JESUS PAID IT ALL, SO OUR BEGGING GOD FOR FORGIVENESS (REPENTING ALL THE TIME) IS SUPERFLUOUS AT BEST !!
People often just don’t get it.
What am I saying?
I often just don’t get it!!!
(Or, at least, I tend to lose track of it.)
Now, I’m not talking about those big jail-baiting sins, lol !
But I often hear myself silently saying:
“Oh I’m so sorry, God, I went off track again :'(
Please forgive me, Jesus!”
But now it’s time to quit that whole mindset
Just … simply … let … it … go !!!
I lost my sister when she was 19 – auto accident – no warning, suddenly the light of my life – gone! She was 11 years younger than me. Very, very bright, compassionate leader in every way, loving, beautiful – gone! Shocked to the core! When my mother called to tell me, she prefaced it with “We must remember that God is Life.” I clung to her preface for my dear life and God took me through the “grieving process” miraculously!!! . I was told by many, many people that I was a tremendous inspiration to them. This glorious healing is available to anyone who asks. April, my sister, is always with me – in a very happy way.
I have always had a major issue with regard to the generally held construct of prayer. I spend hours and hours alone with the Holy Spirit every day but I don’t do an awful lot of talking – as I just love to listen. When I have issues and don’t know quite how to present them, He tells me “That’s alright, Robin, I got this one. Here’s what We’ll do . . .” We!!! . Did you get that? . We!!! . The answers are always spot on! . When I need a little help during the day, I sometimes just say (silently is fine) “Jesus, help!” . He’s there in a flash (‘cuz he never left!). None of this fits the ‘Our Father’ paradigm as I never need to beseech Him for anything. Even when I try a kind of standardized prayer, He just waits til I quit. But, how to pray for others? Pray in tongues. But, sometimes they have a grocery list of things they need covered? . Pray in tongues. What if… What if… What if… Pray in tongues.
David didn’t have this (New Covenant) type of relationship under the Old Covenant. Therefore, when he was repenting over his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah, he prayed,
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit” (Ps. 51:10-12).
However, for us as New Testament believers to pray this same prayer would be an insult to what Christ has done for us. God created a new heart in us when we were born again (2 Cor. 5:17) and sealed it with His Holy Spirit so it would never be polluted again (Eph. 1:13). He promised He would never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5), and His love, joy, and peace are now a permanent part of our born-again spirits (Gal. 5:22). Yet multitudes of New Testament Christians pray and sing the exact opposite of this.
Therefore, most Christians aren’t bold in their relationship with the Lord. They approach the Lord with fear of punishment and rejection. They fear they aren’t worthy and that they haven’t done enough to earn the right to be in His presence. They still believe their relationship with the Lord depends on their performance, and mixing the Old and the New Covenant makes the Word of God void in their lives.
Andrew Wommack
In order not to lose the gift of this beautiful Psalm and many, many others, I simply pray (as inspired by Andrew) “Thank you, dear God, that You already have created in me a clean heart through Jesus and have renewed a right spirit within me.” ……. Then I’m good to go, free of mixing, adding or distorting.
The English language – and every other language on the planet – is so deficient in depicting EXACTLY what we are experiencing. The Law has been completely fulfilled at Calvary. Jesus does not have to die for us again: we are redeemed (from the Law). Being born again, the old man is GONE along with the sin nature. We need to accept what is already done by renewing our minds every day – again and again UNTIL WE “KNOW” IT IN OUR ENTIRE BEING. AMEN
Galatians 2:16 KJV
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
A THOUGHT ABOUT TOLERATION
by Dr. Robin Starbuck
I just don’t think Christians are anywhere near tolerant enough – OF EACH OTHER !! . This simply should not be! . We’re all doing our level best to represent Jesus; but some of us act like we have THE LAST WORD !! . When was the last time we felt a deep loving appreciation for our brother who doesn’t see endtimes or communion or politics exactly as we do?
I was recently raked over the coals for being too open-minded!! . Sounds oxymoronic to me, but let me love in return. Whatever your path is, whatever your calling . . . that’s YOUR calling, your way, and it most certainly doesn’t fit every one of us! . Lack of forgiveness is the greatest enemy to a healthy mind and body. Let’s dump our own opinions about how another person ought to be conducting their ministry once and for all. Let’s ask Jesus to enable us to let go of all COMPETITIVENESS – which necessarily emanates from FEAR – and harness our God-given love for everyone in its stead!
HE CAN USE EVERYTHING
Yes, everything you’ve ever done
Or, been through
Everything you’ve ever dreamed of
Or haven’t yet imagined
He can use it all.
He can show you the fruits
Of your every experience
The good, and the better
(Nothing is bad in Spirit, and
Nothing is ever lost.)
Nothing real is ever forgotten
And nothing needed
Is needed for long.
You can bank on it – every bit of it
God can use (and is using)
Every last bit of you
In His infinite design.
Just something to think about…
Did you know the people that are the strongest are usually the most sensitive?
Did you know the people who exhibit the most kindness are the first to get mistreated?
Did you know the one who takes care of others all the time are usually the ones who need it the most?
Did you know the 3 hardest things to say are I love you, I’m sorry, and Help me.
Sometimes just because a person looks happy, you have to look past their smile and see how much pain they may be in. To all my friends who are going through some issues right now–Let’s start an intention avalanche. We all need positive intentions right now.
I’ve never heard a sufficient answer to the age old “problem of evil.” And it isn’t for lack of searching or listening, believe me. Even bringing “the fall” into the equation only serves to indict God, and make him the cause, as he should have seen it coming, what with being omniscient and all. What’s worse, is that “God,” and by that I mean those who think they speak for him, then indicts you for being related to the naked guy who ate the fruit, and therefore just as guilty as he. At the end of the day, your suffering is the fault of a “God” who blames you. All of these attempts at answers are a playing of the blame game, and none of them actually work to relieve pain or suffering.
The only answer I see as sufficient is the one in which we hear God in the cry of the afflicted, and then rush in to weep with those who weep, and mourn with those who mourn. Waxing eloquent in attempts to counter the arguments of critics, and to account for the existence of evil is foolish. There is no sufficient answer. Evil is real. Sure, it has no ontology, or being of its own, but it’s real, nonetheless. It’s a problem. And the only solution is you and I, following the example of the person of Jesus, in love.
The answer to the problem of evil lies not in an explanation, but in following the way of Jesus; in loving and serving a hurting, pain stricken, and suffering humanity.
~ Jeff Turner
NEST BUILDERS, PROOF OF CREATION
Some fish build nests by using a cement like substance from their kidneys. How could this have happened by chance?! Nesting, whether done by birds or fish, is actually a very complicated pattern. It is not something that a weak-minded bird or fish could ever have thought up by itself. Yet most birds and some fish regularly do it.It is of interest that, even if a solitary bird had actually stumbled upon the idea of making a nest, that bird would not have taught it to its babies. So the pattern would have stopped right there. Just as there is no way that the pattern could be started, there is no way it could be passed on to the next generation. “Oh,” someone will reply, “the information simply passed into the genes.” Not so, any good scientist will tell you that there is no such thing as inheritance of acquired characteristics! This is the product our Creator!
