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If you have recently left a pseudo-Christian cult, you may be experiencing great personal pain, perhaps including damaged relationships, self-doubt and a sense of disorientation. So I want to encourage you right now, and let you know that the pain you are experiencing will not last forever. I also want to let you know that your best days in Christ lie ahead of you, not behind, so keep looking forward and moving forward. And keep reading this book. I hope you can find it helpful to know that the pain you are experiencing is actually God’s way of correcting you. “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son” (Heb. 12:5–6). Think about this for a moment: God corrects us neither to condemn nor to destroy us, but to draw us closer to Himself in Spirit and in truth—and in love. This is what we do with our own children, isn’t it? We correct them not to destroy them but to discipline them—for their good and for their future benefit. And we encourage them when they respond to our correction, don’t we? Well, God does nothing less for His children. It may be hard for you to think this way right now, but it’s true. God was not willing to leave you alone where you were. He wants something far better for you. He wants you to worship Him in Spirit and in truth. But in order for that to happen, He is having to correct you. I’m sure you have heard about the glass being either “half empty or half full.” The pessimist sees it as half empty, but the optimist sees it as half full. You undoubtedly feel bad about your involvement with the grave spiritual error of your cult. This is completely understandable. You should, it was not right. And you may bemoan the fact that God let this happen to you; after all you were sincere. This is seeing the glass half empty. The spiritual reality, however, is that God was not willing to let the spiritual error of your former cult stand between you and Him. His love for you is far stronger than the bonds that once held you captive to that old system. And He is in the process of demonstrating the power of His great love for you. Now this is reality, apart from how you may happen to be thinking or feeling about it at the present moment. The glass is truly half full, not half empty! God is doing this for your future benefit, not only in this life but in the life to come as well. You couldn’t have started this work by yourself, and you certainly won’t finish it by yourself, either. He alone knows what you need, and He wants it for you more than you do yourself! Continue to have faith in Him, because He has started something beautiful in you that has yet to fully blossom and bear fruit. So I want to encourage you to hold on to this scriptural reality, because it is faithful and true: “He who began a good work in you ~ Philippians 1:6 ~
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