Enlightening Conversation on Suffering

Shulamite said:

I remember when Yeshua told me that a "confirming sign" of our closeness with Him was suffering, a broken heart, and feeling crushed in spirit. Paul had an anguishing "thorn" and so do I. Yeshua suffered more than any of us ever will, yet His intimacy with the Father surpassed anything of the imagination, and so on.
If you are crushed in spirit, brokenhearted, could it be a sign of your intimacy with Yeshua?
Sometimes the deeper the intimacy with Him, the more anguishing the "thorn". But, how blessed!

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Amylisa said:

That is beautiful, Shulamite!
I remember when He spoke to me, "I suffer too in leaving you here."

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Shulamite said:

Wow, what a thought. How often do any of us realize that it causes Him pain to have us here on earth while He's away. I sit and cry for Him and yearn unto pain and yet He feels exactly the same. Glad you said that. Sometimes we only think of our OWN yearning and pain in this "wait".

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Shulamite said:

On another note: Paul once said that DUE to his intimacy with Yeshua, an "anguishing thorn" was the result.
Yeshua has revealed to me that my deep thorn and cross that I carry privately is a direct result of our closeness.
Due to the surpassing great revelations given to Paul, an anguishing thorn/cross was the result. I am in a similar situation in personal ways that I just can't describe.... and I have asked Yeshua to remove it for me, just like Paul did, so I don't feel guilty over that, but He has chosen to let it remain.
I'm glad He has because now the bond between Yeshua and myself through this anguishing thorn is all the more intimate.

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