"...worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh" Phil 3:3-4
My Brother and Sisters who love the Lord,
Appalled! Why am I not more so? Exhausted from days of emotional struggle! Times when God seems to step back, allowing the battle (which is the Lord's) to be oppressive. Understanding His methods is not my priority but the cry of my heart is ,"Lord, teach me all you want me to learn in this! It hurts Lord." His most precious lessons are those which move my heart to deeper dependence on Him; thereby proving Him faithful which is the fore front of His loving purposes. I am slow to learn and like the Jews in the wilderness who turned a 9-day journey into 40 years of travel, God repeats a lesson over and again until i finally 'get it'.
One of the most difficult lessons for a believer has to do with the true condition of man. Our flesh. If we have been Christians for a while we are aware of the struggle we have with sin. We often work to hide our failures and weaknesses from others wanting them to think we are spiritual and doing great. The enemy loves this redundant, prideful behavior as it gives him a foot in the door!
Why are we not more willing to face up to the truth of our despicable, incorrigible sin-nature? We are not uninformed in scripture nor do we lack experience of trying hard to live the Christian life and falling far short. God intentionally made the Christian life impossible to live; so we would run to Him, "Lord, i can't do this. Help!" It is our pride that desires to have some part in our salvation. But that would negate grace and become 'works'.
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; Romans 7:18
As long as we look and hope for something good in ourselves we are walking in the flesh. We can teach and preach and do acts of kindness in the flesh; but the Truth is none of it is eternal. Only what the Spirit does through us is eternal. God has one plan for the old sin nature... death. We are crucified with Christ. This alone can stop the cycle of sin. We think God should make us strong, but He makes us weak that we might be totally dependent on His strength which is made perfect in our weakness. (II Cor 12:9) But like manna, it is daily. We need to believe we have the nature of a sinner or we will not surrender to Him and appropriate all Christ did for us on the Cross to break the power and bondage of sin over us.
This prayer expresses my heart beat....
How blessed is my lack of ability, because it makes me find in You everything that is lacking in me! F.F.
God's Truth will lift you higher and hold you above all that would pull you down even when if 'feels' like you are not going to be able to stand a minute longer. Oh to learn early not live by feelings but walk by faith. (II Cor 5:7) Today let these four words bathe you: "I am 'in' Christ." Take them with you. Repeat them until they sink deep in your spirit. You are in Christ and His Victory cannot be earned, it is yours by right as His child. (if you know Him personally having repented of your sins, receiving forgiveness because you believe Christ's death was for you.
The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin I John 1:7)
We may seek and receive forgiveness, but then we sin again; and life goes on in a vicious cycle- sinning and being forgiven, but then sinning again. We appreciate God's forgiveness, but we want deliverance. We need forgiveness for what we have done, but we need deliverance from what we are. mjs
How greatly we need a renewed mind. Most of us grow up with a wrong mindset; unaware Satan's greatest point of attack is in our thinking, by planting fears, doubts, unclean thoughts, jealousies, fantasies and lies; then accuses us of thinking them! When we accept his lies as our own thoughts, he gains a foothold in our lives which can develop into a stronghold. We are instructed in I John to test our thoughts. Renewing our mind in His word is absolutely key to 'be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.' Eph 6:10
Victorious Father, Giver of all that is good, You who cleansed me from all sin with Your shed blood, I come exhausted from the battle. Thank You for hearing my prayers and though I did not 'feel' Your Presence, it did not change the Truth of it. Thank You for being a God who loves, corrects, disciplines, and works Your great purposes in my life. Thank You for keeping the pressure on when I cry out for relief, because You are not working for my happiness but my holiness. In the end the sweetness of You is worth all the tears and struggle. You are my exceeding and great reward. Who else could redeem our struggles and pain and trials? There is no God but You. You are the One who sets my feet to dancing and lifts me up. It is You who took my shame and gave me Your name,,,,, 'I declare I am a child of the King of kings and LORD of Lords.' I declare He is faithful and His promises are true. I declare this moment You are Lord over the painful relationships in my life, over the disappointments and failures. I declare the greatness of Your grace and mercy and love for me and for all who take time to read this. I pray You are drawing them to Yourself in ways beyond my ability to pray. Do wondrous things for I declare You are a Wondrous and Awesome God. I love You so.... and as always i am so blessed to kneel and pray in the Name above all names, in Jesus my Savior.
Failure is necessary for growth and then clearly He will receive the glory for any success. You are loved by the King of kings my brother, my sister,
az
My Brother and Sisters who love the Lord,
Appalled! Why am I not more so? Exhausted from days of emotional struggle! Times when God seems to step back, allowing the battle (which is the Lord's) to be oppressive. Understanding His methods is not my priority but the cry of my heart is ,"Lord, teach me all you want me to learn in this! It hurts Lord." His most precious lessons are those which move my heart to deeper dependence on Him; thereby proving Him faithful which is the fore front of His loving purposes. I am slow to learn and like the Jews in the wilderness who turned a 9-day journey into 40 years of travel, God repeats a lesson over and again until i finally 'get it'.
One of the most difficult lessons for a believer has to do with the true condition of man. Our flesh. If we have been Christians for a while we are aware of the struggle we have with sin. We often work to hide our failures and weaknesses from others wanting them to think we are spiritual and doing great. The enemy loves this redundant, prideful behavior as it gives him a foot in the door!
Why are we not more willing to face up to the truth of our despicable, incorrigible sin-nature? We are not uninformed in scripture nor do we lack experience of trying hard to live the Christian life and falling far short. God intentionally made the Christian life impossible to live; so we would run to Him, "Lord, i can't do this. Help!" It is our pride that desires to have some part in our salvation. But that would negate grace and become 'works'.
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; Romans 7:18
As long as we look and hope for something good in ourselves we are walking in the flesh. We can teach and preach and do acts of kindness in the flesh; but the Truth is none of it is eternal. Only what the Spirit does through us is eternal. God has one plan for the old sin nature... death. We are crucified with Christ. This alone can stop the cycle of sin. We think God should make us strong, but He makes us weak that we might be totally dependent on His strength which is made perfect in our weakness. (II Cor 12:9) But like manna, it is daily. We need to believe we have the nature of a sinner or we will not surrender to Him and appropriate all Christ did for us on the Cross to break the power and bondage of sin over us.
This prayer expresses my heart beat....
How blessed is my lack of ability, because it makes me find in You everything that is lacking in me! F.F.
God's Truth will lift you higher and hold you above all that would pull you down even when if 'feels' like you are not going to be able to stand a minute longer. Oh to learn early not live by feelings but walk by faith. (II Cor 5:7) Today let these four words bathe you: "I am 'in' Christ." Take them with you. Repeat them until they sink deep in your spirit. You are in Christ and His Victory cannot be earned, it is yours by right as His child. (if you know Him personally having repented of your sins, receiving forgiveness because you believe Christ's death was for you.
The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin I John 1:7)
We may seek and receive forgiveness, but then we sin again; and life goes on in a vicious cycle- sinning and being forgiven, but then sinning again. We appreciate God's forgiveness, but we want deliverance. We need forgiveness for what we have done, but we need deliverance from what we are. mjs
How greatly we need a renewed mind. Most of us grow up with a wrong mindset; unaware Satan's greatest point of attack is in our thinking, by planting fears, doubts, unclean thoughts, jealousies, fantasies and lies; then accuses us of thinking them! When we accept his lies as our own thoughts, he gains a foothold in our lives which can develop into a stronghold. We are instructed in I John to test our thoughts. Renewing our mind in His word is absolutely key to 'be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.' Eph 6:10
Victorious Father, Giver of all that is good, You who cleansed me from all sin with Your shed blood, I come exhausted from the battle. Thank You for hearing my prayers and though I did not 'feel' Your Presence, it did not change the Truth of it. Thank You for being a God who loves, corrects, disciplines, and works Your great purposes in my life. Thank You for keeping the pressure on when I cry out for relief, because You are not working for my happiness but my holiness. In the end the sweetness of You is worth all the tears and struggle. You are my exceeding and great reward. Who else could redeem our struggles and pain and trials? There is no God but You. You are the One who sets my feet to dancing and lifts me up. It is You who took my shame and gave me Your name,,,,, 'I declare I am a child of the King of kings and LORD of Lords.' I declare He is faithful and His promises are true. I declare this moment You are Lord over the painful relationships in my life, over the disappointments and failures. I declare the greatness of Your grace and mercy and love for me and for all who take time to read this. I pray You are drawing them to Yourself in ways beyond my ability to pray. Do wondrous things for I declare You are a Wondrous and Awesome God. I love You so.... and as always i am so blessed to kneel and pray in the Name above all names, in Jesus my Savior.
Failure is necessary for growth and then clearly He will receive the glory for any success. You are loved by the King of kings my brother, my sister,
az
