A lesson on Chastening for me ..........

God @ 2:30 am:
Wakey!

Mark:
Okie

God:
Mr X. (Name kept for confidentiality sake).

At once I knew what God wanted to me do. Mr X and I had a dispute over certain issues in the past and the central issue had to deal with Attitudes, Actions and Money. We felt that both had a part to play thus neither should bear the total blame. That made the issue even more complex and accusations kept 'Ping Ponging' back and forth to the extent that our relationship turned sour and we were not on talking terms.

I knew God wanted me to humble myself and not only Show but Seek Forgiveness and Initiate Reconciliation. Being obedient, I made an agreement with God that I would email Mr X later that morning.

2 Corinthians 5:13 (NIV)
18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

Later in the morning, I prayed, committed to God the issue and email Mr X asking for forgiveness and requesting reconciliation. Somehow throughout the day, I didn't think much about the email I sent. In fact I should have been worried. What if he scolded me back and gave more accusations. How should I defend myself then ? ..... la la la?

Revelation number 1 just came to me even as I'm typing this .... and this was preached in today's sermon!
Philippians 2:6-7 (New International Version)
6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

This morning, The Holy Spirit had lead me to pray and commit the issue to God before typing and sending the email out ..... and God's Peace guarded my heart and mind throughout the day .... ZERO worry was present about the issue. I feel, when we Submit & Obey God, it lets the HS do it's work in and through us (Repentance, Forgiveness, Reconciliation in this instance) ... all in line with God's will (God's Word) and moreover, our gracious God even showers us with the promises he has for us (Peace of God in this instance).

And guess what ... Mr X replied in the evening saying that he has already forgiven me and is also sorry for the mistake he made too. He even pointed out the areas that we both went wrong. Back then, we could never humble ourselves enough to see where the real problem was. What struck me most is when he said: "I still treasure our friendship." And guess what, we are even planing to meet up with some old friend soon. Praise the Lord!

This lesson for me from God has been so timely. Revelation number 2! You see, I'm currently reading Derek Prince's booklet on Testing. The key point is that we need to differentiate the situations that God puts us through and not moan and groan and treat all alike due to our pride.
Testing -> Calls for endurance (self-control) -> To build us up.
Chastening -> Calls for repentance of our sins -> To bring us back and closer to God.

The Bible, Books (biblical ones) ....etc ... whatever you feed your soul and spirit with ... God can use the knowledge gained for His Glory ... Our God is a Practical God ... he expects action from the head knowledge we have gained ... and all can be achieved if we simply Obey and allow him to lead and guide us.

:)