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The Comfort We Need - Julie MacGregor

6/6/2018

3 Comments

 
I love my devotional time. I have always enjoyed writing diaries and notes, so for me, doing a devotional in the quiet of the morning is very natural for me.

I tend to jump around with different devotional resources on my phone, and yesterday I watched a short teaching video by John Piper on 2 Corinthians 1:3-6. I jumped on it, not only because I quite like John Piper, but for the longest time these verses have been very important to me. Here is the gist of what he taught:

“We are afflicted with a purpose; afflicted so that you may comfort others with the comfort from God that you have been comforted with”.

One of the questions that he asked following this teaching was,

“Has there ever been a season in which you were especially comforted by God? How did He bring through that season?”

I began trying to think of a particular time when this had been evident to me. I went back to when I had first called out to God, as a “twenty-something” young adult, crying - despairing, really - in my room in the dark because I couldn’t make a decision about University or work, and the pressure was tremendous. I remember saying, “God! If you’re really there, help me!” And I was calmed immediately. A deep peace came over me, and I knew my journey with God had begun.

Later, when financial problems struck our young family, we were comforted by close friends, and by people who loved us so much that they snuck money onto our front doorstep and ran away, never letting us know who it was. Comfort came from parents and friends who shared their stories of struggle, and bought us groceries, reminded us that God was with us and gave our kids extravagant gifts so that they wouldn’t know of our financial struggles.

Comfort came when years ago I was struggling with depression.

I remember clearly taking a walk on the trail, coming to cross Bernard Road and telling God that I didn’t want this Christian life anymore. It was too hard. But where else was I going to go? I thought, what other choices did I have? My husband comforted me, my close friends walked with us and felt sadness with us, and His Word would not let go of me.

A few years ago I also struggled with anxiety, acutely, “I can’t-get-off-the-couch-I-need to see-a-doctor-now” anxiety. Terrified of being terrified, I was comforted by doctors, by good friends in and outside my church, medicine, counsellors and Christian authors who reminded me that God would help me.

We have been comforted by Pastors at a recent wedding we attended, sharing stories of past experiences and how they handle insecurities and uncertainties. And most recently, we have been comforted by other parents of teenagers. And oh, how we needed that!

I share all of this because at the end of this devotional, something caught my attention; it was this:

“One of the biggest threats to perseverance to final salvation is that we despair in our sufferings. How many people have been afflicted and have given up on God and leave Him? I give up God...I’ve had enough!”

Even in our little church, there are so many of you on the cusp of giving up. And the thing is, as terrible as we’re suffering, with whatever it might be, we can refuse to welcome God’s comfort. We allow pride, embarrassment, and shame, and lies, to keep our suffering to ourselves, not wanting to burden others which is the opposite of what God wants for us. And others of us keep quiet because we think we have nothing to offer. But we do.

WE MUST STOP. THESE ARE CHAINS.

“God tells us that He has ordained that people undergo affliction, so that, speaking out of our affliction, we speak comfort into others who are being afflicted so to give them strength to persevere to the end and receive salvation.” Every time I was comforted, it gave me the strength to keep fighting, to go forward, to keep believing when it was so hard.

My friends, my brothers and sisters, my heart is full of a desire to see these chains broken. We are not meant to walk alone - we can’t. I plead with you, to take a deep breath and share your despair with someone. Someone that God can comfort you through. Let Him help you overcome the discomfort and give you the strength you need.

He wants us to win, and will give us every bit of strength and breath we need to do it. Allow yourself to be comforted in your affliction, and give away the comfort that you yourself have received.

With great love,
Julie MacGregor
3 Comments
Heather F
6/6/2018 12:34:20 pm

Truly beautiful, truthfilled, heatfelt words of the heart
I pray many read and reflect on the honesty of your sharing
Keep writing - your words helped me to see the importance of being honest of where we are in our lives with others, not just the times that are all happy, looking like we have it all together, which is less often than most would like to admit - sharing our rigorous honesty with one another at a time of our deepest need can truly provide that precise moment for the hand of Jesus to reach down and lift us higher - like happened many times in your walk with the Lord Amen Julie Amen

Reply
Beth
6/6/2018 01:29:12 pm

So well said, Julie & so true for each one of us! Keep sharing your journey with us! Love you & your transparency.

Reply
ADAM link
10/19/2018 03:34:21 pm

Hi Julie,

Although I can certainly appreciate the suffering you have been through, and as a result the noble and loving desire to comfort others in their respective time of need, I am quite taken aback by the author you have quoted as a Biblical authority on the Scriptures (John Piper). My firm belief is that if you listen to this individual with any regularity, or somehow hold his opinion in higher esteem than what the Scriptures actually say, you and anyone else reading this comment will never have peace in your Christian life or assurance of going to Heaven whenever you die.

Crucially, John Piper is a militant and maniacal calvinist who falsely believes and teaches that God has already predetermined who (even children) will go to Heaven and hell based on an arbitrary standard like allah in islam. His teaching is completely contrary to the Word of God that says God loves the whole world (John 3:16) and desires that everyone would place their face in His Son who died on the cross to pay for their sins with His precious Blood. As a result of his false teaching then, John Piper is an individual that needs to be clearly "marked and avoided" (Romans 16:17).

You quoted a line in his devotional about: "perseverance to final salvation". The Bible makes clear that we don't "persevere to final salvation" at any point to go to Heaven. Jesus did all the "persevering" required for us to go to Heaven and be saved eternally. Jesus alone overcame for us - John 16:33(b). If we have to persevere to go to Heaven, then why did Jesus have to die for us? His Blood was thus shed in vain.

The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace are you saved through faith (God's unmerited, undeserved kindness and favour), and that NOT of yourselves, it is the GIFT of God, NOT of works lest any man should boast". To be clear, the Greek construction in these passages refers to salvation being the "gift", and not "faith" as so many false teachers and calvinists insist. Grace is always contrasted with works in the Bible.

Romans 6:23 tells us: "For the wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord".

Jesus tells us in John 6:47 "Verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth on Me HATH (possesses now) everlasting life".
So if when we "believe" (Strong's Greek 4100 - "pisteuo": to entrust, to have faith in, to trust, to believe) in Jesus we have everlasting life, why would we need to persevere to final salvation then? The truth is everlasting life doesn't end and Jesus did all the work to take us to Heaven. There is no persevering for us to do. Jesus did it all.

Just before dismissing His Spirit on the Blood stained cross in John 19:30 Jesus told us "It is finished." (Strong's Greek G5055: accomplish, make an end, fill up, finish, pay, perform, etc).

Please do not be fooled by this false teacher or any of his contemporaries anymore (john macarthur, francis chan, james macdonald, etc, etc, etc). If you or anyone else has placed your faith alone in Jesus that He died on the cross and paid for your sins (ie. believed The Gospel), you HAVE everlasting life and the Holy Spirit has baptized you (1 Cor 12:13), sealed you unto the day of redemption (Eph 1:13), indwells you (1 Cor 3:16), and will guide you into all truth (John 16:13) if you allow Him to when you study the Scriptures.

2 Timothy 2:15 tells us "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth".

In phileo love,

Adam

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  • ABOUT
    • Who We Are
    • Our Vision & Values
    • Our Connections
  • MINISTRIES
    • Men's & Women's Ministries
    • Embrace Grace
    • The City - Student Ministry
  • CURRENT SERMON SERIES
  • Archived Sermon Series
    • Christmas 2022
    • THIS IS GOD (season 3)
    • THE DAY OF THE LORD
    • "MADE IN CANADA"
    • "GREATER!" - a study in Hebrews
    • Habakkuk
    • THE MESSAGE
    • "TO LIVE IS CHRIST"
    • LIFEHOUSE: Vison & Values
    • THIS IS GOD (season 2)
    • "Be On Your Guard"
    • SET//APART
    • "Stand Firm!"
    • Jonah
    • ESSENTIAL
    • In the Midst of All This
    • What Jesus Thinks of the Church
    • The Expectant Quest
    • Stride Sermon Series
    • Thrive Series
    • Christmas 2019 ... His Name Shall be ...
    • Resolved
    • The Jesus Style Series
    • This is God
    • Re'Defined
    • Easter 2019
    • Molded By God - A Study in Colossians
    • "from now on..." - a study in Luke
    • The G5 Series
    • Resolved
    • Miscellaneous Sermons
    • Gallery
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Giving to LifeHouse