January 2, 2021 -- John 19:23 -- Suffering made holy

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic.

John 19:23 English Standard Version

When God breaks a man to make him fit for His service, He will remove every stitch, very vestige of the old life. One’s humiliation must be complete so that there is no room for boasting and no chance a man can say, “I have saved myself”.

Christ our Savior was without sin. Yet He endured every humiliation, every pain, every temptation so that He could be the Savior of every man in every circumstance. When you are tempted to say, “This is too hard, Father, I cannot endure it,” look to Jesus. Naked on the cross. Publicly shamed. Nothing left. Yet He, Who at a word could have summoned legions of angels to sweep away the soldiers and take Him safely from the cross, did not refuse to endure. He suffered ultimate humiliations, pains, mocking, scandal at every level so that our every suffering should be redeemed and made useful for healing.

The Great God — from Puritan Prayers in the Valley of Vision

  O Fountain of all good, destroy in me every lofty thought, break pride to pieces and scatter it to the winds, Annihilate each clinging shred of self-righteousness, implant in me true lowliness of spirit, abase me to self-loathing and self-abhorrence, Open in me a fount of penitential tears. Break me, then bind me up; thus will my heart be a prepared dwelling for my God; Then can the Father take up his abode in me, Then can the blessed Jesus come with healing in his touch, Then can the Holy Spirit descend in sanctifying grace; O Holy Trinity, three Persons and one God, inhabit me, a temple consecrated to thy glory. When thou art present, evil cannot abide; In thy fellowship is fullness of joy, Beneath thy smile is peace of conscience, By thy side no fears disturb, no apprehensions banish rest of mind, With thee my heart shall bloom with fragrance; Make me meet, through repentance, for thine indwelling. Nothing exceeds thy power, Nothing is too great for thee to do, Nothing too good for thee to give. Infinite is thy might, boundless thy love, limitless thy grace, glorious thy saving name. Let angels sing for sinners repenting, prodigals restored, backsliders reclaimed, Satan’s captives released, blind eyes opened, broken hearts bound up, the despondent cheered, the self-righteous stripped, the formalist driven from a refuge of lies, the ignorant enlightened, and saints built up in their holy faith.

I ask great things of a great God.

https://youtu.be/mosS-MCqzOs