ARE YOU POSSESSED?
Photo, https://unsplash.com/@dannylines
“If Christ is not ashamed to indwell them I will not be slow to embrace them.”
2 Cor. 5:14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
One day while Francis was praying fervently to God, he received an answer: "O Francis, if you want to know my will, you must hate and despise all that which hitherto your body has loved and desired to possess. Once you begin to do this, all that formerly seemed sweet and pleasant to you will become bitter and unbearable, and instead, the things that formerly made you shudder will bring you great sweetness and content." Francis was divinely comforted and greatly encouraged by these words. Then one day, as he was riding near Assisi, he met a leper. He had always felt an overpowering horror of these sufferers, but making a great effort, he conquered his aversion, dismounted, and, in giving the leper a coin, kissed his hand. The leper then gave him the kiss of peace, after which Francis remounted his horse and rode on his way.
Indeed, his previous aversion to lepers had been so strong, that, besides being incapable of looking at them, he would not even approach the places where they lived. And if by chance he happened to pass anywhere near their dwellings or to see one of the lepers, even though he was moved to give them an alms through some intermediate person, he would nevertheless turn his face away and hold his nose. But, strengthened by God's grace, he was enabled to obey the command and to love what he had hated and to abhor what he had hitherto wrongfully loved.
May the same love of God that gripped the heart of this godly saint grip our hearts. It is not automatic. We must plead with God until His heart possesses our heart! When the love of Christ constrains us to reach out and serve even the most unlovely, then are we beginning to represent Jesus in our world!
Dear Brother, Sister, we must ask ourselves the question, “ Am I living for the purpose for which Jesus died: the salvation of souls? Am I possessed by the love of God?
Every blessing!
—Tom