Name It and Claim It - Day 39

 

Job 42:1 - Psalms 24:10

 

          I have in the past come to the Psalms for comfort. There are a wide range of emotions represented here in this book; Rage, sorrow, fear, rejoicing, and gladness.

 

          There are quite a few verses on how God will deliver the righteous and make the wicked pay. I tried to get comfort from those verses, assuming I was the righteous one and the other guy was the wicked. I took for granted that I knew how God would respond in my situation. I was greatly disappointed.

 

"But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.

I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me." Psalms 13:5-6

 

 

          I may never know how God is treating some else and I am foolish to think I know how God is dealing with someone by what I see going on in their life. I only know how God is treating me and sometimes I am not so sure about that. What I have learned is that God is hard to figure out in my life so how can I assume I know how he is treating some one else.

 

"The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." Psalms 19:9

 

          In the Psalms there are comparisons of the righteous and the wicked. The righteous being well taken care of and the wicked falling to shame. I am very cautious now to apply those verses to my life because I may never see the results, good or bad, that come from my decisions or some one else's. I do know that God is good and his judgements are true. That is where I will find my comfort.

 

 

Emotions - Day 11

Numbers 8:10 - Numbers 21:7

"And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them ; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:"  Numbers 15:39

          Following our heart or our emotions is not going to lead us in the right direction. According to this verse, it does not seem to be the wise choice to follow your heart.

          God also does not want us to follow our eyes because things are not always what the appear.

          God's word is the same yesterday, today and forever. That is what we should follow after.

          I have learned that even though things are disruptive around me, I know to keep my emotions in line to what the Bible says. Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing.

Fasting Part 1

Part 1


Isaiah 58:6, 7

Here are some thoughts on fasting. I have broken the verses up to better define what I want to say.

Vs. 6 is not this the fast that I have chosen? These are the reasons God wants us to fast. Some of the reasons are for us and some of the reasons have to do with others.

to loose the bands of wickedness, - To learn self-control and to have the discipline to refrain from doing wrong or bad habits. This could have to do with food but it may also be emotional or even spiritual.

to undo the heavy burdens, - To regain focus on what is important and to have a clear picture of what is going on in my life. To not be burdened down with the daily tasks of meal preparation for a period of time.

and to let the oppressed go free, - Being free from the control of food like chocolate or caffeine; Food and drinks that we feel that we cannot live or function well without. We may realize we can do quite well without them.

and that ye break every yoke? – The word yoke makes me think of a burden. So fasting is bringing all our burdens to attention and helping us realize what we need and what we can do without. What is it that is controlling our life when God needs control?


Once we realize our burdens, then God wants us to look to others and lighten their burdens


Vs.7 is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry,-Take food and give it to a person or family that you feel God wants you help out. Someone you know who needs the food.

and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? This is asking a lot. We don’t mind giving people food or even money but to have them in our homes. That is personal and will take our time. We are not very generous with our time when it comes to other people, much less our own family.

when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him;- When you see a need, fill it. Don’t just walk away or assume someone else is going to take care of the problem.

and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? This one really caught my attention. What is my body saying to me during a fast? “I WANT FOOD!” is what my body is demanding, but what else is it saying to me? It is calm. I do not feel the weight of a meal. I am feeling hunger pangs. I had a headache. Sometimes I forget and think I want to grab something to eat and then I remember that I am fasting. I slept well (That is an improvement). I have gotten a lot of things done because I am not preparing meals. My head seems clearer. I am not as flighty with my thoughts. I feel more in control. Do I ignore what my body is trying to tell me because I eat too much or eat the wrong things? I eat emotionally, so that would silence what my body really needs because I am just putting in my body what I want instead of what my body may need. I am feeding my emotions instead of my body.

Part 2 is here.


Disclaimer:

Whenever you consider fasting make sure you check with your doctor first.

I HAVE HATED

I am not proud of that. At first I wanted to deny that I felt that way. I cannot hate, I must have love and forgiveness when people wrong me. At least that is how I thought Christians were suppose to feel. I really fought those feelings for a long time. Then I realized that I could no longer deny what God already knew.

Why do I act like I can fool God? Why do I think I can just go on and pretend that God thinks everything is fine, when I know I am not fine and God knows I am not fine?

It was hard to admit it to my heavenly Father. It was hard to say it out loud, to hear from my own mouth that I hated. I was ashamed of how I felt. My feelings of hate were so strong and there was no down playing them or excusing them. I did feel they were justified, but it still didn’t make it right in my heart to keep these feelings.

I felt hate but I did not want it to make its home in my heart, my soul or my mind. I did not want hate to be a part of me. My feelings of hate were not going to subside, neither could I think I would not feel this way again, so I needed to do something with these feelings or they were going to multiply. I could not allow that.  These feelings of hatred were not what God wanted for me.

In Titus 3:3,4 the Bible says, “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; ” (KJB).

Because of Christ I am different. When I live in the flesh I am acting like I do not have God in my life. I am acting like the world. I am so thankful that God sent his son Jesus to die for my sins, and to show that appreciation, I want to act like I am a Christian.


I want God to use me and I am not usable if I keep feelings like hatred in my life. Feelings of hatred are my problem, no anyone else’s. I need to make the choice to give my hatred to God. For my own sake. My feelings of hatred where not effecting the persons they were focused towards. I was the one dealing with them. In time, I believe hatred would have spread like a cancer to other areas of my life. They would be destroying my life, not the persons’ life I was hating.

What I have learned is:

1.   I am very capable of hating.

2.   When I confess my sin, God is faithful and just to forgive me of the sin of hatred. (I John 1:9)

3.   I need to forgive the person(s).

4.   Repeat 2 and 3 as needed.

This Path I Am On

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

Proverbs 3:5,6 King James Bible

          This path that I have been on has not gotten any easier with time. It seems the momentum of the battle is getting more strenuous or could it be that I am getting weary on this journey. The path seems to be a constant climb in elevation. At times I can feel the oxygen getting thinner and it is harder to breathe. It has been painful. So extremely painful. No physical wounds that I can bandage up or take a pill to dull the pain. Hurt that can be so unbearable. It has been brutal on my emotions as well as my spirit. It has been grueling on my walk with the Lord. I have experienced doubt, fear, and loneliness. I have had to endure so much with no arms to comfort me. I have had to stand alone against lies that have been told about me. I will not even go into the heart wrenching emotions that are involved with the treatment of my children during this nightmare.

          In all of this and so much more I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Seriously, no where else. This is the path that I know that God has for me. He is here with me every step of this baren path I trod. Am I only going to trust him when things are going good and the weather is fair? I found out that I am better than that. I have seen God's strength in me when I was all tapped out. I have felt his presence when I thought I was alone. I have experience the victory that only the cross of Calvary can offer. I want to be where my Lord is no matter what the conditions are. I learned that as well. Hymns have a renewed meaning. I really hear what they say. Like this one. Did I really believe that I would trust the Lord through it ALL? Only by His grace.

Through It All

Written by- Andrae Crouch

Verse 1:
I've had many tears and sorrows,
I've had questions for tomorrow,
there's been times I didn't know right from wrong.
But in every situation,
God gave me blessed consulation,
that my trials come to only make me strong.

Chorus:
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God.

Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word.

Verse 2:
I've been to lots of places,
I've seen a lot of faces,
there's been times I felt so all alone.
But in my lonely hours,
yes, those precious lonely hours,
Jesus lets me know that I was His own

Chorus

Verse 3:
I thank God for the mountains,
and I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.
For if I'd never had a problem,
I wouldn't know God could solve them,
I'd never know what faith in God could do.