When I saw this photo it moved me so deeply; I imagine this teacher in some remote, poverty stricken part of the world, dedicated to teach even though his class has but one small boy in grinding poverty. 

Oh Lord! Take this man's sacrifice and this young boy's mind, and create something beautiful!  

   "Have I not wept for the one who's life is hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?" Job 30:25

When I saw this picture it reminded me of how important it is for our children to be taught to be involved in the works of Christ. Sunday School can be so productive with a little imagination. Here are some ways we can sensitize our children to the needs of others. 

When there are natural disasters we can, in an age appropriate way, talk about it sharing photos, and plan to spend the month doing something about it. We can make some art works and sell the in the church foyer one Sunday, and send the money to a sister church in the area of the disaster to help fund emergency items. When parents know what the paintings are for they will be supportive and this could also be done in front of a Dept. store with some informative signage; I think it's a good testimony, and if student initiated, I think the public would donate by way of buying a picture. The same can be done with a bake sale, car wash or any craft done in class. 

Here are some other ideas for projects -- 

Letters to service men and women. Child trafficking project; local refugees; support and orphan through the church or organization; help single parents in the church, also widows, sick or shut-ins with gifts or correspondence. Support letters for missionaries supported by the church, and peruse the newspaper for prayer projects etc.  

"We all growl like bears, and moan sadly like doves."  Is. 59:11

Injustice, oppression, abuse cause us to rage without, while within our hearts mourn. 

 

  Most victims of abuse have no one, absolutely no one to have their back. God has His "Sons of thunder" and I can't think of a better place they could be. 
 

   "Love, in the Christian system, is not a power by which I am to claim brotherhood with humanity when humanity has reached my standard of moral purity; it is a power by which I am to claim brotherhood with men in their impurity, and through which I am to struggle to make them pure.

I am to realize the fact that those who are lying by the wayside, unworthy to join in the march of life, are still, even in their prostration, my brothers and my sisters, they are still members of the same family of which I am a member, they are still legitimate objects of my solicitude and of my care." George Matheson.

Home mission work, mercy, it is a struggle! Victims of abuse, sexual assault, combat and other horrid traumas require a full draught of grace, but God abundantly supplies those who work the mission here at home in the mission halls and on the streets.  

  

   I've been a Christian for over fifty years now, and God has rescued me from my wallowing in sin by many methods. His great love, Christ's forgiveness, the Holy Spirit's power, the protection of angels, the faithful pulpit and the congregation of saints; but there have been many rescues that came dressed in garb I would have never expected. The helping hand of God is not limited nor too short, and sometimes He sends the most unlikely deliverer. Be on the look out for the donkey or.......

 Jesus said, "When you give a banquet,  invite the poor, crippled, blind and lame, and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." 

Dress accordingly...... 

 

 

  When I read this it reminded me of a quote I posted years ago -- 

“For majesty and beauty of subtle influence, nothing is comparable to the soul. Not the sun hanging upon the horizon has such power for flower and fruitage as has a full-orbed Christian heart, rich in all good influences, throbbing with kindness and sympathy, radiant as an angel. Great is man’s skill in handling engines of force; marvelous man’s control of winds and rivers; wondrous the master of engines and ideas. But man himself is greater than the tools he invents, and man stands forth clothed with the power to control and influence his fellows, in that he can sweeten their bitterness, allay their conflicts, bear their burdens, surround them with the atmosphere of hope and sympathy. N.D. Hillis.

 

 

 

 WHO SAID - 

 "I was homeless, both hungry and thirsty, poorly clothed, considered the scum of the world, the dregs of all things and roughly treated."?  

We never know a person's story until we befriend them. Nearly every homeless person has a story of severe tragedy. Many are Christian brothers and sisters; and many more will be homeless because of Covid and the rampant fires on the west coast. The quote above is by the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 4: 11-14 

In verse 14 he says, "I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children." 

 This is humorous and we can all relate to some degree, but in the lives of victims of adverse childhood circumstances it can become the default reaction to everyone, stranger or not. Without the foundation of a loving, nurturing and supportive home, we can see each stranger as a potential threat and another in a line of continual disappointments and betrayals.

 

 

My son wrote this in response to one of the countless emails he gets.

“I disagree with forming massive opinions and endorsing slander, intrigue and accusations on a international scale from a clip of a slick selection of minutes from a YouTube video.

I disagree with people fermenting mass anxiety and quasi-intellectual opinions on subjects they actually have absolutely no professional acumen upon.

I disagree with fear-based journalism that looks like it should be an episode on the Syfy channel or Info Wars.

I disagree with Christians that won’t read their bibles, attend church, or submit to the authority of elders they’ve known for years with proven wise and fruitful lives and will chuck it all for Internet personalities who have absolutely no care or connection with viewers.

I disagree with people spending hours of time following geopolitical theories of titillating supposedly secret knowledge, trying to attain macro and micro world event gnosis.

I disagree with people who are able to discuss and debate the latest outrage in the MSM but can’t or won’t disciple their families or evangelize the lost.

I disagree with lives that are a mile wide in turbulent Internet waters but an inch deep in martial or parental nurture, or skill and craftsmanship in actual day-to-day work and life matters.

I disagree with people who won’t fact check or cross expose themselves to opposing or conflicting opinions or sources because they are intellectually lazy or ideologically bigoted.

I disagree with an info-bloated culture that has access to a world of instant knowledge at its fingertips but is impoverished in the skills needed to discern truth from error, righteousness from unrighteousness or the kooks, cranks and cults from rational and reasonable journalists, educators, or political voices.

 

 "Will God withhold His blessing until I become pure?                                               Jesus said "blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." He will bless my very effort after purity, though I fail. He will accept the mere desire for Him; the mere wish of my heart to be like Him; the mere throb of my pulse to be near Him. Though I have not reached Him, if I only see in Him a beauty that I long for He will count it to me for righteousness. Though I claim not to be like Him, and despair that I'll ever touch the hem of His garment, if only I can admire from afar the kingliness of His beauty He will bless my very hunger and thirst for Him." George Matheson. 

Why do I feel guilt and shame?

 

Victims of child abuse often feel lasting guilt and toxic shame; here is a good piece that explains that.

"As a defense and when it is impossible to avoid the reality of the abuse, the child must construct some system of meaning that justifies it. Inevitably the child concludes that her innate badness is the cause. The child seizes on this explanation early and clings to it tenaciously, for it enable her to preserve a sense of meaning, hope and power. If she's bad, then her parents are good. If she is bad, then she can try to be good. If, somehow, she has brought this fate upon herself, then somehow she has the power to change it. If she has driven her parents to mistreat her, then if only she tries hard enough, she may some day earn their forgiveness and finally win the protection and care she so desperately needs."

Trauma and Recovery, Judith Herman M.D. Psychiatrist.

In each of our lives the Lord brings a few people who truly inspire and motivate us; this is one of those guys for me, David Soto. He was once desperately lost, and Christ came and miraculously saved him. So if you ever lose your way, and become hopelessly lost, you might meet David searching all alone, peering under tarps and lifting up boxes in the byways and hedges looking for you.

Now the guy fishing in his washer reminds me of the Christian who never gets out of his house and into the world and wonders why he never sees souls saved or lives redeemed. .

   "Your prophets have seen for you false and foolish visions;       

And they have not exposed your iniquity." Lamentations 2:14

  When I read that verse this morning I couldn't help think of all the prophecies I've heard about the End Times. Every time a disaster hits new predictions and prophetic hysteria begins. Don't misunderstand me, I'm 74 and the average life-span of a male in the U.S. is 78, so I know the end is near for me. But every generation from the time of Christ thought their's was the last generation, and certainly Paul did. Now my intention is not to provoke conversations embroiled in controversy; but suffice to say; in my fifty one years as a Christian, I've never seen so many lost and hurting souls. I work a hotline and thousands of calls come in each day: souls broken, abused, deserted, depressed to the point of self harm and suicide. The fields, OH CHRISTIAN, the fields are ripe and ready to harvest, but the workers are few. If you specialize in End Time theology, consider adding to that specialty a heart the mourns for the sufferer, the lost, the downcast; surely you can do both, but if only one.....choose wisely.

 Recovery Advice

Overcoming addictions is a battle on many fronts; first the spiritual and then the practical. One of the simple but practical components is to avoid idle time, isolation and boredom. 

Sweet, wholesome, healthy recreation is important; and if it's denied, it will cause us to be moody and live in a dull melancholy, and along these same lines, it leaves us grim and comfortless in despair. In addition, there can come a huge infectious troop of mental uneasiness that are enemies of a happy life. God has spread a vast table of wholesome pleasures in food, sport and life-preserving rest, and His Spirit will help us balance the pursuit of wholesome pleasures with duty. 

Shakespeare said this so eloquently -- 

"Sweet recreation barr'd, what doth ensue but moody and dull melancholy, kinsman to grim and comfortless despair; and at her heels, a huge infectious troop of pale distemperatures, and foes to life." 

 "Experience is for many of us a process of emptying, of bringing us to our senses, of showing us that there is but little we are permitted to do. We start gay and confident, with a strong sense of our good intentions, our refinement, our perceptiveness, our uncommonness, and we have got to learn, most of us, that it does not count for so much after all; that we cannot hope to have a great effect upon the world, but that we must be thankful to be shown our place, and be grateful for our little bit of work. We are not meant to be hopeless and despondent about ourselves, to grovel abjectly in a sense of feebleness, to welter in ineffectiveness, of course. But we are meant to know that even if we are inside the wicket-gate, we are yet a very long way from the celestial city, and that we are better occupied in minding the road, and facing goblins, than in drawing imaginary elevations of the King's palace, or in arranging who will enter and why, in anticipating our own triumph and the blowing of heavenly trumpets. 

 It is often when a man least expects it that he finds his feet are on the steps of jacinth (Rev. 21:20), and when he is most aware of his own failure to do what he might have done, most overwhelmed by the murmurs of regret and disappointment, that the music of the melodious notes breaks serenely on the misty air." Arthur Benson. 

This old kitchen isn't so different from my grandmothers. She kept it painted better, and it was neat and clean, but the rest was about the same. The contact paper counters were a far cry from the granite counters we simply must have today. Now emerging generations feel they need an HGTV house, with kitchen big enough to serve 50 people and showers big enough for ten! St. Francis of Assisi said, "Live Simply So That Others May Simply Live", it's not easy to follow his advice, but there is a freedom in simplicity that far outweighs the fleeting and elusive butterfly of luxury.

 I read Ps. 103:4 today where it says, "The Lord crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion...." 

The crown of royalty depicts power, and as I considered the meaning this morning I applied it differently than I have in the past -- God, through the Holy Spirit, crowns us at conversion with the power of lovingkindness and compassion for humanity, that is our power, our crown. We break the jaws of wickedness with the power of lovingkindness and compassion.  We change the world for Christ because He has graced our hearts with love and compassion for all.

 

 “May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.”Psalm 20:4

 

I think this is a pretty insightful and revealing quote. A lot of truth there. 

I read a random chapter on Old English "Mottos" this morning, and after reading many, these two struck me. 

"The Eagle does not catch flies." 

and a second - 

"I don't stick at trifles." 

They reminded me of Paul's exhortation in Titus 3:14

"Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet PRESSING NEEDS, so that they will not be unfruitful." 

May I always use wisdom in prioritizing my free time, "The fields are ripe and ready to harvest, but many workers are catching flies." 

 

 

  "Benefits showered on the distant shine in unmixed beauty, but native want hath pined, where foreign need was fattened; 

Woman been crushed by the tyrannous hand that upheld the flag of liberality;                                                                                    Poverty been prisoned up and starved, by hearts that are maudlin upon crime;                                                                                      And freeborn babes been manacled by men, who liberate the sturdy slave." Martin Tupper. 

 

 

For a small amount of perspective at this moment, imagine you were born in 1900. When you are 14, World War I starts and ends on your 18th birthday with 22 million people killed. Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until you are 20. Fifty million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million. When you’re 29, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, global GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 33. The country nearly collapses along with the world economy. When you turn 39, World War II starts. You aren’t even over the hill yet. When you’re 41, the United States is fully pulled into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war and the Holocaust kills six million. At 52, the Korean War starts, and five million perish. Approaching your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, could well have ended. Great leaders prevented that from happening. At 64 the Vietnam War begins, and it doesn’t end for many years. Four million people die in that conflict. As you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends. Think of everyone on the planet born in 1900. How do you survive all of that? A kid in 1985 didn’t think their 85-year-old grandparent understood how hard school was. Yet those grandparents (and now great grandparents) survived through everything listed above. Perspective is an amazing art. Let’s try and keep things in perspective. Let’s be smart, help each other out, and we will get through all of this. In the history of the world, there has never been a storm that lasted. This too shall pass. - Author Unknown

  "I believe we ought to have recourse to very simple but cozy and comfortable remedies indeed for combating shyness. It is no use to try and console ourselves and distract ourselves with lofty thoughts, because we only become more self-conscious and superior than ever. The fact remains that the shyness of youth causes agonies both of anticipation and retrospect; if one wishes to really get rid of it, the only way is to determine to get used somehow to society, and not to try and avoid it; and as a practical rule to make up one's mind, if possible, to ask people questions rather than to meditate impressive answers. Asking other people questions about thing to which they are likely to know the answers is one of the shortest cuts to popularity and esteem. It is wonderful to reflect how much distress personal bashfulness causes people, how much they would give to be rid of it, and yet how very little trouble they ever take in acquiring any method of dealing with the difficulty. 

I see many undergraduates, and am often aware that they are friendly and responsive, but without any power of giving expression to it. 

I sometime see them suffering acutely from shyness before my eyes. But a young person who can bring himself to ask a perfectly simple question about some small matter of common interest is comparatively rare: and yet it is generally the simplest way out of the difficulty." 

Arthur C. Benson. 

 

 

    "As one goes on in life, this terrible and disconcerting shyness of youth disappears. We begin to realize, with a wholesome loss of vanity and conceit, how very little people care or even notice how we are dressed, how we look, or what we say. We learn that other people are as much preoccupied with their thoughts and fancies and reflections as we are with our own. We realize that if we are anxious to produce an agreeable impression, we do so far more by being interested and sympathetic, than by attempting a brilliance which we cannot command. 

We perceive that other people are not particularly interested in our crude views, nor very grateful for the expression of them. We acquire the power of combination and co-operation, in losing the desire for splendor and domination. We see that people value ease and security, more than they admire originality and fantastic contradiction. And so we come to the blessed time when, instead of reflecting after a social occasion whether we did ourselves justice, we begin to consider rather the impression we have formed of other personalities." 

Arthur Benson. 

Knowledge puffs us up

 

"Good heavens, what a mind my acquaintance had, how stored with knowledge! How admirable equipped! Nothing he had ever put away in his memory seemed to have lost its color or outline; and he knew how to lay his hand upon everything. It seemed like his mind was like an emporium, with everything in the world arranged on shelves, all new and varnished and bright, and that he knew precisely the place of everything.

But I'm quite sure I do not want to possess that kind of knowledge. It is the very sharpness and clearness of outline about it all that I dislike. The things that he knows have not become part of his mind in any way: they are stored away there, like walnuts; and I feel that I have been pelted with walnuts, deluged and buried in walnuts. The things which my visitor knows have undergone no change, they have not been fused and blended by his personality; they have not affected his mind, nor has his mind affected them. I do not wish to despise or to decry his knowledge; as a lecturer, he would be invaluable; but he treats literature as a merchant might -- it has not been food to him, but material and stock-in-trade."

Arthur Benson.  

  "My future husband was becoming my whole world; and, more than the world: almost my hope of heaven. He stood between me and every thought of religion, like an eclipse intervenes between man and the sun. I could not, in those days, see God for this man, of whom I had made an idol."  Charlotte Bronte.

 

 Balancing the emotional intensity of romance is not child's play, and many sabotage their lives with love's blindness.

    

  I read this piece by Arthur Benson about how are moods can impact the entire family. 

  "The husband was a man of moods, jealous, irritable, self-absorbed, and the sense of his possible displeasure lay like a cloud in the background of the lives of all the family members. He was apt to be vexed if things didn't happen exactly as he wished, while at the same time he was annoyed if any notice was taken of his moods, or if he thought he was being humored and arranged for. 

 What distresses one about such a case is the silly waste of happiness and peace that such a disposition can cause, in a family circle where there are all the materials for the best kind of domestic content. 

Yet the case is not a very uncommon one, and the cause is a mere lack of self-discipline. 

 The only hope for persons with such temperaments is that they should become aware, early in life, of all the unhappiness they can create, and determine that, whatever they feel, they will behave with courtesy, justice, and kindness. 

The difficulty is that the most trivial incidents tend to confirm and increase such irritable suspicions and there is moreover, in jealous people, a sense of complacency in the thought of how much they can affect and influence the emotions of the their family circle. But such power is a very mean and selfish business. 

The worst of it is that it is perfectly possible for a man to despise and condemn such conduct in others, and yet to do the very same thing himself and to justify it, not without a certain contemptible pride in his own superior sensitiveness." 

  "Worse still, there are people who like, if they can, to throw cold water over the enjoyment of others, and belittle or explain away their successes. One of the most well known instances is the case of Mr. Barrett, the father of Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett Browning. He was a man who was passionately attached to his children; he desired their love to such an extent that he couldn't bear to see them care for any one else.

He refused his consent to his daughter's marriages, on the grounds that it was ungrateful of them to wish to leave him. When Mrs. Browning, knowing that it was impossible to hope that he would consent to her marriage with the poet Robert Browning, married him clandestinely and went away to Italy, hoping that she might ultimately be forgiven, her father never opened any of her letters, and refused ever to see her again, and kept to his word. 

It was an intense grief to Mrs. Browning, but she never took a morbid view of the situation, and realized with supreme good sense that no human being has the right to cripple another's life, and to deny another the paramount gift of wedded love."  

I like the simplicity of this photo. Pick anything in life and this will apply, if it's worth doing.....

"To change a person's religious system is to reconstruct the whole man himself.

When we seek to share Christ, we must be sensitive that we may seem to be attacking everything a person holds dear from childhood; all their beliefs are perfumed with domestic love, they convey to them the hopes and the fears of life, the childhood fancies, and the imaginations of manhood. Only the strongest moral natures can survive the shock of doubt that strips them of all that they have trusted from childhood. We are not just asking them to question their beliefs, but also the beliefs of all those they love; that is why humility is so important in evangelism and unless the Holy Spirit touches the heart we will never touch the mind."

Loose translation of Henry W. Beecher from The Life of Jesus the Christ.

To help understand these feelings consider how we react if someone simply brings up a doctrine that we disagree with. For example, "There is no hell" or if someone says they can show you the Trinity is not Biblical; we recoil and all manner of emotions rise up. So when we ask someone to question all they ever believed, well, it is a huge endeavor.

Marriage - Finding a worthy husband 

 

Because finding a loving, honest, nurturing spouse is so important; I'll cover some things aside from matters of faith  that, hopefully, will be helpful. I'll start with a brief list of things to investigate when dating.

 

How do they treat their parents?

How do they treat their siblings?

What are their friends like?

How do they treat the waiter or waitress?

How do they talk about those in authority over them?

What is their job longevity history like?

What condition are they in financially?

If they have children how bonded are they?

If they don't have joint custody, why?

What is their criminal history?

Do they have substance abuse problems?

Do they like gambling?

Are they addicted to video games?

What are their recreational choices?

Do they have anger problems?

Are they preoccupied with sex?

What are their feelings about pornography?

What is their spiritual condition and beliefs?

Do you share a common faith and encourage growth in each other?

Are they a victim of child abuse and have they found healing?

Would you want your sibling to date such a person?

Looking at the condition of their life, is it one you want to join?

What are their views on marriage and the roles of man and wife and child rearing?

 

Now of course we have to ask ourselves these same questions, and many more, but this line of thinking will help us begin the process.

 

Understanding our romantic feelings, our passions, what true love is, and what it is not, are very, very important issues. We can only learn that by dating, if we use that time to learn who this new person truly is, and who they bring out in us. When we date we learn a lot about our passions, our insecurities, about how fickle our emotions can be, and, not to mention how obsessive they can be.

We also learn about how strong willed we can be, and something about the depth of our faith and moral convictions.

These are not things that can be learned from a book, the power of romance is a force to be reckoned with, and if we go into it blind we will doubtless return bruised.

We also learn about how those of the opposite sex can draw us, manipulate us, sometimes deceive us, use us, sweep us away, hurt us so deeply and also bring out anger within us, and all manner of other emotional feelings. So, dating and romance is a huge learning experience, and I can't think of how you will ever learn about yourself in the same way as dating or experiencing these intense emotions.

It shows us how needy we are, we may be far more needy than we ever imagined, or we may find we are unable to bond, or that we have fears that make us act at times like a child. Needless to say, dating tests the strength of our convictions, faith, ideals, goals, plans, our children's welfare and our true priorities.

Passion, sex and affection are not the basis for a marriage, nor is financial security, needing help with our children, if we have any, nor is a new lover able to fill emotional needs we may have if we have suffered adverse childhood circumstances. If we look for a mate to fulfill the emotional needs that haunt us from childhood trauma, we will suffocate our new love.  When victims of childhood trauma fall in love, often it is a little too fast and deep.  

They often idealize their partner; put them on a pedestal, profess a rapid and deep connection, give of themselves fully, push for premature commitments. It may feel like the  "love of a lifetime."

In time, this idealization evolves into a devaluation of the partner when the partner does not live up to the victim’s unrealistic expectations.
When this happens, the victim of childhood trauma can become angry, resentful, abusive, and even vindictive.

Or the opposite may happen where the victim of trauma feels guilty, shameful and dirty; they become very emotionally needy and desperately need approval. When they find a person that shows them attention, they fall in love way too fast, way too deep and put all of their needs onto the new love, above all else.

The neediness created by childhood trauma and other insecurities overwhelms our partner with our constant need for reassurance, emotional support, and they often feel suffocated because they are having demands put on them that no one can meet.

If our relationships are failing we need to evaluate ourselves and take some time to just be alone and sort out what the next positive step should be. If we've had no counseling or therapy, that's the first step; especially if we are a victim of childhood adversity, sexual assault or domestic violence. To re-enter another relationship, clinging to the intoxicating romantic high instead of finding healing will lead to yet another failure. A broken heart is a poor judge of character, flattering words elevate our emotions, and sexual encounters anesthetize our deep inner hurts and needs but they don't lead to change.

 

Now this little piece contains a lot of food for thought, but it is meant to inspire you to learn more about the mechanics of a successful relationship. Needless to say, if you are a Christian matters of faith and faith aspirations are of major importance and I believe as Christians we should only marry a fellow believer.

 

   If God so loved the world, I take that to mean I should also. So a quick "faith reality test" is to see how many people I currently love outside my family and close circle of friends. Am I mentoring anyone? Am I housing a stranger? Am I feeding the hungry? Am I visiting someone sick or imprisoned, in body or mind? Am I helping anyone clothe themselves? 

Or, has my salt (love) lost its savor?

     “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly at first, or many times until you master it.” Feeble as your beginnings are, you are on your way and will learn by your mistakes."

  "Once we are born again, Jesus quickens us to interlink ourselves with all mankind of all classes and conditions, -- by reverent admiration with the good, by reconciling mercy with the evil, by cheerful sympathy with the happy, by tender compassion with the suffering, by redeeming pity with the oppressed, by hope with all, -- and this to make our own lives entirely one with the life of our Race. There is an exulting joy in this enlargement of Personal Being; and this limitless expansion of love was an essential aim of our Savior."

William Ellery Channing. 

What did Jesus mean when He said -

"And another of His disciples said, Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said to him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead." Matt 8:21-22 Here's one application.

"Allow me first to bury my father" in other words, to finish the days of mourning for my father. What the young man really meant was that he did not feel in spirits for joining such a public cause as that of Jesus - involving, as it did, such contact with the world; he wanted for a while to nurse his grief in seclusion.
There are many whose sorrow takes the form of this young man's sorrow. We have a tendency in the time of bereavement to resist motion, to keep indoors, to go nowhere.
And yet, Jesus bids us go. As he bade the young man, so he bids you. You cannot cure your own sorrow by nursing it; the longer it is nursed, the more deep-rooted it grows. It will be harder for you to go out to-morrow than it is today; and it will be harder still the day after. You cannot cure your sorrow by nursing it; but you can cure it by nursing another’s sorrow. Do you think that Jesus wanted this young man to be a stoic! Was it from the ties of the heart He called him when He said "Follow me"? No, it was to the ties of the heart - other ties of other hearts. It was no foreign scene to which Jesus called him - no scene foreign to his grief. Here in your hour of sorrow does He summon you. He bids you to bury your sorrow - not in the wine cup, but in the common pain of others. It is by tears He will heal your tears; it is by grief He will cure your grief. Come out into the common pains of others! To follow Him is to follow the stream of universal human suffering. Bury your sorrow by that stream!"
George Matteson.

"Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord." Hosea 6:3

The following message is to believers, it is not the way to salvation.

"To know the Lord"! That is a bold aim for this finite soul. And yet, my soul will be satisfied with nothing less. I am beating day and night against the bars of the prison-house. I am crying for the light that alone can explain the darkness. I would be content even to touch the hem of His garment as He passes by. I feel to know Him would indeed be life eternal.

But, I know it is not by searching that I will find my God; it is by following Him. This knowledge, which I seek, is not the beginning of my life, but the end of it. It comes not with the bud, but with the full-blown flower. I say to myself, "If I had a vision of God I would be good. But the Divine word answers me - "be first good, and you shall have a vision of God. It is by "following" Him that I shall learn to know Him. If I would look upon Him as He is, then I must first be like Him. God is love; He has other attributes but that is His essence - that is Himself. Love alone can behold love. The heart is the sense that sees God, and the heart is the life of love. If you will walk with Him, you shall learn to know Him. You shall reach Him by the shortest of all avenues - sympathy." George Matteson.

Now of course, this is addressed to believers, it's not a message about gaining salvation, but about deepening our faith by walking as He walked, loving the destitute and oppressed. In loving those He loves we "know" the Lord. Without following His example of loving we will have but a husk of true victory. 

   Whatever and where ever we see suffering we are to be involved in easing that suffering in any way we can. It may be merely a shoulder to cry on; it may be to help carry our neighbors load; it may be to weep with those that weep and rejoice with those that rejoice; we are to be busy aiding and relieving, we are to be light (love) in darkness. We have a command to help where we see heaviness; to brighten where we meet burdens, to comfort where we find calamities; to free where we encounter chains; to protect where we recognize poverty, to cheer where the atmosphere is chill. Matteson.