Post by Cindy on Mar 26, 2021 9:39:28 GMT -5
I'll answer inside your post again ok?
These were the two qualifiers that you mentioned about
being rulers in God's kingdom,
that I was referring to:
1)- "We need to ask ourselves if we handle being an authority figure well or not.
2)- We need to ask how well we deal with confrontation",
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh no, those aren't qualifiers at all! That's just something we should think about and take to heart. Remember if we answer "no" to those questions, and a great many of us will, then it's God who will change us so we can do better. It's up to us to ask for His help and to cooperate with Him when He gives us the opportunity to practice using our authority, but it's up to God to change us, renew us, and make us into the people He intended for us to be. I was horrible with it, although when my kids all became teenagers I finally got a very little bit better. It wasn't until I started Fresh Hope and had to be the administrator that I learned to stand in my authority. I still don't like it, but I can usually do it when I have to. I still have a lot to learn and therefore I'm sure the Lord will give me more opportunities to practice it.
But on another note, what you wrote today....
These examples were absolutely stellar!
If you can tell me any more
that would be great!
Thank you so much for them!
Quote Cindy:
"Yes, it is or at least it can be. I try to wait for a way to open up for me to talk to someone.
For example if they've been hurt badly by another person, like a spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend, I see that as an opening to tell them about the one person who will never hurt them and will always be with them to help and comfort them.
Or
if they're having problems with their kids, I might use that as an opening to tell them that what their kids are doing reminds me of what we do to God, or what the parent is doing may remind me of what God does for us....etc.
I can always bring sin into it later after I've gotten past their initial defenses. I just don't make it confrontational. I make it as though I'm trying to help them, because in fact, that's exactly what I'm trying to do. "
OK then lol. Other examples... I've also used the times we're living in as a way to talk about it. If they bring up something that's going on like all the falsehood, or "fake news" or they might say something like it's hard to know who or what to believe anymore then I'll grab hold of that and tell them how God told us that would happen. If they don't bring up something like that, I can always open a conversation with something like it.
If they're feeling guilty or feeling shame due to something they did, I can easily use that to tell them how Jesus wants to wipe their slate clean, take away their sin, and their shame and guilt. Many unbelievers think that Christians live with guilt all the time and that's the farthest thing from the truth. (or it should be, because Jesus does NOT want us to live our lives feeling shame or guilt for anything in our past, even if that "past" was just earlier today!) So it can be a real eye opener for them to find out the truth.
Another thing we can use to start the conversation is if we hear them quote one of the false sayings attributed to the Bible, such as "God helps those who help themselves". We can explain that it's the opposite that's actually true and then use that line to tell them the gospel.
Another thing to keep in mind is that we don't have to tell them everything all at once. For example, we might just tell them one of our testimonies about what God's done for us one day, and another day tell them about the gospel. Basically it's about using the times and the appointments God gives us. Think about how you would feel if someone approached you and did something. If it would really bother you then why would you do that to someone else? But also keep in mind that if you are praying for someone's salvation and the next thing you know they're sitting at your kitchen table crying because their world has fallen apart and like humpty dumpty it can't be put back together again, that's God giving you the opportunity to show them that He can in fact put their life back together again and make it better then before.
Pay attention to the person you're talking to and their body language. Do they seem bored? Interested? Like they want to say something and can't wait to tell you? Or just want to say something? (if so, ask them if they want to say something and let them talk.)
Or maybe Like they really need to go to the bathroom? Or like they're getting anxious because they have an appointment coming up soon that they don't want to miss, so they need to leave now? (you may not know they have an appointment coming up, so to you it may just appear that they are anxious and want to leave. Don't ever take how they seem to be feeling personally! That's from Satan. If they seem anxious or like they may want to leave, then ask them if they'd like to end the conversation for now and talk about it more later. That will probably shock them lol and they'll often agree to talk later. But don't push it.... pay attention to the Holy Spirit and what He is leading you to do or say.
If they're reacting negatively, it's not you they're reacting to, it's the gospel and the Holy Spirit. But seriously, most people are NOT going to react badly. If someone came up to you like I'm sure your landlords wife has done, and told you about their false religion, did you get up in her face and yell at her and tell her to get out of your house? Of course you didn't! That wouldn't be polite. And most people have been brought up to be polite. So the most you might here from them would be , "that's nice for you, but it's not for me", or something along those lines. So if they say something like that, just smile and tell them if they ever want to talk about it, to just let you know and you'll be happy to tell them more. That way they don't have to worry that you're going to try to ambush them with more information they don't want and they can relax in your presence in the future. (which means that in the future they just might open up to you about it again!)
I also wanted to remind you of this part of your earlier post and my reply, because I've been concerned about you, and want to be sure to talk more about it if you need to. I've just copied and pasted what you and I both said in it to here:
Dare I mention, I have also been struggling,
a bit with some depression,
I think, my sins seem worse or bigger in my life
than ever before.
When I was young,
they virtually meant, almost nothing to me
but now, even what some might think
a small sin is huge
and a huge sin.....well, is totally overwhelming at times.
Oh Barbara, don't you yet realize that instead of being depressed about that you should be rejoicing??? It's funny, but I actually heard MacArthur say the same thing I've told you any number of times, in one of his sermons. I wish I could remember which one, but I've been listening to so many I don't remember. Anyway, what both MacArthur and I have said, is that when we are first saved, we rarely even realize it when we sin. Partly because we don't really know what sin is other then the obvious ones like murder and stealing, etc. And we often don't feel all that bad about it when we do realize we've sinned. We kind of shrug it off and hope to do better next time. BUT, as we grow in our faith through the daily study of God's Word, we come to understand what sin is better and what sin does to us better. We also come to understand what Jesus did for us to enable us to say no to sin and how it hurts Him when we don't. Basically the more mature we become in our faith, the more we know and understand about God and about sin. Most of all though, the more mature we are in our faith, the more our love for Jesus grows, as does our love for the Father. It's because of our love for Him that the more we know the worse we feel about sin in our life! How badly we feel about sin, is a great way to tell how mature our faith is. What I'm saying is that your bad feelings about sin proves that you are saved and that you've become mature in your faith! It's also true that the more we know, the more we realize how much we don't know! (kind of weird admittedly, yet still true.) It's also true that the more mature your faith is, the more you will notice the sins in your life.
Don't allow yourself to stay down about sin. That's what Satan wants, not Jesus. Jesus wants us to simply admit to Him that we've sinned and ask for His help not to do it again. He wants to help us and doesn't care at all if we have to ask him that about a particular sin once, twice or a hundred times - as long as we ask. Satan knows this is a big weakness he can exploit and he does so as often as we allow him too. To avoid letting Satan get to us, the Lord says we should confess our sins to each other and pray for each other. It's where the whole accountability partner thing comes from. The idea is that if two people tell each other when something has got them down, like a particular sin(s) and then that person talks to them about it and then they pray together, that the individual should feel relieved from their guilt and be able to accept the fact that Jesus has already made them clean by the Word He spoke to them at salvation. (John 15:3) “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” (Hebrews 9:14) “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19–22) Remember, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are already praying for you. I will too; but if it would help you get over feeling down, and help you realize that instead it's a time to rejoice, I'd be glad to discuss your sins in a private message if you'd like to.
I do confess and attempt to leave it with Jesus,
but often I snatch them back,
to grieve over them some more....
As IF, that might gain me some 'brownie' points.
But really, it more a habit,
It's like
No you did not care enough about God,
because you 'thought' that
or whatever....
you need to have a deeper understanding of the evil in you
( Is that from the devil?)
IF you need a deeper understanding, then you will only get that through studying/reading your Bible and prayer. It will NOT come through thinking about it. And hon, you're right, when we sin, we are caring more about our self then about God. That's what our sin nature is all about - self love. We should realize it, (as you obviously do) and then in prayer let God know that we realize it and that we don't want to sin. Ask Him to show us our sins so we can always confess them and repent of them right away and hopefully stop doing them. But we also have to understand that as long as we have this particular body, the body that Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit called, "the body of death" in Romans 7:24, we will continue to sin, often doing the same sins over and over again. That's why God tells us to take our thoughts captive. He doesn't say that we just need to do that one time and we'll be all set afterward. It's what we will have to do about every thought, every day, until we get our new body. it's also why He tells us to renew our minds and again, that's to be every day too, because it too isn't a one time thing. Our thoughts are totally corrupted and the only way we can have and use the mind of Christ is by doing those things continually. God is also very aware we will fail time and again. That's why He sent Jesus, and why Jesus lived a perfect life while He was on earth so that His life could be put on our account and our rotten lives could be put on His. it's not fair, we don't deserve it at all; but that's why it's called mercy and grace. I can't imagine why God loves us, but He does and because He does, He bends over backward to save us from ourselves.
These were the two qualifiers that you mentioned about
being rulers in God's kingdom,
that I was referring to:
1)- "We need to ask ourselves if we handle being an authority figure well or not.
2)- We need to ask how well we deal with confrontation",
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh no, those aren't qualifiers at all! That's just something we should think about and take to heart. Remember if we answer "no" to those questions, and a great many of us will, then it's God who will change us so we can do better. It's up to us to ask for His help and to cooperate with Him when He gives us the opportunity to practice using our authority, but it's up to God to change us, renew us, and make us into the people He intended for us to be. I was horrible with it, although when my kids all became teenagers I finally got a very little bit better. It wasn't until I started Fresh Hope and had to be the administrator that I learned to stand in my authority. I still don't like it, but I can usually do it when I have to. I still have a lot to learn and therefore I'm sure the Lord will give me more opportunities to practice it.
But on another note, what you wrote today....
These examples were absolutely stellar!
If you can tell me any more
that would be great!
Thank you so much for them!
Quote Cindy:
"Yes, it is or at least it can be. I try to wait for a way to open up for me to talk to someone.
For example if they've been hurt badly by another person, like a spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend, I see that as an opening to tell them about the one person who will never hurt them and will always be with them to help and comfort them.
Or
if they're having problems with their kids, I might use that as an opening to tell them that what their kids are doing reminds me of what we do to God, or what the parent is doing may remind me of what God does for us....etc.
I can always bring sin into it later after I've gotten past their initial defenses. I just don't make it confrontational. I make it as though I'm trying to help them, because in fact, that's exactly what I'm trying to do. "
OK then lol. Other examples... I've also used the times we're living in as a way to talk about it. If they bring up something that's going on like all the falsehood, or "fake news" or they might say something like it's hard to know who or what to believe anymore then I'll grab hold of that and tell them how God told us that would happen. If they don't bring up something like that, I can always open a conversation with something like it.
If they're feeling guilty or feeling shame due to something they did, I can easily use that to tell them how Jesus wants to wipe their slate clean, take away their sin, and their shame and guilt. Many unbelievers think that Christians live with guilt all the time and that's the farthest thing from the truth. (or it should be, because Jesus does NOT want us to live our lives feeling shame or guilt for anything in our past, even if that "past" was just earlier today!) So it can be a real eye opener for them to find out the truth.
Another thing we can use to start the conversation is if we hear them quote one of the false sayings attributed to the Bible, such as "God helps those who help themselves". We can explain that it's the opposite that's actually true and then use that line to tell them the gospel.
Another thing to keep in mind is that we don't have to tell them everything all at once. For example, we might just tell them one of our testimonies about what God's done for us one day, and another day tell them about the gospel. Basically it's about using the times and the appointments God gives us. Think about how you would feel if someone approached you and did something. If it would really bother you then why would you do that to someone else? But also keep in mind that if you are praying for someone's salvation and the next thing you know they're sitting at your kitchen table crying because their world has fallen apart and like humpty dumpty it can't be put back together again, that's God giving you the opportunity to show them that He can in fact put their life back together again and make it better then before.
Pay attention to the person you're talking to and their body language. Do they seem bored? Interested? Like they want to say something and can't wait to tell you? Or just want to say something? (if so, ask them if they want to say something and let them talk.)
Or maybe Like they really need to go to the bathroom? Or like they're getting anxious because they have an appointment coming up soon that they don't want to miss, so they need to leave now? (you may not know they have an appointment coming up, so to you it may just appear that they are anxious and want to leave. Don't ever take how they seem to be feeling personally! That's from Satan. If they seem anxious or like they may want to leave, then ask them if they'd like to end the conversation for now and talk about it more later. That will probably shock them lol and they'll often agree to talk later. But don't push it.... pay attention to the Holy Spirit and what He is leading you to do or say.
If they're reacting negatively, it's not you they're reacting to, it's the gospel and the Holy Spirit. But seriously, most people are NOT going to react badly. If someone came up to you like I'm sure your landlords wife has done, and told you about their false religion, did you get up in her face and yell at her and tell her to get out of your house? Of course you didn't! That wouldn't be polite. And most people have been brought up to be polite. So the most you might here from them would be , "that's nice for you, but it's not for me", or something along those lines. So if they say something like that, just smile and tell them if they ever want to talk about it, to just let you know and you'll be happy to tell them more. That way they don't have to worry that you're going to try to ambush them with more information they don't want and they can relax in your presence in the future. (which means that in the future they just might open up to you about it again!)
I also wanted to remind you of this part of your earlier post and my reply, because I've been concerned about you, and want to be sure to talk more about it if you need to. I've just copied and pasted what you and I both said in it to here:
Dare I mention, I have also been struggling,
a bit with some depression,
I think, my sins seem worse or bigger in my life
than ever before.
When I was young,
they virtually meant, almost nothing to me
but now, even what some might think
a small sin is huge
and a huge sin.....well, is totally overwhelming at times.
Oh Barbara, don't you yet realize that instead of being depressed about that you should be rejoicing??? It's funny, but I actually heard MacArthur say the same thing I've told you any number of times, in one of his sermons. I wish I could remember which one, but I've been listening to so many I don't remember. Anyway, what both MacArthur and I have said, is that when we are first saved, we rarely even realize it when we sin. Partly because we don't really know what sin is other then the obvious ones like murder and stealing, etc. And we often don't feel all that bad about it when we do realize we've sinned. We kind of shrug it off and hope to do better next time. BUT, as we grow in our faith through the daily study of God's Word, we come to understand what sin is better and what sin does to us better. We also come to understand what Jesus did for us to enable us to say no to sin and how it hurts Him when we don't. Basically the more mature we become in our faith, the more we know and understand about God and about sin. Most of all though, the more mature we are in our faith, the more our love for Jesus grows, as does our love for the Father. It's because of our love for Him that the more we know the worse we feel about sin in our life! How badly we feel about sin, is a great way to tell how mature our faith is. What I'm saying is that your bad feelings about sin proves that you are saved and that you've become mature in your faith! It's also true that the more we know, the more we realize how much we don't know! (kind of weird admittedly, yet still true.) It's also true that the more mature your faith is, the more you will notice the sins in your life.
Don't allow yourself to stay down about sin. That's what Satan wants, not Jesus. Jesus wants us to simply admit to Him that we've sinned and ask for His help not to do it again. He wants to help us and doesn't care at all if we have to ask him that about a particular sin once, twice or a hundred times - as long as we ask. Satan knows this is a big weakness he can exploit and he does so as often as we allow him too. To avoid letting Satan get to us, the Lord says we should confess our sins to each other and pray for each other. It's where the whole accountability partner thing comes from. The idea is that if two people tell each other when something has got them down, like a particular sin(s) and then that person talks to them about it and then they pray together, that the individual should feel relieved from their guilt and be able to accept the fact that Jesus has already made them clean by the Word He spoke to them at salvation. (John 15:3) “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” (Hebrews 9:14) “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19–22) Remember, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are already praying for you. I will too; but if it would help you get over feeling down, and help you realize that instead it's a time to rejoice, I'd be glad to discuss your sins in a private message if you'd like to.
I do confess and attempt to leave it with Jesus,
but often I snatch them back,
to grieve over them some more....
As IF, that might gain me some 'brownie' points.
But really, it more a habit,
It's like
No you did not care enough about God,
because you 'thought' that
or whatever....
you need to have a deeper understanding of the evil in you
( Is that from the devil?)
IF you need a deeper understanding, then you will only get that through studying/reading your Bible and prayer. It will NOT come through thinking about it. And hon, you're right, when we sin, we are caring more about our self then about God. That's what our sin nature is all about - self love. We should realize it, (as you obviously do) and then in prayer let God know that we realize it and that we don't want to sin. Ask Him to show us our sins so we can always confess them and repent of them right away and hopefully stop doing them. But we also have to understand that as long as we have this particular body, the body that Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit called, "the body of death" in Romans 7:24, we will continue to sin, often doing the same sins over and over again. That's why God tells us to take our thoughts captive. He doesn't say that we just need to do that one time and we'll be all set afterward. It's what we will have to do about every thought, every day, until we get our new body. it's also why He tells us to renew our minds and again, that's to be every day too, because it too isn't a one time thing. Our thoughts are totally corrupted and the only way we can have and use the mind of Christ is by doing those things continually. God is also very aware we will fail time and again. That's why He sent Jesus, and why Jesus lived a perfect life while He was on earth so that His life could be put on our account and our rotten lives could be put on His. it's not fair, we don't deserve it at all; but that's why it's called mercy and grace. I can't imagine why God loves us, but He does and because He does, He bends over backward to save us from ourselves.
!!
