James 4:8- Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners: and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into sorrow.
Be humbled in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.
“Those who come from darkness will have their eyes burnt by the light”
It is by fire that we are sanctified, either here on earth while we have an opportunity to repent and turn to God, or after human life, in the fires of purgatory for a painful season.
(1 Corinthians 311-15:Every man’s work shall be manifest; for the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a rew ard. If any man’s work burn,he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved)
OR in hell for eternity, if our hearts are hardened to the point of no return.
Christ sees and knows all
there is no fooling Christ.
If you are suffering now be grateful for it, you are being sanctified, purified. Remember when I told you to be learn to be comfortable with discomfort? Just like coal is turned into a diamond through intense pressure over time, and as steel is forged in fire to be made from something weak into something strong, so too is God forming you into a precious diamond, forging you into a powerful weapon, in the fires of His judgment.
Judgment is SEEING what Christ sees, FEELING the same way that Christ feels, about our sin and ignorance, about every vice we have adopted, that we have made part of our identity, that ultimately is what separates us FROM Christ, from knowing ourselves through Christ, from becoming what Christ created us to be, as opposed to what the world and the ruler thereof has created us to be.
This is painful process and can feel like dying. It kind of is, because so far you have not been living in your Christ identity. Instead, you now identify with what satan created you to be, and separating yourself from that identity WILL feel like a death, and it should.
This part of you…once it dies, will make room for the REAL you to emerge from the flames.
Humbled. Strong. Unbreakable. A powerful weapon for God to yield. And totally at peace, because you are FINALLY living your purpose in you true nature, Christed, sanctified.
Thank Christ for the opportunity to
be purified now. Suffering while human IS overwhelming and seems sometimes impossible to bare, but the suffering of sanctification while human is a
grazed knee in comparison to the suffering of a pure spirit in the spiritual realm.
You are now suffering for your own transformation, sufferring to rid you of your sins and vices, your blindspots and impurities, just like Jesus suffered before you.
But please, never forget that Jesus is FULL of mercy for you as you suffer. He forgives you even before you ask. To ask for forgiveness is for your benefit not His, for humility and to break the bond with the stony heart that satan formed within you.
And Jesus has given us many tools to get through this suffering. He is teaching us to lean on Him, to rely on Him and not our own strength, to trust in HIS plan and to relinquish the steely grip that we have on our own lives. The process of letting go is a trial in itself, but it is very important to work at surrender, everyday.
Habitare in me est quia parvus sum -“He abides in me because I am small” –Saint Gemma Galgani
MARK 10:15-Amen I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall not enter into it.”
Small children are totally reliant on their parents and they do not need to have it any other way. They are perfectly happy letting the parent do everything for them, although early on they are expected to learn from their parents and apply themselves to their own growth. They also give and receive PURE love freely, unrestrained.
Work at making yourself small so that Christ can abide in you also, so that you may suffer your sanctification in relative ease, do not fight against humility or it will prolong the process, believe me. I have learned this the hard way.
The tools Jesus gave us to endure this multi layered and complex process are as follows:
PRAY for strength to endure.
Christ knows what you can handle and will never give you more than you are capable of baring. Satan will come disguised as your own thoughts, and tell you otherwise. He will try to get you to blame Christ for your suffering (which, I mean..is not completely without merit but never lose sight of the bigger picture here. Just like a parent will apply burning ointment to a minor cut, knowing that it will hurt the child, to prevent an infection and WORSE suffering down the road, Christ will judge us in love and let us suffer the fires of His sanctifying grace, knowing that he is saving us from a far worse fate )
Satan will tell you that it is not fair. He will try to get you to feel sorry for yourself as a ways of keeping your from repenting of and renouncing your own sins, the part you have played in your own sufferring. He will try to get you to blame others for your state of mind and heart. He will try to get you to HATE those people who have damaged you.
When these thoughts and feelings come, do not indulge in them. Thank satan for plaguing you, because He has just reminded you to pray.
It really hurts God to see you suffer, just as it hurt Him to see Jesus suffer, yet He
knows that the suffering that awaits you if you are not purified now, while human, is far greater. Just like He knew, that if Jesus did not suffer then, none of us would have the hope of salvation today.
Develop trust in Christ.
PROVERBS 3:5-6 Have confidence in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not upon thy own prudence (prudence means care, caution and good judgment, as well as wisdom in looking ahead)
Spit in Satan’s face.
Literally. Turn west and spit, the sun sets in the west symbolizing darkness. It is no coincidence that so much evil comes from the west and the Western way of living is driving many people from the arms of Jesus. Renounce Satan, spit in his face and turn east to embrace salvation, the rising sun, victory over darkness.
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
Fasting– You saw your angel during a period of fasting, you understand that it brings graces. To crucify the flesh is crucial in our spiritual war against the demonic forces that hold us prisoner and keep us from the fullness of Christ.
When you use the will power to sacrifice something that the body wants and craves, you weaken the hold that your flesh has on you and you strengthen your will power.
Satan controls us through the flesh. If we exercise will power over our flesh he will no longer to be able tempt us this way, into sin.
Christ does not want puppets. He does not want robots. He wants swords of steel that he can wield and in doing these spiritual practices, we are participating in the forging process. WE must be giving permission for the mind to be transformed. WE must be making an effort when called to, to strengthen the will power. When we pray for will power, does God give us His will power or does He give us the opportunity to develop our own?
And it goes without saying…pray during times of fasting. Offer up the sacrifice to help others who are in need, maybe your fellow recovering addicts, because Jesus also calls us to help and pray for one another.
Give God an inch and He will take you a mile.
Finally, never forget… even Christ fell under the weight of His cross. If you fall, if you fail, get back up again. And always try to remember, that guilt and shame are of Satan. When you fail He will use it to try and make you give up. Spit in His face. Pray for forgiveness if needed, for graces and strength, discernment so next time you can see the attacks coming before they knock you down. And keep in your mind that this is not a linear process. There will be valleys and peaks. And God (and we!!! your friends, your family…) are with you through it all.
Praying for you. Cannot wait to meet the real you, I have seen glimpses here and there, and…wow.
fromtheedgeofsanity.com 
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