The Loneliness of the Christian in These Last Days

I said recently that my writing might be coming to an end. My husband and I prayed about this, and we believe that we heard from the Lord that I have been called to write in these last days – but that I must listen carefully for His voice when I need to rest.

A reader of my articles wrote to me today and ended her email with something so precious and true – I knew that the Lord had moved on her heart to send it to me. Here it is:

The Loneliness of the Christian by A. W. Tozer

“The Loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because, within his circle of friends, there are so few who share his inner experiences, he is forced to walk alone.

The unsatisfied longings of the prophets for human understanding cause them to cry out in their complaint, and even our Lord Himself suffered in the same way.

The man [or woman] who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and over-serious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens.

He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces, and finding few or none, he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart.

It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else.” source

When I finished reading this heartfelt teaching from Tozer, I broke down in tears. Not from sadness but from joy that God had seen my state of extreme loneliness; and because He loves me as He does, He directed this sister in Christ to send me such truth and comfort.

It felt like a hug from God.

But then I noticed something even more precious. A. W. Tozer had bolded this sentence:

“It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God.” And he ends with this:

“His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else.”

Brethren, I truly cannot express what these words from A.W. Tozer meant to me. My husband and I have not had a church home in quite a while. I have talked about the things which happened in various churches, so I do not need to write them again.

But this I will say: In most churches of which we became a part – even when the preaching was sound and thorough, I did feel so alone in the midst of most in the congregation. I knew that most found me hard to be around, and I knew that I was ostracized by many for being too zealous – too serious for the things of God. I wanted to tell others what Jesus had been doing in my life.

Of course, there were a few who shared my zeal for our Savior, but that was the exception and not the rule.

I knew that I was considered by many to be a “Jesus freak,’ and that is so very sad to even think about. We were there to worship our Redeemer, our Savior, our Jesus! So yes, I experienced the words of Tozer in the midst of the congregation.

But recently I have pondered this loneliness and have spoken to God in prayer about it. I have come to Him and just sat quietly in my sadness. Those are the sweetest times, not just for me, but for our Lord as well. I find in His presence the peace that does pass all understanding.

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7, KJV).

I realize that NOTHING can replace my time with Him. Not even the most godly saint – although it is so glorious to share my heart with such people, it cannot come close to talking with my Lord and Savior who ever waits for me to finally turn to Him in my anguish.

As we walk this earth as children of God, it is inevitable that we are at times “wounded,” and the most stinging of these wounds seems to come from the brethren. We are still battling our flesh. We all make mistakes. It will not be until we receive our Glorified bodies that we will finally be free from sin and hurt and pain.

I have always loved this song by Twila Paris:

The Warrior is a Child  <Click to listen

I pray for the reader that this has somehow helped you in your struggles.

It won’t be long now, and know that He NEVER takes His eyes off of you.

How Can I Be Saved?

Shalom b’Yeshua

MARANATHA!

grandmageri422@gmail.com

Articles at grandmageri422.me

 

Brethren,

I have been writing articles for quite a few years.  It has been my joy to have done this for the Lord. I cannot fully express my love for each and every one of you.

I never even considered myself a writer until my sister in the Lord, Cindy Nuara, encouraged me to send my testimony into Raptureready.com. That was the beginning of a ministry for which I was so grateful to the Lord. It started with Raptureready; then I was a feature writer for Nowtheendbegins.com. Then I made my own WordPress site where I house all of my articles.  I have met so many wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ through Raptureready.com.

My Family

I’m pretty sure that we are not alone in the struggles of our families against Satan and his demonic forces. We have a grandson who has had more hardships in his short 19 1/2 years than most people have in a lifetime.

A biological father who wanted nothing to do with him – then he found the closest thing to a real father and loved him dearly, but that marriage would end and our grandson would once again be plunged into deep depression.

If that were not enough, this young man would come close to death when he was 14. He had type 1 diabetes and we nearly lost him. He spent over a week in PICU at John Hopkins until he was stable enough to come home. Since then, his life revolves around insulin and needles every day to keep him alive.

He now is in a very dark place. I’ve written to him to assure him of the love we all have for him and that we will be standing with him through whatever comes. I told him to never forget how much Jesus loves him.

Baptism

When he was a young boy, we would take him to church with us every Sunday. He saw a boy his own age get baptized. He told me when we got home that he wanted to be baptized. A couple of years before this, he told me that he wanted to know that he was saved. We had just watched “The Jesus Film” project before he asked me this.

I went through everything with him to be sure he knew what being “born again” really meant. Also, I spoke to him about repentance and agreeing with God that we are all sinners in need of a Savior – Jesus Christ. I felt that he understood the gospel, and I could see that he was so ready to repent and trust the Lord and His finished work on the Cross for his salvation. I prayed with him that day for his Salvation.

My husband and I were on the praise team at this church. Our grandson was sitting toward the front, and I told him that we would be back as soon as worship was over. My heart sank when I saw the pastor sliding in beside him, and our grandson’s countenance changed from ‘joy’ to a look of horror. When I sat down beside him, he asked if we could just go home. He had tears streaming down his face, and the three of us did leave the service. I was so worried about him.

He was told by the pastor that Baptism means death

I had contacted this pastor after our grandson expressed his desire to be baptized, and I know that pastors like to talk with people before baptism to make sure they understand. In the car ride home through tears, our grandson kept saying, “Grandma, I don’t want to die when I’m baptized!” I assured him that he would not die physically. I told him that baptism illustrates the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. I told him that being baptized was an outward expression of our belief and devotion to the Lord, and it a powerful witness to the unsaved who come to watch.

I also told him that Jesus did ask those who were born again to be baptized in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Nothing I said was helping.  He had been traumatized by the pastor’s words. This pastor came to our house and apologized that night. He admitted to me that perhaps he didn’t use the right words. I asked him if he would tell our grandson the truth about baptism. Our grandson lived with his mother so he was not in our home when the pastor came. That pastor never reached out to him to make things right. Our grandson never wanted to come back to church with us.

Our Daughter

Our daughter was molested by a lesbian – one of the helpers in the youth group of a “Seeker” church we unwisely joined because we had heard about a dynamic youth ministry. It turned out that they did not vet the prospective volunteers – not even to see if they were true Christians! Our daughter to this day will not attend a church because of this trauma.

More Struggles

For the last 5 years, it has been a non-stop struggle against the enemy. My health has deteriorated – heart problems and many other things. But my family is most important, and God spoke that to my heart.

I used to write my articles from morning until night. Now I will use the time to be in God’s Holy Word, and to pray for my family, and to do whatever I can for all of them. My three children fell away during college, so I do have a lot to pray about. And I believe that every prayer which goes up to the Lord – He hears and will answer.

Once last thing

Brethren, I have been sounding the alarm for quite some time that persecution is coming to Christians in America. Many do not want to believe this, but I am telling you the truth. Satan is working like never before to silence the Christian witness.

We are being banned from most social media. This will continue and get much worse. And believe me when I say this: If the so-called “Equality Act” is passed and if the Left take back the White House, I believe that we will be placed in re-education camps and possibly even worse if we are still here.

Why would American Christians be spared of persecution when our brothers and sisters in places like China, North Korea and the Middle East are being arrested and killed? God has held back intense persecution, and His placing Donald Trump as our president did give us more time – a reprieve.

Leaders of the U.N. have said that the only thing holding back the NWO is a strong America. If the Left take our White House and our Senate, we can expect incarceration and a nationwide gun grab.

I am not telling you these things to scare you but to “prepare” you.

We ALL must be on our knees, asking God to save the unsaved in our families and also asking Him for strength to endure what is coming. We must get our own homes and our hearts right with God.

Don’t think that God does not see everything going on – He does. And God does NOT wink at Sin. We are not perfect – we won’t be until we receive our glorified bodies. But if you are living IN sin – that is vastly different from falling into sin and repenting of that sin and asking God to forgive us and cleanse us. You must realize that if you had the Holy Spirit living within you, He would convict you of your sinful lifestyle and you would be miserable.

Do not believe for a minute that a “prayer” you said years ago, but continued to live IN sin, will help you on Judgment day? God knows each of our hearts, and He is not mocked.

Please pray that I will hear clearly if I am to return to the writing ministry. But as for now, I truly believe that the Lord wants me on my knees for my family, my friends and my country.

How Can I Be Saved?

Shalom b’Yeshua

MARANATHA!!

grandmageri422@gmail.com