Getting to the Point of, "Thy will be done."

My younger daughter, Christine, has had a turbulent relationship with God. She left our church at 14, the age I told my daughters it was up to them if they wanted to go or not. Both of them chose "not". I don't believe in forcing religion on anyone, even my own children.

After having her third child, who has OCD, she started praying for and with her child. God did not heal her little girl so Christine became very angry at him. I remember one Thanksgiving, when we usually went around the table to say what we were thankful for, Christine said, "We aren't doing that this year." She felt she had nothing to be thankful for with her daughter in such mental pain and herself depressed and sleep-deprived.

When my grandson, her nephew, died she couldn't accept what God had allowed. She was even more angry. But her daughter has gotten better as she aged, not cured, but much better and I think she can now understand why God took our precious boy.

Anyway, she had a huge breakthrough this last week. She told my sister and I that she had finally given up on her own will about life and said, "Your will be done," to God. She said it was a real struggle, but she did it. She had been begging God to sell her house and find her a new job and nothing was happening. After she told him she would accept his will for her no matter what, we got an offer on the house and two people phoned her for job interviews. She decided against the jobs, but it showed her that God will work for her. We will know if the house sale is final on Friday, but it looks like she will be okay if it doesn't.

I am so happy for her. Leaving everything up to God is something all Christians must learn and as my mom said, "It isn't always easy." She says she regrets the two times she told God she wanted her own way and demanded the answer she wanted. There were sad consequences both times.

I just want to praise and thank God for working on my daughter's heart all these years. I've prayed for my family since they were all born and I see His Spirit working on everyone. Thank you God!

Spiritual Poverty.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3

Poor in spirit - One who is deeply sensible of his spiritual poverty and wretchedness. 

The poor in spirit. The humble, in contrast with the haughty; those sensible of spiritual destitution. The same state of mind is referred to when he speaks elsewhere of a contrite and broken spirit.

http://bible.cc/matthew/5-3.htm

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galatians 5:22,23

It's not a great feeling to realize we are poor in spirit. We look at ourselves and compare ourselves to Jesus or other people and see we fall far short. We read this list of the fruits of the Spirit and know we need improvement in all of them.

But Jesus says we are blessed when we realize how worldly and sinful we are. We are fortunate to see we need His help. It is those who think they are good enough who are in darkness. 

We will never believe ourselves to have reached perfection because the only perfect human has been Christ. He covers us with his perfection. Perfection in spirit is a goal to aspire to, and it is a worthy one. Who wouldn't want to have all the fruits of the spirit continually pouring through our life?

The wonderful thing is that as we ask God each day to live his life within us the fruits of the Spirit grow and grow. He has promised us this and I believe Him. But don't put him on a timetable and don't expect to one day feel you've "made it". Look away from yourself and look to Jesus "The Author and Finisher of our faith." Hebrews 12:2

Life is a Bit Like a Football Game.

I read an article called, "Going the Distance," by Stephen J. Cole. He compared the Christian life to a football player and I liked that analogy.

"Obviously, Christians sin (1 John 1:8, 10). But the pursuit of the Christian is not toward sin, but toward righteousness. During a Monday night football game, an announcer observed that the Chicago Bears’ running back, Walter Payton, had accumulated over nine miles in career rushing yardage. The other announcer remarked, “Yeah, and that’s with somebody knocking him down every 4.6 yards!” A Christian may get knocked down by sin every few yards, but he gets up and keeps moving toward righteousness. It’s his pursuit."

"Again, you need to pursue faith. You don’t wake up some morning with vigorous faith any more than a guy with bulging muscles went to bed one night as a 98-pound weakling and woke up looking like Mr. America! How do you pursue faith? By trusting God in the frustrations, irritations, and trials that He sends your way. You deliberately humble yourself under God’s sovereign hand and cast all your anxieties on Him through prayer, knowing that in spite of how it may seem, He does care for you."

http://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-23-going-distance-1-timothy-611-12

Sometimes I do feel knocked over by sin and life in general. I used to despair about that but I don't any longer. I've learned that God will always be there for me. He will lift me up if I am pushed down or if I fall down all by myself. I know life will get better and I will feel better - I just have to wait and trust in Him.

The Answer is Jesus.

Today, my husband irritated me and I thought, "You are such an Idiot!" I prayed and asked God to help me accept my hubby as he is and love him from my heart.

Sometimes I think, "Belle, your life is useless and you have made terrible mistakes all your life." So, I pray and ask God to help me not to think I am useless and I try to think of all the things I do for the family.

I haven't been on a vacation for three years and start feeling sooo sorry for myself. So, I pray and ask God to make me be content with my life and all I have. I ask him to help me not to want too much out of this life.

Because I can't do the things I used to do, such as walk for miles in the mountains, I feel angry and sad at the same time. I have to ask God to help me accept my limitations and rejoice in what I can do.

I hate shopping and feel upset about going. So, I pray and ask God to give me the physical and emotional strength I need to do it.

I realized this morning how many negative and bad thoughts I have each and every day! How I need God. Where would I be without Him? I guess I would be a divorced, bitter and discontented old woman. I thought about what Paul said when he wrote about how he wanted to do good but couldn't..."Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?" 

I'm glad he didn't finish with that sentence, instead he said..."Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin."

In Darkness, God is a Light.

"When I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me." Micah 7:8

Charles Spurgeon writes about this verse:

"This may express the feelings of a man or woman who is downtrodden and oppressed. Our enemy may put out our light for a season. There is sure hope for us in the Lord; and if we are trusting in Him and holding fast our integrity, our season of down casting and darkness will soon be over."

"We shall rise from our fall, for our God has not fallen and he will lift us up. We shall not abide in darkness, although for the moment we sit in it; for our Lord is the fountain of light, and He will soon bring us a joyful day. Let us not despair or even doubt."

Works of Charles Hadden Spurgeon

I have had seasons of darkness when I thought I could never feel happiness again. But I was wrong. The Lord did lift me up. The Lord was a light for me. The promises in the Word of God are true.

We are Surrounded.

Many sorrows come to the wicked, but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the LORD. Psalm 32:10

You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalm 32:7

Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. Psalm 5:12

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. Psalm 91:11

He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. Deuteronomy 32:10

Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people, both now and forever. Psalm 125:2

Fickle Feelings

I like what I read about feelings in a book of writings by Charles Spurgeon. Here is an excerpt:

"Often do we hear the lamentation - 'I do not feel that I can be saved. I do not feel that I am forgiven. I do not feel it is possible my hard heart can ever be softened and renewed.'

This is poor, foolish talk. In what way can our feelings guide us in such matters? Do you feel that the dead can be raised again? Do you feel that the cold of winter will be followed by the heat of summer? How can you feel these things? You believe them. To talk of feeling in the matter is absurd.

I am the subject of very changeful feelings; but I have learned to set small store by them, either one way or the other. Above all, I have ceased to estimate the truth of God's promise by my condition of mind."

Today I feel so joyful that I could dance, but perhaps when I wake tomorrow morning I shall only be able to sigh in harmony with Jeremiah's lamentations. Has my salvation changed according to these feelings? If so, it must have a very movable foundation.

We are saved according to facts, not fancies. Certain eternal truths prove us saved or lost; and those truths are not affected by our happiness or depressions."