As Christian women we tend to judge ourselves based on that elusive "Proverbs 31 Woman"...you know, the perfect wife who gets out of bed early, cooks, cleans, sews, runs her own business, has perfect kids, never gets angry (like I said, elusive!). I think in the process of time (and being bombarded with this world's feminist thinking) we morphed her into some strong woman's libber who "don't need no man," someone who now looks more like Rosie the Riveter than Caroline Ingalls. I hope to challenge us to see that being the godly, meek lady God calls us to be isn't equal to being a weak, powerless woman.
Feminism is based on the idea that women should be treated as equals to men. What started out as an equal right to vote movement has evolved into a gender war with quotes like "Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult."—Charlotte Whitton. I honestly don't think a day goes by that I don't hear some kind of man-bashing, including wives complaining about their husbands. (Side note: Husband-bashing makes me sad on many levels...firstly because these poor wives must not have an awesome husband like I do...but mainly because, if these people you are husband-bashing to have never met your husband they are thinking he's a total loser...like Homer Simpson-ish... and if he is a total loser, then why did you marry him in the first place? And, if he's not a total loser, then you should be talking about how awesome he is! Remember that song "Accentuate the Positive"? It really works!!) Feminism is something that we, as Apostolic ladies, need to work at keeping out of our lives. It sneaks up on us, it really does. We strive to be godly women by studying scripture, praying, fasting and witnessing and assume we meet the standard God has set up for us as women because of these things, but I would venture to say, if we took the time to look closely at our attitudes, we will see some feminism sneaking in there making itself at home. It's contagious because we are surrounded by it...but we can build an immunity to it with God's help!
Again, I repeat that we often feel we meet the standard set before us as godly women...but what if we raised the bar to becoming godly ladies. What is the difference you ask? Let me show you!
Woman: an adult female person
Lady: a woman who is refined, polite, and well-spoken
Now, if you read the definition of lady and said to yourself (with a snicker), "Ha! That's definitely not me!", or, "Psh! That's nonsense! Why would I want to be refined?" then you probably have a little feministic bug floating around in your subconsciousness that needs to be eradicated, and that can be accomplished by developing lady-like characteristics.
Aside from the famed virtuous woman scriptures, there are many scriptures that teach us how to be godly ladies. One of my favorite passages, and the main subject of this study, is 1 Peter 3:1-6 "Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement." (Talk about anti-feminist...calling her husband lord?!)
Notice I highlighted the word "meek". This quality is key to becoming a godly lady. Yes, meekness is a quality, not a flaw. Being meek means having or showing a quiet, gentle, and humble nature. Lest you think meekness is a sign of weakness let's look at some Biblical examples: Sara was meek (1 Peter 3:6) and became the mother of nations. Moses was meek (Numbers 12:3) and lead the Israelites out of bondage. Jesus was meek (Matthew 11:29) and overcame death, hell and the grave! No...meekness is not weakness!! It takes a strong person to stay meek in the face of ridicule. It takes a strong person to stay meek while being falsely accused. It takes a strong person to stay meek instead of "winning" an argument.
God places a high value on a meek and quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:4). His Word always talks about meekness in a favorable light; here are a few:
"But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Psalm 37:11
"The Lord lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground." Psalm 147:6
"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." Matthew 5:5
"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
Ephesians 4:1-3
If God places such a high value on meekness, why wouldn't you want to work on adopting that quality into your life? I understand there are some women with "strong" personalities...but the Holy Ghost helps us curb our natural tendencies and molds us to become more like Christ so we are without excuse. I'm not saying it's easy to adopt a meek spirit, but it is well worth it! Next time you feel an argument welling up inside you ask yourself, "How would a godly lady handle this?" An argumentative spirit IS a contentious spirit of which we know God does not approve!
Still think meekness is a sign of weakness? Let's reread 1 Peter 3:4-6 in The Message version: "Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in. The holy women of old were beautiful before God that way, and were good, loyal wives to their husbands. Sarah, for instance, taking care of Abraham, would address him as “my dear husband.” You’ll be true daughters of Sarah if you do the same, unanxious and unintimidated." If we chose to cultivate a meek spirit into our lives we will become unanxious and unintimidated. Why? Because instead of adopting the world view into our lives we are realigning ourselves with the Word of God which brings us under the protection of God where we have nothing to be anxious about nor do we need to feel intimidated by anything or anyone! I say...chose meekness!!
Monday, January 4, 2016
Sunday, March 15, 2015
My Personal Testimony
The other day a dear friend rehearsed to a congregation a story of a young girl who brought a friend to church and how that invitation forever changed the life of her friend. It was a very moving moment for me because I was the friend who was forever changed...
In 4th Grade a classmate invited me to a Sunday School event at her church. Now, religion was a bit confusing in our family because my dad was Catholic and our mom was Templelot Mormon. Dad raised us to believe that if you're not Catholic you're going to hell, but mom quietly demonstrated to us that there's more to be experienced outside the Catholic church. Somehow my mom convinced dad to let me go to church with my new friend, Tonya.
Tonya's church was about a 30 minute drive. On our way there Tonya told me about Sunday School and how she was going to be baptized, it was all foreign to me but she seemed very excited. When we pulled in to the parking lot I felt butterflies in my stomach. I didn't understand why I'd be nervous or excited about going to church, I went to church with dad every Sunday. As we got closer to the doors my excitement increased to the point of getting goosebumps! Then once I walked through the doors, before anyone even spoke a word to me, my heart felt overwhelmed with the very thing it had been searching for in my short 10 years of life...love. I couldn't explain it then, and all I really understood was that in THIS church building I felt like I mattered, I felt joy, love, peace, acceptance...all that in one moment without anyone speaking a word to me. I wanted to cry in relief for what I had found! I never wanted to leave.
Tonya and I became good friends. I'd spend as many weekends at her house as dad would allow so I could go to church with her. Then, in 5th Grade, tragedy happened. It was after school and Tonya was suppose to come over. We were neighbors of sorts, she lived about a mile up the hill from my house. I was watching for her from our porch when I saw a police car and ambulance drive by. My brother and cousin pulled in to our driveway about the same time and said "Something happened just up the hill. We're going to go check it out." Since Tonya wasn't there yet I decided to go with them. We walked to the end of our yard and noticed a bicycle laying on the pavement where the paramedics were working. It didn't connect that I had seen that bicycle before, but being from a small town we figured it would be someone we knew so we started guessing who the paramedics could be helping. As we were playing the guessing game, not knowing how injured the person really was, I looked up the hill to see if Tonya was on her way yet. Just as I looked up, Tonya's parent's car was pulling off to the side of the road. It all happened in slow motion...I saw their car, looked toward the accident scene and saw the paramedics lift the sheet covered body into the ambulance, then it all clicked and I began to scream uncontrollably. My screaming made my brother also realize it was Tonya who the paramedics just lifted into the ambulance. I couldn't walk, I couldn't breathe, all I could do was wail in agony. My brother picked me up and carried me into the house. My mom came rushing to see what happened, my dad told my brother to shut me up...but I couldn't stop. My brother took me to my bedroom and I laid there weeping for hours. My mind kept replaying the surreal scene of my friend's bike lying mangled on the road, her parents faces when they got out of the car, and the lifeless body the paramedics lifted into the ambulance. At some point I fell asleep.
Later that evening Tonya's parents called to tell me the news, that Tonya had been hit by a truck and died at the scene. They wanted to tell me themselves, but had also called to ask me not to come to the funeral because they didn't want me to see Tonya in that state. I agreed, because I loved them and wanted to honor them, but as the time of the funeral drew closer Tonya's parents changed their mind. They later told me that the impact of the truck that hit Tonya was so strong that her head was severely damaged and they didn't want me to see her in that condition, however, the funeral home did a good job of restoring Tonya to her natural state so they felt it wouldn't be as traumatizing for me to see her. They didn't know that being on the scene already traumatized me and that the anguish was further sealed into my soul by my father's initial love-less reaction to my loss.
Tonya's family and I grew closer during our time of mourning. I still spent many weekends with them, went to family holidays and dinners with them, we helped each other through the grief. Of course, part of spending weekends with them was going to church with them! I loved going to their church! I learned through Sunday School that the love and peace I felt while there was the presence of God...it was certainly heaven on earth! I would spend large amounts of time at the altar sitting in the presence of my heavenly Father, weeping because I didn't want to leave Him and go home to my angry earthly father, but it was inevitable. Every weekend I'd ask if I could stay with Tonya's family, or at least go to church with them. My dad started to get angry when I'd ask, so I'd ask my mom who would then take the brunt of his anger for me. After about a year of this my pastor told me it would be best to honor my dad and stop coming to church. I was heart broken, but wanted to obey my dad so I quit going. It wasn't long after that when I got caught up with the "wrong" group of friends.
Drinking was always a big part of our Polish family. Open bars at weddings, graduations, first communions, or for any celebration, so it wasn't a big surprise that the first thing I did to numb the rejection I felt at home was drink. I'd drink anything I could get my hands on and I'd drink until I passed out. I hated being sober because there was a void in my life I didn't know how to fill. Soon alcohol wasn't numbing the pain enough...and deep inside what I really, really wanted to do was just go back to that country church and sit in the presence of God but I wasn't allowed to so I searched for other ways to fill that void.
In my search to fill the emptiness inside I stumbled upon a young man who introduced me to the occult. He taught me that anger could give me power and that I should embrace my emotional pain instead of trying to mask it. I started to rebel against my parents (afterall, I was the one who controlled my life not them). Heavy metal music fed my anger and hatred, drugs and alcohol became my life and I didn't see the slippery slope I had started going down. I ran away numerous times, helped other friends run away, made plans to hurt those closest to me and attempted suicide.
During one of my excursions, when my parents didn't know where I was, my mom decided to go to my room and pray for me. On her way up the stairs she heard laughter and a voice said, "We have your daughter." Being the praying woman that she was, she declared "Oh no you don't!" I have no doubt her recollection is true because I was deep into the darkness of this world at that point and made plans to run away to a large city so no one could find me. I thank the Lord for a praying mom!! Only He knows what I was saved from at that time!
When the police brought me home from that last run-away attempt the officer told me my dad threatened to kill me if I came home. (Why they still took me home I have no idea!) Mom decided I needed to get away from that particular group of friends, from my dad and from all the trouble I couldn't seem to find my way out of, so she sent me to stay with family in Missouri. When I first arrived in Missouri I was very depressed and still wanted to die, but having that time did bring focus back into my life and when I returned home I didn't have the same dark desires I had before...matter of fact, I would find myself sitting in my car in the parking lot of that country church I went to with Tonya's family. One day I took a chance and wrote Tonya's mom a letter and left it on Tonya's grave stone asking for their help. They contacted me and I started going to church with them again for a little while until dad put a stop to it.
Being a teenager is confusing enough, but when your dad gets angry with you for doing good things (like going to church) and gets angry with you for doing bad things (like drugs and running away) you start to feel trapped...so I once again turned to drugs, alcohol and physical relationships to fill my empty heart. I threw away my high school education by either skipping class or coming to school drunk, high or both. I had several teachers try to intervene (because I had been on the honor roll at one point) but their words fell on deaf ears and a dead heart. I finally dropped out of school two months before graduation.
During my second round of substance abuse I met a very attractive guy with red hair and the ability to make me laugh...which was a ray of sunshine in the darkness that surrounded my life. I spent as much time as possible with him and his group of friends. Soon I became his girlfriend, then shortly thereafter we found out I was pregnant. Expecting a child made me stop and evaluate my life choices. I was going to be a mom and I wanted to be the best mom I could be, so I immediately stopped drugs and alcohol and made plans to finish my Senior year of high school. I knew Jeff was a good person when I met him, and that was confirmed throughout our relationship, but I was still surprised when my 17 year old boyfriend asked me to marry him. So there we were, two high school seniors married and expecting our first baby.
The first 4 years of our marriage were rocky. We married in December of 1990, had our son January 1991, had our first daughter in October of 1992 and our third child (second daughter) in December 1993. I don't think a day went by that we didn't fight to the point of threatening divorce, but we were both too stubborn to let the other win by actually filing (thank God!). Then one night something supernatural happened. As I mentioned before, I had dabbled a bit in the occult. This particular night I had a very real and very disturbing dream, and in that dream there were demons pointing at me and laughing as I was struggling to set myself free. In my dreamy mind I could see these figures taunting me, in my physical state I could sense a presence in my bedroom. I tried to wake myself, but I couldn't move my body or cry out for help, yet my mind was awake enough to realize there really was something in my room and I could hear footsteps running away. As soon as the footsteps left I woke up and called out to Jeff. I told Jeff about my dream and what I had experienced, he suggested we get the kids out of their room and bring them to bed with us. As all five of us lay in bed Jeff said, "I think we should start going to church." My heart leapt with joy because I knew just the one!! (Later Jeff described what he felt that night when I woke him up; he said it was a physical darkness like he'd never felt before in his life and it scared him so much that he actually wanted to start church...something he was VERY opposed to prior to that night.)
Twenty years later we are still serving the Lord. What He has done in our lives and in our marriage is nothing short of a miracle!! When we stop to think about where we'd be without Him we cringe! We hear about what has happened to some of our old friends and say, "There but for the grace of God go I" because, as Paul told the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 6:11 "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." I am humbled to know that God loves me because I am so unworthy of His love! I was telling a friend about how I weep in church during a particular song (https://youtu.be/-S-GhY1P4Ss) and she asked why I'd cry...because every time I'm in the presence of God I feel like Isaiah "Woe is me for I am unclean!" Yet the Creator of this universe desires a relationship with each of us no matter what is in our past!
I am so grateful that my gradeschool friend invited me to church all those years ago...32 years later it is still changing my life! I Won't Go Back
In 4th Grade a classmate invited me to a Sunday School event at her church. Now, religion was a bit confusing in our family because my dad was Catholic and our mom was Templelot Mormon. Dad raised us to believe that if you're not Catholic you're going to hell, but mom quietly demonstrated to us that there's more to be experienced outside the Catholic church. Somehow my mom convinced dad to let me go to church with my new friend, Tonya.
Tonya's church was about a 30 minute drive. On our way there Tonya told me about Sunday School and how she was going to be baptized, it was all foreign to me but she seemed very excited. When we pulled in to the parking lot I felt butterflies in my stomach. I didn't understand why I'd be nervous or excited about going to church, I went to church with dad every Sunday. As we got closer to the doors my excitement increased to the point of getting goosebumps! Then once I walked through the doors, before anyone even spoke a word to me, my heart felt overwhelmed with the very thing it had been searching for in my short 10 years of life...love. I couldn't explain it then, and all I really understood was that in THIS church building I felt like I mattered, I felt joy, love, peace, acceptance...all that in one moment without anyone speaking a word to me. I wanted to cry in relief for what I had found! I never wanted to leave.
Tonya and I became good friends. I'd spend as many weekends at her house as dad would allow so I could go to church with her. Then, in 5th Grade, tragedy happened. It was after school and Tonya was suppose to come over. We were neighbors of sorts, she lived about a mile up the hill from my house. I was watching for her from our porch when I saw a police car and ambulance drive by. My brother and cousin pulled in to our driveway about the same time and said "Something happened just up the hill. We're going to go check it out." Since Tonya wasn't there yet I decided to go with them. We walked to the end of our yard and noticed a bicycle laying on the pavement where the paramedics were working. It didn't connect that I had seen that bicycle before, but being from a small town we figured it would be someone we knew so we started guessing who the paramedics could be helping. As we were playing the guessing game, not knowing how injured the person really was, I looked up the hill to see if Tonya was on her way yet. Just as I looked up, Tonya's parent's car was pulling off to the side of the road. It all happened in slow motion...I saw their car, looked toward the accident scene and saw the paramedics lift the sheet covered body into the ambulance, then it all clicked and I began to scream uncontrollably. My screaming made my brother also realize it was Tonya who the paramedics just lifted into the ambulance. I couldn't walk, I couldn't breathe, all I could do was wail in agony. My brother picked me up and carried me into the house. My mom came rushing to see what happened, my dad told my brother to shut me up...but I couldn't stop. My brother took me to my bedroom and I laid there weeping for hours. My mind kept replaying the surreal scene of my friend's bike lying mangled on the road, her parents faces when they got out of the car, and the lifeless body the paramedics lifted into the ambulance. At some point I fell asleep.
Later that evening Tonya's parents called to tell me the news, that Tonya had been hit by a truck and died at the scene. They wanted to tell me themselves, but had also called to ask me not to come to the funeral because they didn't want me to see Tonya in that state. I agreed, because I loved them and wanted to honor them, but as the time of the funeral drew closer Tonya's parents changed their mind. They later told me that the impact of the truck that hit Tonya was so strong that her head was severely damaged and they didn't want me to see her in that condition, however, the funeral home did a good job of restoring Tonya to her natural state so they felt it wouldn't be as traumatizing for me to see her. They didn't know that being on the scene already traumatized me and that the anguish was further sealed into my soul by my father's initial love-less reaction to my loss.
Tonya's family and I grew closer during our time of mourning. I still spent many weekends with them, went to family holidays and dinners with them, we helped each other through the grief. Of course, part of spending weekends with them was going to church with them! I loved going to their church! I learned through Sunday School that the love and peace I felt while there was the presence of God...it was certainly heaven on earth! I would spend large amounts of time at the altar sitting in the presence of my heavenly Father, weeping because I didn't want to leave Him and go home to my angry earthly father, but it was inevitable. Every weekend I'd ask if I could stay with Tonya's family, or at least go to church with them. My dad started to get angry when I'd ask, so I'd ask my mom who would then take the brunt of his anger for me. After about a year of this my pastor told me it would be best to honor my dad and stop coming to church. I was heart broken, but wanted to obey my dad so I quit going. It wasn't long after that when I got caught up with the "wrong" group of friends.
Drinking was always a big part of our Polish family. Open bars at weddings, graduations, first communions, or for any celebration, so it wasn't a big surprise that the first thing I did to numb the rejection I felt at home was drink. I'd drink anything I could get my hands on and I'd drink until I passed out. I hated being sober because there was a void in my life I didn't know how to fill. Soon alcohol wasn't numbing the pain enough...and deep inside what I really, really wanted to do was just go back to that country church and sit in the presence of God but I wasn't allowed to so I searched for other ways to fill that void.
In my search to fill the emptiness inside I stumbled upon a young man who introduced me to the occult. He taught me that anger could give me power and that I should embrace my emotional pain instead of trying to mask it. I started to rebel against my parents (afterall, I was the one who controlled my life not them). Heavy metal music fed my anger and hatred, drugs and alcohol became my life and I didn't see the slippery slope I had started going down. I ran away numerous times, helped other friends run away, made plans to hurt those closest to me and attempted suicide.
During one of my excursions, when my parents didn't know where I was, my mom decided to go to my room and pray for me. On her way up the stairs she heard laughter and a voice said, "We have your daughter." Being the praying woman that she was, she declared "Oh no you don't!" I have no doubt her recollection is true because I was deep into the darkness of this world at that point and made plans to run away to a large city so no one could find me. I thank the Lord for a praying mom!! Only He knows what I was saved from at that time!
When the police brought me home from that last run-away attempt the officer told me my dad threatened to kill me if I came home. (Why they still took me home I have no idea!) Mom decided I needed to get away from that particular group of friends, from my dad and from all the trouble I couldn't seem to find my way out of, so she sent me to stay with family in Missouri. When I first arrived in Missouri I was very depressed and still wanted to die, but having that time did bring focus back into my life and when I returned home I didn't have the same dark desires I had before...matter of fact, I would find myself sitting in my car in the parking lot of that country church I went to with Tonya's family. One day I took a chance and wrote Tonya's mom a letter and left it on Tonya's grave stone asking for their help. They contacted me and I started going to church with them again for a little while until dad put a stop to it.
Being a teenager is confusing enough, but when your dad gets angry with you for doing good things (like going to church) and gets angry with you for doing bad things (like drugs and running away) you start to feel trapped...so I once again turned to drugs, alcohol and physical relationships to fill my empty heart. I threw away my high school education by either skipping class or coming to school drunk, high or both. I had several teachers try to intervene (because I had been on the honor roll at one point) but their words fell on deaf ears and a dead heart. I finally dropped out of school two months before graduation.
During my second round of substance abuse I met a very attractive guy with red hair and the ability to make me laugh...which was a ray of sunshine in the darkness that surrounded my life. I spent as much time as possible with him and his group of friends. Soon I became his girlfriend, then shortly thereafter we found out I was pregnant. Expecting a child made me stop and evaluate my life choices. I was going to be a mom and I wanted to be the best mom I could be, so I immediately stopped drugs and alcohol and made plans to finish my Senior year of high school. I knew Jeff was a good person when I met him, and that was confirmed throughout our relationship, but I was still surprised when my 17 year old boyfriend asked me to marry him. So there we were, two high school seniors married and expecting our first baby.
The first 4 years of our marriage were rocky. We married in December of 1990, had our son January 1991, had our first daughter in October of 1992 and our third child (second daughter) in December 1993. I don't think a day went by that we didn't fight to the point of threatening divorce, but we were both too stubborn to let the other win by actually filing (thank God!). Then one night something supernatural happened. As I mentioned before, I had dabbled a bit in the occult. This particular night I had a very real and very disturbing dream, and in that dream there were demons pointing at me and laughing as I was struggling to set myself free. In my dreamy mind I could see these figures taunting me, in my physical state I could sense a presence in my bedroom. I tried to wake myself, but I couldn't move my body or cry out for help, yet my mind was awake enough to realize there really was something in my room and I could hear footsteps running away. As soon as the footsteps left I woke up and called out to Jeff. I told Jeff about my dream and what I had experienced, he suggested we get the kids out of their room and bring them to bed with us. As all five of us lay in bed Jeff said, "I think we should start going to church." My heart leapt with joy because I knew just the one!! (Later Jeff described what he felt that night when I woke him up; he said it was a physical darkness like he'd never felt before in his life and it scared him so much that he actually wanted to start church...something he was VERY opposed to prior to that night.)
Twenty years later we are still serving the Lord. What He has done in our lives and in our marriage is nothing short of a miracle!! When we stop to think about where we'd be without Him we cringe! We hear about what has happened to some of our old friends and say, "There but for the grace of God go I" because, as Paul told the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 6:11 "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." I am humbled to know that God loves me because I am so unworthy of His love! I was telling a friend about how I weep in church during a particular song (https://youtu.be/-S-GhY1P4Ss) and she asked why I'd cry...because every time I'm in the presence of God I feel like Isaiah "Woe is me for I am unclean!" Yet the Creator of this universe desires a relationship with each of us no matter what is in our past!
I am so grateful that my gradeschool friend invited me to church all those years ago...32 years later it is still changing my life! I Won't Go Back
Monday, February 2, 2015
Falling in Love with Jesus
Psychology Today defines “Falling in Love” as: One person finds himself/herself excited and preoccupied with someone else and desirous of touching that person and being with that person as much as possible. There is a frequent desire to share thoughts and experiences, even trivial experiences. It is a headlong, pleasurable feeling…the rest of life fades a little behind this dramatic daydream. It is as if there is a magnetic attraction to the other person that transcends rational thought. It is so powerful that, like other powerful feelings, such as grief, it seems to the affected person that it will last forever. It is the sort of thing people write songs about.”
If you haven’t experienced this feeling yourself, surely you’ve read it in a book or seen it in a movie…so let’s discuss what people “in love” do:
- You think and talk about each other constantly.
- God gave us proof in His Word that His thoughts are continually on us:
- Psalm 40:5
- Psalm 139:17
- Jeremiah 29:11
- When you're apart, you're dissecting the last conversation, both in your head and to family and friends and you long to be with them again.
- You feel excited about spending “forever” with them.
- You're smitten. Work, friends, family and hobbies take a backseat to your newfound love.
- You're a communication addict, constantly awaiting his next call, text or e-mail.
- God’s Word is FULL of love notes to us!! And, He loves to talk to us!
- You find no faults. Your love seems perfect through the blurred goggles of love. All the habits that would annoy you in anyone else seem quirky in your lover.
- God’s love really is flawless and though He has no habits or quirks, He loves us despite ours!
- You feel their pain. The idea of your love feeling pain makes your heart hurt.
- Romans 6:1-2
Ray Boltz sings the song Feel the Nails: “They tell me Jesus died for my transgressions/and He paid that price a long, long time ago/when He gave His life for me/on a hill called Calvary/but there’s something else I want to know/Does He still feel the nails every time I fail?/Does He hear the crowd cry crucify again?/Am I causing Him pain?/then I know I’ve got to change/I just can’t bear the thought of hurting Him/It seems that I’m so good at breaking promises/and I treat His precious grace so carelessly/but each time He forgives what if He relives/the agony He felt on that tree/Do You still feel the nails every time I fail?/Have I crucified you Jesus with my sin?/I’m tired of playing games/I really want to change/I never want to hurt You again”
- Your conversations never cease. Talking to your love is effortless because you have so much in common.
- You want everyone to meet the one you love.
- No sacrifice is too great to make if it will please the one you love.
Like any love relationship, if you don’t work to maintain it then the feelings grow stagnant and you find that you’ve fallen out of love. Psychology Today says, “Falling out of love involves a gradual loosening of bonding energies focused on your partner and a reinvestment of those energies elsewhere.
Growing apart can reflect a switch from interest in shared time to turning outside the relationship for friends, fun and emotional connection. If the hours apart involve activities that one partner disapproves of, instead of enriching the relationship the impact of the separate time is likely to be corrosive. Insufficient together time, even from purely practical impediments, also can lead to growing apart.
Growing apart can reflect priorities. Is sustaining your relationship a priority for you? Or are you really more invested in hanging out with your old friends, or watching TV than you are in sustaining your love relationship?
Growing apart can reflect a growing interest in a new love. There may not be a specific someone/something, but even flirting with worldliness can be a sign, as well as a cause, of falling out of love.
Misunderstandings, miscommunications, misperceptions, misbehaviors and mistakes occur from time to time in all relationships. The question then is whether or not you are willing to repair the hurt or angry aftermath. Many people mistakenly believe that harboring hurt and anger about how, in their view, they were wronged will somehow protect them in the future. Wrong idea…it's another formula for growing apart.
Falling into painful situations can lead to falling out of love. Emotional wounds from, for example, the birth of a handicapped infant or the death of a child can be particularly difficult to heal. If there is any element of blame, a gulf is likely to develop and to widen over time if the issues are not constructively discussed. Even without blame, after a trauma people often feel launching a new life without their former love will help them to escape on-going sadness or resentments.
Depression puts dark glasses on the outlook of the depressed person. Hopelessness about things ever getting better in the future is a hallmark of depressive thinking. Focusing on negatives, on don’t likes, makes the gulf between two loves ever wider. Criticism erodes love. Gratitude and appreciation enhance joy and love.
So, if your intimate relationship seems to be splitting apart, pay attention! And take action sooner, not later when the split has become a vast divide.”
We need to work at staying in love with Jesus!! His love for us never fades, so if there is any “growing apart” in our relationship with Him, it’s our fault and we need to fix it!! The most important relationship you’ll EVER have is with Jesus Christ!!
Falling back in to love isn’t easy, but it is worth every effort! Especially when we are talking about falling back into love with Jesus!! Of course, our flesh and the enemy of our soul will try hard to keep us from re-developing a love relationship with the Lord, but it is of vital importance…we need to fight for our relationship or it could cost us eternity.
- Restore verbal communication. Communication is key to any relationship. The only way to get to know someone is to talk to them. Pastor feels God directing us to turn our prayer lives around this year, just 5.8 minutes a day to start. 5 minutes out of 1,440 minutes a day to talk to our Creator, the One Who died to give us life. I heard a speaker once say that when we make a commitment to pray at a certain time every day, God goes before us and waits…so how does He feel when that appointed time has come and gone and we found ourselves too busy to stop and talk with Him? We wouldn’t want to be treated that way, and we are mere humans, yet we think nothing of treating our Savior that way? If you just had casual conversation with the love of your life every day, how close do you think your relationship would be after a while? Taking time out of your day to sit and talk and listen to the One you love is very, very important in rebuilding a healthy relationship.
Love Letter From God
I just had to send a note and tell you today
Of how much I love you and saw you yesterday.
You were walking and talking with your friends.
So I waited all day for it to come to an end.
Just hoping you'd want to talk with me, too.
But as evening drew near I did not hear from you.
I gave you a beautiful sunset to close your day
And a nice cool breeze to soothe you on your way.
Though I longed to hear words from your tongue
You did not draw near me, you didn't even come.
It made me sad and many tears filled my eyes
And within my heart I began to cry.
I saw you fall asleep on your pillow last night
As I spilled upon you the soft moonlight.
How I longed to reach down and touch your cheek,
To awaken within you a heart complete.
I wanted to rush down so that we could talk.
But you didn't notice me, you didn't even look
Today you looked so very sad and alone.
If only you would invite me into your home.
Of how much I love you and saw you yesterday.
You were walking and talking with your friends.
So I waited all day for it to come to an end.
Just hoping you'd want to talk with me, too.
But as evening drew near I did not hear from you.
I gave you a beautiful sunset to close your day
And a nice cool breeze to soothe you on your way.
Though I longed to hear words from your tongue
You did not draw near me, you didn't even come.
It made me sad and many tears filled my eyes
And within my heart I began to cry.
I saw you fall asleep on your pillow last night
As I spilled upon you the soft moonlight.
How I longed to reach down and touch your cheek,
To awaken within you a heart complete.
I wanted to rush down so that we could talk.
But you didn't notice me, you didn't even look
Today you looked so very sad and alone.
If only you would invite me into your home.
I have so many gifts for you in store,
Riches in abundance and so much more.
But I won't push you for I'm a gentle man,
I'll just sit and wait patiently, for salvations' plan.
But, still, you haven't noticed that it is I
Though I try to tell you in the deep blue skies.
I whisper your name through the flowers and trees,
But you did not notice that it was even me.
I send soft incense through the flowers that glisten.
Still, you do not hear. You do not even listen.
I shout love to you in the mountain streams.
I clothe you with sunshine through the evergreens.
When will you see, when will you hear,
Through the nature scents that perfume the air?
Though I send love songs through the birds that sing,
Still, you have not noticed that I am your King!
What will it be that will capture your attention
So that we may spend an eternity together in heaven?
Please R.S.V.P.
Love,
Your Heavenly Father
Riches in abundance and so much more.
But I won't push you for I'm a gentle man,
I'll just sit and wait patiently, for salvations' plan.
But, still, you haven't noticed that it is I
Though I try to tell you in the deep blue skies.
I whisper your name through the flowers and trees,
But you did not notice that it was even me.
I send soft incense through the flowers that glisten.
Still, you do not hear. You do not even listen.
I shout love to you in the mountain streams.
I clothe you with sunshine through the evergreens.
When will you see, when will you hear,
Through the nature scents that perfume the air?
Though I send love songs through the birds that sing,
Still, you have not noticed that I am your King!
What will it be that will capture your attention
So that we may spend an eternity together in heaven?
Please R.S.V.P.
Love,
Your Heavenly Father
2. Restore written communication. Do you want to be reminded of His love for you? Just read His Word! (Here are a few scriptures to start you off with: Romans 8:39; Jeremiah 29:11; Ephesians 1:3-6; Psalm 139:13-18; Psalm 138:8; Psalm 8:3; Isaiah 49: 15-18; Isaiah 44:15…try reading them out loud every day!) Remember writing love notes? Write some to God!! Seriously, writing keeps our minds focused.
3. Be thankful for the little things. When you’re waiting at a stoplight, or in the grocery line, use that time to chat with God and thank Him for every little thing in your life that you can think of in that moment (i.e. family, friends, your home (because you’re not homeless), food, clothes, the vehicle you drive (the taxi that is available if you don’t drive).
4. Ask Him what pleases Him, then do it. If you know something you can do, say or wear pleases someone you’re trying to win, then you have no problem doing it…there should be no difference in our wanting to do things to please God. So, ask Him what you can do to please Him. Your flesh may buck a little at some of the things He’ll ask you to do (or not do), but the ending result is very worth it
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to evaluate our relationship with God and make sure we maintain our passion for Him. Life gets in the way too often, we need to make Him our priority…make Him the love of our life, because we are His.
Monday, July 7, 2014
The Train of His Robe Fills the Temple
Isaiah 6:1-8 "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me."
I have been moved by these scriptures many, many times and for various reasons. 1) I saw the Lord...though I may not have physically seen Him, He is very real in my life. He's moved spiritual forces on my behalf to save me, to protect me, to comfort me. He continually lets me know He is a very present help, He loves me and desires a close relationship with me. 2) Woe is me...I am so very unworthy of the love and forgiveness He has bestowed upon me. I'm often overcome with emotion when I think of where He brought me from and that the Creator of this universe would think me worthy to have a personal relationship with Him. 3) Will you go for us?...it breaks my heart that there are so many souls in this world to be reached with the Gospel and so few people willing to go. What an honor to win souls for God's Kingdom and to plant churches!! 4) Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts...in the presence of a holy God I am so humbled, amazed, overwhelmed, peaceful, joyful. Words cannot describe being surround by the glory of His presence. I wish every human being could experience this touch of heaven on earth!
Our church sings a song based on these scriptures:
I saw the Lord seated on His throne
He was clothed in glory, Exalted high
And the train of His robe, filled the temple
The Angels gathered around and cried
You are Holy, oh so holy
You are holy Lord of all
And woe is me for I'm unclean
For my eyes have seen the risen King
And He cleansed my lips with a burning fire
And the angels gathered around and cried
I am reduced to tears each time we sing this song as my heart swells in worship of my Saviour and King. I am overwhelmed with my feeble attempts at displaying just how much God means to me and all I can do is weep in His holy Presence. Recently, as we sang this song, God spoke to my heart about the lyrics "and the train of His robe filled the temple". The Lord gave me a quick vision of the train of His robe trailing down from the heavens and filling our sactuary. He then reminded me of the significance of the train on a king's robe: in the times of the Old Testament, the greatest recognition for the king that he had been victorious in battle was signified when he would have a piece of the defeated king's robe cut off and sewn onto the bottom of his own robe. The length of his robe would therefore be a sign or an indication of his greatness...the longer his robe, the more victories he had won.
God met with me during that worship service to personally reassure me that no matter what the battle may seem like He will be victorious...the proof is in the train of His robe!!
I have been moved by these scriptures many, many times and for various reasons. 1) I saw the Lord...though I may not have physically seen Him, He is very real in my life. He's moved spiritual forces on my behalf to save me, to protect me, to comfort me. He continually lets me know He is a very present help, He loves me and desires a close relationship with me. 2) Woe is me...I am so very unworthy of the love and forgiveness He has bestowed upon me. I'm often overcome with emotion when I think of where He brought me from and that the Creator of this universe would think me worthy to have a personal relationship with Him. 3) Will you go for us?...it breaks my heart that there are so many souls in this world to be reached with the Gospel and so few people willing to go. What an honor to win souls for God's Kingdom and to plant churches!! 4) Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts...in the presence of a holy God I am so humbled, amazed, overwhelmed, peaceful, joyful. Words cannot describe being surround by the glory of His presence. I wish every human being could experience this touch of heaven on earth!
Our church sings a song based on these scriptures:
I am reduced to tears each time we sing this song as my heart swells in worship of my Saviour and King. I am overwhelmed with my feeble attempts at displaying just how much God means to me and all I can do is weep in His holy Presence. Recently, as we sang this song, God spoke to my heart about the lyrics "and the train of His robe filled the temple". The Lord gave me a quick vision of the train of His robe trailing down from the heavens and filling our sactuary. He then reminded me of the significance of the train on a king's robe: in the times of the Old Testament, the greatest recognition for the king that he had been victorious in battle was signified when he would have a piece of the defeated king's robe cut off and sewn onto the bottom of his own robe. The length of his robe would therefore be a sign or an indication of his greatness...the longer his robe, the more victories he had won.
God met with me during that worship service to personally reassure me that no matter what the battle may seem like He will be victorious...the proof is in the train of His robe!!
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Spiritual Dyslexia
Matthew
16:24-26 Amplified Bible (AMP)
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My
disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself
and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly
to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].25 For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting].
26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life [his blessed life in the kingdom of God]? Or what would a man give as an exchange for his [blessed] life [in the kingdom of God]?
Mark 8:34-37 Amplified Bible (AMP)
34 And Jesus called [to Him]
the throng with His disciples and said to them, If anyone intends to come after
Me, let him deny himself [forget, ignore, disown, and lose sight of himself and
his own interests] and take up his cross, and [joining Me as a disciple and
siding with My party] follow with Me [continually, cleaving steadfastly to Me].35 For whoever wants to save his [higher, spiritual, eternal] life, will lose it [the lower, natural, temporal life which is lived only on earth]; and whoever gives up his life [which is lived only on earth] for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it [his higher, spiritual life in the eternal kingdom of God].
36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life [in the eternal kingdom of God]?
37 For what can a man give as an exchange (a compensation, a ransom, in return) for his [blessed] life [in the eternal kingdom of God]?
As the children's story so eloquently points
out..."I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very
bad day." How? Because EVERYONE I came across was grumpy!! I couldn't
escape it! I can only take so much before I explode...so in order to keep my
Christian witness, I went for a walk to let off some steam. As I was talking to
the Lord, asking him why everyone seemed so contentious, my mind wandered to a
cartoon a friend posted on Facebook earlier that day titled “Dyslexic CPR”. The
Lord interrupted my thoughts and impressed upon me that the reason for all this
contention, indifference and lack of faithfulness that His people have been
exhibiting is that we are suffering from “Spiritual Dyslexia”.
So, Spiritual Dyslexia can be defined as: “Difficulty in living a Spirit-led life experienced in a born-again believer. A common example is ignoring godly conviction in order to gain worldly pleasure or self-satisfaction.”
As I was preparing this Bible Study I ran across something Bro Tim
Vik, the Wisconsin District Youth Ministry President, said: “If your relationship with God isn’t
moving from ‘self’ centered to ‘God’ centered…you may not have a relationship
with God.” God’s purpose for His people to remain on this earth is so we can
bring others to salvation. If that wasn’t His purpose for us we would be
raptured as soon as we were born-again! Just look at the example Jesus Himself
set for us while He was on earth. He used every waking moment to minister to
others. I’m sure there were times He wanted to give into His flesh and stay
“home”, away from people who always wanted something from Him, yet He never
gave in to self.
I
titled this “Spiritual Dyslexia” because, just as natural dyslexics do,
we get things turned around. To prove this to ourselves, prioritize these three
things SELF, JESUS, OTHERS. Did
you list “Jesus” or “God” as the first priority?
To further examine our priorities, let’s take the
time to answer some questions honestly:
In his book “The Gift of Dyslexia”, Ronald Davis (an over-comer of dyslexia himself), shares the
steps he takes when teaching people to overcome this learning disability. We’re
going to take some of his ideas to help us overcome Spiritual Dyslexia.
Matthew 14:26-31, Amplified
26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost! And they screamed out with fright.
27 But instantly He spoke to them, saying, Take courage! I Am! Stop being afraid!
28 And Peter answered Him, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.
29 He said, Come! So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus.
30 But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened, and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me [from death]!
31 Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?
If Peter had kept his spiritual “mind’s eye” on Jesus he wouldn’t have started to sink into the water. Likewise, if we will keep our spiritual “mind’s eye” on Jesus we will not sink into a life of sin. How do we find our spiritual “mind’s eye” once we’ve become disoriented? Prayer, Bible reading, fasting, praise, and if need be, counsel from your Pastor. Once you find your spiritual epicenter again it is important to maintain it daily!
2. Basic Symbol Mastery Mr. Davis teaches his students to relearn the alphabet once they’ve found their mind’s epicenter, and so we should also go back through spiritual basics. I’ve found that it is always refreshing to go back over the basic plan of salvation, we get so caught up in all the “rules” of living for God, we often forget about the sacrifice He made for us and from where He brought us out (1 Peter 2:10 “ Once you were not a people [at all], but now you are God’s people…”).
Reviewing doctrine is powerful in getting us back into the groove once we’ve strayed spiritually. Paul tells Timothy, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” 1 Timothy 4:16 KJV. Even if you think you know everything there is to know about the plan of salvation, go back through it!
3. Symbol Mastery for Words Once a student relearns his alphabet, Mr. Davis urges his students to use their new mastery of letters and symbols to form words and begin reading. During the reading process it will be revealed to the student what words trigger the disorientation that lapses them back into a dyslexic episode.
The Bible tells us that the Word is capable of discerning the thoughts and intent of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12). The next step in regaining our spiritual ground is continuing in the Word of God and allowing that Word to speak to us about those deep-seeded issues we are leery of getting rid of…those same issues that tend to trigger the sin problem in our lives (Hebrews 12:1).
Here’s
an excerpt from The Gift of Dyslexia…see if you can pick up on the spiritual
application:
“The
task of correction isn’t really complete until the person’s compulsive
solutions no longer operate. As long as the person continues to use the old
solutions, he might as well keep the old problem, because nothing will
permanently change. So in order for dyslexia to be corrected, the old,
compulsive solutions simply have to go…
The old solutions are no longer stimulated, so they don’t automatically happen. As the person experiences life, he or she will discover things that work better than the old solutions did. As soon as the person experiences a better way of doing things, the old solutions are replaced…
Experiencing the loss of an old solution is all the proof a person needs in order to know with certainty that his dyslexia is being corrected, and that the change is permanent.”
In other words, the more you read the Word of God and apply it to your life, the less likely you will be to resort to your old ways of dealing with life issues and the more likely you will be to live a life of victory through Jesus!
Reiterating the 3 steps to overcome Spiritual Dyslexia:
1. You
wake up Sunday morning with a splitting headache. Do you stay home or go to
church?
2. There’s
a family reunion 3 hours away on a Sunday. You’d have to skip church in order
to make the reunion, and you just missed church last week because the kids were
sick. Do you go to the reunion?
3. You
need a job and have an interview for the dream job. During the interview you
realize the hours interfere with almost every church service. Do you take the
job?
4. There’s
a movie you’ve been waiting to see. The opening scene comes on and you start to
feel uneasy with the images on the screen. Do you ignore the uneasiness and continue
to watch it?
The point to these questions is to ask ourselves if
we make decisions based on what we want to do or based on what Jesus would want
us to do. If we continually make decisions based on what WE want, what really is our first priority? We tell ourselves, and others, that Jesus is #1
in our lives, but often our choices show otherwise.
How many of us have heard someone say, “Just because I’m a Christian doesn’t mean
I’m a doormat”? It’s usually said after some verbal tirade. I agree that
Jesus would not have His children be “doormats” and there are times we need to
take a stand, but if we are painfully honest with ourselves, the reason we
blasted someone with our words was just to blow off some steam and make us feel
better. Yet, the Bible teaches us that “A
word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in
pictures of silver” Proverbs
25:11 and that “The discretion of a man deferreth
his anger; and it is his glory
to pass over a transgression.” Proverbs 19:11.
How many of us have seen, or
experienced, the slow fade of someone letting go of holiness standards? Oftentimes
it is justified with “Well, that is just
the standard for public leadership and I don’t have a position in the church
so…” Holiness is NOT
about holding a position in the church, it’s about your status as a child of
God! When you chose to compromise on holiness, it’s actually about
doing/wearing/seeing what you want without thought to what God wants. But doesn’t the Bible say “ Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive
you.”
2 Corinthians 6:17. “Speak unto
all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the
Lord your God am holy.” Leviticus 19:2.
We need to embrace the convictions
we feel, examine them to see if they are from God and give up that thing we
want for ourselves in order to bring glory to God! In an interview, MichelleDuggar talks about why she chose to wear modest clothing. She said after she
became a born-again Christian she felt
the Lord telling her not to wear certain things. Her husband had asked her,
“What about when we go biking, hiking, or swimming?” Michelle’s reply was “I
don’t know all the answers or details, but I just want to honor Jesus.” That’s
just it. Sometimes we don’t understand why God does or doesn’t want us to do
certain things so instead of examining the uneasiness we feel, we just push it
aside and do what we want to do for ourselves. There are times we won’t intellectually
understand why God is giving us a conviction on something, after all His ways
are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), but if we honestly live a life
controlled by Christ we will obey Him without completely understanding why. I
can’t emphasize enough how important it is to NOT quench the uneasy feeling we
get when watching a movie, clothes shopping or contemplating that make-over.
That uneasiness is God’s Spirit speaking to us and calling us into a deeper
relationship with Him. Be assured that whatever you give up for the glory of
God will be replaced with a deeper, more fulfilled life in Christ.
A healthy spiritual life is putting Jesus first in
everything, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us, or how many
self-sacrifices we have to make. When we chose to ignore that uneasiness and continue to
follow our own desires we start to lose spiritual equilibrium (a state or
feeling of mental balance) and Spiritual Dyslexia sets in. Spiritual Dyslexia
can be fatal to our eternal souls as we see in the opening scriptures.
Just as there
are warning signs with dyslexia there are also Spiritual Dyslexia warning
signs: Discontent (always wanting more things/money), easily angered, lack of
prayer/fasting, vanity/pride...just to name a few. Good news, however, like
physical dyslexia, Spiritual Dyslexia can be overcome!
Matthew 14:26-31, Amplified
26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost! And they screamed out with fright.
27 But instantly He spoke to them, saying, Take courage! I Am! Stop being afraid!
28 And Peter answered Him, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.
29 He said, Come! So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus.
30 But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened, and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me [from death]!
31 Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?
If Peter had kept his spiritual “mind’s eye” on Jesus he wouldn’t have started to sink into the water. Likewise, if we will keep our spiritual “mind’s eye” on Jesus we will not sink into a life of sin. How do we find our spiritual “mind’s eye” once we’ve become disoriented? Prayer, Bible reading, fasting, praise, and if need be, counsel from your Pastor. Once you find your spiritual epicenter again it is important to maintain it daily!
2. Basic Symbol Mastery Mr. Davis teaches his students to relearn the alphabet once they’ve found their mind’s epicenter, and so we should also go back through spiritual basics. I’ve found that it is always refreshing to go back over the basic plan of salvation, we get so caught up in all the “rules” of living for God, we often forget about the sacrifice He made for us and from where He brought us out (1 Peter 2:10 “ Once you were not a people [at all], but now you are God’s people…”).
Reviewing doctrine is powerful in getting us back into the groove once we’ve strayed spiritually. Paul tells Timothy, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” 1 Timothy 4:16 KJV. Even if you think you know everything there is to know about the plan of salvation, go back through it!
3. Symbol Mastery for Words Once a student relearns his alphabet, Mr. Davis urges his students to use their new mastery of letters and symbols to form words and begin reading. During the reading process it will be revealed to the student what words trigger the disorientation that lapses them back into a dyslexic episode.
The Bible tells us that the Word is capable of discerning the thoughts and intent of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12). The next step in regaining our spiritual ground is continuing in the Word of God and allowing that Word to speak to us about those deep-seeded issues we are leery of getting rid of…those same issues that tend to trigger the sin problem in our lives (Hebrews 12:1).
The old solutions are no longer stimulated, so they don’t automatically happen. As the person experiences life, he or she will discover things that work better than the old solutions did. As soon as the person experiences a better way of doing things, the old solutions are replaced…
Experiencing the loss of an old solution is all the proof a person needs in order to know with certainty that his dyslexia is being corrected, and that the change is permanent.”
In other words, the more you read the Word of God and apply it to your life, the less likely you will be to resort to your old ways of dealing with life issues and the more likely you will be to live a life of victory through Jesus!
Reiterating the 3 steps to overcome Spiritual Dyslexia:
1)
Find your spiritual mind’s eye through Bible reading,
prayer, fasting, praise and counsel.
2)
Master the basics of salvation by re-studying Apostolic
Doctrine.
3)
Master
the Word of God by applying it to every aspect of your life and allowing it to
discern your desires from God’s desires for you.
John says it well in his Epistle:
2-3 Here’s how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.
4-6 If someone claims, “I know him well!” but doesn’t keep his commandments, he’s obviously a liar. His life doesn’t match his words. But the one who keeps God’s word is the person in whom we see God’s mature love. This is the only way to be sure we’re in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.
7-8 My dear friends, I’m not writing anything new here. This is the oldest commandment in the book, and you’ve known it from day one. It’s always been implicit in the Message you’ve heard. On the other hand, perhaps it is new, freshly minted as it is in both Christ and you—the darkness on its way out and the True Light already blazing!
12-13 I remind you, my dear children: Your sins are forgiven in Jesus’ name. You veterans were in on the ground floor, and know the One who started all this; you newcomers have won a big victory over the Evil One.
13-14 And a second reminder, dear children: You know the Father from personal experience. You veterans know the One who started it all; and you newcomers—such vitality and strength! God’s word is so steady in you. Your fellowship with God enables you to gain a victory over the Evil One.
15-17 Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.
24-25 Stay with what you heard from the beginning, the original message. Let it sink into your life. If what you heard from the beginning lives deeply in you, you will live deeply in both Son and Father. This is exactly what Christ promised: eternal life, real life!
26-27 I’ve written to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. But they’re no match for what is embedded deeply within you—Christ’s anointing, no less! You don’t need any of their so-called teaching. Christ’s anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught.
28 And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.
29 Once you’re convinced that he is right and righteous, you’ll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God’s true children.”
John says it well in his Epistle:
1 John 2:1-8, 12-17 & 24-29 The Message
“I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But
if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father:
Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he
solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world’s.2-3 Here’s how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.
4-6 If someone claims, “I know him well!” but doesn’t keep his commandments, he’s obviously a liar. His life doesn’t match his words. But the one who keeps God’s word is the person in whom we see God’s mature love. This is the only way to be sure we’re in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.
7-8 My dear friends, I’m not writing anything new here. This is the oldest commandment in the book, and you’ve known it from day one. It’s always been implicit in the Message you’ve heard. On the other hand, perhaps it is new, freshly minted as it is in both Christ and you—the darkness on its way out and the True Light already blazing!
12-13 I remind you, my dear children: Your sins are forgiven in Jesus’ name. You veterans were in on the ground floor, and know the One who started all this; you newcomers have won a big victory over the Evil One.
13-14 And a second reminder, dear children: You know the Father from personal experience. You veterans know the One who started it all; and you newcomers—such vitality and strength! God’s word is so steady in you. Your fellowship with God enables you to gain a victory over the Evil One.
15-17 Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.
24-25 Stay with what you heard from the beginning, the original message. Let it sink into your life. If what you heard from the beginning lives deeply in you, you will live deeply in both Son and Father. This is exactly what Christ promised: eternal life, real life!
26-27 I’ve written to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. But they’re no match for what is embedded deeply within you—Christ’s anointing, no less! You don’t need any of their so-called teaching. Christ’s anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught.
28 And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.
29 Once you’re convinced that he is right and righteous, you’ll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God’s true children.”
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