The Sorrow of The World

Just as surely as happiness is the attendant of holiness so misery is the certain result of sin. The sorrow of the world is not occasioned by mourning over sin as sin but over the punishment which sin brings.

The sorrow of the world does not arise from just views of sin, nor does it proceed from any concern that God has been offended. It does not lead the soul to God in true penitence, nor to turn to Him for consolation.

When the worldling's dream of earthly happiness has been dispelled by misfortune, he feeds only on the sour bread of self-pity.

The sorrow of the world debilitates the body, disturbs peace, and brings complaining and despair. There is no contrite seeking of God on the part of the suffering one but only a fretting and murmuring against Him.

[A.W. Pink]

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2 Corinthians 7:10 ... For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Revelation 16:10-11 ... And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.❤

Mourning Into Dancing ...

Exhibiting joy in the midst of trouble confounds the enemy. He’s focused on killing, stealing and destroying our faith in Abba-YHWH, so when we respond with His joy when the devil throws his best punch at us, it confuses him. This kind of joy causes him to temporarily retreat from the battlefield (our minds) in order to strategize a better approach. But we must never forget, though, that his only intent is to take us out and, furthermore, just how extremely cunning and patient he is. He prowls around believers like a hungry, roaring lion waiting for a more opportune time to strike again in order to devour our faith in our Heavenly Father. (John 10:10; 1 Peter 5:8; Luke 4:13)

It’s easy to wonder how we can possibly have such joy in times of severe trials and grief. But if we look at this scripture again, we can plainly see it doesn’t say it’s OUR joy that’s our strength but the YHWH’s. HIS joy builds us up and sets us back on course to face the ensuing battle yet again. All we have to do is ask…

Father, I am weakening from the fierce blows of the enemy. I cannot endure another moment unless you supernaturally intervene. Anoint (empower) me with YOUR joy, Father, that I may finish the race you have set before me. Strengthen me that I may declare in the face of my enemy that I am more than a conqueror in Messiah Jesus of Nazareth! Amen.

[Tracie Justice]

2 Chronicles 20:27 ... Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

Nehemiah 8:10 ... Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.❤

What Are You Seeking?

 If you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will. [Film ~Pollyanna]

                                                               christianphotoshops.com

Proverbs 11:27 ... He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him. ❤

Not One Tear is Lost!!

On opening ancient tombs in Palestine, many a tear-bottle has been found, which was a repository for the tears of the mourners, and was then placed in the tomb beside the one who was laid there.

Just so does our heavenly Father gather all the tears of His redeemed children. "You keep track of all my sorrows.  You have collected all my tears in Your bottle.  You have recorded each one in Your book!" (Psalm 56:8)

Not one tear is lost! Not one sorrow is unheeded. Not one grief is left un-befriended. All these tears are noted by our merciful Father above!

"Jesus wept." John 11:35. We have a Savior who has known our sorrows and can heal every wound that sin has made. "In all their affliction, He was afflicted." When He was on earth, He wept with those that wept and He is still the same. We can think of the tears that He shed more than eighteen centuries ago and know that at this hour He is the same loving and sympathizing Friend!

There is no sympathy like that of Jesus! It flows in full flood toward His believing children. Just as the rising tide rushes in and pours through every cranny and nook on the shore so does Christ's tender loving-kindness enter the hearts of His people.

[George Everard]

Hebrews 4:15-16 ... For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

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Father Knows Best!

Let the Lord do as He wills to us. He will never be unkind to us. He has always been our friend; He will never be our foe!

He will never put us into His furnace, unless He means to purge the dross out of us. Nor will there be one degree more heat in that furnace than is absolutely necessary. There will always be mercy to balance the misery, and strength supplied to support the burden to be borne.

Oh, children of God, your Father knows best! Leave everything in His hands and be at peace, for all is well.

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

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Psalm 39:9 ... I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.

1 Samuel 3:18 ...  And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.

Habakkuk 3:17-18 ... Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

~~~ Happy Father's Day 2026 ~~~

An Immense Ocean ...

Dear friend, 

May Jesus be yours-all that He is, and all that He has. Then you will be as rich as an archangel! May He captivate you more with His infinite beauty and enable you to live more blessedly upon His infinite fullness, that He may keep His royal court in your soul! 

The more you are acquainted with Him, the more you will grow in love to Him; for He is altogether lovely, an immense ocean of everlasting love! The loveliness of the whole world is but a drop compared to His immeasurable love. What must Heaven be, where His love is to be fully manifested and enjoyed forever! There we shall see Him! 

Oh, for that day! But even along our pilgrim way, He walks with us and makes our hearts burn within us. These sweet foretastes of His love draw us on and whet our appetite for Heaven. A few more of these foretastes, and we shall get to the fountainhead and drink rivers of pleasure forevermore! 

To His precious dear heart's love, I commend you and yours, and am for His sake your friend and servant, 

William Romaine

Jeremiah 31:3 ... The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

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Perishing With Salvation in Sight!!

Beware of worldly entanglements! How many there are, who, like Lot's wife have apparently set out to the Zoar of safety, yet who linger and perish in the plains of Sodom! They hear the terrors of the law; they are roused by the threat of the coming conflagration. They think of fleeing they have actually set out.

The world they have left, has too many attractions and fascinations! Like Demas, they give the preference to these. They look back to Sodom and perish eternally! Beware of yielding to temptation!

Lot's wife had gotten out of reach of the summoning's and jeers of her evil companions. She had reached the brow of the hill and was apparently completely safe. She had been rescued from the idolatries of Chaldea, and the superstitions of Egypt. She had been plucked from the burning fires of Sodom and yet she perished notwithstanding!

How sad it is, to see a soul that had set out on the way to Heaven, that had escaped the temptations of youth, that got rid of worldly entanglements, that got out of Sodom, and was on its way to Zoar, yet perishing with salvation in sight!

[John MacDuff]

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Genesis 19:25-26 ... And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Luke 17:32-33 ... Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. ❤

Lead Me, Lord ...

Lord, lead me where You want me, not where I want to go, not where feels comfortable or makes sense, but wherever You're directing, wherever You're calling. I have ideas about where I should be, preferences about where I'd like to go, plans I've made, but I'm surrendering them to follow where You lead instead. Teach me to value Your direction over my preference, to trust that where You want me is better than where I want myself, that your leading always takes me somewhere good. 

Lead me where You want me means I'm releasing my grip on the destination, giving You control of direction, following Your lead even when I don't know where we're going. Help me recognize your leading when it comes, to distinguish Your voice from my own desires, to know when You're directing me toward something even if it's unexpected or uncomfortable. 

Remind me that You lead me for my good and Your glory, that where You want me is where I'll flourish, where I'm needed, where You've prepared work for me to do. Give me courage to follow where You lead, even when it's different from what I planned, when it requires sacrifice, when it means leaving what's familiar for what's unknown. Let me walk today, willing to be led anywhere You want me, trusting Your direction, following Your call, going wherever You say because where You lead is where I belong.

 

 faithfulgrace.com

Psalm 25:5 ... Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. ❤

(To Mr. H. B.) London, 1808

Dear Sir,

For three weeks after I wrote to you last, I enjoyed much of God's presence; "the candle of the Lord" shone bright upon my head and "his visitation preserved my spirit;" and I often thought this was fitting me for some serious affliction, and that I would soon be fast "bound in affliction and iron." And surely the thing that I greatly feared came upon me, so that my spirit was overwhelmed within me.

The enemy tried hard to turn me out of the chapel, telling me I was not fit to walk about; he has made me to skulk and hide myself where I could, like a thief that is detected. He followed me as close in my business, so that I was obliged to resign much of my employment. These things made me cry infinitely to God for help, for I knew not where it would all end. I could neither eat, drink, nor sleep; everybody perceived something was wrong with me, but none could find out the cause, for I told nobody the real state of my case. O what a hornet's nest appeared within! What rebellion, self-will, what tender compassion for self, and what secret anger sometimes against God—for not appearing immediately to deliver me!

I have often lain on the floor weeping and calling upon God for a long time together, and it seemed as if the more I cried and groaned, the less help I found. I thought I went in faith; but alas! there was no resignation, and conscience has often secretly told me that from my heart I could not add these words, "if consistent with your righteous will." O no! I would gladly be delivered at all events; no patiently waiting, nor quietly hoping. Here I lay for six weeks, like a fool brayed in a mortar.

God has at length given me light and understanding to see that it was his hand upon me, and that for good. He has given me a measure of fitness and submission, and enabled me feelingly to say, "I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him." But then I am more brutish and prouder than any man, and therefore the furnace must be heated sevenfold. I would be something, and God is showing me that I am less than nothing. I was taking the highest room; but God has said, go down to the lowest, and give every man place.

Yours faithfully, James Bourne

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Turn Your Eyes to Jesus!!

A living, breathing relationship with the Savior of the world will drive porn out of your life quicker than anything else. When you turn your eyes to Jesus, there isn’t room for anything else in your heart because He fills it up. When you open the blinds of a pitch-black room, the sunlight drives away the darkness.

[Heath Lambert]

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Hebrews 12:2 ... Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Colossians 3:2 ... Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Philippians 4:13 ... I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. ❤

God's View of Sin ...

If we would know how God views sin, we must not measure it by how lightheartedly man treats it, nor by how common it appears in the world, nor even by how it wounds our own conscience. We must measure sin by the cross. Sin is not merely a mistake, a weakness, or an unfortunate choice. It is a direct offense against the holiness of the eternal God. Sin is a daring defiance of His Word, a trampling upon His glory, and a mockery of His authority.

But if we would truly understand the infinite evil of sin, we must look to Calvary. There, on the accursed tree, God unveiled His view of sin. He did not even spare His own beloved Son, when He stood in the sinner's place. What horror must belong to sin, when its payment required the abandonment of the sinless One by His own Father? What dreadful weight must sin carry, that it could crush the eternal Son of God into the dust of death? What must God think of sin, when He would lay upon Jesus the iniquity of His people, and exact from Him every drop of wrath which our guilt deserved? 

Behold the bloodied brow, the pierced hands, the parched lips, the darkened sky, the cry of dereliction: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me!" (Matthew 27:46) These are God's thunderous declarations that sin is no trifle. Sin is not something He can simply overlook. Sin is a monster so vile, that it demanded nothing less than the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

Here is a sight too deep for words: the infinitely holy One, bruised for the utterly unholy. Jesus, the Righteous, suffers for the unrighteous because God is too pure to let sin go unpunished. The cross is not only the supreme display of divine love, but also the supreme revelation of divine justice. Never again can we doubt how God views sin. He hates it with a holy hatred. And yet, in that same moment, we see something else: God's matchless grace. For He who spared not His own Son, has also made a way for sinners to be fully cleansed and forgiven.

Holy and righteous God, open my eyes to see sin as You see it. May I never trifle with that sin which nailed my Savior to the cross. Let the horror of Golgotha humble me, and let the mercy found there, lead me to hate sin and cling to Jesus, who bore it all in my place. Amen.

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[Charles H. Spurgeon]

Habakkuk 1:13 ... Why dost thou shew me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.

Psalm 5:4-5 ... For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. ❤