Borrowed Truths

How Much Pain

how much pain
Picture of Borrowed Truths

How Much Pain

How much pain can you take? I do not mean physical pain, for although that can and many times does affect our walk with Christ, I speak here of mental anguish, the pain of the mind. It is one thing to profess Isaiah 26:3, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee, but our minds do not stay on Christ, no matter how much we concentrate on Him.

I believe a lot of people are fooling themselves, I believe that they are suffering in ways with things that if they would look for a brother to help them carry these burdens, (Gal. 6:2) they would have not only an easier life, so to speak, but would and could be much more beneficial to the body of Christ. But that is not our human nature, we seek each other out, but for companionship, and most times only a casual one at that, we look for relationships not for the benefit of others, but to “fill a hole” in ourselves. Many marriages and even families fit into this category, there is a closeness, but there is no bond, no in-depth interpersonal relationship that comes close to the model of “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.” (Eph. 5:31)

The average person, even the average Christian, is a self-contained entity in this respect, they know things about themselves that they want no others to become aware of, and I am not speaking here of past events in a person’s life that may prove embarrassing or even detrimental to those relationships they may hold dear today, but the person they are, how they think, why they do what they do. I have seen examples of this in the last few days, and it brings to mind 1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”

These individuals are not attempting to persuade or deceive anyone, they actually believe themselves to be who they are, saved people, but when questioned, or when adequate research is done, we find that they are not who they claimed to be. Mainly, I believe, because they have not only not sought out another to assist them in seeing the truth of who they profess themselves to be, but they are not comparing who they are with what they should be according to the Word of God.

Are you aware that the Lord smiles down on us even when we stumble, when we fall, when we screw up big time? Do you know why, because we are trying to be Christlike, we are doing all that we know how to become holy, for He is holy. (1 Peter 1:16) It is in the mind that we travel and find travail on this path, and although the works that we do when we listen to the Holy Spirit and accomplish the tasks that He has set before us, count, as it were, towards pleasing the Lord, God looks on the heart, (1 Sam. 16:7) He looks on the intent of a man, and that intent starts in the mind.

You must consider these three points, for I have yet to find a fourth one that correlates to this subject, though perhaps you can. Our intentions can only be modified in one of three ways, by external stimuli from the adversary, which would come from the world in one form or another, from the Lord God, or from within the uninformed or misinformed imaginations of our own minds. I believe that the Lord orders our steps, but I also believe that we have free will, to choose to obey or not, and part of that obedience level is determined by our thoughts of what will happen if I do obey, or what if I mess up, which leads us back to the beginning of this letter to you, how much pain can you take. Right up to Jeremiah 20:9, “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” Right to the point to “Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.” (1 Kings 19:2) Or it can go all the way to the cross with Christ, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

Our thoughts are what keep us from acting, and they are what keep us from not acting, the pleasure and pain centers. So then I ask you again, but differently this time, not “How much pain can you take,” but how much pain are you willing to suffer for the name of Jesus, and for the glory of God. Sometimes it hurts to have our minds transformed.

Share this post

4 thoughts on “How Much Pain”

  1. Stanley Mathai

    You said you have seen examples in the last few days that if someone would look for a brother to help them carry their burdens that would have not only an easier life, but would be much more beneficial to the body of Christ [Gal 6:2]. That is very true for a believer to experience, and i have experienced that in my own life about last 20-30 years…
    Pro. 19:7 All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him.
    What i have learnt from my own experience is that i have to walk alone…just few verse ahead in Galatians 6:5 it says, “For every man shall bear his own burden”.

    I have already once told you how my time is consumed from daily routine activities…the remaining little time i have in the afternoon or evening, i use it to read some online articles or watch short videos. Sometime i have to go through the article few many times to understand what is being said. (for e.g) your own articles, because many times it contains words, i have to use google dictionary for its meaning, and then the sentence structure used are very difficult to understand. My mother tongue is gujarati and my father spoke malayalam, a south indian language and i have never spoken english in my school life.
    I said in my mail that i enjoyed your answers to bimal…The way you understood him and answered was way beyond my abilities, and i would have never thought as you thought and answered him. You have an excellent gift of reasoning abilities…and i have learnt lot from just reading your answers to bimal.

    Another excellent letter! Thank You!!

    1 Corinthians 8:2 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.
    Very well fits me.

  2. BorrowedTruths

    You are too kind Stanley, and your humility shows in the truth of how the Lord is using you. I can offer you only this, that sometimes when the Lord calls a man to Himself, He calls him to go apart from the crowd, and to walk with Him, alone. The man of God must never consider the personal possible consequences to himself, only that the Lord Jesus is lifted up, that God is glorified.
    As a side note, I do not know if this software, or one similar would be beneficial to you, but you might do some research in this area.
    https://www.winsite.com/Utilities/System-Tools/English-to-Gujarati-Character-Converter/

  3. Stanley Mathai

    That software is for computers..
    It says Runs on:Win7 x32, Win7 x64, Win98, WinOther, WinServer, WinVista, WinVista x64, WinXP, Other

Comments are closed.

Search

Archives

Categories:

There are several items I would ask you to consider before you click on the Donate button.

1.    Please pray carefully about donating; “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” (2nd Cor. 9:7)

2.    Your first responsibility is to the Lord; “Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase”: (Prov. 3:9)

3.    You must consider your family after your first responsibility; “But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” (1st Tim. 5:8)

4.    If you determine that you have been blessed by this ministry and decide to donate, please know this, your donations will be accepted with great thanks, and all the glory will go to God.