God lives and works today.
We see this especially in the fact that
He chastens His children, for He chastens and
disciplines because He loves, and afterwards wants to
do ever so much more good to us.
Today's testimony by Vassalia Schlenk can help you
when you find yourself in a similar situation,
when God comes with His judgment.
We wanted to hold a very special festival
on our little land of Canaan, a love
to Jesus festival, at which Jesus would receive
overflowing love from us and a great crowd
of our friends.
But we can't go to a festival without
the right preparation.
On the outside, this means freshly washed and
ironed clothing and a clean house.
You might say our hearts had to be
washed and cleaned.
That's why we first had to go through
chastenings.
What did they look like?
Winter had come without any snow or rain.
And in spring too, the heavens remained closed
as if with iron gates.
The trees and bushes were already showing signs
of being harmed by the drought.
And when it was finally time to cut
all the grass for hay, it poured for
hours.
God was speaking to us personally, and His
words went down deep into our hearts.
Our little land of Canaan was supposed to
glorify the Lord with its beauty at the
festival.
And now, to make us spiritually alive and
to lead each one of us back to
the first love through repentance, the Father in
love had to lead us through such chastenings.
During this time, Mother Basilea gave us some
good advice, which we would like to preserve
for our whole life.
She wrote down four watchwords for us about
how to behave during times of divine judgment.
First, my declaration in the sight of heaven,
earth, and hell.
Yea, Lord Almighty God, true and just are
your judgments.
Revelation 16, verse 7.
Second, my commitment.
I want to humble myself under the mighty
hand of God that in due time He
may exalt me.
1 Peter 5, verse 6.
Third, my expectation.
He humbles and tests us to do us
good in the end.
Deuteronomy 8, verse 16b.
And fourth, my faith.
When everything looks hopeless and is buried in
the grave, the resurrection will follow.
Now hold out until God's time comes when
He will speak His Amen.
After we accepted all the chastenings in the
spirit of these four watchwords, the grace of
God became more precious to us than ever
before, and the exultation rang throughout our Love
to Jesus festival.
If the Lord is leading you through a
period of chastening, apply these watchwords to your
situation, and you too will experience that with
God, suffering is never the end.
He always turns suffering into joy.
Father, I thank you in midst of my
pain, for you turn suffering and grief into
pain.
It is in love that you discipline me,
goodness and blessing the ending will be.
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God bless you.