Tag: discipleship

“They angered God also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses on account of them: Because they provoked God’s Spirit, so that Moses spoke rashly with his lips.” Psalms 106: 32-34

How many of us have experience:

The Blame Game, “its your fault”, “You made me so mad”

”You hurt my feelings or you don’t meet my needs”

Have these thoughts ever cross your mind and you used the silent treatment to make someone feel guilty?” How about lashing out in a verbal frenzy assuring the other person they are wrong.  Sounds crazy but many do this?

As we accuse one another do those same pitiful arguments go back to our God for His “mistreatment” of us?

Living lies is the surest way to the door of misery, anger, anxiety and blinding us to the Truth.

Is it a lie that we must earn God’s love? Is it ok to get impatient with God’s timing on how He is working in other lives?”

Come investigate how we accept lies to avoid pain and suffering. Learn how we are bombarded daily with lies to keep us under the control of the enemy. Don’t let lies believed as truth affect you as if they were true, even though they are LIES.”

“love does not brag or parade itself, is not puffed up.” I Corinthians 13: 4

The root meaning of brag or parade itself is WIND BAG – a lot of hot air. Ouch, then how to you build up someone else or speak of the wonderful works in ones life that do not come across as bragging? Pride can easily puff us up. Telling the Truth with one another becomes imperative as we live in days on confusion, isolation, and just no knowing what is real truth and what is “truth”, based on someone’s opinion or agenda.

Be ready to open your door to inner attitudes of violating God’s expression of True Love and how to build up one another and not puff up ego, when many are needing encouragement in these difficult days.

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy, love does not parade itself, is not puffed up.” I Corinthians 13: 4

We tackle what real love looks like as we see the lack of love  exhibited in envy, arrogant bragging – being a hot windbag, and  , being puffed up.

“We all stumble in many things” James 3:2. Stumbling should not become a habit or lifestyle. We “bear, believe, hope and endure” all things when one falters, showing longsuffering and kindness. God’s love is the only love that can change people’s lives forever.

Let’s explore the Word together as we discuss how true love will mold, melt, fill and use  us as lights in reflecting His love.

Psalms 32:5  “I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up in iniquity. I said: “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

Forgiveness is not an easy subject to discuss, but if we ever want to live in freedom there must be forgiveness. Forgiveness from the Father was necessary to pay for and remove our guilt. This allows us to then forgive one another. But freedom was not free – there was a price to be paid. Father God and Jesus

Christ with the Spirit secured that freedom, once for all on the Cross.

Now, we are commanded to follow through in living in that forgiveness, forgiving others. This is not a feeling choice, but a heart willful decision.

Then why is it so hard to forgive? In a word, PRIDE. We want to bring about justice in our way.

We share today the consequences of failing to forgive and how to move forward with total forgiveness.

Philippians 4:6-7: ”Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Emotions are a great gift from God, but we often give them a negative review. They originate within our thinking and most of the time we recognize them from our misuse rather than responding to them favorably. A vocalist belts out:

 Emotions, you get me upset
 Why make me remember what I want to forget
 You worry my days and torture my nights
 Emotions, give me a break
 Let me forget that I made a mistake

And on goes the trail of tears that lead us down the path of emotions ruling our lives and we don’t even realize they are our final authority in how we interact with others and the choices that influence our hearts.
If you are wanting a fresh start with some happiness loaded with joy and topped off with tranquil peace, listen to the discussion about understanding Expectations in Relationships.

Ephesians 2:12 “Now may the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Expectations begin at birth and grow and change as we grow and mature. We are not aware that we have these mental and emotions desires, wants, and needs. HOPE longs for peace and happiness to find fulfillment at an early age.
It isn’t long before our moods and disappointments result in anger and are loudly expressed when we don’t get what we want. Some expectations are valid and some are a display of our ego and selfishness.
If we are not taught to recognized what is good and bad as we grow, we will react selfishly and repeated actions will form habits that spiral down into deeper problems.
This study illustrates what can happen as we sit on the throne of our lives yielding to the symptoms of wounds and worry causing anger and anxiety. If left unattended, an unwanted visitor called depression may come to stay. Let’s look at the solution to see how to keep HOPE alive.

“Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God. The purpose of my instructions is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.” 1 Timothy 4-5

In 1 Timothy 1:4-5 Paul tells Timothy to not give attention to teachings that cause disputes rather godly edification which is of  The Faith. The goal of this commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from a sincere faith.  We need the assurance of our faith and how it operates to check our fears.

Wrong teaching will bring fears to the thinking and emotions, paralyzing our ability to contend for the faith.

We are not left helpless because we have the Holy Spirit living within guiding us. His love will flow through us as we choose to keep a good conscience from a pure heart.

If we refuse to listen to the counsel given, our minds become the battleground for the conscience becoming dull and not able to discern. The Word of God keeps the conscience sharp.

Join in our conversation as we look into some of the traits of the defiled, evil, and seared conscience.