It’s kinda funny how easy it is to miss the mark…to stray ever so slightly from the perfect will of God…
First you justify what you are doing. You are right for the feelings you feel…the anger. Besides…they have done you wrong and now they owe you…
But after a while you know you’re wrong, but now it feels too good. You like being “bad”, like the rest of them. Besides…you’re having sooo much fun exploring the “the wrong side of the tracks”.
But after a while you begin to miss God. God…where are you? He is still where you left Him. He never left. He’s still back there, watching you stray…waiting for you to come back home.
Finally, you realize that you were wrong and ask Him to forgive you. It takes a minute get back where you were, but you work it out…
The strange thing is that we keep doing it over and over… the even stranger thing is that we always learn new things about ourselves and God in the process…
We all stray at times…
just don’t forget the way back home…
I was watching TBN one night and it encouraged me. They were talking about how they grew up in church and had to deal with a lot of confusion- basically because of man’s rules and traditions. They spoke about how they saw people converted later in life and on fire for God without baggage. This is true liberty.
Having been through a ‘church hurt’ I have found myself battling the rules and traditions that I was indoctrinated with. I set out on a journey to find God’s Truth. I am still on that road. It’s not easy- putting your beliefs on the line to be tested, then realizing they were wrong, and having to let them go. It’s not an easy process- but it is a blessed place of liberation, revelation and Truth.
I invite you to put your beliefs and traditions on the line with God. Allow them to be tested by the Holy Spirit. Be ready to have your world turned upside down by God. In reality He will be turning it rightside up!
Seek liberty and Truth. God will lead the way.
Sometimes we can get so self-righteous in our Christian walk that we forget that we are nothing in and by ourselves. Yes, we need God, but we also need each other…
It’s so easy to sit around and think about the 101 ways we can encourage our neighbors- but did it ever occur to you that someone can encourage you back? Even if they are not a pastor, prophet or evangelist- God will speak through anyone who is willing…
Every time I feel ’self-empowered’ God magnifies my weaknesses. Then he sends His encouragement to lift me back up. Why does He do this? Maybe to remind me that in all my righteousness I am still like a filthy rag compared to Him…
Yes, it hurts, but it helps and heals. God knows what is best for us, and if we allow Him, He will guide us down the right path.
Don’t play God- but be a humble servant and accept the different ways God chooses to encourage you.
What exactly does ‘fellowship’ mean? I hear it spoken of so much in church I thought it actually meant ‘going to church’…
Fellowship means “A close association of friends or equals sharing similar interests.” Are you truly in fellowship with other Christians?
I never thought of myself as ‘having fellowship’- one being to myself most of the time. Then I started meeting with a neighbor- and not only did we find out that we needed each other- but we both had something to offer the other.
We now meet weekly- and when we miss a week or two we feel it. The concept of spiritual fellowship is real. It’s not about going to church- but about Christians, who can relate to each other, connecting and making a difference in each others’ lives.
Well, I did it again! I went to the dentist office and ‘got fresh mouthed’ with the receptionist…
She gave me some paperwork to fill out. When I finished I handed them to her. She was complaining about how she was the only one in the office and things were going crazy [not to me but to the woman standing beside her]. Then she looked over my paperwork and said- in a rude manner- you have to sign here! I raised my eyebrows and said- It doesn’t say signature. Then she looked at the paper and pointed to each word and slowly read- person who gives permission to release this information [something like that]. I raised my eyebrows again. I looked down and mumbled- I’m a nice person, but you’re being rude. Then she looked at the paperwork again and said- write your name here [in a condescending way]. THAT WAS IT. I looked her directly in her eye and said- you are speaking to me like I’m simple, and I AM NOT SIMPLE. She just looked down.
After that ‘pleasant’ conversation she proceded to ask further questions in an indirectly condescending way. I am not the type of person who can function correctly when there is MESS. This was some MESS.
After my son went in I came out and had to apologize to her. Why? If I would have just recognized that she was under a lot of stress I would not have been so offended. I had to be the BIGGER PERSON. I had to put aside my feelings and minister to her. Maybe all she needed was a kind word to soothe her heart.
After I apologized there was a difference in her spirit. I told her I did not want to be another person to add to her stress, and I hoped that my apology made her day a little better.