encouraging word

my sister writes me this and it makes me think of how deep some of my readings have sunk into my psyche. one of the poems i read on the mountain was kabod Yahweh, it pleased the Lord to crush Him:

Hi Suzi Q,

I was just reading The Three Battlegrounds by Francis Frangipane and came upon this. It is an excerpt from the chapter Worship the purpose of creation. I think you may have read it to me once, but here it is for you....

"In these closing moments of this age, the Lord will have a people whose purpose for living is to please God with their lives. In them, God finds His own reward for creating man. They are His worshippers. They are on earth only to please God, and when He is pleased, they also are pleased. The Lord takes them farther and through more pain and conflicts than other men. Outwardly they often seem "smitten of God and afflicted" (Isaiah 53:4). Yet to God, they are His beloved. When they are crushed like petals of a flower, they exude a worship, the fragrance of which is so beautiful and rare that angels weep in quiet awe at their surrender. They are the Lord's purpose for creation.,

One would think God would protect them, guarding them in such a way that they would not be marred. Instead, they are marred more than other men. Indeed, the Lord seems pleased to crush them, putting them to grief. For in the midst of their physical and emotional pain, their loyalty to Christ grows pure and perfect. And in the face of persecutions, their love and worship toward God becomes all-consuming."

Loveeeeeeeeeeeeee,

Geenie