wondering04

We are told to encourage each other, and often in our walks in life, there are times when we feel the enemy is stronger, or we get discouraged, or we look at those who are either so far ahead of us or those who are struggling. We need to know that once saved we have all that we need - the love of the Father, the knowledge of God, strength in Him, and a defeated foe. With that information we can continue walking forward toward where God wants us to go.

Hate and unforgiveness cripple us spiritually - we see everything through the veil of hate. The only way to escape that is to forgive. Forgiveness is freedom from bondage. As long as you are hating someone, you are perpetually tied to them and can never escape the hurt. I know, I had to forgive my parents of abuse before I could heal and move forward in Christ. It was the best move I ever did. Little did I realize the freedom I had. For I was not carrying them around with me anymore.

The Pharisees had so many laws and customs that had to be kept, that no one could keep them. Jesus wrote the laws on our heart and took all the laws and made them two - Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. If we keep those two commands we keep all the laws naturally. We also keep our focus on Jesus, knowing that without Him and the Holy Spirit we could never keep the law - that keeps pride out of it and the root of legalism and judgment is pride. How can we have a self righteous attitude when the free gift of salvation was given to all, and we did nothing to earn it. We are all sinners saved by grace. Heather

If we do sin, we have an advocate - Jesus who will intercede for us. It is comforting to know that He has covered my sins, but I also know that for love of Jesus and what He sacrificed for me, I do not want to sin. I want to obey Him. Practically too, I have learned that God's plan for my life is the best plan, and when I get outside of His covering I only make my life worse, not better. So I want to stay in His protection and obedient to Him. Heather

When we confess our sins it means that we see where we don't line up with God's Word and we openly admit those sins to God and to others, and we ask God's forgiveness for what we have done that is displeasing to God. FOrtunately, if we confess our sins, God will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When we confess our sins, we can often repeat the same sins, but as God's Word begins to wash us we become cleansed, and become more and more like Jesus. Our pastor tells us that we should be sinning less the more we are in Christ, and also asking for forgiveness quicker for we will more quickly recognize when we are out of line with God's will. I love this verse for in the two years I spent talking with my pastor before I got saved (had a hard time dealing with God at that time) he often quoted this verse to me - for I thought God could never forgive me or want me in His kingdom. Heather

We cannot walk in fellowship with one another if we are walking in darkness - we can make an outward appearance of being holy, but God knows our hearts. I have been reading Isaiah and Jeremiah and know that God does not condone the lies that come about by walking in darkness. What is sad is that it takes only a little bit of light, a little bit of truth to banish the darkness. We think we are doing sins in secret - but in reality God is fully aware of what we are doing, we are only deceiving ourselves. The way to get back to the light is 1 John 1:9 - to confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Heather

As with any group there are those in the Church that have superficial relations and others who seek the deeper relations. Only, if we focus on Christ, can we ever hope to get beyond the superficial. 1 John speaks of Jesus as the Word. Our pastor often tells us that as people come into the church and get more Word into their lives, then the sin comes out, and they become more transparent in Christ. If we are more externally focused we have the fleshly issues of pride, ****, emotions, judgment, etc. start in play. Only when we seek Christ and seek to be more like Him, can we grow closer IN CHRIST. The truth is that we are all part of the Body of Christ, and God did not make us to be Lone Rangers. Heather

I just spent six weeks doing Beth Moore's Bible study on the Psalms of Ascent, and part of that lesson was writing out the Psalms as personal prayers. This has blessed me so much that I am inspired to continue doing it with the other Psalms and will do so after I finish these lessons. God cares so much for us, and I am grateful that He gives us the Psalms as model prayers.

God, cleanse me of all idols and things that I might put above you. Let the waters of your Holy Spirit fill me to overflowing. May I be so filled with Your Presence and love that I can share this with others. Let no one be untouched by Your love. God let my walk be what you want me to do, not one step to the right or to the left. In Jesus' name, Amen

If we are not humble we could end up exalting ourselves above God. We need to remember that God is sovereign and Believe HIM. If we do not have faith it is impossible to please God. So we need both humility and faith to keep us open for blessings. If one quality is missing we are unbalanced in our relationship with God. Too prideful leaves us open for those fiery darts of satan, and if we are not believing God we are also open for doubt and unbelief which blocks blessings.

I am so grateful to think that God knows me. He knows the plans He has for me to prosper me, the number of hairs on my head, my name is incribed in His palms, and knowing that God knows this I can feel safe even if there is chaos and problems all around me.

God Responds to praise and worship, the onl way to escape hurt and pain is through praise and worship. Praise and worship build us up in faith and remind of of who God is. We can be honest with God, but we can't escape our circumstances if we are focusing on them, so instead focus on God and remind our circumstances that God is bigger.

God's grace and mercy gives David and us the courage to ask from God. God loves us, even when we are in sin. David repented and turned back to God, and God knew that David had a heart for God. God redeemed him, but David still paid a price in the physical for his sin - but did not lose the Holy Spirit and God's blessings. God (Jesus) died for our sins - past, present and future. And we are told in 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all iniquity. God is very good.

Right now there is a revival going on in our area and has been going on for 8 weeks, as I attend the meetings and the classes, I am finding myself more and more convicted to spend time in prayer and worship of God. One of the songs I sing to God as I go about my daily duties is "Come let us worship and bow down." The more time I spend with Him the more I feel His presence and the more I am able to reach out to others and help them find the joy of the Lord - it really is our strength. God has been healing areas of my past because I am spending time with Him, and He has helped me sort out many areas in my life. Heather

There are so many reasons to give praise to God, for He is so worthy of praise. This Psalm details just a few of them. He has done marvelous things, salvation, he has remembered His love and faithfulness, He will judge the world in righteousness and equity, He has saved us marvelously, He will set injustice right, and bring our final salvation. Personally, God is just so good and Holy, there is none like Him, and He has given so freely of Himself for us, without Him nothing would be possible. Heather

He is the Rock of our Salvation, a Great God and King. All the earth is His. We are His sheep and He protects us with His life. The warning in the verses is that God not only hears what we say but sees our hearts. Obedience is worship to God. Since we are the Temple of God we need to give our lies wholy to Him - Romans 12:1-2, presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice wholy acceptable to God, which is our resonable service, and to not be conformed to this World, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. I have also found that when my heart is not right, that I can ask God to help me to be more obedient, and to have the right heart for the circumstances.

Anywhere, anytime it is appropriate to praise God. Praise Him in His Temple (our bodies, our churches) in the Heavens. There are many forms of praise which include music, singing, dancing. God is to be praised and we all should praise Him. When I praise God, I am thrilled, and I love it when we get caught up in praise. One time there was to be a guest speaker at our church and the speaker did not make it, we spent three hours in praise and worship - we didn't need the speaker, the praise and worship ministered so well.

Prayed Psalm 1 that the Zeal for God would continually be in my life. He has given me a love for the Word and I am learning more and more that if I just apply the truths that the Word teaches I do well. Heather

I love this Psalm for it is another way of showing Jesus prayer that we would all be one just as He and His Father are one - and we are told that we are one Body IN CHRIST. What we have today is divisiveness, legalism, denominations, and personalities - a good illustration of how we are not giving ourselves wholely to Christ. We need to remember that Jesus is the head (when the whole Body of Christ is mentioned - the head is not one of the parts mentioned, for that belongs to Jesus). We need to love one another. If we sincerely loved one another there would not be the disunity and divisiveness that is so prevelent today. We are to be the living stones in the temple of God, and how can we fit together closely if we are not acting in a unified and godly manner? When we grate against each other it is God's way of smoothing the rough edges, the problem is, the only way that will happen is if we really seek to love one another. It saddens me to see so many denominations and points of view. When I first got saved seven years ago I went to a website bulletinboard and they asked me to define what kind of Christian I was, pre-trib, post-trib, and many other divisions some of which had 14 or more letters. As a new Christian I knew none of the terms that seemed so important to those people. I never joined that bulletinboard - I wanted a spot that simply said, "Christian." I think that says it all. One of the missionaries I know has a son in college and he was telling me that there are over 5,200 denominations (defined as a group with 2000 or more members). He, the college student from India, was puzzled for there is one Christ. Where he lives, Indians are losing their lives for Christ - and right now there are threats of beheading if they meet for prayer or church. Already many Christians in their area have lost their lives for Christ - and he can't comprehend the denominationalism prevelent today. We really need to get back to basics. Heather

I tend to use bits and pieces of Psalms to share with my children - preaching never works, so what I do is wait for a circumstance and then share with them what the Word of God has to say. T his psalm talks about many issues that children need to deal with every day - speaking the truth, acting circumspectly, not gossiping, not doing evil, honoring your work, not doing usury, keeping your word and handling money properly. Two of my sons are in college and this psalm is important for areas they are dealing with now. My oldest tends to what to wheel and deal, and I am often speaking with him about ethics and morals and how his reputation will follow him - so act honorably now. Heather

We need to be reminded that the righteous will succeed and the wicked will perish because if we just focus on our immediate circumstances it may seem otherwise, and we would lose heart. Yet God assures us that in the end justice will be done. The problem of evil plagues men and we need to realize that God is aware of it and that one day the believer will prosper as the wheat, not the chaff and grow and flourish. My favorite lines are "His delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungoldly shall perish. What has impressed me is that the more that I meditate on God's Word the happier and smoother my life is. I also need to be reminded that God sees the just and the unjust. We cannot sin in secret, and knowing that God is aware of what is going on and will deal with it helps so much. His word is what washes us. Heather

I gave my testimony to the women's group. I grew up in a home filled with abuse and for many years depression was my constant mood. Once I got saved, I learned that I needed to change what I said and talk to myself using the truth of God's Word. When David talks in Psalm 42 and says, "Why are you downcast, O my soul?" I had to learn to look at what I was thinking and believing and ask myself the same question. While depression can at times come upon us, we do have a choice about what we do with it. I needed to remind myself that God is sovereign and that I could choose what thoughts I permit. So now, when I get depressed I allow it for a time, but not let it dwell forever. I also share with God the feelings that I have, my hurts, worries, concerns. He can handle them. When I finally got a grasp of how much God loves me, I apologized to God for the anger I used to express to him and I heard in my spirit, "That's ok Heather, at least you were talking with me." God can handle our emotions. What I am so taken with is how often David talked with God and started out upset, and ended up praising God. That is happening more and more in my life, and it is Psalms like Psalm 42 that help me to get a handle on how to do that. Heather

Actually we can have faith in things that are not of God. For years I had faith in the new age and in other things that I thought would bring joy. When I first got saved I struggled to have faith - and for a long time had faith in faith. It wasn't until I began to know God that finally I could believe that God loved me, and then my faith in HIM grew. When we know God's love, and can see that is is a Father unlike any earthly father, we can trust in Him, knowing that He has our best . From belief to hope to faith. And as we have minor milestones of faith we can build on that. At one period it seemed you would need an electron microscope to measure the faith that I had, but over time that grew. God gave us a measure of faith, and as we begin to exercise that faith it grows stronger. Now, even in tough times, although I still hurt and wonder, I have acquired a trust in God that somehow He will see me through them. I also think that we can have faith in some areas and not others, and over time we increase the number of areas we have faith for. I do know that God delivers us from our enemies and restores what satan meant for harm, but it took a long time to be able to look back and see exactly where he was at the time of my greatest distress. Sometimes He does not reveal it, sometimes we are not ready to hear it. But as we grow in faith in Him, more becomes clearer. I have lived a long life without faith in God, and a few years with faith in God. Trust me, faith in God is much better. Heather

False Doctrines hurt the church because it increased controversies about God's Word, the Judiaizers came in and tried to cause division among the members, there is a destruction of faith because the mixed teachings can confuse faith. The people broke into arguments and fights. Given we are to be part of the whole Body of Christ - Christ the head and each of us part of the Body, when our body is fighting against itself it hurts the whole Body of Christ. No part of the body acts alone. And when we are not acting in accordance with our Head - Christ - then we pollute the mission of the Church. We had a missionary visit our church from the inward parts of India. He is currently being sponsored by our church to attend graduate school. He told us that one of his teachers told us that the church has broken out into over 5,000 denominations - a denomination being a group of believers larger than 2000. And he was genuinely puzzled about how there could be so many denominations when there is one Word of God, and Jesus never mentioned denominations. Beth Moore talks about rib issues and spine issues in one of her teachings. The church can be broken apart by bickering over rib issues - and what really matters are the spine issues - Jesus is Lord, He died for our sins, He is the Head of the Church, etc. Satan loves it when we bicker among ourselves for it weakens the Body of Christ. When nonbelievers come to a church that is bickering and pointing fingers and denouncing doctrines of other churches it does not show the love of Christ or make the Gospel attractive. Instead of unifying under Christ, we are showing divisiveness. Heather

He was thirsting for God, and plagued with doubt, depression and people taunting him. Yes, I spent most of my life in such a state. About 40 years before I got saved, and then a period of time after I got saved. I have to tell you that having God in my life helped the healing to go far more quickly. But before I could find solace from God I had to change my way of thinking about God - I had viewed Him as an abusive father, and had to learn that He was nothing like my earthly father. The way I began to heal from this was to spend time in the Word of God (God gave me a hunger for His Word), spending time in Church hearing teachings and Bible studies, and spending time with God. I also learned, that just like these Psalms portray, God is not afraid of our strong feelings. In fact, the best thing we can do is bring them to God - He keeps secrets, doesn't spread Gossip, and gives us a safe way to vent. It took me a long time to begin to transfer blame for what happened to me from God to satan, and then to begin to realize that I did not have to be a victim, but was a victor in Christ. And over time, bit by bit, grain of sand by grain of sand, my healing happened and my relationship with God grew. At some point I apologized to God for my years of not liking Him very much and He said in my spirit, "That's ok Heather, at least you were talking to me." I would not think to say the same things to God now that I did then, but I have to tell you that I am so eternally grateful that God understands, takes our pasts and heals them, and is willing to listen in a loving fashion until we finally have our eyes open to the truth. Heather