have a great reunion in heaven!
Maranatha!
Dear Jeff,
"like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart. It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God."
This is where I have spent most of my Christian walk. No words can express the complete lonliness and outcastedness that I have felt. The whole 'christian fellowship' is bogus. Even online it is disconnected. We can't see each others faces. We can't shake hands or share a meal. And many times on blogs or facebook the owners are too overwhelmed to even respond to well wishes.
The 'connect' is only a minute touch of affirmation that one is not 'alone', yet one is still alone.
I praise GOD for allowing me to experience this lonliness (yea, even in marriage at times), for it has drawn me closer to the LORD and HIS comfort is beyond comparison and wholly true and freeing.
Peace in Yeshua's name,
Deirdre
Oh WOW!!
This article has really uplifted me!
Thank you Jeff for posting and thank you brothers and sisters in Christ for your posts. I have been asking the Lord just of late am I not following you as I should be because it seems everyone I talk to has no understanding of where I am coming from, either that or no-one wants to talk about the Lord. Even my own family whom I love dearly and do know Jesus but just not in the same way....The Lord has lead me to the point I have no friends not real friends, people think I am boring even my kids say cant you have a conversation just for once without it pointing to the bible and Jesus. Its like being a square peg in a round hole! and praise the Lord I am not the only one nor am I mad by not fitting in with anyone these days :)
Blessings to all of you who suffer in Christ he loves us so much
Thank you and Maranatha
Jeff,
Wow, It isn't often everyone agrees on a topic on this site but we all really needed this one. Especially with the quickening downward spiral our country is in.
I find it particularly discouraging when you witness to someone, like at work, and they agree with everything you say and they claim to be saved. Yet, when you observe their life and language you have to think to yourself - 'really?'. You seek fellowship but all you find are tares.
Then the Lord brings a true believer across your path and you can't help but feel the refreshing kinsman-ship.
The Lord knows and provides our every need.
Thank You.
Those who relate to this article are the ones who have broken through religious Christianity and have experienced the seed deep in the good soil. The good soil is not anything we have manufactured except for the fact that we will not put up with anything less than what our longings for a true relationship with our Creator can know. That is the rub. I believe, from my own sanctification and wrestling in the Spirit, that folks are truly afraid of being fully known by God. That can be extremely scary and produce all kinds of fear of the unknown.
I believe that many of these fears have been conjured up by those wolves in sheeps clothing who have infiltrated the church of Christ and preach law and not Grace. Those poor souls who toil and struggle with a law that was never meant for them.
God's awesome Grace through Christ's gift has removed the guilt, the shame and the condemnation against us! If only more souls could know this most incredible truth, they would know and experience the depths of our Lord's perfect love for them and be set free to draw close to Him, our most precious treasure Jesus Christ.
Nate
I was just meditating on this very topic this week and wondering who (besides the LORD) I could share with and look to for a good example of one who honors the LORD'S day and delights in it according to Isaiah 58. a.b.
Holy Cow you read my mind. The true, true, Christians understand and feel that so deeply. I no longer really have a group of friends. But thats ok, becuase I have Jesus.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!! Great article.
MG
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