There was a Shepherd who took care of a flock of sheep. He took the briers and thorns out of their wool, led them to good pasture and took good care of them. There was one really stubborn sheep who continued to walk away from the Shepherd and the safety he provided. After many, many corrections....(this sheep just wouldn't listen and stay close to the Shepherd).....This good shepherd did something very drastic.

He broke one of the sheep's legs.

This caused the sheep great pain and it wailed and cried. It pulled away from the Shepherd for quite awhile. But as it grew hungry, there came a day where the sheep took a bit of food from the Shepherd's hand. Actually, because this sheep was injured, the Shepherd spent more time with it...nurturing and singing to the sheep.

Before long, there was a very strong bond built between the two, stronger than the other sheep who had never gone astray.

This rebellious sheep with the broken leg had healed and would now follow more closely to the Shepherd than most of the other sheep.

I am that sheep.

Jesus "broke my leg" many years ago and I thank Him for doing this.

Hosea 6:1 Come, and let us return unto Jehovah; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

Brother, this is really touching.I sometime wonder how hardly I spent time to think of GOD.I know I am too far away from GOD.Even I want to get closer to GOD.

GOD Bless you

Wow, thank you BroJ for sharing this truth, I really loved it. Jesus must have put me in a coma..Cause I
love Him so very much.

In Him forever!
Chris

Yes, Chris.

I see that in you.

I'm reading an amazing book called, "Thy Hidden Ones" by a turn of the century sister named Jessie Penn-Lewis. She got very sick and had to rest for awhile from her ministry work....God began to open up the Song of Solomon to her and it speaks of those who abandon all in pursuit of Christ. This is God's doing...He works IN us to will and to do....

I'm suffering some physical things that are considered terminal by the world. This is for my benefit.....God is doing a great work in me through this trial. The loss I've experienced is truly beyond what most people would ever imagine.

I had a Multi-million dollar business.....gone.
I had many friends and romantic relationships.....gone.
I had plenty of money...........gone.
I had a very nice car, house etc.......gone.
I had good health.....gone. (But I stand by faith in Christ and His works)
I had a close relationship with my daughters......gone (except email correspondence).

But what I've gained can't be truly understood by this evil world.

I'm humbled.
I'm broken.
I'm tender before the Lord.
I have wisdom from the scriptures.
I'm walking in obedience.
I'm free from all bondages.
I'm full of zeal and love for others.
I'm gaining understanding and confidence in Christ.
I'm head over heels in love with the Lord.
I am NOT lukewarm any longer but on fire every day.

I am blessed beyond most....full of the Spirit of God and learning to walk as He walked.

It cost me everything to follow Jesus Christ but it's MORE than worth it.

Oh dear brother , I praise Him for that.

I have shared before how the Lord also took everything from me.
I did not want to listen and walked in the hardness of my own heart, in willing sin. My house , worth R6 million went, I lost my relationship (sinful one) I landed up in a room, but there God started working in me.
God truly stripped me from my "stuff" and now, I believe what He has restored belongs to Him and not to me. I am purely looking after it. I have nothing that I call my own.

Only now is He No1, He caused that in me and willed in me to do His good pleasure
Praise Him !
C

And again we are parallels in the Spirit realm. He is so merciful and good to us.....I want to worship Him with knowledge and understanding forever.

He is the only thing worthy of true worship.

The world and those in it....when He is revealed from Heaven...and they look upon Him in AWE...they will WAIL with regret that they traded even a moment in his Presence for the worship of the base things of earth. They will ALL hit the ground face first...and tremble before His Glory.

But WE....hahahahaha.....He will reach down with his right hand and will stand us up on our feet....because He has made us worthy by His blood and the tender mercies of God to stand in His Presence.

And all creation will see the Sons of God standing with Him in His Glory.

We will be revealed with Him.....oh man....can you see it?

Let us not pull back from entering into His suffering.

2Cor. 4:17 For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory;

YOu know, it was before I lost everything, the Lord at that time had already spoken to me and I was living alone again. I was out of the hardness part, but I can remember waiting in my car for my godchild to come out from school and the Lord spoke to me. " Are you prepared to share the sufferings of Christ?"
This was the third or fourth time this question came. I remember putting my head on the steering wheel and saying: " Lord I have no idea what you are asking me, but if this is You that is asking, then the answer is yes. I trust You and know that this must be, because You will not take me where I must not go"

That week, He said, move out of your house, do not take anything, give it away. You will only get the money for the material of this house , but nothing of its increase" Man this was so clear, LOL. He made me give land away , that I bought as an investment, I received a tiny amount out of this house, which by now had more than tripled in its value. The little I received came in small amounts that somehow dissipated .

God really spoke and said: You will gain nothing from this time when you were in rebellion.
It was true, I started where I started ten years ago.

Other things are too private to share, but God took me through such a destruction of self. Oh boy. I wept, I cried out, I was humiliated.
Thinking back , I only see fire, but He brought me through.

Jon, you are indeed my brother. I thank God for you
C

this is amazing...

when i was a new believer i was praying over a situation and the Lord dropped this
word into my spirit. "a broken bone given time to heal is stronger than before."
He showed me that the heavy hand of the Lord was that of a loving shepherd
that must break the leg of a little lamb that tends to wander.
the shepherd then carries that one and tends to it.

from reading some of these spontaneous testimonies, dreams and teachings...
i see a pattern emerging, the building, and testing of faith...
that is building up, up, up
as He leads us to
'come up here!'

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." {John 10:1-5 RSV}

blessings,
signet

Well, I cant say that I had anything that the world would consider to be in the millions of dollars that I lost,
but God did take so many of my earthly posessions, wealth, health and certainly my egotistical
self-centered ways and brought me to a state of complete broken-ness for His own good purpose.

Bro-Jon, you and C and myself seem to have so many of the same prophetic (end time) ideas as well as
how God has worked in us and had mercy as He humbled us for His use.
I suspect that there are many many more that have gone through similar events and that are being led into the same truths of the scriptures. Its truly just more confirmation that we are closer to the return of our Lord than many believe.

He seems to be pouring out His spirit on a great many at the same time. I have a very close and dear brother that, right about the same time as myself, went through much of the same and is now serving the Lord along side of me in many things that the Lord is leading us through.

These are both exciting and perilous times that we live, there are so many that are blind and have been taught simply to say a "magic" prayer and then "poof" you are now a child of the kingdom.
No death to self, no seeking the Lord first, no obedience to Christ...

Just a magic prayer of "Jesus, I invite you into my heart to save me".

There are so many that simply look in the front of their Bible for the date of when they said that to know that they are saved! There are many holding on to a lie.

Lord, be merciful to us.

Well anyway, thank you both for all the great and truthfilled posts.

In Christ,
Chris

Romans 8:18
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Yes I see in you the spirit of our Lord.

I do not think it has anything to do with the amount that you loose, but I think the process of being stripped of everything , to me , because such freedom. When the Lord said:Luk 14:33 So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. He meant it.

Even if we hold on to $1000 its too much.

I cannot explain the freedom I felt when I lost everything. It goes against every worldly logic. LOL when I gave up the house, it came back to me and I had to REALLY give it back again. This thing just wanted to come back and back and the Lord kept saying NO.
Now. I live in a house again, but this time I gave it to the Lord from the beginning and it really is not mine. I am just the guy looking after it.
With Zimbabwe in such trouble, many fled their country and I have just employed such a man. Turns out he is a wonderful Christian. Now the two of us are making veggie gardens (he use to be a veg farmer in Zim) and he understands that we are only looking after the Lord's stuff. Needless to say, the Lord's garden is looking extremely good and veg is coming up everywhere Ah and a huge PLUS : He can bake bread LOL and cook a mean curry. He has moved into the guest cottage and it seems that he is here to stay.

I am free from "stuff". It feels like I am just here for the ride, the Lord is looking after the "how" and I am just following. I am resting in Him. It is a place where I pray that I will never leave, but that through His grace, I will be able to move more and more into it.
praise God
C

I just have to say how uplifting this thread is to me! I was just saying a similar thing to the Lord last night...that it is so freeing to peel away the fleshly layers. Oh man, though it wants to hold onto everything...but when you let go...it's incredible!

Yesterday we had another huge blow..and we may lose everything..I mean all of it. As I took it all in, I started to pray. I was at such peace because I knew this is part of the process...it is all in His plan and He will take care of us no matter what. I know it sounds crazy...but I'm actually excited to move on into the next phase of shedding!

I Praise the Lord for giving me eyes to see! His mercy is wonderful!

Love to you all..
Blessings,
Lisa

WOW, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SCRIPTURE; HOW TRUE!!

Thank you Lisa for your encouraging testimony, I mean, the Lord is just at work all around us, Yes, peeling away more layers and bringing us into clearer understanding and more intimate fellowship.

Amen!

In Jesus alone,
Chris

Personal brokeness is indeed a dynamic of finally having a relationship with Christ....Luk 20:17 And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? Luk 20:18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. This scripture is not necessarily brought forward in context, but it shows that God is serious about Christ and what He has emplaced in order to secure a peculiar people zealous of good works. (Titus 2:14)

I do not think blatent rejection is requisite to brokeness...a limp understanding and lack of desire to heed the call will be enough to iinitiate a response from God who will take drastic measures to assert His desire to secure one into the Kingdom...My brokeness is still being effected...Joh 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. It is the going in and out part that keeps me on the potter's wheel...Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my [sheep], and am known of mine. We are broken in flesh and healed in spirit. God does not heal the old man, He kills him.

When I was younger I was given the impression that Luke 20:18 was about condemnation as if Christ being a stone would punish the prideful and stubborn by causing them to stumble, or will crush the unbelievers like the Pharasees and the Saducees of the times.

I think this still is a commonly held view, along with the thought like "I'm glad I won't fall because I know Jesus." This is because the inexperienced is likely to think unfavorably about the experience of stumbling or being crushed; I would think most people would rather avoid a falling stone.

But, in reality Luke 20:18 is actually a blessing. The person who purposely avoids the stone so as to not stumble will not know humility, and greater is the blessing for the person who the stone falls upon grinding him to dust. There is no other way to know and love Christ.

Crush me, Lord.

He chose you, Jon. And with His grace (and a little Godly force) He wanted you for His purpose. Whatever the cost, to be counted as one of His is a privilege. What a beautiful testimony.

I was blessed by and learned much from this thread! Thank you brothers and sisters in Christ for sharing these personal testimonies with us! God is working a mighty work in us all, and it helps me to see whats happening in my own life, when I hear what is happening in others!

I hope this doesn't seem "off topic" but I was thinking about Jesus becoming flesh and how stripped he was to go from his glory in heaven to becoming a few human cells. It took my breath away.

[/quote]
Wow Jon- thanks for sharing that." And every one that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life."
Matt 19:29

So suffering and rejection are normal in the Christian life -right? May the Lord sustain your faith to endure until the end when you will be reunited with your wife and your daughters. May He comfort you with fellowship making the darkness light and give you eyes to see the end result when there will be such joy.

That's the cool thing...there IS a finish line to this race.

looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. hebrews 12:2

Keep running the race- Be strong in the Lord. This is for good - all of it. (romans 8:28)