The Requirements of Sonship

I confess, there are many times, I whine to God in the privacy of my room about how some frens around me have it so good, (they live sheltered lives, and things just come to them really easily)....and I have to come from some dysfunctional family (look beneath the surface my fren), and deal with my load of past hurts and disappointments etc.

Just when I was about to embrace the ancient lie that God is holding back from me....I read this devotional by Oswald Chambers, and it totally transforms my perspective. I love how he uses the phrases, "God will not shield us from the requirements of sonship" and God's grace producing "a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ." Feels very...Narnia to me, if you get what I mean. :)

There's a journey we all have to take, a very necessary one.....so muster your courage, and rise up to the test with a dauntless spirit.

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"Enter by the narrow gate....Because narrow is the gate
and difficult is the way which leads to life..." (Matthew 7:13-14).

"If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all efforts of worth and excellence are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but its difficulty does not make us faint and cave in- it stirs us up to overcome....

Thank God that He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also something that requires bravery, courage, and holiness. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is "bringing many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10), and God will not shield us from the requirements of sonship. God's grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the worthy and excellent life of a disciple of Jesus in the realities of life. And it is always necessary for us to make an effort to live a life or worth and excellence. " Oswald Chambers