http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntMni-jTuLQ&feature=player_embedded#!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHhomJTaoWs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5A1R4vgZdE&feature=related
I am just starting to watch these messages, but the message needs to be shared.
Many people do Yoga as exercise, but do you know where it actually comes from and the meaning of the exercise of Yoga?
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5ty5q_whats-wrong-with-yoga_webcam
DISCLAIMER: I decided to preface this blog with a disclaimer that says that some people may not be ready to receive this. I ask that you pray about it and let God help you decide what’s right in your heart. This is supposed to be a form of meat to some people and to other people it might seem to be a form of milk, but whatever your level of faith is that is what you have to operate in. But I encourage you to grow to keep an open mind, and be teachable to new levels of understanding and revelation. Read the whole article with wisdom and don’t overgeneralize the message that it is trying to teach. I am trying to show my understanding of the fine line between holiness and light, and darkness and deception and for those not ready to receive it I pray that someday you might be able to receive it.
The above sites were some of the sites I referred to when I first began to realize the term of Yoga. Some of the links may be dead. Did you know that the word “Yoga” means to be “yoked”? And did you know that when you are doing yoga you are essentially yoking yourself with the hindu “creator of the world.” We know that there is only one Creator and His name is YHWH, pronounced “YAHWEH”. Anyone other than that (except for Jesus because He is included as part of YHWH”) then you are dealing with someone who is of darkness. “God is light and there is no darkness in Him at all” [1 John]
I have some Christian and non-Christian friends and relatives who do or have done yoga. For the non-Christian people who do yoga, their ignorance leads them to be exposed to the powers of darkness, but for the believers who know and intimately desire to be with Jesus and to be in Heaven and yet yearn to “live a healthy lifestyle”, but don’t know what powers they are being subjected to when they participate in yoga.
I know someone who is a nonbeliever to this day that practices yoga, and was practicing yoga until they got struck with cancer. They didn’t know why they got cancer, and they left a pretty healthy life (they ate right, they did exercise (yoga), but they were committed to doing yoga. Now I am not saying that yoga in itself caused the cancer, but it left a door open. As a nonbeliever who becomes excused for their lack of knowledge, it might be a disgrace to God, and if He leads them to Him, then His blood will cover their sins. But for a Christian, that is supposed to live a sanctified and holy life and to be intimate with our Creator, Jehovah, YHWH, Father God, why would they want to be yoked with someone who is not the One that created them?
In essence when you are doing Yoga, you are being submissive to and accepting Hinduism and denying Christ. Why is that? Because there is a spirit behind it. The stretches you do in yoga line up the “chakras” in the part of the body, which are circles in the body, and cause that part of the body to be submission to the “hindu creator”, who we know is not the Creator of the Bible. I may even be as bold to say that hindu creator is actually satan. That we are submitting ourselves to the powers of darkness, if we decide to line up our body, and yoke up our soul to the one that is not from above.
Now I may have tried yoga once as a Christian not knowing what I was doing when I was doing it, but I can testify that the hindu belief system is demonic in nature. I used to be a hindu, and there are strong ties between the realm of the mind and the powers of darkness beheld in the mind when you practice hinduism, paganism, occultic, or any other belief that does not come from Jesus. When you have held these ties for a long time, and held to these beliefs for a long time, you become soulish. For more on that, I might have to talk about the three parts of a person (body, soul, and spirit). Think of them as three gears- left to right. We can get stuck in the first gear sometimes, and then when we try to go to the the third gear we get stuck in second gear. That’s where things like music have a large role.
During this time, in which today is actually Rosh Hashanah, a Jewish Holiday, but has value in Christianity, the emphasis is on Holiness and cleansing and getting your heart right with God. When you get your heart right with God and walk a path of holiness your life becomes different.
Some people focus on yoga for exercise and losing weight, but there’s nothing like good old fashioned cardio, lifting weights, and the best walking if you are able. Besides yoga is really hard. Why would you want to put yourself through that when 1) there are other ways to exercise 2) it’s not going to bear any fruit in the long run?
Now I have to mention breathing – I know there is a yoga-based breathing technique for relaxation – actually there’s more than one. But the real breath in the Bible, comes from the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of God, called ruwach. So when God put His breath in us when He created us as humans, we were given a breath of life. But when we became born again, we inherited a new breath of life, which is His Holy Spirit. So when we breathe, we should put this in mind – “This is the air I breathe, Your very presence living in Me.” [from the song]
As far as relaxation goes, nothing can give us peace like Jehovah Shalom. He even was peace for Gideon when he was afraid, “24Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord is Peace.” Judges 6:24
What does the Bible have to say about meditation? Again, one of my favorite verses, Philippians 4:8 8For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them] or meditate on them.” (emphasis mine)
You make think that you need to relax, need to de-stress, need to get in shape, need to be worry free, but I am telling you that there is nothing so big that our God can’t solve and that your answers must be found in yoga, but your answers are actualy found in Jesus. To find that peace that can only be found in Jehovah Shalom, the God that is of peace. When you don’t have that peace you go looking in other places to find it. As far as exercises go, I know that prayer alone cannot help you lose weight, but using godly wisdom when it comes to exercise and discerning the spirits when it comes to exercise, nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle, can lead you to fulfill the deep desires of your heart. And if you don’t believe in Christ, then I pray that someday you’ll see what can fill that void in your life.
In my revision of this article I’d like to thank someone for oversimplifying the answers when it comes to things like exercise and faith. Sometimes it takes a stretch of faith to walk the line of holiness and that takes a deeper level of maturity and a walk with Christ.
I just spent all the morning and afternoon trying to fulfill the requirements of The Most Versatile Blogger Award and I agree that sometimes people need to be recognized for their hard work and dedication, that our true reward is in heaven. We will be receiving crowns, but we won’t keep those crowns:
Revelation 4:9-11
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
Jesus said in Matthew 6:
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
So I may be doing something to get an award, but if my reward is in Jesus then all these earthly things don’t matter. Our true treasure is in Heaven. And those are not just the crowns that we will receive, but it is the ever present living presence of the Father God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. We have the Emmy’s, Oscar’s, Grammy’s, Miss Universe Pageant, Miss U.S.A. Pageant, and all these things to bring glory to ourselves, but do those things really matter? It is Jesus that deserves all the glory. It is Jesus that deserves all the praise. Who am I to receive any kind of award? I am just a humble servant. What instead we should focus on is the act of giving.
I admit that I don’t take advantage of all the opportunities I have to give, but I saw a person today, and I gave something to them, even though I am not exactly a 100% sure, with all the deceit that goes on in today’s world, but the act of giving brings great joy to the Lord. Someone once said that God has always used people (and sometimes even animals) to spread His message through the world, and to get things done on Earth, and we are not limiting God, because we know He is an all powerful God, but He has always used people to get His job done. That’s why He gave the Holy Spirit so that He could use Him to allow Him to minister to all the people in the world. We are God’s Hands. We do what God needs us to do.
The way the world has gone into the problem that it is to today, like I heard one pastor say, is that because the Church didn’t take up it’s role in giving and setting up establishments where they should have. They let government take over and so now everything is backwards. The Church is supposed to unite the division of classes, and the Church is supposed to meet the needs of the people and not the government. So while there are people that are starving and hungry and can’t get jobs, they have to depend on Entitlement programs.
If the Church was united as one Body of Christ, imagine what we could accomplish. The sick would be healed, and we would see acts like the Asuza Street Revival – so no need of disability payments from the government. The poor would be fed. The sinners would come to repentance. It would be a very different world than the one we see today, but because man is fallen, and we don’t realize the power of Jesus as the Head of a united Body of Christ, we our selves become disabled. Do we want the Body of Christ to be a disabled body? Or do we want it to be a working body? Jesus said there would be many “false prophets” in the last days, and this is the reason why we don’t have a functioning Body of Christ. People don’t trust each other. Jesus said, “Many will betray one another and hate one another.” (Matthew 24). Jesus knew it was going to happen. He knew the nature of mankind.
So how do we begin to pick up the pieces? Well first we have to go see the doctor. Who is the doctor? The Great Physician Himself is the Lord Jesus Christ. Then we have to take the prescription, which is His Word. If you don’t do what the doctor tells you to do, at least in most cases, then you won’t get well, and this is certainly true for ourselves trusting the Great Physician. We have to exercise. Exercise what? We have to exercise our faith. We have to wait for the healing to take place. What is this wait? This is waiting for the Holy Spirit.
While all this is going on we have to realize that we are also fighting a war – (See my post on Time to wake up – we are in a war).
If one part of the Body of Christ is injured or broken then the whole part of the Body of Christ is injured or broken. We cannot have a multi-injured body and be able to survive and get things done. This requires rest on our part as well. We have to take our day of Sabbath, (Saturday/ in spanish (Sabbado). Bob Harper from the Biggest Loser even said recently, that the way the people they train lose weight, is that they train all week very heavily, and just have one day of rest where they are completely sedentary.
Hebrews talks about the rest. Don’t quote me on this, but the three types of rest I believe is mentioned: there is Creation rest, physical rest, and a day to honor the Lord with the rest. We have become so busy with our lives that we don’t realize that the chase for money is taking a drain out of us. Life was so much more simpler 20 years ago because more people were living according to the Biblical model.
So when the bride has “run the course” and “ran the race set before us” then we will achieve crowning glory, but that glory does not belong to us, it belongs to the Lord, and all that we aspire in this life is meaningless without giving the glory to Jesus. That is our true reward in Heaven.
I would like to thank MtSweat and his blog Resting in His Grace for this nomination.
Here’s what you need to do be nominated:
1. Give credit to the person that nominated you and a link to their blog.
2. List 15 blogs that you enjoy and go tell them that you have nominated them providing a link to your blog also providing a link to their blogs:
Upwrite:
Affirmations of God
http://tomraines.wordpress.com
Treasure Contained
The Quantum Entangelment of the Soul
http://jesusphreq.wordpress.com/
W.I.S.E.
http://wisejunction.wordpress.com/
Wordsmith’s Desk
http://butchdean.wordpress.com/
Julie’s Blog
http://jmslifejoy.wordpress.com/
Paulette’s Blog
Not For Itching Ears
Christianity Matters
http://christianitymatters.wordpress.com/
The Cup of Salvation
My Thought for the Day
Rivers of Hope
http://greatriversofhope.wordpress.com
God speaks I listen
God’s Daily Influence
http://brownbear10.wordpress.com/
3. List seven things about yourself
1. I used to listen to New Kids on the Block – I know I know
2. My favorite color is blue
3. I am on facebook
4. I like Indian food
5. I used to be really good at drawing
6. I have co-written some songs
7. I enjoy writing and blogging
Many people listen to music and like music. They listen to it everyday in their cars, on the radios, at concerts, restaurants, and grocery stores. There’s even the hold music that you listen to on the phone. It’s all around us and you can’t escape it. I once took a course in Music Appreciation and there was a belief that all the sounds around you could be a form of music. The definition of music is – “1. The art or science of combining vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.”
It says in Ezekiel 28 of the type and shadow of satan in the Bible, king Tyre,
“ You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created. ” [NKJV]
So that means that God created lucifer to rule over music in the heavenly kingdom before he fell. Why does that matter? Of course you might think that music is perfectly fine and good and a way of expressing emotion. As a bipolar person growing up I used to listen to all kinds of music because I thought it would comfort my “soul”. That was before I got born again. Even until recently I realized after getting more into God and learning about holiness and this one certain thought that I had that changed my mind, “Why be listening to music and singing things that I won’t be singing when I get into heaven?” (I think I did a post on Singing in the Valley.)
Think about it. Everything was created for the glorifying God and not glorifying what man thinks he needs. I used to love music so much. It became an idol. I thought it was the only thing that could get me through anything. That no matter what mood I was in, what I was thinking, what I was feeling there was a song to get me through it. I relied and depended on that. I depended on that instead of God. I depended on that because I thought it would comfort my soul. It was not until later that I realized that the true comfort would be through the Holy Spirit and in God’s Word.
The Bible has a lot to say about music, but most of the music is often referred to in the context of God. In Isaiah it says that there will be music playing when God takes his “punishing arm” to pour out judgment. I believe that every spiritual song got it’s birth in heaven and that God gave the songwriters the gifts and abilities to create that music into existence.
Some people listen to only hymns, but the Bible is clear in Colossians 3:16 “16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. ” It even tells the purpose of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. But for those people that don’t feel comfortable listening to only hymns that is their preference. [NKJV]
Philippians 4:8 says, “8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” [NKJV] That gives another indication on what kinds of music that we should be listening to.
Going back to the definition of music, the expression of emotion, I believe that we should give God more than just the expression of our emotion. We should give Him the praise that comes from our spirit that is inspired by the Holy Spirit to bring glory back to the Father that created us.
There was a documentary that came out a while back that was saying that some secular music bands say prayers to who knows what kind of spirits over their music. This is just a theory, but I think that’s why they get so popular so fast because they are essentially selling their souls. I won’t mention names, but there is a singer, who was a gospel singer when she was young, and because she didn’t have a strong foundation, she decided to take the secular route and is now definitely not living out Philippians 4:8.
Why does all that matter – what kind of music you listen to? Because our God, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our Heavenly Father, the Great I AM, is a holy God. He is so holy that the four living creatures are crying out “Holy, Holy, Holy” every time they see Him. There is a new facet to His holiness. We are supposed to become consecrated before Him as it says in Hebrews 12. “But God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in His holiness.” (vs. 10)[NIV]
That doesn’t mean that we can’t listen to all genres of music, but the intent has to be clear. It has to glorify God, lift up a song of praise in our hearts, get us to a level of deeper intimacy with the Lord.
Some people say that we need secular music to dance to, that you cannot dance without music that praises God. Well when the Israelites brought the ark of the covenant back to David he began dancing and celebrating so much that his wife, Michal, started hating him. [1 Chronicles 15:29]
In a sense worship is the expression of emotion, but it goes so much deeper. While music only affects the soul, worship comes out of the spirit and is birthed in the spirit. There is a process of sanctification one must go through. That begins with the Cross and accepting Jesus sacrifice for us. The next step is to choose how we want to honor our lives for Him, to glorify Him, and to be obedient to Him. There a some great songs out there that glorify the Lord and many of them take the Scripture and bring it to life. Once you listen to those songs over and over and over again, they will become ingrained in your hearts and when you are defeated you can lift up a shout of praise.
When you hear about the kinds of music that was playing in Chronicles, and Kings, it just sounds like a divine orchestra, and that is why a lot of people like Classical music. Classical music is a great way to listen to music that honors God. They had wonderful instruments in those times much like they do now and you can just imagine what it sounded like.
You can’t escape the music around you, so what do you do? Keep a new song in your heart, and praise Him. Not just with noise, but with your attitude, your lifestyle, and your day to day life so you can continue to be a blessing to yourself and others.
DISCLAIMER – I was wrong about this – I believe that God can use anything to speak to you it doesn’t have to be just worship – he can use anything to speak to you.
According to the Word of God, which is Christ Himself…this land of Israel has always been promised to the heir of Abraham through his wife Sarah based on the covenant with Him. I am not going to go into all the history of everything, but this land belongs to the Jews, and they were promised that once they come back to their land, they will not be moved. Keep praying for Israel because there is a special vote in the UN tomorrow, September 20, 2011 to allow Palestine statehood and the taking over of Jerusalem.
I want to hear from people reading this what do you take from Acts 2:16-17:
16But [instead] this is [the beginning of] what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17And it shall come to pass in the last days, God declares, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy [[b]telling forth the divine counsels] and your young men shall see visions ([c]divinely granted appearances), and your old men shall dream [[d]divinely suggested] dreams.
Have any of experienced any divinely suggested dreams or had any divinely granted appearances? Do you think the time is now that we should be paying more attention to our dreams or should we ignore them? How in depth do you think we should go in interpreting our dreams? Can you tell which dreams are from God or not? Are there any testimonies of salvation through dreams or prophetic revelations through dreams that you are willing to share? Have you found any helpful Biblical based or Christian based tools in interpreting your dreams? How long do you wait to find out if your dreams have meaning? Do you keep a journal by your bed?
I’d appreciate your feedback. God Bless You fellow bloggers/readers.
Today we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of September 11. This was a momentous occasion in American history, and for some reason I just wasn’t getting into all the spirit of remembrance of this day. That was until I opened the book of Nehemiah in the Bible. There was something similar that happened to the Jews in Nehemiah. Nehemiah 1:3 – “3 They said to me, ‘Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.'”
It was when Nehemiah heard this that he “wept and mourned for many days” and he was “fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 1:4
He earnestly cried to God during this time, and America did as well after September 11. King Artaxerxes (of Babylon), who he was the cupbearer for, asked him why he was so sad. Nehemiah said “Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?” This was the same sentiment that America carried when 9/11 happened. The king asked Nehemiah what was his request, and he requested a leave of absence so that he may go and rebuild the city after praying to the God of heaven.
We also went to rebuild the city and the nation as we recovered from this incident. They worked day and night and night and day trying to rebuild the place. Sanballat (the Horonite), Tobiah (the Ammonite), and Geshem (the Arab) laughed at and despised Nehemiah for trying to rebuild the city. When they heard that the rebuilding of the city was going to go through, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites conspired to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion [Nehemiah 4:8], but that didn’t stop Nehemiah and the builders because they prayed to God. When the people were discouraged and afraid that they didn’t have enough to rebuild and that people might attack, Nehemiah said, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” They faced criticism and problems, but they finished rebuilding the wall.
It was at this time that Sanballat and Geshem, asked to meet with Nehemiah, but he knew it was a trap and they were out to destroy his life. They were trying to make him afraid and sin. The wall was build on the 25th of Elul. September 11, 2001 happened on the 23rd of Elul.
The rest of the story you can read for yourself in Nehemiah, but God has a plan when things go awry, and when people are in fear. God is with them, if they reach out to him, and not continue to sin.
We as a nation have/had fallen so far away from God, that this was/is a wake up call. It should have never happened, just like Jerusalem should not have been destroyed, but it did, so what can we do- we as Americans can rebuild the nation, and we as a Church should rebuild and refortify the walls of the Church to defend our faith and be the army of God and fight the good fight of faith. The thing about this good fight of faith is that it is a good fight and we will always win as long as we are centered on God who is revealed through His Son, Christ.
Let us pray first for the peace of Jerusalem, and let us also pray for this nation. Like it or not we are connected to Israel, and God knows that so He warns, sympathizes, and reveals to us through His Word what are to do as a nation.
There are many ways to look at the Lord. There is relationship with Him as Father. There is a relationship with Him as the bridegroom. There are so many aspects of a relationship that we can have with the Lord, but sometimes there is one often overlooked.
Have you ever had a best friend, and no I am not talking about a dog or even a cat, but an actual person? I am sure you have. Think about the person closest to you when growing up. It may be your brother or sister. It may be someone outside of your family. This person would usually be around the same age as you are. Think about someone who you spent all your time with. Now besides your siblings are you still in contact with this person? Are you still bosom buddies? Did you ever spend hours on the phone or in person talking to each other and just talking about life and how things are going?
I know I have had my share of best friends. I have had three best friends throughout my life. These were people I spent a lot of time talking to. But now one of them doesn’t talk to me anymore, another one and I travel in different circles so we don’t see each other much, and there was one who I don’t get to talk to much because she is busy. Now I am forgetting one person. One very special person. The very closest person to me. Who knows me inside and out. Who knows my every desire. Who is someone I can actually talk to, but often don’t. I just read His letters and think that’s enough. But what I don’t realize is that He actually wants to spend time with me. He wants to talk to me. He wants to spend hours on the “phone” talking about life and whatever’s going on. His name is Jesus, or Yeshua in Hebrew. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in Jesus being God and doing things in order not to displease God and not to sin, that we don’t actually remember that He is a person who wants to spend time with us. That we can actually talk to Him. That’s not an excuse to go on sinning.
The word “companion” comes from the meaning “with+bread” basically meaning someone who we share bread with. That is our companion. The Bible says that Jesus is someone “who sticks closer to us than a brother”. He is pretty much our Conjoined twin meaning that He cannot be separated from us. The Bible pretty much says that nothing can separate us from God. In Psalm 139:8 David says, “If I go to heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.” So if we are going to be spending so much time with someone the least we can do is talk to them.
Why do you think, – [at least they used to- I don’t know about anymore] so many girls keep diaries. They feel the need to confide in someone and talk to someone who can listen to them. They need a way of letting down what they are feeling when they are going through all these changes and they cannot talk to their parents. Girls that have parents that don’t let them date have even more extensive diaries I bet. Now if they replaced “Dear Diary,” with “Dear Jesus,” imagine what kind of transformation they can have in their lives. But a lot of us are a bit older by the time we discover Jesus. Or if we did discover Jesus when we were younger, then we rebel against everything at that age.
We are all seeking to fill a void of deep love for us and to have that close companion. Someone who will never leave you or forsake you. Someone who will walk with you through darkness and lead you by the rough patches in life and someone just there to listen. But a meaningful friendship is not one where you do all the talking and no listening. There has to be a close communication between both parties. So many things are lost when you don’t have a two sided relationship. Someone who you can tell all your thoughts to and someone who you can listen to.
Well people say one way to listen to God is through His Word because that is who is. Like I think I mentioned before that Word is “rhema”. That means what He says to you through “logos”- The bible, becomes “rhema” when He speaks to your spirit, and it becomes life.
There is another way to listen to God, which I found through a teaching by Mark Virkler’s “How to Hear God’s Voice”…and he mentions four techniques and one of them is Journaling. God does not speak to everyone the same way and for each person it is a different way, and there is no “magic” formula, but you have to listen to your spirit and heart and see what they tell you to do.
Wouldn’t it be nice to just have a telephone conversation with God? That’s pretty much how the Bible was written. Do you know how many days God doesn’t just call you, but He actually shows up at your house knocking on the door and you don’t open. No I am not talking about Jehovah’s Witnesses. He wants to spend time with you. He wants to be a blessing to you. He wants you to experience the joy that He died for. He doesn’t want to condemn you.
Some people may be confused about what the difference is between God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. “God” is the general term, which describes the three joined at the hip deity of Father God – Jehovah or YHWH, Jesus or Yeshua, and Holy Spirit, which is Ruwach or Breathe. So I may interchangably use God for Jesus or Father and that will determine context.
Jesus is not just someone who came down to Earth and died. He is someone who was there from the beginning of the Earth. He wants to spend time with you. He wants to have communion with you. He wants to express His inner most thoughts to you so you do not perish. He wants to have a relationship with you. He wants to be the person who you confide your secrets to. He wants to be the person who wants to hear about the stories you want to tell when you are older. He wants you to listen on His lap and hear His stories when you are younger. He wants to be the one you talk to when you tell what happened with your boyfriend/husband or wife/girlfriend today. He wants to be the one you talk to when your children are running a havoc all over the place. He’s there – He listens – He’s your best friend – He’s your closest companion.
So who or what and how are you spending most of the time – are you spending time talking to Jesus. Are you letting Him into your life? When He knocks on the door or makes that telephone call will you answer?
Have you hurt someone and can’t seem to get past it? Has someone hurt you and you can’t seem to get past it? The Bible has very clear scriptures regarding forgiveness. The longer you hold on to something the more bitter it becomes. Sometimes life lessons are bitter, but if you learn to forgive others then it releases freedom to you. It may take time for the wound to heal, but the more you allow yourself to let it go, the closer to God you become. Colossians 3:13 has a very important message, “13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Once you do something wrong and ask God for forgiveness and to cleanse you with His blood, and try not to do it again, God does not hold on to it, and neither should you hold on to it. If you do hold on to it, the enemy will just use it to manipulate you to feeling worse about yourself and/or that person then you already do.
That doesn’t mean you should go around trusting everyone all the time, and being naive when they have abused you, but you have to set boundaries. Part of that is that whether the hurt was intentional or not trust that God is only trying to teach you something. Because He is your Father He doesn’t want you to be hurt even more than you already are, and He is trying to protect you from future mistakes. Romans says “there is no condemnation in Christ”, so if you have done something bad, really bad, the enemy will try to make you feel like you are a “Judas” and betraying Christ, when you are a “Peter” and even though you made that mistake, God is going to let you repent, learn, and fulfill your destiny.
The best thing to do is make peace with that person and not to hold on to grudges for very long. Matthew 5:23-24 says, ” 23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift”
Sometimes we have to learn things the hard way by not listening to the voice of God, and being obedient the first time, but God is patient with us, and He gives us the free will, and He knows what we will do so He has provided us a way out. There is no temptation that is too hard to bear and God does not give you more than you can handle. Sometimes the Lord uses situations to help be a blessing or to minister to others and when you have faced that situation yourself then you can be better equipped to provide insight to another person. The key is to have a closer walk with God and that comes with the testings of patience and endurance. Like my favorite verse in Hebrews 12, which God so graciously tries to put into my life, “No discipline or punishment or chastening is joyful, but is grievous and painful, but in the end produces fruits of righteousness”.
When God allows things to happen, it is not because he doesn’t love you, but it is because there is a lesson that he wants you to learn, but that lesson is not just for you, but it is a blessing for many people. Like with Abraham, the lessons he learned with his walk of faith and learning from his mistakes to trust, we all have a walk with Jesus, and we must be willing to the learn the lesson because he is shaping our character. We might agonize in pain, heartache, and disappointment, and even hate the way we feel or the circumstances, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t growing, or that we aren’t learning, or that we are falling away from God.
God doesn’t look down with a magnifying glass and say, “Who can I fry now?” or “Who can send to eternal hell and judgment now?” He really wants us to seek Him because when we do seek Him, and we receive the fruits of righteousness that come from our suffering, we don’t know who that will impact down the road, and who will be impacted down the road.
If someone has hurt you yesterday, that hurt is in the past. We shouldn’t keep holding on that pain forever, or looking at it so many ways. It may be just something that you have to go through in life, and God will get you out of it.
You might say, “nobody understands what this person did to me”, but I guarantee you that someone either understands, or has gone through much worse, and Jesus has gone through that pain for you, so dear friends there is no need to hold on to your pain or your hurts. The past is past, and yesterday is forgotten.
If the person hurt you today, don’t go around saying, “well it’s still today, so I am going to hold on to this hurt as long as possible.” It may seem foolish and funny right now, but this is the way some of us act sometimes. Because we can’t see or be objective. This is why we pay therapists, and counselors, when God is right there, your Almighty Counselor, and He is ready to comfort you. The first thing you should do when you have calmed down and say, “Look, this is how I feel, and I feel bad for what I did to you.” This is whether to the other person or to God, and try to make amends if it is the person. If the person doesn’t want to forgive you, then just wait and time heals all wounds. But you can let the person know that you want to make peace with them and that you care about them. Who knows, maybe they might say, “you don’t need to feel bad, I forgave you a long time ago.”
Another key thing to remember is not to go and talk bad about the person, and vent to other people. Proverbs says “the foolish man vents all things, and the wise man keeps things to himself”. It is not good to gossip, or talk bad about the person even if the person is your boss, your co-workers, people in ministry, or anyone else for that matter. Gossip, backbiting, slander, and venting can all cause division among people and that is the last thing we want to do. As much as we don’t like it, we want to restore harmony with each other, especially as believers and witnesses to Christ. Take things that happen to you with a grain of salt, and let it just slide off your shoulders. That is how you can become more content and realize the true stability that you have as believers in Christ.
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