The best part of Spiritual Growth is Obeying His Words and if we did that to begin with, we would not have as far to climb. I think sometimes, we think that we are so self sufficient when we begin our path of Spiritual Growth that simply Obeying His Words is something we do only when we need to; so that we get what we want from Him, when we need it the most. Not always, but sometimes, right? If I made a bet on it; this happens a lot becuase I know from my own experiences. I have been going along molly, jolly and all of a sudden, something strikes...I run to the Word (His Words) to find answers which I should have already known or had studied to begin with. If I had been in His words already, I would have been more equipped to face whatever it was that was endangering my walk with Him or my life at that point.
Let us read some scripture here for a moment. I love Psalms and a lot of the time, that is where I have gone when in desperate search for an immediate fix. Psalm 34: 4,5-9: (4)"I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. (6) The poor man cried and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. (7) The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them. (8) O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him. (9) O fear the Lord, ye His sanits: for there is no want to them that fear Him". Whether it be an immediate fix or not; these scriptures tell us exactly what we need. If we were to stay in the scripture and His words, we would be further up the ladder in our endeavor for Spiritual Growth -Obeying His Words and needing less nourishment as we would already have it within our Souls. The same as having a prayer in our hearts continuely.
In the same chapter it goes on to say in verse 14: "Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace and pursue it". My, my (as my Grandmother used to say). Here we are doing evil, yet trying to gain Spiritual Growth-and not Obeying His Words??? What have we been doing? Do we even know? The in verse 15: "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry". Verse 17: The righteous cry, and the Lord hearth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. I am going to highlight this; Verse 18: "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit". This is from the Authorized "King James Version".
We need to clarify the difference in righteousness and perfection. Okay, here we go; righteousness:
1. characterized by uprightness or morality: a righteous observance of the law.
2. morally right or justifiable: righteous indignation.
3. acting in an upright, moral way; virtuous: a righteous and godly person. According to dictionary.com.
When we get to the perfection stage; we will be ready to meet our Lord but we must be righteous to be able to call upon His name and know that He is there ready without repeating all the stuff called "Lord, forgive me, again and again". Do not get me wrong, please, there is nothing wrong with asking the Lord to forgive us for our human nature when we let our guard down. I believe this is necessary if we are to keep ourselves walking daily in a higher level with Him. As humans we tend to let the nature of self get in the way when someone ruffles our feathers, so to speak and we want to crawl over someone for disturbing our whatever it was that got ruffled. I had rather go to Him in a state of seeking than going to Him and reminding Him of my good works up until now. You see the reason behind this is; it is our duty as Christians, to live a good and righteous life. Yes, I did say our duty. It is nothing to brag about or tell the Lord, here I am, you know I have done this and that and the other. It take some work....that is why we are in this battle of trhying to grow spiritually and seeking, Spiritual Growth-Obeying His Words.
Seeking Spiritual Growth-Obeying His Words takes some efforts and does not come about by leaving off the necessary; reading the Word- the Bible. If you are not reading the Word, then you will not know what His words are. It just makes us look foolish (I am including myself) when we get into trouble, our heart is breaking and we want to cover our head up and never come out again; to call on Him and have to do our first works over!!!
The Lord loves even when we are sinners and I am not telling you not to call on God in the time of need. He is always there, He will be there but there comes a time in our life that we need to walk closer to Him and be in His words and fight whatever battle it is, with His Words. If you read in the scripture; you will see that satan, hates the spoken word of God thrown back at him...It takes some work to know the scripture and His words to fight the other power who has no power in God's word.
The Lord is merciful and in Psalms 45: 1 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble". So you see, I am not suggesting that we are not to seek Him and His word when we are in trouble. There are times when we must go to Him like David did when he prayed: "Restore unto me the joy of salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit". Psalms 51: 12.
When we are living in His words, we are stronger and when we meet with adversity or some awful thing; we know that we have Obeyed His Words and He will deliver us. We simply could repeat the Lord's prayer right here if we chose to. Spiritual Growth-Obeying His Words is just like personal growth. We must see the need, seek it and put it into action. No-one can or will do it for us; it is something we must do for ourselves. His words are pure, true, absolute, kind but firm. If you don't want the truth; don't go to the Word!!! It is written in black and white and it will shake you in your boots if you have a conscious at all and take it seriously. Spiritual Growth-will not come by listening to someone else...you must read it and seek it on your own...The Pastor, Minister,Rabbi,etc. cannot get it for you..you must seek it for yourself; I repeat.
The "Book" is full of God's word, He tells us from start to finish what we can expect, how to deal with it and how to overcome. He gives us examples to follow; just think about Job..he suffered and suffered but held true to his purpose and God's plan and in the end Obeyed His Words. You can also think back to Genesis when God told Noah to build the Ark...He obeyed the voice of God, he did what he was suppose to do. We are not immune to troubles, trials and periods of defeat, we will have those and suffer but when we are studied in God's word, we have a weapon we can use to gain our strenght and renew our spirit and feel good again and know that Spiritual Growth-Obeying His Words will deliver us from evil....Always!!!
God Bless.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Spiritual Growth-When God Speaks
I have never heard a voice speak to me out loud that I thought was God, so let me get that straight now before we go any further with this post on Spiritual Growth- When God Speaks. Do I believe that He speaks to us? Yes, I believe, He does. I am sure you are thinking that I have contradicted myself right off the bat. I really haven't, because I know God speaks in the most profound ways and most of the time, from a lack of knowledge, we ignore Him. I am not saying that He has never spoken to others audibly. He did so in Bible times and if He chose to; He would again, if He has not. What am I really saying about God Speaking? I believe He speaks to each of us in our daily life, in many different forms and ways and most of the time, we do not recognize Him.
Let us search a little for some answers to all of this about When God Speaks. In my search for Spiritual Growth-When God Speaks, I have often prayed for Him to speak to me; did He? Not in the way I had wanted, but I saw His works manifected one way or the other. There are so many times I have felt His great blessings and His protection that my memory will not let me remember them. Since my childhood I have been blessed to believe in Him and in His presence. I first repented of my sins at the early age of 9 years. Have I remained true to Him all of this time. No, I have strayed and followed my own heart's desires, not His desires for me. I have faultered many times and shamefully so. There is one thing actually that I never forgot or could get away from and that was His constant calling to be what I was intended to be.
There is nothing more fulfilling than being in the presence of God and knowing He is going to work something out for you with His mighty helping hand and When He Speaks....that is all that you need. If you do not understand this, let me try to explain. First let say this; if the majority of America, would humble themselves and cry out to God, our Nation would change for the better. That is not a prophecy or prediction, it is fact.
These are my preceptions and where I have been when in the presence of God and know When God Speaks to me. In the presence of God is a place where you become tuned into or saturated in His spirit through prayer. If you have never in your life had what seemed to be a life threatening situation, where it seemed to you that your life, you mind and your soul were at stake of being swept away from you; then you may not understand. You may not have been or ever seen a person who needed to find a place to rest their burden or they felt as though they would die. This kind of pain will bring you to your knees without anyone having to tell you, let's pray. I hope you have never had this kind of hurt, but most of us have at one time or the other, in one way or another. When one comes to this point, if they know God at all or even if they do not know anything at all about Spiritual Growth or When God Speaks, it is natural human instinct to call on the highest power you have ever heard of. I have seen this happen many times and the first response when someone feels their heart breaking beyond that bearable state; will in a flash, call on God. When this happens, the sincerity is there, they at that moment recognize His Almighty power and in His Infinite mercy. God Speaks and life is bearable again. Oh, it makes me feel so good to know when life get to this place, I know I can go to Him.
If you pray at all, then I am sure you at some time have asked for His guidance. Be it something personal, professional or spiritual, we all have times when we do not know what direction to take. I have seen doors close time and again; and yes at the time I might have thought He had forgotten all about me and did not hear my prayer. Then I have seen the phone ring and there is another opportunity calling, and then I know He has spoken. In Spiritual Growth-When God Speaks, it is not always loud and clear but When He Speaks...things happen and it is for our good. Do I think that we are dealt a bad hand sometimes? Yes, but not by God. He does not dish out the bad, we may not understand why bad things happen to good people, but the reasons is not for us to ponder. When we suffer, it can sometimes mean that we are reaping what we have sowen. I am not talking about God purnishing us but when we have played a game not of God, we must suffer the consquences of our behavior.
If you have ever been lonely and felt so detached from everyone and everything you will understand this about When God Speaks. I have had times in my life that I was alone, I was lonely and could not or did not want to pray. Maybe I could not see it would help my situation. I have seen God Speak through a little animal, with little beany eyes staring at me as if to say; it's going to be okay, tomorrow is another day and I love you. I have seen friends change an outcome for me that seemed unatainable or even remotely possible....When God Speaks...nothing can go wrong. I have seen God Speak in my life in many ways without me realizing it at the time. He is a guide, He speaks in silence sometimes but if we search for Him, there is no doubt in my mind in any situation; He will speak. No, it is not what we always want to hear, we are humans and want our way, but remember when seeking Him for the best for your life; His plans may be different than yours.
I hope that you get something good out of this post. I hope you understand better the ways in your Spiritual Growth- When God Speaks. This is not a fairy tale, this is real. He speaks through people. He speaks through loving animals sometimes, and when He speaks there is nothing else to be said. He is always available to listen, what we should not do is argue with His answers or His knowing. He knows what is best for us. He knows when we are sincere and He knows the heart. He and only He can satisfy your soul. In your endeavor for Spiritual Growth- just listen...know....and you can see When God Speaks to you.
Let us search a little for some answers to all of this about When God Speaks. In my search for Spiritual Growth-When God Speaks, I have often prayed for Him to speak to me; did He? Not in the way I had wanted, but I saw His works manifected one way or the other. There are so many times I have felt His great blessings and His protection that my memory will not let me remember them. Since my childhood I have been blessed to believe in Him and in His presence. I first repented of my sins at the early age of 9 years. Have I remained true to Him all of this time. No, I have strayed and followed my own heart's desires, not His desires for me. I have faultered many times and shamefully so. There is one thing actually that I never forgot or could get away from and that was His constant calling to be what I was intended to be.
There is nothing more fulfilling than being in the presence of God and knowing He is going to work something out for you with His mighty helping hand and When He Speaks....that is all that you need. If you do not understand this, let me try to explain. First let say this; if the majority of America, would humble themselves and cry out to God, our Nation would change for the better. That is not a prophecy or prediction, it is fact.
These are my preceptions and where I have been when in the presence of God and know When God Speaks to me. In the presence of God is a place where you become tuned into or saturated in His spirit through prayer. If you have never in your life had what seemed to be a life threatening situation, where it seemed to you that your life, you mind and your soul were at stake of being swept away from you; then you may not understand. You may not have been or ever seen a person who needed to find a place to rest their burden or they felt as though they would die. This kind of pain will bring you to your knees without anyone having to tell you, let's pray. I hope you have never had this kind of hurt, but most of us have at one time or the other, in one way or another. When one comes to this point, if they know God at all or even if they do not know anything at all about Spiritual Growth or When God Speaks, it is natural human instinct to call on the highest power you have ever heard of. I have seen this happen many times and the first response when someone feels their heart breaking beyond that bearable state; will in a flash, call on God. When this happens, the sincerity is there, they at that moment recognize His Almighty power and in His Infinite mercy. God Speaks and life is bearable again. Oh, it makes me feel so good to know when life get to this place, I know I can go to Him.
If you pray at all, then I am sure you at some time have asked for His guidance. Be it something personal, professional or spiritual, we all have times when we do not know what direction to take. I have seen doors close time and again; and yes at the time I might have thought He had forgotten all about me and did not hear my prayer. Then I have seen the phone ring and there is another opportunity calling, and then I know He has spoken. In Spiritual Growth-When God Speaks, it is not always loud and clear but When He Speaks...things happen and it is for our good. Do I think that we are dealt a bad hand sometimes? Yes, but not by God. He does not dish out the bad, we may not understand why bad things happen to good people, but the reasons is not for us to ponder. When we suffer, it can sometimes mean that we are reaping what we have sowen. I am not talking about God purnishing us but when we have played a game not of God, we must suffer the consquences of our behavior.
If you have ever been lonely and felt so detached from everyone and everything you will understand this about When God Speaks. I have had times in my life that I was alone, I was lonely and could not or did not want to pray. Maybe I could not see it would help my situation. I have seen God Speak through a little animal, with little beany eyes staring at me as if to say; it's going to be okay, tomorrow is another day and I love you. I have seen friends change an outcome for me that seemed unatainable or even remotely possible....When God Speaks...nothing can go wrong. I have seen God Speak in my life in many ways without me realizing it at the time. He is a guide, He speaks in silence sometimes but if we search for Him, there is no doubt in my mind in any situation; He will speak. No, it is not what we always want to hear, we are humans and want our way, but remember when seeking Him for the best for your life; His plans may be different than yours.
I hope that you get something good out of this post. I hope you understand better the ways in your Spiritual Growth- When God Speaks. This is not a fairy tale, this is real. He speaks through people. He speaks through loving animals sometimes, and when He speaks there is nothing else to be said. He is always available to listen, what we should not do is argue with His answers or His knowing. He knows what is best for us. He knows when we are sincere and He knows the heart. He and only He can satisfy your soul. In your endeavor for Spiritual Growth- just listen...know....and you can see When God Speaks to you.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
"About Me"
Well to be honest, I am just like the rest of the human race, I have faultered, swayed, neglected and been in sin when I knew better. Am I sorry for these times? Most definitely. Will I ever be there again? I sure hope not and if I am, it will be because I have not followed the Lord like I should and neglected efforts to grow Spiritualy and becoming a better Christian on a daily basis.
I have been in the Christian way for a very long time..my Father was a minister and deacon of the Church. I was raised to believe that Jesus died on the cross of Calvery for my sins and my sins would be forgiven by Him, if I would seek forgiveness. I believe that God is merciful and loves us even though we are sinners because He died for the sinner, not the saint anyway. I try to be honest, trustworthy and a true friend. I know that life can be hard, more for some than others. I realize that sometimes bad things happen to good people and yes, I wonder why them. I believe that God has a plan for our life; I believe that He has to draw us to Him before we realize we need Him. I know that He does not purnish us, we are sometimes purnished for our deeds that we brought upon ourselves.
I am a believer that there is a reason and a season for everything. God makes no mistakes. I believe that if He brings to you it, He will lead you through it. I know that sometimes He allows us to suffer so that we will be more understanding of other people's suffering. If we never had a problem, we would not be able to help someone else. I believe that when you are down to nothing; God is up to something. I know that God does not bring us pain but He is there to heal it, if we seek Him.
I believe that God will heal the sick, we only have to ask Him for the healing and remember that everything is not in His will. I believe that life is full of ups and downs for everyone and no one is immune to sorrow at some time or the other. I know that money does not bring happiness or make an individual better than someone else. I know that we all have to work for what we have and in turn give thanks for everything, no matter how little because there may be others who have less. I believe that God has Angels because I have seen then, no they did not have wings. I believe that it is our duty to help others, even when we have nothing
...because until you give, when you have nothing to give, you have never really given.
My life is just like yours, probably. I struggle to be a better person, help someone along the way and when I have finished my life, I hope someone will remember something good.
I have been in the Christian way for a very long time..my Father was a minister and deacon of the Church. I was raised to believe that Jesus died on the cross of Calvery for my sins and my sins would be forgiven by Him, if I would seek forgiveness. I believe that God is merciful and loves us even though we are sinners because He died for the sinner, not the saint anyway. I try to be honest, trustworthy and a true friend. I know that life can be hard, more for some than others. I realize that sometimes bad things happen to good people and yes, I wonder why them. I believe that God has a plan for our life; I believe that He has to draw us to Him before we realize we need Him. I know that He does not purnish us, we are sometimes purnished for our deeds that we brought upon ourselves.
I am a believer that there is a reason and a season for everything. God makes no mistakes. I believe that if He brings to you it, He will lead you through it. I know that sometimes He allows us to suffer so that we will be more understanding of other people's suffering. If we never had a problem, we would not be able to help someone else. I believe that when you are down to nothing; God is up to something. I know that God does not bring us pain but He is there to heal it, if we seek Him.
I believe that God will heal the sick, we only have to ask Him for the healing and remember that everything is not in His will. I believe that life is full of ups and downs for everyone and no one is immune to sorrow at some time or the other. I know that money does not bring happiness or make an individual better than someone else. I know that we all have to work for what we have and in turn give thanks for everything, no matter how little because there may be others who have less. I believe that God has Angels because I have seen then, no they did not have wings. I believe that it is our duty to help others, even when we have nothing
...because until you give, when you have nothing to give, you have never really given.
My life is just like yours, probably. I struggle to be a better person, help someone along the way and when I have finished my life, I hope someone will remember something good.
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