Welcome to Refinery Life Australia.
The Inward Attitudes of a True Disciple is our theme for the next few Sunday mornings.
This series is based on the Beatitudes, found in the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.
Today we are discussing, Joy Comes in the Morning.
Having never fully understood all that it means to be a Christian, we have never fully appropriated the full blessedness of the Christian life.
Matthew 5:4 NKJV says, Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
This is a plain statement of simple truth.
Blessed is the man in whose heart the “consolation in Christ” has been, is, and ever shall be effective.
Blessed is the Christian, even in sorrow, grief, and pain, because for the Christian, God’s comfort is sure.
As a child of God, the psalmist of our Scripture today, having passed through he fires of grief, pain, and trial, had found the balm of Gilead sufficient for his soul.
His experience was this, Psalm 30:11, You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.
He believed by faith that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”
Any English translation must miss the picture of the word here rendered “endure.”
The figure is “to come in to lodge as a guest.”
The psalmist was saying, “weeping may come in to lodge with us in the evening, but joy comes in as a guest in the morning.”
This is not a mere promise to a Christian, it is the unfailing result of being a Christian, its the natural consequence of the Christian life.
Other than Christianity and its forebear, Judaism, every religion says that weeping, trials, and pain are things to be escaped, and those who do not escape them are unfortunate.
Only Christianity knows any way of dealing with these unwelcome guests that does not involve arresting, perverting, or even abandoning life itself.
In substance, Buddhism says, “sorrow and pain are universal. Therefore under, for all must suffer.”
Not much comfort there!
The stoic seeks to become calloused in soul and therefore indifferent to suffering, a remedy worse than the disease.
A dead heart is worse than a broken heart.
Christian Science offers escape from the ills of life by denying and ignoring their reality, thus supposedly destroying their hold on human consciousness.
Opposed to all of these is Jesus’ solution, which lies in the opposite direction in the abundant life, the happy Christian life, the eternal life that He came to give.
Christianity would swallow up grief and pain in victory, mortality in life, and transmute the sorrows and trials of life into the joys and fellowship and love of heaven’s own citizens.
Only Christ can give “Beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”
Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
These words are true to the fact, especially in three relationships.
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.refinerylife.org
When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.
So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us
2023 IS A YEAR OF DIVINE RESTORATION AND RECOVERY
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