helentank

I know from recent experience with my health that if you can't turn things over to God and leave them with him, your mind will take you places you don't need to go. I worried myself into anxiety because I didn't put my complete trust in God. Oh, I said I did but my faith just wasn't strong enough to trust him and I kept forgetting that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I now pray all through the day that I will keep my eyes on Him and it works!!!! I love the Lord but I keep relying on myself to handle my problems and I can't do it and neither can anyone else.

I am already thanking God in advance letting him know I not only trust him for an answer but that I am thankful regardless of the answer.

It is both. You have to keep on keeping on. The Holy Spirit will intercede for you when you can't find the right words to pray and being with other Christians will help with the rejoicing part. When I am in "church" I can't help but rejoice. Rejoicing lift you up but more important the Lord loves our praise. In the meantime you may also help others.

I'm going to ride the fence here and say it is a combination of both. I understand that being joyful is an action but it has to come from a feeling within which God will give us if we ask. You have to pray without ceasing. Sometimes we have to play the part and the real joy will come if we concentrate on God and not on our problems. Our love for Jesus will grow and we will be much better people to be around when we rejoice in the Lord and let our joy flow through to others.

He was a truly dedicated disciple for Christ and he wanted others to be also. I don't know if I would say I am hesitant, I'm still learning that I can't do it on my own. Jesus lead by example and that is exactly what Paul did. I would hope my friends and family see Jesus in me and would want to have what I have.

I think that means he calls us to be better than we can be on our own. He wants us to stay focused on him. Yes, I have experienced this many times. We don't always hear him because we are too determined to do things our own way or because Satan is blocking our view. We need to pray without ceasing and be still and hear God. My message from God is his always reminding me that he loves me but wants to see me become more like him (my reason for being here)

If we focus on the past we will never get by our past...... The past is passed!!!! We have to always be looking forward to what Jesus has for us not. Someone just sent me a thought for the day that says, "The will of God will never take you, where the grace of God will not protect you". We have to forgot old wrongs, old hurts, words said in anger to us or things we've said to others. God forgives and we must forgive as he did. There is always something I need to forgive someone for. It's a daily struggle.

I am an expert at living in the past!! I guess I should say I WAS but am no longer. If we keep bringing up our past to ourselves we can never move forward in the grace Christ has offered us and his death on the cross would be in vain. I daily thank God for what lies ahead and strive to truly forget the past. Someone said you shouldn't look back unless you are going there. I had a struggle with forgiving someone. You have to pray for that person and realize they are covered by the same blood you are.

Salvation through Grace is a free gift. Once we accept Christ it is a hard road but we realize we don't have to struggle to observe the old law but have faith in Christ. He is the righteous one. I can't see that as an issue in my church. A certain section of society (that part that doesn't understand that we aren't living under the law) may find it hard to understand Christianity(that Jesus expects us to follow him through faith. There will always be a segment of people who can't grasp that salvation is a free gift.

He was trying to show that you can be the most "religious" person there is but it doesn't mean anything if you don't love the Lord. If you are simply pious, your heart will miss out on what Jesus really wants for you. Looking from another perspective, if your religious background isn't truly "Bible" based you will be lead down the wrong path.

There are people in church who believe they are more important because they have been attending the church for 20 years. They sit in the same spot every Sunday. They give off a signal that they are better than others. There was a time I might have been guilty of this but I ask God every day to help me love all people(especially his church) as we all have to work together for good.

My ice cream preference is chocolate peanut butter but I will eat other kinds. Being a slave to Chirst means we wouldn't make any other choice. When we are slaves to Christ we walk with him all the time, not just on Sunday. Then when we follow our heart with actions of a born again Christian we show our commitment to him. Leaders who serve for any other reason other than a love for Jesus miss the mark and may hamper others while they are doing it.

I can't speak for everyone in my church but it appears people have their own agenda. Jesus is still working on me as I don't do as much as I could. I am trying to love others as Christ did and that is a job in itself. He is refining me everyday as I realize "we" are all covered by the same blood.

WE are human and most have an agenda (yes, even Christians). We sometimes want to make ourselves seem more important than we are. I truly have had a continuing revelation from Jesus about my thoughts and behavior toward others. I try to put myself in their place and ask WWJD. I will be striving to be like him until he comes back but he has begun this good work in me and I will try to do all I can to become like him until the day he returns for me.

I have had some severe struggles as most people had. I never blamed God. I always thought I could do everything in my own power. When I realized that God was all I needed I let him work through my struggles to honor him. I was able to trust him completely to turn my life around as I turned it over to him.

We are to hide God's word in our heart that we might not sin against him. We have to study his word and remember I Peter 3:15-Always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you the reason for the hope you have. We hold forth the word by telling others and by letting them see him in us. The purpose of "the church" is to spread the gospel.

To be a witness to the "world" a church must shine though as a place where the gospel is spoken and the church (people) have a genuine love for Christ as well as others. I think of myself as a shining star for Jesus and hope that I can work toward that high calling. Churches will die out if we as part of our each separate church doesn't spread God's word and his love.

God worked out our salvation at the cross. However, we are left to surrender and be obedient to him. Because he is in us, we can work on ourselves to become as much like him as we can. No, I don't believe this means sin. This just means daily taking up our cross and following Jesus and doing all we can to strengthen our hearts while following him. We are to respond to his grace.

I think it means as Christians we still have many obstacles thrown in our path, not the least is getting along with others in our church family. I think Paul was saying we have to work together for "good". No, this isn't salvation from sin. This salvation I believe is our becoming more and more like Jesus as he planned for us as we work along with our church family to do God's will.

Jesus says he will if we do what we are supposed to. We get impatient because it is our nature to want everything in our lives to happen right now. Our impatience will not only lead to us making mistakes but also missing out on the blessing of trusting Jesus in our journey to be like him.

Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus doesn't lie so he would never pretend. God had a plan for Jesus for him to live among us but be apart from us. He was perfect in every way. It does matter because the Bible says he came as a servant and the Bible doesn't lie.

You have to be a humble Christian and not puffed up about who you are and what you contribute. All must work together for good, not for self. I personally try to love everyone and not judge since God is the onlly one who can truly judge our hearts.

It's so simple. to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. No waiting!!! I love that. We have this hope and it should be all we need to give us complete joy regarding death. Death is just a step we all have to take to get to where we have prepared for.

In my case I don't even call it fear--I just find it hard to open a conversation about God. We all have insecurities when it comes to what others think of us so we stay silent. We have to totally surrender to Christ and then we will realize that everything comes from him and that he wants the best for us--to have life and to have it more abundantly. I just need boldness and I do pray for God to open the door for me to witness.

If you have no hope (faith), then you will never trust God for the outcome. We should be in a joyful mode when troubles hit because God said they would. You have to believe Jesus is who he said he is and that even though his ways aren't our ways, he created the world and "us" and he knows the plans he has for us. I trust him because I found out that there is no life apart from him.