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Post by Cindy on Nov 2, 2017 10:32:51 GMT -5
Before we do the bible study, I want to show you something I found in Stomp that may get us out of having to go through the whole thing. I want you to look at it in the papers you have so you can compare it to what I'm about to show you. It's in the section called: Chapter Six:
Complementary Therapies for Pain Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Gordon Irving, M.D. This is on approximately page 57 of the book.
OK, here's what it says and I put what I found in blue next to each one:
It is normal to want to treat your pain in any way that works and
is not harmful to you. Many people use CAM therapy and most
of this booklet is about complementary therapy such as exercise,
relaxation, and meditation, which can decrease pain and improve
function. Many herbals, vitamins, and natural products have not
been scientifically tested for benefit, side effects or interactions with
any medications you may be taking. The reason you get information
with your medicine at the pharmacy is because it has been tested
and the side effects listed. “Natural products” are not controlled by
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and their side effects have
not been studied. Use sites like www.mskcc.org (search for “herbs”),
www.naturaldatabase.com, or www.sciencebasedmedicine.org to
learn more about natural products.
Definitions
Complementary Medicine:
This is used with standard medical
treatment (e.g. acupuncture with pain medications)
Alternative Therapy:
This is used instead of standard medical
treatment (e.g. a special diet for chronic stomach pain)
Integrative Medicine:
This treatment involves the mind, body, and
spirit. It uses standard medicine with CAM treatments. That is what
Swedish STOMP has tried to do.
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There are five main types of CAM:
1.
Mind-Body Medicines
• Meditation: Focused breathing and repeating words or phrases
to quiet the mind. (Christians are to retain control over their minds and thoughts at all times and our minds are never to be “blank”.).
• Biofeedback: Simple machines help you learn to change
muscle tension and heart rate. (Christians are to retain control over their minds and thoughts at all times and our minds are never to be “blank”.).
• Hypnosis: Relaxed, focused attention on a feelings, ideas, or
suggestions to aid healing. (Christians are to retain control over their minds and thoughts at all times and our minds are never to be “blank”. Nor are we to give that control to another).
• Yoga: Stretches and poses with attention on breathing. (It’s based on the eastern thought of mind/body, and “chakra energy and the kundalini and against our faith.)
• Creative outlets: Art, music, dance, etc.
2.
Biologically based practices:
Often found in dietary supplements
and herbal products: vitamins, herbs, foods, and special diets. (Depends on if they’re from real science or quackery, and considering how much quackery this program accepts and pushes it wouldn’t surprise me to see more here too. See: www.quackwatch.org/ )
3.
Manipulative and body based practices
• Massage (some is quackery, some eastern thought/new age and involves such things as life energy, “chakras”, kundalini, etc, and are against the Christian worldview and our faith. )
• Chiropractic care: Adjusting the joints and spine. (many push a lot of eastern and new age thought into what they do. They are not real doctors although they try to make it look like they are.)
• Reflexology: Pushing on parts of the hands and feet to affect
other parts of the body. (Quackery – hard to believe any doctor would stoop so low as to suggest things like this. See quackwatch.org. Christians are to be wise and not waste their time or money with such things.)
4.
Energy medicines
• Tai Chi: Slow, gentle movements with a focus on breath and
concentration. (Doing Tai Chi, even for physical purposes, is paying homage to a spiritual belief system at odds with God’s Word.)
• Reiki: Balancing energy either from a distance or placing hands
on or near the patient. (involves such things as life energy, “chakras”, kundalini, etc, and is very much from new age/eastern worldview so using it is at odds with God’s Word. )
• Therapeutic touch: Moving hands over energy fields of the
body. (involves such things as life energy, “chakras”, kundalini, etc, and is very much from new age/eastern worldview so using it is at odds with God’s Word. )
5.
Whole Medicine Systems
Comes from many areas and cultures of the world.
• Ayurvedic medicine: From India, balances body, mind and spirit. (the word literally means “science of life” and stresses balance between physical, mental and spiritual elements. It’s completely against our faith.)
• Chinese medicine: Balances the body’s two forces, yin and
yang. (involves such things as life energy, etc, and is very much from new age/eastern worldview so using it is at odds with God’s Word. )
• Acupuncture: Thin needles stimulate points on the body to
clear “blockages” and promote health. (involves such things as life energy, etc, and is very much from new age/eastern worldview so using it is at odds with God’s Word. )
• Homeopathy: Very small amounts of substances are used to
help the body heal. (quackery and developed with the new age/eastern view of man, nature etc which is against our faith. www.solasisters.com/2014/04/a-warning-to-christians-about-homeopathy.html
• Naturopathic medicine: Uses different methods to help the
body heal. (Quackery and against the Christian worldview.)
This stated that STOMP mainly uses these things, and all are against our faith, so why should we have to go through the entire thing and keep underlining the stuff over and over again?
If that's not enough, then we can also add this. This is from the end of chapter 3 on about page 39 or 40 and is a list of resources:
Resources
•
The Wise Heart
by Jack Kornfield, Ph.D. (new age author; against Christian worldview)
•
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom
by
Don Miguel Ruiz (new age author; against Christian worldview)
•
Anatomy of the Spirit
by Carolyn Myss, Ph.D. (new age author; against Christian worldview)
•
A New Earth
by Eckhart Tolle (new age author; against Christian worldview)
•
Vibrational Medicine
by Richard Gerber, M.D. (new age author; against Christian worldview)
• Laughter Yoga International, (new age/eastern worldview ; against Christian worldview)
• Help Guide, www.helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htm
• University of Maryland Medical Center: Laughter is the “Best
Medicine” for Your Heart, www.umm.edu/features/laughter.htm
• ISSEEM (International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and
Energy Medicine), (new age/eastern worldview ; against Christian worldview)
• IONS (Institute of Noetic Sciences), (new age/eastern worldview ; against Christian worldview)
• William A. Tiller Foundation, www.tiller.org (new age worldview ; against Christian worldview)
• Mind Body Medicine Center, (new age worldview ; against Christian worldview)
• Wisdom at Work: Joel and Michelle Levey, (new age/eastern worldview ; against Christian worldview)
40
As you can see, the only things listed that you would be able to use is the "laughter", since the bible agrees that laughter is good for us.
I also wanted to point out something about the introduction which is at the beginning of these papers. Look at the part I'll underline and put in red and my comments in parenthesis:
Introduction
Working with patients who suffer chronic pain, no matter what the cause, can be distressing for both health care providers and patients. Often, primary care practitioners do not have the time or resources to try new approaches for chronic pain management. They write prescriptions for medicines or treatments that may not work, have troublesome side effects, or are only partly effective. This may lead to multiple referrals and procedures, often, unfortunately, with no improvement in long-term pain or quality of life. This booklet is intended to be a resource for those of you facing the limitations of the medical system in dealing with your complex needs. The choice is clear. You have to learn to take charge of your own care. (that's what you've been doing and your doctor is refusing to listen) Each chapter in the booklet addresses a topic that affects the perception of pain. There are recommended readings and links to several helpful web sites (not sponsored by drug companies). For those who wish to explore the subject in more depth, visit the Swedish STOMP (Structure Your Own Management of Pain) website: www.swedish.org/STOMP.
This booklet presents a lot of information and many different areas to focus on and tools to choose from. If suggestions in this book and the hyperlinks to other information sites are followed, the reader can expect positive lifestyle changes, improved function and decreased pain. However, the way to use this book is to choose one small area to work on, a path that suits you, seems doable and feels like a good fit. It is very important not to feel overwhelmed; (being told to underline everything in this monster is pretty overwhelming!) no one is expected to follow all of these suggestions. Although tackling more than one of these areas eventually is important in decreasing your pain and improving your quality of life, work in any one of these areas will bring improvement. Lasting change is gradual and takes time. Discuss with your healthcare provider and, if appropriate, your significant other to choose an area to start with and set a few simple measurable realistic goals.
Do you want me to do more in the body of this thing or do you think this would be enough to prove to him that you're not interested unless it not against your faith and is "real science and medicine" and not a bunch of quackery that wasn't even accepted by the medical community until recently, and some still isn't. I was honestly shocked at how much pure quackery they were including in this! I guess they've got a little bit for everyone lol.
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Post by Cindy on Nov 2, 2017 10:56:27 GMT -5
Don't miss my post before this one!
Opps I forgot the last two verses, so I will start with them.
Colossians 1:13
v. 13 "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, "
This is such a uplifting, joyful truth. There really is a world of darkness, when a person is unsaved. Oh some people may not physically murder others ( tho many do) but in their hearts and minds their anger, greed, seeking revenge for insults etc. they do and living a life without the Savior is darkness.
People may feel a type of counterfeit joy and happiness, for a short time as they accumulate money, power, things, etc. but deep inside they is a hole that cannot be filled and a sense of lack of true love, hopelessness, dread, meaninglessness etc. ( they may try to fill it with even more stuff, drugs, drink, fulfilling lusts etc. but the darkness remains, and often grows bigger).
Believers have been take from this and we ( I) am a citizen of God's kingdom with being loved by Jesus.
Which reminds me, I just deleted a bunch of my news sites.
v. 14 "in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin".
One of the most needed things I or any person needs is to be forgiven of sin.
Again people try to distract themselves from this most pressing need with things of the world, but it does not take people out of the darkness.
But I can't be redeemed by anything I might try to do or pay....that can only be done by God, Jesus redeemed me...He paid the price for the forgiveness of all my sins.
On to the next two verses
v. 15 "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation".
This verses tells us Jesus is God, not 'just a man', a prophet, or even an angel.
I really was not sure what to make of first born....because yes, Jesus is 100 percent human and 100 percent God.....
Nevertheless, Adam was the first born human ( or maybe not cuz he was not really born of a woman but created....so I am thinking if it meant the first man to be born of a woman, it might be Cain.
Anyway, after pondering awhile, I did what I do not do often, I checked in our MacArthur study Bible.....and he explained it meant first born as in preeminence.....
v. 16 "For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him".
And here is confirmation that Jesus did the creation of all things.....and again He is NOT an angel, since one of the many things He created were the angels ( throne, powers, rulers, and authorities, the various rank of various angels....fallen angels and maybe the good angels also?
I always think of this list as a list of the fallen angels but it may apply to both the good and evil ones.
Yes, Jesus was first born over all creation as far as His rank and position goes. It's not talking about who was actually born "first", because Jesus has always been alive, and always will be; unlike humans who are created by God in their mother's womb and are not alive before that, and technically not until they're born. But keep that in mind about it referring to rank and check out other instances like the ones MacArthur gives so you'll remember that when you read them too.
It's perfectly ok to read the commentary when you're studying if you want to, especially if you have a question about something. Just don't turn your mind off and automatically accept anything they say. Check scripture yourself and talk to the Lord about it and see what you think it means. You may disagree with them, and that's ok too. If you're wrong, eventually the Lord will show you. And if they're wrong, again, eventually the Lord will show you that too.
It looks good though. You're doing well. I'm pretty exhausted as I didn't get much sleep night before last and woke up in pain again just before 4am today too. So I'm going to go chill out after I check the rest of the board really quickly. Hope all is going well with you guys!
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427 
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Post by fearnot on Nov 3, 2017 0:14:08 GMT -5
Thank you so much for all the work you did on STOMP and I think it's fine and you did plenty!!!
The only one thing I wonder is if you could add the Newsweek article to the others? Whenever, I have a lot of time before I go so IF
you could do it, there is no rush.
I generally trust MacArthur ( almost 100 percent) ....
but...
he did say once ( on a sermon of his I was listening to)....
that he did not think our pets would be in Heaven,
He gave his thoughts on why.....
but I still held reservations concerning that LOL
Yes, I did delete many news sites...but not ALL....based on what you said.
But it was a good thing, I had way too many.
I had cut back once before, and then over time, when looking for something else on yourube ( like hymns, or sermons etc. or even the one or two news sites)
I see something that would catch my eye and then slowly on, more and more sites began to add up.
I was going to put the Bible study in a seperate post, but.....our internet server has been down all day, ad may not be back until 6 at night, tomorrow night.....
So, I will just type out the post here ( even tho the server is down, I had this window open to the quick reply when it went down.......anyway, I can type in the window, and when ever it finally comes back up ....I can upload my post).
v. 17 says that it is Jesus that holds all things ( in the universe together)....so tho scientists keep looking for the elusive force that holds the universe together....)
the answer is right here....It is Jesus, God the Son that holds all things together.
v.18 In this verse we have the word 'firstborn' again. But it's different, in that it says Jesus is firstborn from among the dead. It's true, that some other people were raised from the dead ( in fact Jesus raised several)
But they all had to die again.....
However, Jesus is first born from the dead ( in His 100 percent humanity ...his 100 percent God never died) in the sense, once He was raised from the dead.....He will never have to die again.
He is firstborn, because, we too will never die again when we get our new spiritual bodies.
Last night was another night of only a little sleep and again tomorrow I will have to watch Devon, because he is still sick. ( Hossanah had today off, so she watched Devon today, but she works tomorrow).
So I am really very very tired, and will work on this some more tomorrow.
Aha the net came back up....so I am going to post this now.
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Post by Cindy on Nov 3, 2017 11:01:49 GMT -5
Thank you so much for all the work you did on STOMP and I think it's fine and you did plenty!!!
The only one thing I wonder is if you could add the Newsweek article to the others? Whenever, I have a lot of time before I go so IF
you could do it, there is no rush.
I generally trust MacArthur ( almost 100 percent) ....
but...
he did say once ( on a sermon of his I was listening to)....
that he did not think our pets would be in Heaven,
He gave his thoughts on why.....
but I still held reservations concerning that LOL
Yes, I did delete many news sites...but not ALL....based on what you said.
But it was a good thing, I had way too many.
I had cut back once before, and then over time, when looking for something else on yourube ( like hymns, or sermons etc. or even the one or two news sites)
I see something that would catch my eye and then slowly on, more and more sites began to add up.
I was going to put the Bible study in a seperate post, but.....our internet server has been down all day, ad may not be back until 6 at night, tomorrow night.....
So, I will just type out the post here ( even tho the server is down, I had this window open to the quick reply when it went down.......anyway, I can type in the window, and when ever it finally comes back up ....I can upload my post).
v. 17 says that it is Jesus that holds all things ( in the universe together)....so tho scientists keep looking for the elusive force that holds the universe together....)
the answer is right here....It is Jesus, God the Son that holds all things together.
v.18 In this verse we have the word 'firstborn' again. But it's different, in that it says Jesus is firstborn from among the dead. It's true, that some other people were raised from the dead ( in fact Jesus raised several)
But they all had to die again.....
However, Jesus is first born from the dead ( in His 100 percent humanity ...his 100 percent God never died) in the sense, once He was raised from the dead.....He will never have to die again.
He is firstborn, because, we too will never die again when we get our new spiritual bodies.
Last night was another night of only a little sleep and again tomorrow I will have to watch Devon, because he is still sick. ( Hossanah had today off, so she watched Devon today, but she works tomorrow).
So I am really very very tired, and will work on this some more tomorrow.
Aha the net came back up....so I am going to post this now.
However, if you want me to just email those pages to you, I can copy them to another document and do that as it would only be a few pages and easy to send. Keep in mind however, that if i do that, those pages will look different then they do in the booklet that you have since I formatted them differently so it wouldn't be so long. So if you want it to all look the same, you need to copy what I did onto the papers you have and do as I suggested.
Either way is fine with me though, so just let me know what you want.
As far as the other stuff, I understand now that you want me to copy them into a word document for you as you can't do it. I'm willing to copy all of them for you and send them to you so you can print them. I'll try and get that done for you soon and will let you know when I email it to you.
About MacArthur and pets, I've heard that too although I don't remember it exactly. But knowing him, I'm sure he said that he was giving his opinion, because the Bible doesn't say either way. I'm sure he didn't say that the bible says that pets can't go to heaven....
Concerning the news sites, I had to laugh this morning at what I found when I was studying Col 3. I'll just show you a very short excerpt of a note I had on Col 3:1-2. Christians should strive to apply the following two passages to their lives as they seek discernment concerning the media. Phil 4:8 & Col 3:2–5. They should control the quantity and quality of media input. Christian ethics in plain language “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” (Col 3:1–5) I'm sure you know Phil 4:8 by now so I won't post that again lol. I just thought it was funny that should turn up again when we were just talking about it.
Yes, Jesus was the first to be raised from the dead, never to die again. But that verse wasn't completely different from the other one, for Jesus was also the most important - of the highest rank - of all who had ever been raised from the dead because without Him being raised, no one else would ever be raised again. (which is pretty much what you eventually said lol, you just left out that he was most important, or of the highest rank, etc which is the same thing the other verse meant by first born)
You're doing very well, but I'd like to see a little more then just two verses per day, or else a whole lot more written about the two verses. I do understand that you were tired though and don't expect you to do a lot more when you're that tired. Honestly it's really between you and the Lord, and what He finds acceptable. I only did 4 verses today myself 
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 3, 2017 16:25:49 GMT -5
Yes, MacArthur did say, it was his 'opinion' ...he did not say, it was a fact LOL
so today:
v.19 "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,"
I am thinking this affirms that Jesus, is equally and fully God,
even when Jesus came on earth the first time,
He was still fully God,
but He limited Himself of using His full power and lived as 100 percent man....
and the miracles He did perform pointed to His obedience to God the Father ( tho as God He deserved the same amount of praise etc.) but that was not His purpose while here the first time.
v. 20 "and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."
And this verse speaks to Jesus purpose while here the first time.....He bought and paid for all ( that were chosen and believe on Him)our sins by paying for them on the cross....
His substitutionary death means we ( I ) have peace with God,
because, all our (believers and my) sins,
are paid for...
and even, the Creation, which was tainted in the Garden of Eden,
at the Fall of man, thru Adam and Eve, will be reconciled.
v.21 "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior".
I can certainly attest to the truth of this by personal experience.
Nevertheless, God's Word is THE Truth ( 100 %)
God cannot live with evil and hates evil...
and as an unbeliever, I was an enemy ( as all unbelievers are) of God....
I did what I wanted to do ( tho it was sinful and evil),
because it was what I wanted or thought I wanted.
In my mind I convinced myself that God either did not exist or was evil... especially the 'Christian God'....
He was all about rules, I decided
( and I rebelled against 'rules')
and patted myself on my back ( with pride) for such being an intellectual and progressive 'thinker'.
Which is pretty much what many if not all unbelievers do...
v. 22 "But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— "
However, I was not happy and waaaaay more depressed ( than the occasional bouts I have now)
because now I have been bought and paid for true freedom, without stain because when God looks at me He sees Jesus righteousness
and I no longer suffer from being accused of my evil sins...because I have been born again ( my new nature is holy.....the Holiness that Jesus imparted to me)
In this life, I am not 100 % free of sin of the 'old man' or this sin cursed body ( I do not yet have my new spiritual body)
But because of the great love that Jesus demonstrated by dying on the cross to pay for all my ( and other believers sin) I have hope, joy and peace, I never had when I was far from God.
v.23 "if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant."
This verse kind of reminds me of when I was 12, I became very interested in Jesus and 'faith'....but I got such a backlash from peers, friends etc.
I had struggled for years as the 'ugly duckling' that other kids taunted with glee
and I so wanted 'man's approval'......my interest in Jesus, was an even bigger step away from having any hope of having even the slightest chance of being a tiny bit liked by other teens....
that within a year, I ditched the 'Christian' walk ( so as I 'thought' it was)
and started moving full blown into a rebel.
But that move, of course, removed any 'hope' of salvation ( at least as long as I was moving farther and farther away from the Lord....a true prodigal I was headed for the pig slop.
But there were times when I would cry....why couldn't I 'believe'....why did God reveal Himself in a way, I could 'know'
Tho I was moved as far away as I could get ( like Jonah...)
God loved me so much...(He had already chosen me),
and He would pursue me....
thank you Lord!!!!
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 4, 2017 18:48:01 GMT -5
Colossians 1: 24-29
v. 24 "Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church".
At first this seemed a bit confusing,..... what was lacking in Christ's afflictions?
So again I check what MacArthur had to say. He said something to the effect, that those pharisees that put Christ to death, had not gotten their fill so Paul was experiencing persecution that was aimed at Jesus.
I think in some small ways, many Christians even today, are somewhat persecuted ) not always for their own sins ( tho they still have sin) but because, the world system still hates our ( my) Lord and Savior.
v. 26 "the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people".
I think one of the mysteries was that the Gentiles would also be saved ( in fact, in a way, mostly Gentiles have been saved). Another mystery for the Jews, was that Jesus would first be the suffering servant before He comes back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
v. 27 "To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory".
v. 28 "He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ".
We (I) want to be fully mature in Christ. It is another reason to be in The Word, the Bible, which has True wisdom.
v. 29 "To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me".
Paul gave his all for the Lord in the strength of Jesus. In our own strength we won't get far. It is Christ in us, that will produce the works of our Lord.
Footnotes:
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 5, 2017 14:08:02 GMT -5
Colossians 2 1-
v.1 "I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally".
Paul was a pray warrior for those believers he had not met. This is an example for all believers ( esp. me). It seems easier to pray for those we know, we even have an idea of what specifically to pray for each one we know.
It's not that I have never prayed for believers in other places, lands, etc. but it's more general ( like comfort them if they are being persecuted, tortured or about to die, let them have an even deeper knowledge of your presence......
but that's about the size of it....however, it seems like Paul really struggle as in a spiritual battle for them. And so I need to consider that more deeply.
v.2 "My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ",
And here is an idea of how Paul prayed....so they would be encouraged in heart
and
united in love
Also to have complete understanding
and
the mystery of God....Christ
These are things I could surely pray for also.
v 3 "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge".
Paul goes on to say that in Jesus is hidden ( so we have to spend time praying and in God's Word the Bible, to search out the hidden treasures)
of wisdom and knowledge....
This is NOT the knowledge of the world.....which is most cases is foolishness ( like 'evolution, or 63 genders or sexes, and other complete nonsense)
no this knowledge is the True Truth from God our Savior.
v.4 "I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments".
And Paul ( God thru Paul) warns them and all believers to be on the alert for deceivers with fine sounding arguments....because at first some arguments by deceivers may seem plausible....they might even cause doubt
I heard a few days ago about a belief of the Jewish Kabbalah ( I think it was) that I had never heard before.....the idea was one of the reason some people are fervently promoting transgenderism, is because, they think because Eve came from Adam....the sexes were once both one as well as both ( something like that?) and so by being transgender, they can create Eden again....I didn't quite get it.....but I can see how a baby Christian might think that could almost be plausible and begin to doubt or at least be confused......but of course, transgenderism is not in the Bible....it clearly says in Genesis that there is a man and a woman...they do unite to have children but not for a woman to be a man and a man a woman.
v. 5 "For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is"
One of the things that made Paul ( and God) happy with the believers...
is their discipline.....
something that has never been my strong point,
but I am working on it....with your help :-)
And perhaps even more important, a firm faith in Christ Jesus.
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Post by Cindy on Nov 6, 2017 10:57:44 GMT -5
Yes, MacArthur did say, it was his 'opinion' ...he did not say, it was a fact LOL
so today:
v.19 "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,"
I am thinking this affirms that Jesus, is equally and fully God,
even when Jesus came on earth the first time,
He was still fully God,
but He limited Himself of using His full power and lived as 100 percent man....
and the miracles He did perform pointed to His obedience to God the Father ( tho as God He deserved the same amount of praise etc.) but that was not His purpose while here the first time.
v. 20 "and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."
And this verse speaks to Jesus purpose while here the first time.....He bought and paid for all ( that were chosen and believe on Him)our sins by paying for them on the cross....
His substitutionary death means we ( I ) have peace with God,
because, all our (believers and my) sins,
are paid for...
and even, the Creation, which was tainted in the Garden of Eden,
at the Fall of man, thru Adam and Eve, will be reconciled.
v.21 "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior".
I can certainly attest to the truth of this by personal experience.
Nevertheless, God's Word is THE Truth ( 100 %)
God cannot live with evil and hates evil...
and as an unbeliever, I was an enemy ( as all unbelievers are) of God....
I did what I wanted to do ( tho it was sinful and evil),
because it was what I wanted or thought I wanted.
In my mind I convinced myself that God either did not exist or was evil... especially the 'Christian God'....
He was all about rules, I decided
( and I rebelled against 'rules')
and patted myself on my back ( with pride) for such being an intellectual and progressive 'thinker'.
Which is pretty much what many if not all unbelievers do...
v. 22 "But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— "
However, I was not happy and waaaaay more depressed ( than the occasional bouts I have now)
because now I have been bought and paid for true freedom, without stain because when God looks at me He sees Jesus righteousness
and I no longer suffer from being accused of my evil sins...because I have been born again ( my new nature is holy.....the Holiness that Jesus imparted to me)
In this life, I am not 100 % free of sin of the 'old man' or this sin cursed body ( I do not yet have my new spiritual body)
But because of the great love that Jesus demonstrated by dying on the cross to pay for all my ( and other believers sin) I have hope, joy and peace, I never had when I was far from God.
v.23 "if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant."
This verse kind of reminds me of when I was 12, I became very interested in Jesus and 'faith'....but I got such a backlash from peers, friends etc.
I had struggled for years as the 'ugly duckling' that other kids taunted with glee
and I so wanted 'man's approval'......my interest in Jesus, was an even bigger step away from having any hope of having even the slightest chance of being a tiny bit liked by other teens....
that within a year, I ditched the 'Christian' walk ( so as I 'thought' it was)
and started moving full blown into a rebel.
But that move, of course, removed any 'hope' of salvation ( at least as long as I was moving farther and farther away from the Lord....a true prodigal I was headed for the pig slop.
But there were times when I would cry....why couldn't I 'believe'....why did God reveal Himself in a way, I could 'know'
Tho I was moved as far away as I could get ( like Jonah...)
God loved me so much...(He had already chosen me),
and He would pursue me....
thank you Lord!!!!
I love how you described yourself as you were before Christ as much of what you said is so very true of me as well!
You said: "But because of the great love that Jesus demonstrated by dying on the cross to pay for all my ( and other believers sin) I have hope, joy and peace, I never had when I was far from God." which is very true. It just made me think of something - that God gives us everything we need when we're saved - we're all looking for love (in all the wrong places of course) and when we're saved, God gives us love like we've never known it before. We're His "beloved" and no one can be loved more than each of us who are saved are by God. With that love He also gives us intimacy with Him, which we often didn't even realize we needed. We're also looking and wanting to have a purpose in life, and He gives us that as well, a purpose that's more important than anything we could have imagined beforehand. On top of that, He gives us the other thing we all crave (for various reasons), He gives us a loving family to belong to. His family, bonded together by the blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit dwelling within each of us. He also meets another basic need we all have and that's the need to know who we are, to know our identity. We tend to identify ourselves by what we do but God shows us that those are just roles we play and not who we really are. Then He teaches us who we really are in Christ and how our new identity that we got at salvation changes everything for us.
You did a great job with this!
Colossians 1: 24-29
v. 24 "Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church".
At first this seemed a bit confusing,..... what was lacking in Christ's afflictions?
So again I check what MacArthur had to say. He said something to the effect, that those pharisees that put Christ to death, had not gotten their fill so Paul was experiencing persecution that was aimed at Jesus.
I think in some small ways, many Christians even today, are somewhat persecuted ) not always for their own sins ( tho they still have sin) but because, the world system still hates our ( my) Lord and Savior.
v. 26 "the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people".
I think one of the mysteries was that the Gentiles would also be saved ( in fact, in a way, mostly Gentiles have been saved). Another mystery for the Jews, was that Jesus would first be the suffering servant before He comes back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
v. 27 "To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory".
v. 28 "He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ".
We (I) want to be fully mature in Christ. It is another reason to be in The Word, the Bible, which has True wisdom.
v. 29 "To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me".
Paul gave his all for the Lord in the strength of Jesus. In our own strength we won't get far. It is Christ in us, that will produce the works of our Lord.
Footnotes:
Your suffering occurs alongside of Christ’s. Your life story is embedded in his story. Your suffering, therefore, is actually a participation in the sufferings of Christ (2 Cor 1:5; Phil 3:10; 1 Peter 4:12–13). Paul is not saying that your sufferings add anything to Christ’s work on the cross. There’s nothing deficient about Jesus’ suffering and death. He is saying that there is a purposeful link between the sufferings of Christ and your own suffering. Your connection with Jesus means that your identity is bigger than what you suffer. Paul says: “If we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory” (Rom 8:17). Paul is saying that your suffering actually confirms your identity as a child of God. It does not undermine that identity, even though it sometimes feels that way. This perspective reminds you that as you suffer, you suffer in Christ. Your life (both suffering & ultimately, glory) is intimately connected with His life. Heart of the matter
You did well on verse 24 and verse 26 hon, but you skipped verse 25 and did nothing on any of the other verses..... I'm guessing that you were tired when you wrote this and perhaps in a lot of pain as well....
Colossians 2 1-
v.1 "I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally".
Paul was a pray warrior for those believers he had not met. This is an example for all believers ( esp. me). It seems easier to pray for those we know, we even have an idea of what specifically to pray for each one we know.
It's not that I have never prayed for believers in other places, lands, etc. but it's more general ( like comfort them if they are being persecuted, tortured or about to die, let them have an even deeper knowledge of your presence......
but that's about the size of it....however, it seems like Paul really struggle as in a spiritual battle for them. And so I need to consider that more deeply.
v.2 "My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ",
And here is an idea of how Paul prayed....so they would be encouraged in heart
and
united in love
Also to have complete understanding
and
the mystery of God....Christ
These are things I could surely pray for also.
v 3 "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge".
Paul goes on to say that in Jesus is hidden ( so we have to spend time praying and in God's Word the Bible, to search out the hidden treasures)
of wisdom and knowledge....
This is NOT the knowledge of the world.....which is most cases is foolishness ( like 'evolution, or 63 genders or sexes, and other complete nonsense)
no this knowledge is the True Truth from God our Savior.
v.4 "I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments".
And Paul ( God thru Paul) warns them and all believers to be on the alert for deceivers with fine sounding arguments....because at first some arguments by deceivers may seem plausible....they might even cause doubt
I heard a few days ago about a belief of the Jewish Kabbalah ( I think it was) that I had never heard before.....the idea was one of the reason some people are fervently promoting transgenderism, is because, they think because Eve came from Adam....the sexes were once both one as well as both ( something like that?) and so by being transgender, they can create Eden again....I didn't quite get it.....but I can see how a baby Christian might think that could almost be plausible and begin to doubt or at least be confused......but of course, transgenderism is not in the Bible....it clearly says in Genesis that there is a man and a woman...they do unite to have children but not for a woman to be a man and a man a woman.
v. 5 "For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is"
One of the things that made Paul ( and God) happy with the believers...
is their discipline.....
something that has never been my strong point,
but I am working on it....with your help :-)
And perhaps even more important, a firm faith in Christ Jesus.
Amen! It's your faith in Christ that enables you to have discipline and to work on it. It too is one of the fruits of the spirit. And I think you're doing very well.
You're finally at a verse I've been dying to share something with you about! “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,” (Colossians 2:6) This was really neat in that I'd just noticed something about this verse and then read something that pertained to it in another book that night that was really neat. Let me share what I noticed first: How did we receive Jesus? By faith that He would do what He promises. How do we continue to live in Him? Again, by faith, just like how we received Him! That's what this verse says - to continue, the same way we started - by faith! “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Phil 2:13) “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (Heb 10:23) “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:4) “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” (1 Thes 5:24) God is doing it, not us! See, when someone isn't growing it's because they're trying to do it in their own power, and not just letting Him do it: “He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.” (Col 2:19)
“If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
We do not walk by our feelings or our wants; we walk by our faith. We believe that as we conform our lives to the will of God in all outward things, to the best of our ability, He will gradually conform our feelings and wants to coincide with Christ’s feelings and wants. ...
Sanctification is not a matter of doing God’s will by our own effort, but of the life of Christ, which dwells within us, being released to do God’s will. How is it done? By faith. In Colossians 2:6, Paul says, “As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so live in him.” The power of God for us (Christ’s atonement) was only released as we trusted Him for it, as we had faith; likewise, the power of Christ in us can only be released as we exercise faith. As surely as we are saved by faith, we are sanctified by faith. As surely as salvation is solely the work of Christ, just as surely is sanctification solely the work of Christ.
What a joy! What a release! As a condemned sinner you came to Jesus and said, “Lord, I confess my sin and my utter inability to cleanse myself of guilt. Wash me in your blood and reconcile me with the Father.” And He did it, simply because you gave up trying to justify yourself and trusted Him to do it for you. He saved you. And now, as a child of God, reconciled to the Father by the blood of Christ, you come to Jesus and say, “Lord, you see how weak I am, how unlike you; how lacking in every grace; how quick to criticize others, how slow to recognize fault in myself; how ready to clutch glory; how eager for my own pleasure. Make me like yourself.” And He does it. As soon as you give up trying to sanctify yourself and trust Him to work sanctification in you, His indwelling life is released. The “hope of glory” comes into manifestation. ...
A good work is not something we do for God, but rather it is something God has created beforehand for us (Ephesians 2:10). This means that we are not free to pick our good works at random and charge into them with the banner of good intentions flying high. The works must be ones that God has prepared beforehand. He prepares works that are particularly suited to our situation, stage of growth, and future ministry—works that in their very makeup will provide maximum opportunity for the life of Christ to be released. ...
Suddenly I saw the implication of this simple truth: If Christ has set me free, then I am free indeed! I don’t have to entertain all the negative impressions that come knocking at the door of my mind. ...
He goes on to reveal one of the great truths of sanctification: “May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and he will do it” (1 Thess 5:23–24).
There it is, the secret of sanctification: The God of peace himself will sanctify. The one who called you to this life will do it! The renewed mind
We have a tendency to constantly think that we're the ones that are causing the changes in ourselves. Like when we take our thoughts captive and replace them with the truth, that's us, making changes in ourselves, right? Well, yes, in a way it is, but because we're saved, there's much more to it then just us taking our thoughts captive and replacing them. At the same time, God is present and He is making changes deep within us, the kind of changes that are permanent and don't go away. That's the big difference between what we do and what the new agers do with their positive thinking stuff. Whether it's taking our thoughts captive and "making them obedient to Christ" (not to just what we want like the new agers) or acting in a loving way toward someone who has hurt us, we are simply doing what we can to conform our lives to what we've learned in His Word is God's Will for us. We do this the best we can in the knowledge and faith that God is at the same time conforming us (our thoughts, feelings and actions) to the image of Christ - to be like Jesus; to think and act like He does.
The unsaved are trapped by their sin nature and can't rise above it. We can because God makes the changes in us that enables us to do so. What we do is cooperate with Him by doing the outward things that He tells us in the Bible, and staying in control of our thoughts and feelings. God continues to change us to be more like Jesus all during our life, and then at the rapture our salvation is completed when we get our incorruptible body to match the changes He made in us.
I'd like to share more from the book but will do it in my next post.
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Post by Cindy on Nov 6, 2017 11:18:40 GMT -5
This is a great book but sadly did need some discernment so I can't recommend it to just anyone. But I loved this chapter and would like to share it with you as it may help you with some thing you have to deal with. I think perhaps the way he explains this, may resonate with you and help you understand even better what we've been talking about for so long.
IMAGINE YOURSELF LIVING in an apartment house. You live there under a landlord who has made your life miserable. He charges you exorbitant rent. When you can’t pay, he loans you money at a fearful rate of interest to get you even further into his debt. He barges into your apartment at all hours of the day and night, wrecks and dirties the place up, then charges you extra for not maintaining the premises. Your life is miserable.
Then comes Someone who says, “I’ve taken over this apartment house. I’ve purchased it. You can live here free as long as you like. The rent is paid up. I’m going to be living here with you, in the manager’s apartment.”
What a joy! You are saved! You are delivered out of the clutches of the old landlord!
But what happens? You hardly have time to rejoice in your newfound freedom, when a knock comes at the door. And there he is— the old landlord! Mean, glowering, and demanding as ever. He has come for the rent, he says.
What do you do? Do you pay him? Of course you don’t! Do you go out and pop him on the nose? No—he’s bigger than you are!
You confidently tell him, “You’ll have to take that up with the new Landlord.” He may bellow, threaten, wheedle, and cajole. You just quietly tell him, “Take it up with the new Landlord.” If he comes back a dozen times with all sorts of threats and arguments, waving legal-looking documents in your face, you simply tell him yet once again, “Take it up with the new Landlord.” In the end he has to. He knows it, too. He just hopes that he can bluff and threaten and deceive you into doubting that the new Landlord will really take care of things.
Now, this is the situation of a Christian. Once Christ has delivered you from the power of sin and the devil, you can depend on it: That old landlord will soon come back knocking at your door. And what is your defense? How do you keep him from getting the whip hand over you again? You send him to the new Landlord. You send him to Jesus.
A Personal Testimony
When this realization first broke in upon me, I was out mowing the lawn. Suddenly I saw the implication of this simple truth: If Christ has set me free, then I am free indeed! I don’t have to entertain all the negative impressions that come knocking at the door of my mind. I don’t have to let that old landlord come barging in, waving all his bills in my face. So I consciously claimed my deliverance in Christ, and then I waited.
Sure enough, the old landlord was right there, knocking at the door. The thought came into my mind: When are you going to find time for any reading and studying when the fall program begins at church? You are going to be snowed under! But now I realized that this wasn’t my thought. This was a thought that was trying to infiltrate my mind, get me to accept it, so it could hold a club over my head. This was the old landlord trying to collect from me a bill marked “Worry.”
“You’ll have to take that up with Jesus,” I told him.
He began to enumerate a few more details, telling me how impossible the fall schedule was going to be. But I told him again, “That may all be true, but will you take it up with Jesus, please?”He went reluctantly. He knew I was right. “Cast all your anxieties on him [God], for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7).
The old landlord didn’t stay away long. He was back a few moments later.
“Say, I want to come in and talk with you about those people that have been telling lies about you.” He had a nice friendly smile on his face. He oozed concern. But I saw what he had behind his back: a big fat bill marked “Self-pity.”
“Take it up with Jesus,” I told him.
“They may get you in real trouble!” His voice took on a little edge, and I saw that he had another bill lurking behind his back marked “Fear.”
The same answer: “Take it up with Jesus.” That’s the way I handle temptation now. Not willpower, not strength of character, not making a flock of resolutions. Just: “Take it to Jesus.”
The old landlord must have come back a couple hundred times that first hour while I was out mowing the lawn. I never realized before what a playground for Satan our minds can become. But here’s the point, and the power: We don’t have to let him in! Christ has delivered us, really delivered us. When these thoughts come knocking at the door of our mind, we can quietly send them on to Jesus.
Don’t argue with them. That’s letting them get one foot in the door. (That was Eve’s trouble—she got into a conversation with the Tempter.)
Before the conversation even gets under way, quietly and confidently say, “Take that up with Jesus.”
Four Practical Tips
1. Don’t let your feelings fool you. Feelings are one of the old landlord’s strongest weapons. When he waves these things in your face, it will stir up all the old feelings you had before Christ delivered you—fear, doubt, guilt, lust, anxiety, despair. The old feelings will be right there, and strong. Don’t be afraid of them. Simply do not follow them. Rather, just quietly tell that thought, “Take the whole matter up with Jesus.” It may take some persistence on your part, but eventually he will leave. He has to. You have the name of Power.
When Christ sets you free, it’s like pulling a big weed out by the roots. There are little troughs left in the earth, where the roots used to be. These don’t cover over at once. So what does the Enemy do? He beams a thought into your mind. He lays it right in the trough where the old root used to be—right where the memories are still easily aroused, right where the feelings that used to accompany that thing still lie raw and exposed. The memories stir up, the feelings are inflamed. Your faith in Christ faces a practical test. Are you going to trust the Word and promise of God, even despite your thoughts and feelings?
Remember the simple rule: Feelings follow faith. The old landlord cannot stay around forever. When he leaves, your feelings will subside.
2. Do not become discouraged by the frequency or the repetition of the same temptation. Repetition is another of the old landlord’s favorite weapons. We might resist him two, three, four times, but then we become weary. He convinces us that we are, after all, still as undelivered as ever. So we open the door and let him in.
If the same thought comes back a hundred times in the same day, a hundred times quietly and confidently send it on to Jesus. And rejoice! Yes, rejoice! Because the old landlord cannot come knocking one more time than he gets permission from God to do so.
Read the book of Job and see: Before Satan ever moved against Job, he had to get permission from God to do so. God lets the old landlord come knocking. This is the way in which your faith is built up. Every time you send the old landlord on to Jesus, your faith in your Deliverer is strengthened. And if he knocks loud and bellows fiercely, and if he returns a hundred, yes, a thousand times, rejoice! For with every encounter—with every turning him away to Jesus— you are being knit in trust and faith to your Deliverer.
3. Do not feel that this requires some kind of superhuman willpower. This whole way of victory in Jesus is not based on willpower at all: It is based on faith—faith in the reality and authority of Jesus.
Consider again our illustration: Suppose the old landlord comes knocking at the door when the father and mother of the family have gone to the store. The five-year-old daughter is home alone. He blusters out his usual threats and demands. In herself the child has no “strength.” She is just a five-year-old. But she is prepared. She knows the way things really stand.
By no strength of her own, but purely because of the incontestable authority of the new Landlord, she says calmly and confidently, “You’ll have to take that up with the new Landlord.” No fear. No shouting. No struggle. No “willpower.” Just simple trust and confidence (the Bible calls it “faith”) in an incontestable authority. That is what you have in Jesus: An Incontestable Authority. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18).
4. Cut your conversation with the old landlord short. In effect, get him to understand that you have other important things to do! For instance, you can turn to Jesus in an act of worship, song, or praise. This guards against the danger of this whole thing becoming just a “new law”—a routine you follow, more or less successfully, but one that does not really build up your personal relationship to Jesus.
Imagine the case of a man who has had a habit of lust. He cannot sit down at a lunch counter without casting a furtive, lusting glance at the waitress. He never goes by a newsstand without paging through some lurid book or magazine. Even in his relations with his wife, more lust exists than real love.
Then he is saved. He receives the life of Jesus, and he knows that he cannot continue to do this sort of thing. But he does not understand this life of deliverance-through-Jesus. So he merely applies the law. He tries to “contain” this lust of the flesh by resolve and willpower. He has a measure of success, but also many a failure. And in none of this is he really bound to Jesus in love. In fact, he may even begin inwardly to resent the hard life Jesus calls him to and excuse himself a little lusting.
But now he learns this life of deliverance. He sees a lewd magazine on a bus station rack. He does not “fight” against this temptation. He does not simply grit his teeth and suffer through the duration of this temptation, saying over and over to himself, “I will not lust, I will not lust, I will not lust.” Evil resisted grows stronger. “The power of sin is the law” (1 Corinthians 15:56). The more he invokes the law against his lusting, the more powerful grows the sin within him. He has tried that method before and failed.
The way of real deliverance lies in quite another direction. He sees the lewd magazine. He quietly recognizes within himself that this is a situation of temptation. At once he takes up his impregnable position IN CHRIST through an act of conscious worship. He averts his eyes from the immediate source of temptation and inwardly begins to praise Jesus. Perhaps he sings a hymn to himself. He praises his wonderful DELIVERER. Not in a fearful spirit, as though the lust at any moment might break through the door. (He has sent it on to Jesus, and it has to leave!) He praises Jesus in a joyful, confident spirit, knowing that He, Jesus, has won the victory over lust. His authority cannot be challenged.
As he binds himself to Jesus in this conscious act of worship, the temptation will retreat. It is not the law that has saved him. He has simply yielded the whole thing to Jesus through an act of worship.
Another strategy is to enter into a preconceived plan of intercession. A man once found himself afflicted by blasphemous thoughts. He fought against them with all the resources of his conscious will, but to no avail. Then he struck on a different approach. He determined that whenever these blasphemous thoughts came knocking at the door of his mind, he would begin praying for his cousin Henry, a missionary in China. It was not long before the old landlord quit bringing that blasphemy bill around for collection, for he found that all it did was stir up a lot of prayer for China!
Turning to some routine job is another way to excuse yourself from a conversation with the old landlord. A good stint of garden work or taking care of some long-needed repairs around the house has frustrated the old landlord’s plans more than once. I'm not to sure about this last one however, as at least for some, the thoughts tend to continue, so I'd stick to one of the other methods, although they could be used while working in a garden lol
It is important to realize that the old landlord may tell you the “truth.” Some of those bills are due—worry, hate, lust, laziness, pride. But that is not the point. The point is that Jesus is now handling the matter. The bills must be taken to Him for collection. He has paid the debt and set you free!
The Principle Behind It
This encounter with the old landlord is based on sound biblical principles:
1. “Sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14).
Does this mean that our spiritual life becomes lawless and disorderly? “God forbid!” says the apostle Paul. To live under grace does not mean to live contrary to law. It means that you are now operating under a different regime in the battle against sin.
One of the prime responsibilities of a government is to protect its citizens from coming under the dominion of any foreign power. When you live under the regime of the law, and sin mounts a siege of temptation against you, you start a counterbarrage of “Thou shalts” and “Thou shalt nots.” You hurl them with all your might, but after a time you become weary. Sin outlasts you and gains dominion over you.
When God transfers you to the regime of grace, you no longer depend upon the law to defend you against an onslaught of temptation. You are under a regime with much more sophisticated weapons. Not the weapons of law, which you must wield in your own strength and determination, but the weapons of grace that Christ himself puts into operation. When you learn to call upon the power of Christ, sin will not gain dominion over you.
2. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2).
The mind that is conformed to this world pays endless tribute to the old landlord. The renewed mind sets its faith and hope and trust and love upon Jesus. It takes “every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). “Take it to Jesus” and “Praise be to Thee, O Lord” become the obligato of one’s life. And in this life of trust, we are transformed into the image of our Deliverer.
So if the old landlord comes and calls you a terrible sinner, you simply tell him, “Take it to Jesus.” If he comes and stirs up feelings of hatred, resentment, or despair within you, you tell him once again, “Take it to Jesus.” If he whispers in your ear that you did a marvelous job and begins to inflate your ego, you tell him the same thing, “Take it to Jesus.”
If he comes to you with the whip of the law and says, “You have to be more loving! You have to be more patient! You have to be more honest!” Remember, Christ is the end of the law, also. You tell him, “Take that to Jesus. Whatever good is to be worked in me will come through His Spirit, not through the law.” And, with each encounter, you turn to Jesus in praise and adoration.
3. “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,” (Colossians 2:6).
The faith that brought Jesus into your life is the faith by which you live. He is all-sufficient. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. You wake up in the morning. The cares of the day begin to crowd in upon you. You send them on to Jesus. You go through the day facing the temptations and frustrations and problems of everyday life. One by one you refer them to Jesus. The life of inner warfare is transformed into a life of restful abiding in Christ. He is your Deliverer. He is, moment by moment, your ever sure defense.
Do you wonder whether such a life of faith and victory is possible? Do you find a little corner of doubt in your mind that says, “Perhaps for some this might be true, but surely not for me”? Send that doubt on to Jesus, and you will see!
Christenson, L. (2001). The renewed mind.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 6, 2017 18:31:57 GMT -5
That was a great chapter from that book.....very helpful!! Thank you.
Yes, when I was rereading what I wrote, I immediately noticed I missed a verse ( I didn't even notice I missed more tho). I must have been tired for sure.
It seems like as it gets colder and darker, I tend to have more pain and and more tired.
I will try to go back and do those verse first, and then move on.
Today, has gotten away from me so far....I did do Bible study first thing this morning, but did not get to posting.
Maybe that was a good thing, because it might be better, if I finish the missing verses first.
I am super tired right now....so maybe later on.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 6, 2017 22:35:28 GMT -5
so I know I missed
v. 25 "I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—"
Paul was commissioned by God. It was not so he could be proud and boast and lord over people, but he was as a servant. I guess it's a sin in most humanity to want to be 'important' ( which for some may be wanting to fill that empty space that only the Lord can fill.) And at the same time, people liked to be pampered but most are not big on being a servant, and putting others first....however Paul is a good example ( Jesus of course was the very best example!!).
Paul did not pick and choose, parts of the Word he liked but rather he was to give the God's Word in full.
Colossians 1: 27
"To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory".
I am thinking this verse reminds me of John 17:21 "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us"
We are as believers somehow 'in' Christ as He is in us....and it is a mystery. It is a hope of glory with glorious riches. But I think this is all God's doing, there is no way we could ever reach up to Him.
Did you said I didn't write on the other remaining verses in Chapter 1?
I did write something but it may not have been what was expected because of tiredness...
I will repost what I wrote and see if I can also add to them.
v. 28 "He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ".
We (I) want to be fully mature in Christ. It is another reason to be in The Word, the Bible, which has True wisdom.
So I would add that as we mature and get a better grasp of the gospel, if the opportunity comes to say teach sunday school for example ( if we can actually be there etc.) or in some other way, we too can proclaim the gospel and teach ( like you are with me) baby Christians so they can become fully mature in Christ.
v. 29 "To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me".
Paul gave his all for the Lord in the strength of Jesus. In our own strength we won't get far. It is Christ in us, that will produce the works of our Lord.
I guess I would add that this reminds me of the verse, I can do all things thru Christ Jesus. I for one give myself a pass to often because I am 'weak' and in myself that is true, but I neglect the fact, that the Holy Spirit, Jesus in me (us), can accomplish waaay more than I think, I can.
Just like you who are in a great deal of pain, nevertheless, post wonderful things about God's Word, Jesus etc. I almost always marvel and am in awe, that you can do so, and continue to do so!!!
I thank you so much that you have done so......what for the past 10 years or more?
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Post by Cindy on Nov 7, 2017 10:26:51 GMT -5
Barbara, you never replied to this part of one of my posts to you:
Barbara, the reason I told you where to look for those things in the papers you have is so that you could underline and add the things I wrote about them yourself. And then take those parts of it and put them on the top so that you could show them to your doctor first and he wouldn't have to go through the whole thing to find it. It would be almost impossible to email it to you as it's such a huge file all by itself.
However, if you want me to just email those pages to you, I can copy them to another document and do that as it would only be a few pages and easy to send. Keep in mind however, that if i do that, those pages will look different then they do in the booklet that you have since I formatted them differently so it wouldn't be so long. So if you want it to all look the same, you need to copy what I did onto the papers you have and do as I suggested.
Either way is fine with me though, so just let me know what you want.
As far as the other stuff, I understand now that you want me to copy them into a word document for you as you can't do it. I'm willing to copy all of them for you and send them to you so you can print them. I'll try and get that done for you soon and will let you know when I email it to you.I was mainly waiting to see what you want me to do about the Stomp stuff before I copied the articles for you.That was a great chapter from that book.....very helpful!! Thank you.
Yes, when I was rereading what I wrote, I immediately noticed I missed a verse ( I didn't even notice I missed more tho). I must have been tired for sure.
It seems like as it gets colder and darker, I tend to have more pain and and more tired.
I will try to go back and do those verse first, and then move on.
Today, has gotten away from me so far....I did do Bible study first thing this morning, but did not get to posting.
Maybe that was a good thing, because it might be better, if I finish the missing verses first.
I am super tired right now....so maybe later on.
so I know I missed
v. 25 "I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—"
Paul was commissioned by God. It was not so he could be proud and boast and lord over people, but he was as a servant. I guess it's a sin in most humanity to want to be 'important' ( which for some may be wanting to fill that empty space that only the Lord can fill.) And at the same time, people liked to be pampered but most are not big on being a servant, and putting others first....however Paul is a good example ( Jesus of course was the very best example!!).
Paul did not pick and choose, parts of the Word he liked but rather he was to give the God's Word in full.
Colossians 1: 27
"To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory".
I am thinking this verse reminds me of John 17:21 "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us"
We are as believers somehow 'in' Christ as He is in us....and it is a mystery. It is a hope of glory with glorious riches. But I think this is all God's doing, there is no way we could ever reach up to Him.
Did you said I didn't write on the other remaining verses in Chapter 1?
I did write something but it may not have been what was expected because of tiredness...
I will repost what I wrote and see if I can also add to them.
v. 28 "He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ".
We (I) want to be fully mature in Christ. It is another reason to be in The Word, the Bible, which has True wisdom.
So I would add that as we mature and get a better grasp of the gospel, if the opportunity comes to say teach sunday school for example ( if we can actually be there etc.) or in some other way, we too can proclaim the gospel and teach ( like you are with me) baby Christians so they can become fully mature in Christ.
v. 29 "To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me".
Paul gave his all for the Lord in the strength of Jesus. In our own strength we won't get far. It is Christ in us, that will produce the works of our Lord.
I guess I would add that this reminds me of the verse, I can do all things thru Christ Jesus. I for one give myself a pass to often because I am 'weak' and in myself that is true, but I neglect the fact, that the Holy Spirit, Jesus in me (us), can accomplish waaay more than I think, I can.
Just like you who are in a great deal of pain, nevertheless, post wonderful things about God's Word, Jesus etc. I almost always marvel and am in awe, that you can do so, and continue to do so!!!
I thank you so much that you have done so......what for the past 10 years or more?
I'm glad you liked that chapter from the book. I loved it! Anyway, I hope it helps you in some ways to defeat that depression and any other things that may come up in the future. You may want to add some of it to your notes as well.
I'm glad I've been able to share with you over the years. It's been a great learning experience for me as well.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 7, 2017 14:20:51 GMT -5
Actually I have written down on lined paper, the info on the authors, of the resources on that section of STOMP, you sent me.....
I need to re-write it, because I want it to be neater writing and penmanship.
I am still a bit confused it I need to contact Marcia Montenegro and ask permission to copy all of her articles on mindfulness, to give to my doc.
Also I guess, I need to do the same for the Newsweek article also...ask permission to copy and give to my doctor?
Also, I actually did a bit more research into some of those authors of that section of STOMP....
But, one in particular. I am not sure if this is accurate info:
I read somewhere in my searching that:
Carolyn Myss
( who is a different person, than the author and the person, who developed the Swedish mindfulness based stress reduction program...she is Carolyn McManus)
But Carolyn Myss......according to one source, said she has no medical degree,
rather she has a B. A. in journalism,
her PHD is from an unaccredited institution in Australia,
and she has a correspondence degree from Hawaii, which has been shut down.
I don't know, if I should make a note of that or not on the info I hand to my doctor....?
But in any case'
my other thought is...
what do I say,
if he even agrees about the list we point out..that many are New Age etc.
but
He counters with...
Yes, but...... many ( or all) of the others,
are highly esteemed, genuine, PHD's and doctors....
so couldn't you find help with some of their programs listed?
a sort of... don't throw the baby out with the swamp...I mean bathwater LOL
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 7, 2017 17:40:46 GMT -5
Oh boy! Did I say...you said...I missed some verses in ch. 2? arrgghhh
I meant, the ones I missed in ch. 1
Anyway, I did do ch. 2: 1-5 already so I will carry on.....I think that's right.
C0lossians 2: 6-10
v.6 "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him",
I ( we) receive Christ not by our works, or any goodness in us, but rather trusting in what He has done. However, we are not trusting in just a good man, or a prophet, or even a great powerful angel....we are trusting in Him as fully man, yes, but also as the only God....the 2nd person in the Trinity, as our Lord and maker. We trust in Him as a child trusts in their father.
And we ( I) must continue to live my life trusting in Him. Things may happen I don't understand whY....but just like parents don't always tell their children everything about what they are doing for the child, yet the child trust their dad is doing it for their good...so I ( we) must trust, that even hard, or sad things, will eventually work out for our good.
v. 7 "rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness".
The more we are in Scripture and in prayer, the more we will become like him, we believe this in faith and it overflows in us a thankful spirit.
I have come to realize I do not wish to be the captain of my ship.....when I was walking away from God, I only would steer myself into the garbage pit and eat with the pigs...like the prodigal son.
I don't even want that responsibility, but even more it is living without God is dark, without purpose, lonely, hopeless, and thankless.....not a place I would ever want to go back to.
v.8 "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ".
I guess false teachers want to be idolized and have power. They use deception that can snare some but there are some things to be wary of are if it's based on deceptive philosophy, human traditions and human made rites, etc.
v.9 "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form",
Jesus is fully God in bodily form...
v.10 "and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority."
This always trips me up because, I think I am not there yet, but this seems to say, its more like I don't access the fullness of Christ in me.
In any case Jesus is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. He is God, He is above all angels, good and fallen, over man, and animal and all of Creation...that He created with power and ultimate authority over all.
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Post by Cindy on Nov 8, 2017 13:11:59 GMT -5
Actually I have written down on lined paper, the info on the authors, of the resources on that section of STOMP, you sent me.....
I need to re-write it, because I want it to be neater writing and penmanship.
I am still a bit confused it I need to contact Marcia Montenegro and ask permission to copy all of her articles on mindfulness, to give to my doc.
Also I guess, I need to do the same for the Newsweek article also...ask permission to copy and give to my doctor?
Also, I actually did a bit more research into some of those authors of that section of STOMP....
But, one in particular. I am not sure if this is accurate info:
I read somewhere in my searching that:
Carolyn Myss
( who is a different person, than the author and the person, who developed the Swedish mindfulness based stress reduction program...she is Carolyn McManus)
But Carolyn Myss......according to one source, said she has no medical degree,
rather she has a B. A. in journalism,
her PHD is from an unaccredited institution in Australia,
and she has a correspondence degree from Hawaii, which has been shut down.
I don't know, if I should make a note of that or not on the info I hand to my doctor....?
But in any case'
my other thought is...
what do I say,
if he even agrees about the list we point out..that many are New Age etc.
but
He counters with...
Yes, but...... many ( or all) of the others,
are highly esteemed, genuine, PHD's and doctors....
so couldn't you find help with some of their programs listed?
a sort of... don't throw the baby out with the swamp...I mean bathwater LOL
Let's take it one step at a time. Let me send you the stuff I have, including the Stomp papers that I did and showed you here. Then I'll take a look at those "other authors" you mentioned, or if I don't have time, you can. And certainly you should include what you found about that author. Just add it to the papers like I did. Actually though, that's included by Marcia in her article about STOMP, and it's the first article on the Word document I'm going to send you. I had to condense the articles and remove spaces in order to get it down to a reasonable size. (It was 18 pages and is now down to 8).
I just now emailed the two word documents to you so you can print them out. You'll need color ink as well as black to print them correctly. I'll check out the rest of stomp when I have time and let you know what I find. You should do so also. I think it's best to check the lists of so called resources and definitions that are in each section as that would be the easiest way to do away with the entire section if they are against our faith. (like I did with the parts I showed you).
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 8, 2017 15:25:53 GMT -5
C0lossians 2:11-14
v. 11 "In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ,"
The Jews did a physical circumcision, which symbolically set them apart from the rest of the world, and in theory, made them children of God and thus righteous.....only problem is, mere physical cutting does not work a true change.
Thus the believer, also gets 'circumcised' but not by human hands, it is rather a spiritual and total change....so much so, it is as if the person you were actually physically died ( tho it did not yet physically die) but spiritually, so there is a new birth, a spiritual new born, in Christ.
Jesus gives the cutting of sin from us ( by taking it to the cross and paying for it) and He imparts His righteousness to us.
v. 12 "having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead".
And when Jesus died physically on the cross, and was physically buried, all who would trust in Him, were spiritually buried with Him ( tho not physically)...or 'old man.....our old self which loved sin, died).
and when Jesus was raised from the dead, we too were raised with Him spiritually, ( as we trusted in Him as God, to pay for all our sins and make us new born again people).
v.13 "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins",
As unbelievers ( and all unbelievers) we are dead....morally, spiritually, and we are headed for the 2nd death, in Hell. Many people do not understand the seriousness of sins. In fact, a lot of people, categorize sins into different groups....some sins in their minds are so 'little' they are laughable and do not even count....things like gossip, little 'white' lies, pride ( which actually is being taught as a 'good' thing....be proud of yourself), living together unmarried etc etc.
Therefore, if you ask most people: are you a good person, they will answer yes. Ask them why and they will trot out big sins they have not 'physically' committed ( tho in their minds they have) like they will say...I have never murdered anyone ( yet they have been mentally enraged with someone and 'wished' them dead). This shows they are dead, in that they cannot comprehend the depth of their depravity...they are morally and spiritually dead....
In fact, a few are honest enough to admit they actually hate God, because they want to live in their sins.
dead...as I was, and so are all unbelievers... until they are made alive by God.
v. 14 "having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross".
But some also acknowledge they are in trouble with God, and try to 'work' their way out of it with doing all manner of 'good' deeds...but that can never work....the debt is waaaay tooo big, and also, all their good deeds have sin in them ( be it pride etc.)...not to mention, sin always grows and continues to grow and would if left alone throughout all eternity.
Only a pure and Holy God ( Jesus) can pay the price for all our sins.
And that is what Jesus did when He died, in our place...He took all the believer's sins and died in order to pay ( eternity) for them, by nailing all their sins to His cross.
That is an incomprehensible love!!!
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 8, 2017 18:06:56 GMT -5
Oh good! Yeah when I saw what you wrote about them being new age etc. I went to their very own web sites to see what they were 'selling' and I also looked at sites praising them......as new age....etc.
However, some sites gave even more info.....like the resource woman, who only has a journalism BA and 2 iffy other degrees....from either unaccredited place or an online place that got shut down.
So yeah I will keep searching
and thank you for putting articles in a word doc.
I amy send them to Leonard's e-mail.....the printer is hooked up to his computer, not mine.
Thank you again.
I also just put the Newsweek link in the mindfulness topic...cuz I didn't want to post wrong again.
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Post by Cindy on Nov 9, 2017 13:01:45 GMT -5
You posted this bible study post in the Christian Chat thread, so I moved it and put it here for you. I figured you'd have noticed it was missing and be all upset thinking you'd lost it or that it had gotten deleted somehow. I'm glad you didn't notice it was missing and so didn't get upset about it.
C0lossians 2:11-14
v. 11 "In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ,"
The Jews did a physical circumcision, which symbolically set them apart from the rest of the world, and in theory, made them children of God and thus righteous.....only problem is, mere physical cutting does not work a true change.
Thus the believer, also gets 'circumcised' but not by human hands, it is rather a spiritual and total change....so much so, it is as if the person you were actually physically died ( tho it did not yet physically die) but spiritually, so there is a new birth, a spiritual new born, in Christ.
Jesus gives the cutting of sin from us ( by taking it to the cross and paying for it) and He imparts His righteousness to us.
v. 12 "having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead".
And when Jesus died physically on the cross, and was physically buried, all who would trust in Him, were spiritually buried with Him ( tho not physically)...or 'old man.....our old self which loved sin, died).
and when Jesus was raised from the dead, we too were raised with Him spiritually, ( as we trusted in Him as God, to pay for all our sins and make us new born again people).
v.13 "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins",
As unbelievers ( and all unbelievers) we are dead....morally, spiritually, and we are headed for the 2nd death, in Hell. Many people do not understand the seriousness of sins. In fact, a lot of people, categorize sins into different groups....some sins in their minds are so 'little' they are laughable and do not even count....things like gossip, little 'white' lies, pride ( which actually is being taught as a 'good' thing....be proud of yourself), living together unmarried etc etc.
Therefore, if you ask most people: are you a good person, they will answer yes. Ask them why and they will trot out big sins they have not 'physically' committed ( tho in their minds they have) like they will say...I have never murdered anyone ( yet they have been mentally enraged with someone and 'wished' them dead). This shows they are dead, in that they cannot comprehend the depth of their depravity...they are morally and spiritually dead....
In fact, a few are honest enough to admit they actually hate God, because they want to live in their sins.
dead...as I was, and so are all unbelievers... until they are made alive by God.
v. 14 "having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross".
But some also acknowledge they are in trouble with God, and try to 'work' their way out of it with doing all manner of 'good' deeds...but that can never work....the debt is waaaay tooo big, and also, all their good deeds have sin in them ( be it pride etc.)...not to mention, sin always grows and continues to grow and would if left alone throughout all eternity.
Only a pure and Holy God ( Jesus) can pay the price for all our sins.
And that is what Jesus did when He died, in our place...He took all the believer's sins and died in order to pay ( eternity) for them, by nailing all their sins to His cross.
That is an incomprehensible love!!!
You posted: v. 11 "In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ,"
Quite awhile ago I remember I told you that I'd figured out why some of the verses you posted that are supposed to be the NIV were different than what's in my bible. It's because they are using the newer version of the NIV which is "gender inclusive". When I saw what you posted, I knew this had to be another change they'd made because I'd never heard anything like it. Here's what my 1984 NIV says: “In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,” (Colossians 2:11) Not a big deal in this case, but I like to see the differences in the translations. I'm sad that the NIV has made this big change and because of it I feel that I'll never be able recommend it again as I doubt they'll continue to publish their 84 version. Out of curiosity I checked each of the other verses against my bible and all are a little different. I haven't seen the part where they go gender inclusive yet...
Oh good! Yeah when I saw what you wrote about them being new age etc. I went to their very own web sites to see what they were 'selling' and I also looked at sites praising them......as new age....etc.
However, some sites gave even more info.....like the resource woman, who only has a journalism BA and 2 iffy other degrees....from either unaccredited place or an online place that got shut down.
So yeah I will keep searching
and thank you for putting articles in a word doc.
I amy send them to Leonard's e-mail.....the printer is hooked up to his computer, not mine.
Thank you again.
I also just put the Newsweek link in the mindfulness topic...cuz I didn't want to post wrong again.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 9, 2017 15:12:12 GMT -5
LOL Thank you for moving what I posted to the right place...Oye vey!
How did I manage to put it in Christian Chat????
No I did not look at the e-mail you sent yet....
I think when I thought of it, leonard may have been busy and very tired...
so it wasn't really the right time to tell him that I wanted him to print out what you got ready for me.
But it sounds like you may even revise the e-mail you sent?
Maybe, I will wait until you clarify if I have misunderstood or not.
I was fighting a sore throat and congestion all last night.
Woke up with a sore throat and very tired.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 9, 2017 15:42:31 GMT -5
Colossians 2:15-17
v. 15 "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."
Even now, for me, it is hard to truly grasp how the Cross was a triump.
Oh I do understand, Jesus paid for all my sins ( and all believer's sins).
But the Cross was so brutal ( physically yes but even infinitely more so,
the terrible price of paying for our sins).
It seems that satan never saw that coming. Never in his wildest dreams, could the devil, imagine God would suffer like that!!
Satan I think has always been horrified and even more so jealous of humans.
He cannot see what the Creator sees in us when compared to the waaaay more powerful, beautiful, intelligent angels....
but then, love has never has been his best point...well, I don't think he has any love...except maybe self-love only.
But the Cross was the ultimate win ( of love and power)!
God ( Jesus) won the war.
Was there any doubt ever...really, that God would win over the devils and demons, over sin and hell. But that is what the Cross did!
v.16 "Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day."
I wonder what the woman founder of the 7th day adventists and her followers do with this verse?
Especially the part about do not let anyone judge you in what you eat ( they advocate vegetarianism....which is
fine, if you just wish to eat that way....) but it does not make you Holy
and more so the part about not being judge about the Sabbath....to them,
that is the Holy Grail....one either worships on Sat or you go to Hell....tho the Bible says no such thing.
In fact, tho going to church on Sunday to have fellowship with the Saints,
and get more in depth Bible understanding ( hopefully)
it does not 'save' you, and to worship the Lord...
Further, I think, believers ought to 'worship' the Lord, every day...not just only on Sunday and likewise, the same for studying the Bible ...it should be every day
But all those things are not what saves a person and they ( eating, drinking, sabbath/sunday etc.) are:
v. 17 "These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ".
Again, this is what the 7th day folks ( and many other false gospels and cults ) have missed....those were a shadow... a pointing to the truth that is found in Jesus.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 10, 2017 17:32:20 GMT -5
colossians 2:18-23
v.18 "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,"
God has made it clear in His Word we are not to worship angels. And yet, even to this day, people do just that. I think IF they actually see an angel, or 'channel' one, they have with a fallen angel, a demon.
But even IF in some strange circumstance, they were to see an angel of Heaven, they are not to be worshipped, only God is worthy off worship, angels tho mightier, and more intelligent than us humans, are still just created beings.
And people promoting a religion or cult ( like mormonism, based on supposed info from an angel) the human is puffed up in vanity, who promotes such foolishness.
v.19 "And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God".
Jesus is the head of which we believer's grow into mature Christians.
v.20 "Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,"
As believers we spiritually died with Christ, and and as we live in the world, we are in the world but not of the world, nevertheless, we still obey the government's laws etc.
v.21 "(Touch not; taste not; handle not";
I think this points to people still trying to get to Heaven by the 'Law' in the extreme....the law cannot save anyone, and trying all the harder, by adding and piling on more rules...touch not, taste, not etc. will not help.
Tho Jesus said to pick up our cross ( and thus we may indeed deny 'self'...we do not do it as a way to get to Heaven by our own good deeds, behavior, denials of comforts etc.
22 "Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men"?
The ultra 'religious' of the Jews in the old testament ( and even today) added more and more 'rules' and 'doctrines' of men, many cults do the same today ( I think other religions...yogis ( who seemingly near starve themselves and those in Islam ( having to pray 3 times a day to Mecca etc etc....these things are of men, not of God.
v.23 "Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh."
These things feed man's pride, and the people who do these things, often do them in public, to show how supposedly 'holy' they are.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 11, 2017 14:20:48 GMT -5
" v.1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God".
Whenever a believer is saved, at that time, they are plunged into a union with Jesus, His Cross, resurrection, and ascension. We (I)no longer chase after all the world's fripperies. Rather, my ( our) minds, hearts and spirits are focus on Jesus, Heaven...these things are of infinite worth, the things of this world, are dying and sin infected.
v. 2 "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth".
So this verse, again, emphasizes our desires and love is to be things in Heaven ( God the Father, Jesus the Son, God the Holy Spirit). Setting our affections on things on the earth, is a waste of time. Since this world is sin filled, and dying, there is no true lasting joy, pleasure or love in earthly things, but rather in Heaven where we are loved with an infinite love.
v. 3 "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God"
Therefore, tho we are 'in' the world, it is as if we are dead to it.
Unbeliever's cannot understand our relationship with Jesus, it is so incomprehensible, it is for all intents and purposes, hidden.
Many times in the past, I would notice while talking to an unbeliever, that I could understand where they were coming from ( having been there and done that).
However, they could not understand where I was coming from. It would have been funny if not so tragic.
They thought, how did you loose your ability to think....meaning I once was where they were.... and they could only see that (unbelief) as being sensible.
But I could see both sides and knew that being a believer was so far beyond being a non-believer.
v.4 "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory".
Jesus is our life now, and what a promise, that when He comes again, we (I) will appear with him in glory. We don't have any glory on our own, it's only the glory that is given to us by our Lord and Savior.
v.5 "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:"
I don't think this word 'mortify' means the outward showing of hurting our physical bodies, because even the things we are to 'mortified and spiritual/moral sinful things.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 13, 2017 11:03:15 GMT -5
Yesterday just read scripture but did not study or post here.
I have had a really bad sore throat, headache, nausea, coughing and very tired for about 5 or 6 days.
But yesterday morning when I woke, I was so congested that I could not cough our or swallow and I could not breath.
It's weird, Leonard was in the other room, but he somehow knew I was not breathing and he came in....but after about 20 seconds or so, I could breath again....went to walk in clinic.....it's not the flu, just a cold....but I went straight back to sleep when we got home and woke up to eat dinner, and again went back to sleep ( I always either read, or am on the net after I eat dinner....but not last might.
I read the Bible while waiting at the clinic ( they thankfully still have a Bible there).
One weird little thing I learned tho.....that the nurse who wrote me a prescription for Sudafed....what??? a prescription?/
Yup! Drug dealers like to use Sudafed to cut meth....oye vey.
All that to say, I am sorry I did not get here and missed studying.
I am still very tired and congested ( won't be able to get the Sudafed until today), plus we have to start cleaning the B&B.
But I will make this my priority of course....but first I will wait and see what you post.
I already did my reading and studying scripture just haven't posted on it.
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Post by Cindy on Nov 13, 2017 11:13:40 GMT -5
I posted in Christian chat why I wasn't here Friday. I had my last test that day and it took most of the day to do... more info in the other thread.
LOL Thank you for moving what I posted to the right place...Oye vey!
How did I manage to put it in Christian Chat????
No I did not look at the e-mail you sent yet....
I think when I thought of it, leonard may have been busy and very tired...
so it wasn't really the right time to tell him that I wanted him to print out what you got ready for me.
But it sounds like you may even revise the e-mail you sent?
Maybe, I will wait until you clarify if I have misunderstood or not.
I was fighting a sore throat and congestion all last night.
Woke up with a sore throat and very tired. Colossians 2:15-17
v. 15 "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."
Even now, for me, it is hard to truly grasp how the Cross was a triump.
Oh I do understand, Jesus paid for all my sins ( and all believer's sins).
But the Cross was so brutal ( physically yes but even infinitely more so,
the terrible price of paying for our sins).
It seems that satan never saw that coming. Never in his wildest dreams, could the devil, imagine God would suffer like that!!
Satan I think has always been horrified and even more so jealous of humans.
He cannot see what the Creator sees in us when compared to the waaaay more powerful, beautiful, intelligent angels....
but then, love has never has been his best point...well, I don't think he has any love...except maybe self-love only.
But the Cross was the ultimate win ( of love and power)!
God ( Jesus) won the war.
Was there any doubt ever...really, that God would win over the devils and demons, over sin and hell. But that is what the Cross did!
v.16 "Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day."
I wonder what the woman founder of the 7th day adventists and her followers do with this verse?
Especially the part about do not let anyone judge you in what you eat ( they advocate vegetarianism....which is
fine, if you just wish to eat that way....) but it does not make you Holy
and more so the part about not being judge about the Sabbath....to them,
that is the Holy Grail....one either worships on Sat or you go to Hell....tho the Bible says no such thing.
In fact, tho going to church on Sunday to have fellowship with the Saints,
and get more in depth Bible understanding ( hopefully)
it does not 'save' you, and to worship the Lord...
Further, I think, believers ought to 'worship' the Lord, every day...not just only on Sunday and likewise, the same for studying the Bible ...it should be every day
But all those things are not what saves a person and they ( eating, drinking, sabbath/sunday etc.) are:
v. 17 "These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ".
Again, this is what the 7th day folks ( and many other false gospels and cults ) have missed....those were a shadow... a pointing to the truth that is found in Jesus.
Very good! I enjoyed reading that! But I'm not seeing how these things you've been writing about are helping you overcome depression etc..... Remember, that's one thing we're looking for in this book.
colossians 2:18-23
v.18 "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,"
God has made it clear in His Word we are not to worship angels. And yet, even to this day, people do just that. I think IF they actually see an angel, or 'channel' one, they have with a fallen angel, a demon.
But even IF in some strange circumstance, they were to see an angel of Heaven, they are not to be worshipped, only God is worthy off worship, angels tho mightier, and more intelligent than us humans, are still just created beings.
And people promoting a religion or cult ( like mormonism, based on supposed info from an angel) the human is puffed up in vanity, who promotes such foolishness.
v.19 "And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God".
Jesus is the head of which we believer's grow into mature Christians.
v.20 "Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,"
As believers we spiritually died with Christ, and and as we live in the world, we are in the world but not of the world, nevertheless, we still obey the government's laws etc.
v.21 "(Touch not; taste not; handle not";
I think this points to people still trying to get to Heaven by the 'Law' in the extreme....the law cannot save anyone, and trying all the harder, by adding and piling on more rules...touch not, taste, not etc. will not help.
Tho Jesus said to pick up our cross ( and thus we may indeed deny 'self'...we do not do it as a way to get to Heaven by our own good deeds, behavior, denials of comforts etc.
22 "Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men"?
The ultra 'religious' of the Jews in the old testament ( and even today) added more and more 'rules' and 'doctrines' of men, many cults do the same today ( I think other religions...yogis ( who seemingly near starve themselves and those in Islam ( having to pray 3 times a day to Mecca etc etc....these things are of men, not of God.
v.23 "Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh."
These things feed man's pride, and the people who do these things, often do them in public, to show how supposedly 'holy' they are. " v.1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God".
Whenever a believer is saved, at that time, they are plunged into a union with Jesus, His Cross, resurrection, and ascension. We (I)no longer chase after all the world's fripperies. Rather, my ( our) minds, hearts and spirits are focus on Jesus, Heaven...these things are of infinite worth, the things of this world, are dying and sin infected.
v. 2 "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth".
So this verse, again, emphasizes our desires and love is to be things in Heaven ( God the Father, Jesus the Son, God the Holy Spirit). Setting our affections on things on the earth, is a waste of time. Since this world is sin filled, and dying, there is no true lasting joy, pleasure or love in earthly things, but rather in Heaven where we are loved with an infinite love.
v. 3 "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God"
Therefore, tho we are 'in' the world, it is as if we are dead to it.
Unbeliever's cannot understand our relationship with Jesus, it is so incomprehensible, it is for all intents and purposes, hidden.
Many times in the past, I would notice while talking to an unbeliever, that I could understand where they were coming from ( having been there and done that).
However, they could not understand where I was coming from. It would have been funny if not so tragic.
They thought, how did you loose your ability to think....meaning I once was where they were.... and they could only see that (unbelief) as being sensible.
But I could see both sides and knew that being a believer was so far beyond being a non-believer.
v.4 "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory".
Jesus is our life now, and what a promise, that when He comes again, we (I) will appear with him in glory. We don't have any glory on our own, it's only the glory that is given to us by our Lord and Savior.
v.5 "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:"
I don't think this word 'mortify' means the outward showing of hurting our physical bodies, because even the things we are to 'mortified and spiritual/moral sinful things.
"put to death," - This refers to a conscious effort to slay the remaining sin in our flesh. immorality. This refers to any form of sexual sin. impurity. This term goes beyond sexual acts of sin to encompass evil thoughts and intentions as well. lust, evil desires. Similar terms that refer to sexual lust. “lust” is the physical side of that vice, and “evil desires” is the mental side. greed. Lit. this term means “to have more.” It is the insatiable desire to gain more, especially of things that are forbidden. which is idolatry. When people engage in either greed or the sexual sins Paul has cataloged, they follow their desires rather than God’s, in essence worshiping themselves—which is idolatry. The MacArthur study Bible
“If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” (Matthew 5:29–30)
Jesus singled out the eye and the hand, because seeing and feeling are usually the first steps toward sexual sin. Of course, He did not command us to perform physical surgery, since He was clearly dealing with the inner desires. He commanded us to deal drastically with sin, to remove from our lives anything that would pamper our wrong desires. We must “hunger and thirst after righteousness.” How do we get victory? By purifying the desires of the heart (appetite leads to action) and disciplining the actions of the body. Obviously, our Lord is not talking about literal surgery; for this would not solve the problem in the heart. The eye and the hand are usually the two “culprits” when it comes to sexual sins, so they must be disciplined. Jesus said, “Deal immediately and decisively with sin! Don’t taper off—cut off!” Spiritual surgery is more important than physical surgery, for the sins of the body can lead to eternal judgment. We think of passages like Colossians 3:5 and Romans 6:13; Romans 12:1–2; Romans 13:14. The Bible exposition commentary
As you said and as the commentaries said, it doesn't mean physically hurting ourselves, but even so, it can be painful to "put to death" the sins we tend to be enslaved to. It's really weird when you think about it, but we tend to continue in sins because they feel safer and more comfortable to us then the unknown of not having them in our lives. Just like an abused woman will stay with the man who's abusing her for the same reason. The more I think about sin, the more I see just how literally insane it is.
Again though, I'm still not seeing anything about how all of this is helping you.... other than that, you've done great.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 13, 2017 12:08:19 GMT -5
I am glad you mentioned about needing to remember to also put these scriptures towards helping depression.
I can't remember what but something, made me think, you thought that part was done? I have no idea why I thought that tho?
So actually it is a good thing, because, Having been dealing with a bad cold,
for about a week, this morning, I was beginning, to sink in to a small depression ( I think mostly because of being sick).
I had to scramble to remember much of what we have already talked about,
to chase away the dark clouds! However, I did manage but even so, at the time, it occurred to me, that I needed at least a 'refresher', because it wasn't right at the top of my thoughts.
So of course, when I was down physically, I guess the enemy thought it a great time, to kick me with depression.
Aha! and secondly, I do remember you saying something about the NIV ( I think I even said something about it also)....but what version would be better or maybe I should ask, what version are you using now?
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 13, 2017 14:12:54 GMT -5
v.7 "You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived".
I can only sadly agree that this is true, but since this are all self-centered, depression is one of these.
v. 8 "But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips".
Maybe you can give me some leeway cuz I'm sick LOL but all I could think of was when I was depressed all the things listed here, fit 'nicely' with the sin of depression.
It seems strange to me that when I was saved I had no struggle at all to rid myself of 'filthy language'....because I had gotten to the point I would have made a drunken sailor blush! But no, it just was gone....but here I am still struggling with depression, from time to time. But then language is just one thing, whereas depression includes many things like anger, rage etc.
I notice tho, that is is a command...now you must ...rid yourself of:
It occurs to me tho, when depressions comes, I might wonder if I am really angry about something....so when I take the depression captive, I might also take the anger and replace it with God's word, of gratefulness, and love.
v.9 "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices"
Our culture has so confused people about lying. We want to believe, a lie can keep us from hurting someone else. It is true that sometimes the truth hurts, but a lie in the end always will.....waaaaay more that the truth.
So also, I must keep telling myself the truth about depression. I have always believed the lie that I am it's victim.....but I do not have to be.
v. 10 "and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator".
As I put on my new self in so many areas, so with depression....I can put it off, and put on joy.
Part of the new self, is the ever continuing and growing knowledge of Jesus.
AS I learn more about Jesus in the Bible, I am slowly becoming a little more like Him, however, this is an ongoing process, I think, as it says "being renewed"
We will never be able (thankfully) to come to the end of 'knowing' scripture and since Jesus IS the word, we will always be learning more about Him.
So when depression hits about old age etc. I can remind myself, I will for all eternity be learning and loving more about my Savior, so I have hardly begun, and am not old in that sense. LOL.
v.11 "Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all".
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Post by Cindy on Nov 14, 2017 11:06:55 GMT -5
I am glad you mentioned about needing to remember to also put these scriptures towards helping depression.
I can't remember what but something, made me think, you thought that part was done? I have no idea why I thought that tho?
So actually it is a good thing, because, Having been dealing with a bad cold,
for about a week, this morning, I was beginning, to sink in to a small depression ( I think mostly because of being sick).
I had to scramble to remember much of what we have already talked about,
to chase away the dark clouds! However, I did manage but even so, at the time, it occurred to me, that I needed at least a 'refresher', because it wasn't right at the top of my thoughts.
So of course, when I was down physically, I guess the enemy thought it a great time, to kick me with depression.
Aha! and secondly, I do remember you saying something about the NIV ( I think I even said something about it also)....but what version would be better or maybe I should ask, what version are you using now?
It's my fault that you didn't realize we were still working on your plan, because when I changed the format of the bible studies, and gave an example of what how it would look, I didn't include anything about your plan in my example. So forgive me for messing us up.
If you want to, you can go back to the beginning of Colossians and just write something about how you can use each section you studied for some part of your plan. That would probably be a good thing to do especially since there was a great deal of it that does pertain to your plan. To do that, you'd first need to read your plan over again so that it's fresh in your mind. v.7 "You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived".
I can only sadly agree that this is true, but since this are all self-centered, depression is one of these.
v. 8 "But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips".
Maybe you can give me some leeway cuz I'm sick LOL but all I could think of was when I was depressed all the things listed here, fit 'nicely' with the sin of depression.
It seems strange to me that when I was saved I had no struggle at all to rid myself of 'filthy language'....because I had gotten to the point I would have made a drunken sailor blush! But no, it just was gone....but here I am still struggling with depression, from time to time. But then language is just one thing, whereas depression includes many things like anger, rage etc.
I notice tho, that is is a command...now you must ...rid yourself of:
It occurs to me tho, when depressions comes, I might wonder if I am really angry about something....so when I take the depression captive, I might also take the anger and replace it with God's word, of gratefulness, and love.
v.9 "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices"
Our culture has so confused people about lying. We want to believe, a lie can keep us from hurting someone else. It is true that sometimes the truth hurts, but a lie in the end always will.....waaaaay more that the truth.
So also, I must keep telling myself the truth about depression. I have always believed the lie that I am it's victim.....but I do not have to be.
v. 10 "and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator".
As I put on my new self in so many areas, so with depression....I can put it off, and put on joy.
Part of the new self, is the ever continuing and growing knowledge of Jesus.
AS I learn more about Jesus in the Bible, I am slowly becoming a little more like Him, however, this is an ongoing process, I think, as it says "being renewed"
We will never be able (thankfully) to come to the end of 'knowing' scripture and since Jesus IS the word, we will always be learning more about Him.
So when depression hits about old age etc. I can remind myself, I will for all eternity be learning and loving more about my Savior, so I have hardly begun, and am not old in that sense. LOL.
v.11 "Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all".
Speaking of old age, I have a scripture that you might want to reflect on and talk to the Lord about concerning something He says about it. It's speaking about God: “who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103:5) In this I'm not looking for what commentaries say about it or anything like that. Instead, I'd like to hear what you get from it when you spend a lot of time thinking about it and talking to the Lord about it. Like over the weekend maybe - or even over the next couple of days. I want to give you a couple of days to really think about it so that you can get a lot out of it. The next couple of days might be good too because I won't be able to be here tomorrow as I have my doctor appointment. I again wrote more about it in Christian chat. (I also answered your questions there from the other day).
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 14, 2017 12:59:09 GMT -5
It wasn't you fault because I could have just checked with you and asked If I should continue to write concerning my plan, or if you just wanted me to do it on my own?
So I will go back to the plan and re-read, and then start Colossians over with the plan in mind, and also start talking/praying to Lord about psalm 103:5.
Oh, by the way, I got the gizmo/gadget Oxygen thingy ....so far my oxygen is in the low 90's to mid 90's. Leonard's stays between 99 and 100.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 15, 2017 12:59:26 GMT -5
So far my oxygen stays around 91....which used to be worse, in the 80's.
Still it reminds me to sit up straighter and stretch a little.
For some reason, I cannot figure out, I am always slipping in my recliner to an almost laying down position.
I never ever notice it actually happening,
until I notice, just how far I have slumped or slid LOL
It happens over and over during the day.
I do have a pillow behind my back, and maybe that is the culprit, but without it I would be even more uncomfortable.
Anyway, all that to say, thank you for having posted about the oxygen meter and sitting up straighter ( I was already becoming aware of it myself, because of the constant sliding down in the chair) so the little gadget, helps me remember ( cuz its fun) to sit back up etc.
I am feeling a bit better today for the first time in about 10 days....I am still congested and sneezing, but I am hopeful I am really getting better...from the cold that is.
The thing is, I have to clean the B & B today
but even more ...a wee bit worrying, I have to watch Devon again.....having been sick, I hope he is also better and does not have another cold or worse, flu germ, as I have not gotten a flu shot for years now.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 6,427
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Post by fearnot on Nov 15, 2017 13:35:52 GMT -5
v. 1 "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,"
just as Paul and Timothy were chosen by the will of God, so am I chosen to be a child of God. So when depression tries to convince me, perhaps I am not a child of God ( too sinful, not loving the Lord enough etc.)....I will remind myself, that it is God who choose me, forgave me, and will complete that which He has begun in me and therefore, I will not fret.
v.2 "To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father."
When depression tells me I am too sinful, I will remember that because of Jesus, I am Holy...because He has imparted His Holiness to be...yes, I still fall into sin, but I do not need to listen to the lies, that is all I am....because God has made me more than a sinner, I too can have peace and unmerited favor with the Father because of Jesus.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
v. 3 "We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,"
During a depression attack, I can instead gives thanks to God for all my blessings and also pray for others.
v. 4 "because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— "
I will trust Jesus when depression strikes and also take my mind off of me and onto those I love.
v.5 "the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel"
I will reflect on the fact, that there is infinite love stored up for me in Heaven.
v. 6 "that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace."
I will remind myself, that it is God's grace I have been blessed with, and He has in fact, been growing me, I am not the person I was.
v. 7 "You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,"
Just as the Colossians believers learned from Epaphras, I too will remind myself, of the wonderful faithful brothers and sisters God has provided me with .
v. 8 "and who also told us of your love in the Spirit".
Instead of lies, because of Jesus, I have love in the Spirit, I will remind my self
v. 9 "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,"
I will encourage myself, to never stop praying ( for myself and others) and will ask the Lord to fill me with the knowledge of His will, that the Holy Spirit gives.
v. 10 "so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, "
When depression attacks, I will remember I am growing in the knowledge of God and focus on living a life worthy of Him ( and depression would not be a part of that).
v.11 "being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,"
I will remember He has infinite power, and these trials can only strengthen me, and give me patience
v. 12 "and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light."
I will not only give thanks but 'joyful' thankful because God has qualified me to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light.
v. 13 "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,"
I really need to remember ..and will.....just how far the Lord has rescued me from the dominion of darkness when depression hits, and how far into the kingdom of the Son, Jesus ( He loves).
v. 14 "in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
Further, when or if depression starts, I will remember, I have been redeemed, my sins have been bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus on the cross...my sins ( all of them) are forgiven and that is surely a joyous thought!
I will work on the rest of chapter one tomorrow.
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