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Has anyonyone ever experienced the death that Paul speaks of, on other's behalf, so that they may be saved and completed in Christ?
You know, the death that he speaks of to the Corinthians and to the Galatians, when he speaks of the travail of labor that he must endure again until Christ is formed in them?
If so, could you please tell me how to identify it properly and how to handle it without faillure?
I am asking because it seems that my lack of maturity in my service to the Lord is costing the lost of salvation and or completion in Christ of my wife and of 2 of our 4 adult children, while I go on tortured and torturing others in tears of rage and despair with no results of God nor for God.
How does the shifting to the victorious cross bearing happen, from utter discouragement or divorce or whatever else of that kind of treats?
Only real knowledge of the experience needs to reply PLEASE, as I am as confused and ready for the grave as I can ever take for now.
Are those even legitimate questions to ask or just the torments and attacks of the enemy?
Thank you!
-------------------- ...all blessings be with us all... Benoit Couture
posted
moderator notice: this is a copy of the email (sent to the mod) which accompanies each post. For some unknown reason the original post did not appear on the list. Sorry for this glitch, tarheel.
Posted By: tarheel
Message: From the Matthew Henry Commentary
4:19,20 The Galatians were ready to account the apostle their enemy, but he assures them he was their friend; he had the feelings of a parent toward them. He was in doubt as to their state, and was anxious to know the result of their present delusions. Nothing is so sure a proof that a sinner has passed into a state of justification, as Christ being formed in him by the renewal of the Holy Spirit; but this cannot be hoped for, while men depend on the law for acceptance with God.
My words;
Paul was rightly concerned about their salvation. It is at salvation that Christ is formed in us, at that point in time. As one with love for them Paul experienced great emotions and mental stimulation. The same as I do for my children, laboring in my mind, emotions and in prayer over their decisions, life style, salvation and so forth. Paul was speaking as a parent would toward his own children. I want assurance of my children s salvation and it bothers me until I know.
When we find ourselves tortured as you put it there is a reason. We must remember this, relax. God is in control. When we find ourselves in clouds of doubt our simplest way out is to set everything aside and simply obey.
This I have lived.
Many times when we feel that the enemy is upon us there are maybe practical explanations. This I have lived. Here are the 3 main things.
1. We could have a physical organic problem that is affecting our well being and mental state. Sadly people believe the "devil" is after them when it could be a health issue. The answer is to get a checkup. It could be a chemical imbalance (I live with it daily) or other physical problem.
2. We could have a spiritual problem because of sin. We are doing something or have done something that we know and accept as wrong. It has violated our conscience and now we are in a storm because of it. The only answer is to seek forgiveness and repent for what we have done. Guilt may remain but forgiveness is sure. ( I have lived this too)
3. We have a mental problem because we don't know how to correctly handle problems because of a lack of knowledge. Usually mom and dad did not teach us a whole lot of things they should have or how to handle life's problems. Nothing is more frustrating than not having answers. But answers are available if we know how and where to find them. The bible states "Proverbs 11:14 Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety." We have to seek answers, which is what you are doing.
My heart goes out to you and I do understand. You speak of your lack of maturity in service to the Lord. Who put that burden of service on you? Who dares to put crosses on us that God never intended that we bear. You will find many preachers and teachers tell us what we should do, yet they could not carry a true cross one step.
If you desire to see God work then lay it all aside and seek perfection, which is maturity and right wiseness (righteousness). As you go after this goal God's purposes will be fulfilled in your life. Others will be affected and you will have an impact on the lives of those you know and meet. You will be the light and the salt.
You are in my prayers and thoughts. God has no desire that you be tormented and torn up. He's your Father.
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Most excellent words, tarheel. Not much of anything I could add - I'll just mention a few of the scriptures which may be the one's in view here. There are so many.
Good to see you again, Benoit. It's been way too long. May the Lord be your anchor in this tempest, brother in Christ.
Romans 6:2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 1 Corinthians 15:54-56 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 2 Corinthians 1:9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.
Galatians 4:19 My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,
I thank God for your words of wisdom and of personal experience. I also thank Him for the glitch, because all that showed was "Tatheel, I am a Warrior, I am a child. I was puzzled at first. I went to check your profile and I saw the picture of someone with a flute, playing. So I left it at that and asked the Lord to open up my mind to His meaning. As the day went on, the Spirit was reminding me of many scriptures, which started to attach themselves to both, the Warrior and the child. To the Warrior that we each are on earth in our inner and outer struggles in the visible and invisible realms and to the Child as Jesus points out in Matthiew 18, when He says that we must convert and return like a child in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Now, today I went to get one of our 2 sons that I mentioned, out of a detox centre and I offered him to read what I had written. When I got to this page, I am a Warrior, I am a Child had disapeared and replaced by what fits both, my son and I...talk about a Soveriegn personal God we serve, Halleyluyah!!!
David, yes it has been too long. I did not want to keep on being a burden because of the terrible descent into turmoil that we were going through. I now realized that my pulling away was not of God and I ask for forgiveness for my vanity. The scriptures that you offered are very much what I needed to be reminded.
One of the scriptures that I was referring to originally in my request is:
2Cor 4, 11-12 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.
Dear Lord, thank you for Tarheel and for David's words. Please forgive my vanity and guide me to relax and to settle in You, by You and for You. Please bring on the restoration needed to the shipwreck of my faith and save my family from me, so that Your joy may be made complete in our personal strength and into our midst...in Christ-Jesus I pray...amen to Your Yes in us all...
-------------------- ...all blessings be with us all... Benoit Couture
Benoit17 Your Quote "Now, today I went to get one of our 2 sons that I mentioned, out of a detox centre and I offered him to read what I had written."
Sticking with our kids is what we do through thick and thin. I have often heard that for a person to realize how good God is they needed a good father and those with bad fathers often have the wrong picture of God and it may be a while before they can trust God..
I have something to add to that. I have learned about God by being a father. I see what kindness, patience and love I can produce and stand amazed at how much more God produces. I think many times "Now, how would God act toward this young man of mine in this situation? " Not condemning, not judging, not yelling for sure. But with patience and kindness, that special patience and kindness only a parent can have.
God bless you I pray.
-------------------- Tarheel I am a Warrior I am a Child
That is why in my prayer above, I pray that God gets to set my family free from me. Over our 30 years of marriage, God's mercy toward myself and how He goes about shaping each one's personality in spite of my emotional imbalance and out of control voice has most likely been historical record breaking and sadly, this is no exageration. In spite of me, my wife and our 4 children are beautiful people.
Before I met my wife, our Lord had used me from 18 years old and on, to lead several people to Him. I became frustrated that I had nowhere to host these people, such as a home church. I met my wife and planted the seed of the gospel and jumped on the occasion to "snach" her for myself, hoping to foster a home base for the people whom the Lord would add to the Church with His gifts to me. We were both 2500 miles away from our families, I, 22, she 21. The wrong that fuels the core of the storm, is that my wife and I hurried up so much to find our comfort from each other, that God has yet to find His comfort with us. As a result, no one is at home completely. Over time, it has festered and basically killed my use of His gifts and now, we are trapped in the observation tower of our own nightmare of discomfort. Somehow, we've always known about the "hurried up" boo-boo, but once engage in that boo-boo, family took a life of its own such, that we have yet to find out how to settle out of defeated lives and into the victorious discipline of living in Him, by Him and for Him, according to His glory, in the daily grind and pleasures of sanctification until His return.
Lord, make Yourself at home, lead and show us how to follow You to live each moment gracefully with each other, I pray in Your name...
-------------------- ...all blessings be with us all... Benoit Couture
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Have you considered that God is testing what is in your heart? To show you where you and no one else needs to change.
Psa 139:23,24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts; And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
We are tested by situations and incidents as we go about our daily life. God trys us. Try definition: to exert strength, examine, experiment on, prove by a test, to purify, to refine; as silver seven times tried.
Each test reveals to us what we truly are. If we see a fault in us then we change that. Sometimes we have to find out what the correct response is or the right way to act. We seek the answer. Then when it happens again we know how to respond. Most of the time once we learn the lesson, it is not repeated.
We grow and become more pure each time He try’s us. When we can sit back and remove ourselves emotionally and see the incident as a test rather than a confrontation with another person then we can objectively reply. But when we immerse ourselves emotionally in the situation we usually mess it up.
I sometimes have to laugh at myself because I can get caught up quickly in a situation. Laugh because it is so foolish to grab my emotions and jump into the ring. But I learn more each day to step back and do what’s right in God’s eyes and leave the results to Him.
Can you imagine a Navy Seal going off half cocked when he is going through a test. They would kick him out pretty quick. No, the Navy Seal knows it is a test and puts his training to work and passes the test. The victory is his because he used his training and knowledge. And he carries the victory with him for life. I am a Warrior.
My grandmother used to tell us boys, “You better learn to behave young man or I’ll teach you.” She knew it was not in us to behave until we learned what behaving is. I am a Child.
The road we walk with God is about behaving. Once we do this we may be suddenly shocked to realize He is right there.
May God grant you peace.
-------------------- Tarheel I am a Warrior I am a Child
You wrote: "Have you considered that God is testing what is in your heart? To show you where you and no one else needs to change."
To know that I am wrong is a given. How not to be engaged emotionally and detached IS where I dont know our Lord's grace. I am indeed "caught up" and need to be set free. When it comes to others, it is like a constant paradox of my being caught up as I just described and of their rejecting my "knowing better" as a result, even if it means their going further away from the Lord, which keeps on fueling the strain of the matter into more emotional escalations.
All that you write about being tested is most likely right on and the tempest I find myself in, is probably all due to my resistance.
I open up as I do here in this forum toseek solutions of course but also, because my wife reads what I write. Also, our 2 youngest children, 24, 22 haven't given up on me. Our son, freshly out of detox also reads. Our eldest son, 28 is in touch with his mom but major healing in neeeded between the 2 of us.
Thank you for taking the time to answer and to pray. I certainly am in complete agreement with your words to the Lord.
-------------------- ...all blessings be with us all... Benoit Couture
I hope I can explain this completely to your satisfaction. It has been learned through deep struggles, great loss and even standing at the door of death.
It is true and many witnesses before our time have also proven this.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.
What does this mean and how can I do this when there are so many other things and relationships I need to take care of?
Seek ye first means in order of time. The kingdom of God means the rule of God. And His righteousness means His right-wiseness.
See, I am not seeking to repair a relationship or get a raise or make things better in my little piece of this world. No, contrary to common sense I am seeking something else and while I do that the other things are taken care of. Soliders fight the battle and their food, mail, clothing, weapons, and so forth are provided by another.
My first exploring into this included the Books of Proverbs and James. I began to apply what I read, regardless of feelings, and my life changed along with my handling of relationships. I sought to do those things I read rather than what my experience and personal knowledge said I should do at the time.
Sometimes and often I faced a soulful blazing fire of resistance but determined in my mind to see it through. I did not realize at the time that this is called trusting what God says.
Being a fairly simple person I had a method that I used. Everytime I experienced a negative emotion I woould ask "What am I feeling." If it was hate I would go to the dictionary and look up the definition of hate. From that definition and the synonyms I would look up related scripture. If I felt jealous or envy or was worrying too much I looked up the definitions and the related scripture.
This process put specifics words of God into me. Then when I faced a bad situation those verses came to mind. Thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit I had power to deal with it the right way.
One day I saw I needed to also begin to learn good. I began to look up words in the dictionary like love, peace, patience, wisdom, humbleness, worship, gentleness, meekness, prayer, and their synonyms and the related verses. I found my idea of many things was wrong.
In this total process the first thing I did was to look up negative things and learn how to handle them. This required self-control. The second thing I did was to look up good things and began to act them out. This is called self-commanding.
Now, thanks be to Jesus, there is more in me to command forth then there is to control. I do not see God or Christ as needing to have self control. No, they are self-commanding. Are we not supposed to be like them?
We begin with self control and can end up being self commanding. Self control means there is something negative to hold back. Self commanding means there is something good to put forth. It does not come instantly and the struggle is always within.
I realize my way to victory may seem too simple for most people and probably not very mystical. But in reality it brings the spiritual into our practical everyday life. It gives us a storehouse of right knowledge to draw from and along the way these truths become ours. When we own the truth nothing can take it away. This truth sets us free.
Be encouraged. Don't try to change the past or mourn over it. Look ahead.
My prayers are with you and those you love.
-------------------- Tarheel I am a Warrior I am a Child
Since I read your answer 2 days ago, I've been struggling to adapt what you are saying regarding self-control and self-commanding, with what I've learned from scripture, from my experience and from Watchman Nee's guidance.
Watchmam Nee was a huge help to me, as he took the very confused "doctrines" and made it all simple and he took the very simple, taken for granted kind of truths and expanded them into all the complexity needed to hold up such simplicity.
One of the greatest help that he has been to me was regarding the fact that the words self - soul - life are of the same Greek root word. Verses like "He who loves his life will loose it and he who hates his life in this world will gain it."
"Deny yourself, pich up the cross daily and follow me."
"The word of God is sharper than a two-edge sword dividing soul and spirit..."
I was struggling with the self-control - self-commanding idea because self-control is mentioned only once as far as I know and it is at the end of the list of the flavours of the fruit of the Spirit in Gal 5,22. Being a flavour of the fruit means that self-control grows from the maturity of eternal life in my being, not from my doing; from who I am and go on becoming in Christ, not from what I can do with my will power, so as to fall prey of the wretched man that I am.
That was the struggle as I began writing to answer, and then just as I was doing so, the Spirit suddenly woke me up and pointed me to the passage when Paul says: "And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Gal 5,24-25 That verse along with "Put off the old man and put on the new man." in Ephesians.
To my great surprise, as I get from the concordance to that Gal passage above, I notice that the self-control is righ there, one verse above. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."
So now, with empowerment of the Spirit, of the scriptures and of communion, I understand where and how self-commanding is granted to be under my control, so that I act without interfering with the cultivation of the fruit's vitality and of its fragrant flavour, grown by the Spirit to radiate my being AND my doing in Christ-Jesus.
I apologize if it all sounds confusing, but this is a live event of the Spirit guiding me to His liberty by getting me to grasp that which is His grasp on me regarding this essential matter of victorious living. He is doing so at this very moment, providing me with the blits of living and of sharing a time of sanctification with you and all.
So in conclusion, what I am learning is first what God does:
"For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Rm 6, 5-11
Then I am learning what I must DO from His bringing the wretched man to death and to BE alive in Him:
I must
"Put off the old man and put on the new man."
by
"And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."
After having been shipwreck in my faith for so long, I am now getting a renewing sense of eternity as if I am seeing the rescue finally arriving from afar, where from God's Spirit in my spirit reaches to my soul and from my renewed heart to my dying body, with the life of the Covenant given to me 35 years ago.
When the Lord first came to me, I had a 3 months blits and then down the currents of the world I went which quickly got me lost; out at sea, until the shipwreck took over, on some lonely island of dysfunctional family life that I precipitated in hope of betterment.
I am learning that self-control and self-commanding are to be used as the defensive and ofeensive weapons of justice given in the spiritual warfare. The Warrior and Child keep on falling into place Tarheel. I thank God for meeting and receiving such graceful truth from you.
"The aim of the command is love from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith"
Deep breathing from the depth of the S(s)pirit is coming through...thank you brother Tarheel and all of the House Church for being here and for enduring the travail of labor...
Please Lord, move all of Your people into position of complete reception of Your glory...In Christ-Jesus I pray...Amen to Your Yes in us all...
-------------------- ...all blessings be with us all... Benoit Couture
Dear brother, I am seeing your struggles unfold before me here in this cafe and I long to help. Take your eyes off yourself and keep them on Jesus. Don't look at how faulty you are but look at Jesus. Focus on His righteousness not your sinfulness. This righteous life is promised to you by faith. Even when you feel unworthy you must remember the promises and by whom they are made.
Jesus died so that we might have life. He took our sins upon himself that we might take his righteousness upon us. Focus on that thought. Instead of thinking about how weak you are consider how strong he is. Let your love for him grow by contemplating his great love for you that brought him from heaven to die on a cross. Think about what that love has purchased for you and at such an infinite price. Recall to mind your helpless condition and envision your Savior reaching out his hand to save you. This he did for you personally. Take this thought into your bosom and hold it tight. It will shield you from the doubts the tempter brings to defeat you. Let your whole life be guided by the boundless love of God for your soul.
Jesus is your only hope and answer. Allow him to come in fully and you will experience his peace. You will struggle continually and never find rest as long as you try to fix yourself. What you must do is admit you can't change yourself. Tell it to God in prayer and ask him to help. He gives grace to the humble--those who feel their need. But he resists the proud--those who cannot humble themselves to ask for help. Let your heart hunger and thirst after righteousness.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Matt 5:6
To many the Christian walk is a bitter pill to swallow. But to the hungry it is sweeter than honey.
"He who is full loathes honey, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet." --Prov 27:7
BTW, here's another verse regarding self-control. It may help you understand where that self-control comes from--that it is not something we achieve on our own. If we could pull ourselves up one smidgen then smidgen by smidgen we could inch our way upward and we would not need a Savior. But the truth is that without the grace of God we wouldn't even feel our need to improve. There would have been no conviction of wrong or awareness of evil. Contemplate this verse and see if you can see the beauty in it.
" 14For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
"15And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again."
--2 Cor 5
Then ask God to make verse 15 a reality in your life. Don't try to MAKE your light shine, but LET it shine. Remember, Christ dwells in our hearts by faith. Not by feeling, nor by the witness of our senses or any other emotion but by faith. Ask according to God's will and believing you have received your petition will make it so. Then take up your bed, making no excuses, and walk in faith one step after another. And if you falter; get up and carry on in faith.
You resolutions are like grains of sand. You cannot keep them. So you must give yourself to God. You cannot make yourself willing to surrender to him but you can exercise your free will to chose to serve him. So tell God that you are willing to be made willing. That's the best you can do. And, you cannot give him your heart. But you can chose to give it to him. So ask God to take your heart and keep it pure. There are so many things you cannot do. But you can chose to be Christian. So chose now and God will supply the power. God works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Without Christ we are reprobates.
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Thank you Jeff for all these great reminders.
Just to keep things in context, when I came with my tempest last week, it is because of the suffering I see in those to whom the Lord has appointed me to look after, namely my wife and our four children and now, two grand sons with whom I dare not having much to do with, until healing comes to the six of us.
I've had great times of deep intimacy with the Lord and several of the people in the "family" over the years but stability is yet to come. This is what seems to be coming on, as I open up and receive some great ministering from Tarheel, David and now you. Thanks again for the reminder of keeping my eyes on The One and only...
-------------------- ...all blessings be with us all... Benoit Couture
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You have strenghted me with your attitude even as you are in distress, Benoit. I am new to the forum and wanted to say thanks today. I am in the military and look for fellowship wherever I can find it.
So few can see the Lord's hand in the daily course of life's affairs--the good, the bad, and the ugly. I have a real problem in this area too. Job might have had it figured out: The Lord gave and the Lord *took* away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
The good news is that Jesus will never leave us either even though He may seem very far away. I can identify with your story because several of my own family members are estranged. I must retrace my steps and be certain that I have repented where I have wronged others. I have encouraged the others to do the same. Then I must move on by hIs power, hopefully in humility.
This is of great comfort Jay...thank you for telling me!
I have been helped by what I've been told by Tarheel, David and Jeff. I have gone back to read it a couple of times already and now there is your word of encouragement; that's great support!
You write: "So few can see the Lord's hand in the daily course of life's affairs--the good, the bad, and the ugly." I certainly agree. In fact, there is a very large part of psychiatry which exists to "treat the insanity" of hearing God.
You go on with: "The good news is that Jesus will never leave us either even though He may seem very far away." "Being" is where nurturing goes on and when we say being, we say presence. The presence whom the voice originates from, determines the sanity or lack of of, in hearing God. Personaly, my hearing of God is not audible but perceptable and applicable, as the Spirit communicates and imparts the Word to my spirit and to my heart. My job is to then follow up from my heart to my soul and from my spirit to my body.
You go on with: "I can identify with your story because several of my own family members are estranged. I must retrace my steps and be certain that I have repented where I have wronged others. I have encouraged the others to do the same. Then I must move on by hIs power, hopefully in humility." Where possible I agree, but in my case I have to live the impossibility of doing so with many people, so in those situations I am reminded of King David wrote that he had sinned against the Lord and the Lord alone, all though, he had someone killed in the unfolding of his sin.
I thank the Lord that He brought you over to this forum. May we increasingly find His touch in our contacts.
-------------------- ...all blessings be with us all... Benoit Couture
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David or Tarheel, could you delete the previous post of mine, as I had to edit it past due time. I apologise and will try not to repeat that. Thanks. (long edit)
This is of great comfort Jay...thank you for telling me!
I have been helped by what I've been told by Tarheel, David and Jeff. I have gone back to read it a couple of times already and now there is your word of encouragement; that's great support!
You write: "So few can see the Lord's hand in the daily course of life's affairs--the good, the bad, and the ugly." I certainly agree. In fact, if one is not careful, our interpretation of "seeing God's hand can become quite confused and confusing. There is a very large part of psychiatry which exists to "treat the insanity" of hearing God.
You go on with: "The good news is that Jesus will never leave us either even though He may seem very far away."
Both, the Father and Jesus, have used the expression "I am", to speak of Who they are. I am and Being from the great I am is where nurturing goes on. When we say being, we say presence. The presence whom the voice originates from, determines the sanity or lack of of, in hearing God or not. Personaly, my hearing of God is not audible but perceptable, receivable and applicable, as the Spirit communicates and imparts the Word to my spirit and to my heart. the exercise of my discipline is to then move with the Spirit in the power of the cross, as He imparts the victory of resurection and empowers eternal life from my heart to my soul and from my spirit to my body. 1Cor 1,18 says: For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. This is how I experience putting off the old man and putting on the new man! That is regarding the personal touch of the Lord. But then, there is the fact that Jesus also says: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst." I am of the opinion that what God says to one, needs confirmation in the communion of the Body. The confirmation process is in itself part of the Body's growth and assembling. That is where I am very dysfunctional and looking for guidance and counsel.
You go on with: "I can identify with your story because several of my own family members are estranged. I must retrace my steps and be certain that I have repented where I have wronged others. I have encouraged the others to do the same."
Where possible I agree that we must do the mending in love and truth, but in my case and for many others I would think, I have to live with the impossibility of doing so with many people, so in those situations I am reminded of King David who wrote that he had sinned against the Lord and the Lord alone, all though, he had someone ordered killed in the unfolding of his sin. This shows again how much oour Father seeks a personal touch that becomes the worship in truth and in spirit.
You finished with: "Then I must move on by hIs power, hopefully in humility."
Someone said: "When you read about the Spirit of power, of love and of wisdom, think of it like cool-aid that is mixed and ready to drink. You cannot seperate the water from the crystal from the sugar; the same goes for the power, the love and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, they are always together. The flavour of humility comes in with the whole gift!
I thank the Lord that He brought you over to this forum. May we increasingly find His touch in our contacts.
-------------------- ...all blessings be with us all... Benoit Couture
By Lahry Sibley Heb 13:12 Therefore Jesus also suffered and died outside the [city's] gate in order that He might purify and consecrate the people through [the shedding of] His own blood and set them apart as holy [for God]. Heb 13:13 Let us then go forth [from all that would prevent us] to Him outside the camp [at Calvary], bearing the contempt and abuse and shame with Him. [Lev. 16:27.] Heb 13:14 For here we have no permanent city, but we are looking for the one which is to come. Let us go forth outside the camp to the cross of Calvary. The cross is outside the religious system and it's ways. To get the cross, I must leave the city. Part of me cannot go. I must go completely, or I do not go at all. Leave behind everything and take that one way trip to Jesus via the cross. For we sojourners in the land... alleluia. Jesus shed His blood that He would consecrate us and make us Holy. Not part of us, all of us. We are either entirely God's or we are nothing at all. The cross is not a partial exercise, but it is one way, final, and complete. Once death is entered into, there is no return until Jesus comes again. It is separated and apart from the city, i.e., the world, religion, the desires of the flesh, and all attempts by man to sanctify or justify Himself. We are dead to it and it is dead to us. The Blood of Jesus renders us holy. But we have to leave the city and go outside the camp for it to benefit us. Glory to God. How powerful is that? How often we have been duped into believing that we can live in and enjoy the things that excite the flesh and serve a Holy God. Such audacity as I have personally shown before man and God to take God to the places I've taken Him and done before Him what I have done. Oh God please do not run out of mercy before I am cleansed with the blood outside the camp. Please note also, that one can be outside the camp and not be at Calvary. The Blood was shed at Calvary. I love the Amish People and so admire them for their steadfastness in holding onto the ordinary and common while rejecting the fads of this world. But that alone cannot save us. We can reject the fads, the greed, and the lust, but if we do not accept Calvary and the shed blood and suffering of Jesus Christ, then we are as lost as the gravest of sinner who makes no pretense to serve the living God. Alleluia. Saints, it's time for me to rethink my place with God. It's time for me to allow the Holy Spirit to look deep inside and see the compromise and laziness that has been keeping me from running to Calvary. It's the only place where the blood was shed for me. I cannot enter into its life, unless I am first willing to enter into its death. Death to all that is me, so I can become totally and completely alive unto God by the power that is in that shed blood to make me Holy unto God. I hope that you will join me. I hope that you will stand with me and ask God's forgiveness and mercy for me..and for you. Oh dear saint, the throne of Grace is reached only through death. Death by faith, through unmerited favor of God. He's outside the gate, beloved. He's waiting for me....and for you. Oh God! Oh my soul is stirred this morning. I've had riches all around me, true riches, and I have been sitting in sack cloth and ashes, lusting after rocks painted gold and calling it blessing. Oh God, look not upon my heinous sin, but upon the blood of Jesus and have mercy upon me, yet one more time. Welcome me oh Lord, to that cross that I may have strength through that precious blood to willingly give up my life that I may keep it. Save me oh God, or I will be eternally lost. ....the least of all since Paul, Lahry
Post Script – Feb 26th, 2009, I left this world(the wilderness) by faith, took my life to the Cross of Calvary and died, so that I could receive His life, eternal life alleluia. I discarded everything that was toxic to my relationship with God and live for God and God alone(after 40+ years of struggle). I abide in the True Vine, and He in me. It is joy unspeakable. I now have the ability to rule over the sin that used to so easily beset me. I am a new creation in Christ Jesus, thanks be to God. Alleluia! Yes, I was even baptized in the Little Colorado River. God is so good.
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