Pastor Buddy’s Blog

The dark night of the soul…

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Journal,

In my library I have a book that is forty-five years old. It was given to me by a Navy chaplain, early in 1963. There is a story behind this book.

I had been aboard my ship, the USS Calvert (apa32 - Attack Troop Transport), for nearly a year and a half. We were in and out of ports, transporting troops across the Pacific. (During the early phase of Vietnam.)

It was during one of our voyages that I found myself becoming so tired of the life that I was living. Nothing satisfied me. Seemed my misery kept growing every day. The Lord was dealing with my heart but I was not yet at a place where His work in me could be completed. 

I love the title of one of C. H. Spurgeon’s sermons, ‘Miseries, Messengers of Mercy.’ Sure worked for me.

Some speak of this journey of spiritual misery as the dark night of the soul. The Bible calls this conviction. And once conviction has run its full course, then we are ready to discover what true life is about. 

It was during this intense time of misery that I decided to talk with one of our chaplains. He was kindly enough. During our conversation the chaplain gave me a book, ‘Father Smith Instructs Jackson.’ It was written in dialogue form which made for easy reading.

Anyway, as I began reading the book, it seemed to be more about religion than anything else. Nothing in the book really responded to the yearning in my heart. Part of the problem was that I had too much Sunday School in me. Much of what I was reading did not measure up to what little I knew about the Bible. And so my misery increased. (I’ll save you from the painful memories.)

I set that book aside. What I needed was something that could speak to my life and bring relief to my troubled soul. It wasn’t to be found in that particular book.

Of course I found the answer. And I found it in another book. 

Which brings me to the story of the Bible…

The Bible is the most awesome book ever written. What makes it so awesome is that it was inspired from heaven. The sad side of this book is that it remains a closed book until a person finds the key to its treasures. But you can’t simply find the key. The Key Master has to open your eyes to see who and what the Bible is really about.

Even the prophet of old said that the Bible would become a closed book until the Person of whom it wraps around makes His appearance in human history. Listen to how Isaiah addresses those who simply have a religious spirit:

“For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, the seers. The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, ‘Please read this,’ he will say, ‘I cannot, for it is sealed.’

“Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, ‘Please read this.’ And he will say, ‘I cannot read.’

“Then the Lord said, ‘Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote. Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.” (Isa29:10-14) 

The best religion can give are traditions… 

You may find it interesting that a religious spirit is common to all of humanity. God placed in us an inner sensing concerning the things of eternity. This innate sensing has to be awakened to life by the Eternal God Himself.

And so the prophecy does not end there. Something marvelous was going to happen and it would have to do with the Person of the book. Listen on:

“On that day [coming of Messiah] the deaf will hear words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the LORD, and the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.” (Isa 29:18,19)

The book comes alive with Jesus.

Well, I don’t need to tell my story again. It is enough to say that the very first time I heard the Shepherd speak to me was while reading in John 14.

Jesus simply said to me, “Buddy, have I been with you so long and you don’t know who I am.”

It was at that moment that the light of life entered into my soul.

The dark night of the soul was over. Sure, I had to wade through some of the religious trappings, but over time the message became clearer and clearer.

What was the message? The message is that Jesus did not come to give us another religion. He came to give us Himself.

Salvation is about the love of God…

This is something else I discovered over time. The Lord did not save me because I qualified by some measure on my part. No one is ever saved because they merit it. No one gets healed because they became good enough. People are saved, healed, delivered, and set free of all sorts of bondage’s because of the love and compassion of Jesus Christ.

This is why I dearly love this song by Jake Hess, ‘He Loved Me.’ Take a moment to listen:

 

Well, its that time again. Need to close out for the day

And this evening I will be ministering on the subject, “Bring them to Jesus.”

If interested you can visit our live service this evening at 6:30 p.m., central time. Go to:

http://christianchallenge.org/live/index.html

Much love coming your way.

Buddy