I'm praying that God uses our study that we are doing this week. Its about brokenness. I want to put my attention on it all week. I believe that its essential in life to be broken by God. I believe that it is a process that strips worldly things from our life. I have been broken by God several times. Each time my faith matures and I become more intimate with God. When I'm broken I see myself as who I really am but realize that God sees me as who I can be. He refuses to leave me comfortable and content,with a regular life. He created us for so much more. I have become cold in this broken state that I'm in. I have taken back control of my life. Last year God used the process of brokenness in my life. I can honestly say that it was the closest I had ever felt to Him. Since last year I have become comfortable with existing and my simple christian life. I want more..... I want more.....God wants more of me.... So how does that happen? I must decrease in self, surrender my will, in order for Him to will His life through me. Brokenness...........................
2 Corinthians 2:7-9
7 so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For to this end also I wrote, so that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things.

No one enjoys heartache. Yet God uses pain to mold His children. Although wonderful, happy times feel great, times of suffering tend to produce growth.

Brokenness is God’s way of dealing with the part of us that wants to act independently of Him. He targets areas that hinder His purposes. Then skillfully and lovingly, our Father arranges circumstances that will allow us enough discomfort to realize our dependence upon Him.

The apostle Paul experienced this. After being saved on the road to Damascus, he still needed spiritual growth in order to be most effective for Christ. Therefore, God allowed some type of affliction, which the apostle termed a “thorn.” Three different times, he pleaded with the Lord for its removal, but the thorn remained. Remarkably, Paul’s response was gratitude. Even more, he wrote, “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10).

Like Paul, we can dislike suffering and yet still be confident that God is growing us. His purpose is that we walk in intimate oneness with Him and serve effectively according to His purpose and will. To accomplish this, He has to break us of our rebellion, resistance, and self-will.

If you truly desire to live for Jesus, trust Him enough to pray, “Lord, more than anything else in life, I want to live for You. Please break me of any areas that are not in complete submission to Your will.”

I received so many thoughtful comments in my blog over the Easter Holiday. Thank you all so much. I love to hear what God is doing in other people lives. I joy in God with you. Yesterday's worship service was amazing. I thought my heart was going to explode when we watched this video, http://vimeo.com/1371841.(That's My King!) It was a great way to finish passion week. So what's next. What do we do now? Many people gave their lives to Jesus this weekend. If you did you received a gift that can never be taken away. You can never lose your salvation. I know this doesn't sit well with people but God gives perfect gifts and we didn't do anything in the first place to receive salvation. We just had to accept what He did and gave.
I woke up this morning with some old temptations that I knew through the power of the Spirit had been defeated. Satan wanted to remind me of my past. I say to all believers new and old: Satan is defeated you are born again and you have the victory through Jesus Christ over sin. Does that mean we will not sin, Oh no. We will sin until Jesus comes back again. We should sin less. When unconfessed sin is present in our lives it breaks the intimacy with God that we have.

Sin can shake our faith in eternal security. God promised that anyone who believes Jesus Christ died on the cross for his or her sin will live forever in heaven (John 6:40). But because unconfessed sin creates a barrier between the Lord and the believer, it short-circuits faith and assurance.

When a believer confesses wrongdoing, the Father forgives and cleanses His child (1 John 1:9). But by failing to admit to sin, a Christian will experience estrangement from God. He or she may feel unworthy of the Father's love and can even struggle with a sense of rejection. Ask people in this situation if they are certain about their eternal future, and you'll probably hear, "I used to be." Sometimes they will go so far as to tell me that they are no longer saved—but that is impossible. While we can lose our assurance, we can never lose our salvation or our place in heaven.

Too often, people mistake the Lord's chastising hand for confirmation of their lost condition. "God wouldn't put me through this if I were saved," they'll say. Actually, the opposite is true. The Father disciplines those whom He loves, so correction is proof that we are His children (Heb. 12:6-7). Chastisement is His way to guide the wayward believer back into fellowship with Him.

Jesus is our Advocate before God. Like the high priests of ancient Israel, He atones for our sins through sacrifice—His death on the cross. We can't sin our way out of His grace. The minute we confess our wrongdoing, estrangement dissipates and assurance comes flooding back into our hearts.