Posts Tagged ‘sin’

Feelings

Posted in Bible Study, Christian Living, tagged , , , , , , , on February 27, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Psalm 51;9-10

Spiritual Depression: #6 “Feelings,” a sermon by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

 

 

My thoughts:

In 2 Timothy 2:1:6 Paul tells Timothy to “stir up the gift of God.”

This sermon was very good and it pointed out many ways I could pursue the subject of feelings and the Christian. But, I think I’ll focus on Christian people who have panic disorder and how feelings come into play with them. I was once one of those people so I can identify with that.

What do we do with our feelings?  If you have panic attacks you know feelings play a very important part in them.  In my book, Panic Buster, I talk about that “first feeling.”  That is the feeling you get that alerts you that you might be going to have a panic attack.  For me that first feeling was a rapid and strong heart beat I became so aware of.  It made my mind race and think the “what if” thoughts.  I could not get my mind off of my feelings.  First the rapid heart rate, then the sweaty palms, then the weak legs and so on.  These were not good feelings; and guess what? They were controlling me.  My feelings were taking over my mind and I was on my way to a full-blown panic attack. Feelings!  It seemed they were my worst enemy!

I never really did understand my feelings back then.  I didn’t know they could not be trusted.  I didn’t know they were controlling me.  Now, in looking back, I can see it clearly.  My feelings took over and caused me to be an unproductive Christian person.  I was at their beck and call.  I was their slave.  I was a slave to fear!

Feelings aren’t bad really.  God created us with feelings, and God even has feelings.  He can be angry, loving, kind, and jealous.  These are all feelings or emotions.  He made us that way.  It is only when our feelings get out of control that they are bad.

So my take-away from this sermon is that we need self-control over our feelings.  The good new is  we as believers have the Holy Spirit living in us therefore we can have self-control because it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. He supplies it.

Gal 5:22-23 NASB But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Do you realize a believer has a big edge over an unbeliever in conquering panic attacks?  That’s right!  We are not the same at all.  They do not have the Holy Spirit in their lives and the power He supplies.  They are left to their own resources to battle fear.  It is a losing battle!  I know I tried it before I was a Christian, and I hit bottom. We have been blessed with the power which comes from on high.  It is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.  Isn’t that wonderful?  If you suffer from anxiety, stress, and panic attacks and are a Christian than you have hope.  You can get better!

It was after I became a Christian that I began to get well.  I read and studied my Bible.  I learned what the God of all creation was telling his children and there were many lessons for me.  I put them to work in my life and I did get well again.

If there is any sin in our lives we must admit it, confess it to God, and turn from it.  We need to hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Mat 5:6 KJV Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

What does this mean?  We need to desire deeply to please God.  And, the only way we can do that is by studying the Word and then obeying it.  Do you know that worry is a sin?  Again, here we need self-control over our thoughts and feelings.  The person who has panic disorder worries.  Worry won’t help anything and is in fact a waste of time.  It makes us more anxious and contributes to take us down the road to more panic attacks.  So, this is a sin that we must confess, and repent of.  Seek God’s face and turn from your sin and you can again have self-control over your feelings.

Learn to enjoy your feelings!  There are many good ones.

 

 

 

 

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Is Christ at Home in You?

Posted in Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Ephesians 3:16-17  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith...

Paul, the Apostle, wrote this  prayer for the believers at Ephesus, and for us today also.  When we become Christians we are  new creations.  We are born again.  Our old dead self  (we were dead in  sin) is raised to new life.   The Holy Spirit comes and lives within us.   It is truly a miracle work of God.                                               Ephesians 3;17a

We are studying Ephesians 3 in church, and I’ve been thinking about this verse a lot this week.  What was very interesting to me, as our pastor unpacked this verse, was the word “dwell.”   In the Greek this word means settled down in you, or comfortable there, or at home in you. It also indicates a permanent residence. Is Christ at home in you?  Is He comfortable, or do we make Him feel uneasy and unwelcome?  Those are good questions, so I’ve been pondering what would make Christ NOT feel at home in me.  The short answer:  sin.

Even though I’ve been born-again and am now a new creation, I still live with the old flesh. I can still sin. And as the Bible tells us the heart is very deceitful. I might think I’m a pretty good person as I haven’t committed adultery, and I’ve never murdered anyone. But, in reality, I actually sin every day. I think we sin mostly in our minds and attitudes.  Sin is born in the mind. Temptations surround us all day long in this world.  We hear gossip and even partake in it. We watch things on television that corrupt our minds.  We need to be careful of what we watch and listen to.

Jerry Bridges wrote an excellent book for Christians called, Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins we Tolerate.  Some of the sins he tackles are:  Ungodliness, anxiety and frustration, discontentment, unthankfulness, pride, selfishness, lack of self-control, impatience and irritability, anger, judgmentalism, envy, jealousy, sins of the tongue, worldliness.  That is quite is list isn’t it?  I see myself  there do you?  I highly recommend this book.  It will help you see things that are sinful that you might not have never thought of before.

So, what happens when a Christian sins?  Well, we don’t lose our salvation, but Christ does not feel at home in us that is for sure.  I wonder how many times a day I make him feel unwelcome.  It makes me sad to think that I offend Christ in me.  When I realize it I do pray and ask forgiveness.  In order to have victory in our lives we must keep that connection with Jesus open.

When I know I’m having company I work hard to clean up my house and have everything in order.  Then, when they are with me I try very hard to make them feel welcome.  I entertain them and don’t do or say things that might upset them.  But,  just think, the God of all creation, the King of Kings, comes and resides within us. He doesn’t just come for a visit, but he sets up a permanent residence in us.  What an awesome thought!

Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.

I need to work on making our wonderful, blessed, Savior at home.  We are told that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

1Co 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

Is my body fit for a King?  I think it needs cleaning up on a daily basis in order for the King to feel at home.  What about you?

Maybe that is why we don’t feel like we are living the victorious Christian life. Maybe there are things blocking us from having an intimate relationship with Christ.  We lose our power when we grieve the Holy Spirit.

You may be asking:  “This all sounds great Bonnie, but what can I do to make Jesus welcome in me?”

You can start by taking inventory.  First think about what you think about. Sounds kind of odd right?  Take a look at Philippians 4:8 and you will see that God has already told us how we should think.

Php 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Check yourself this week and determine what you are thinking about.  Are they things that this scripture tells us we should be thinking about, or is your mind full of other things.  You might be spending a lot of time with thoughts about someone you are angry with rehearsing over and over what you would like to tell that person if you got a chance.  Or, you might be letting your mind wander into impure thoughts.  Maybe you watched something on television that started your mind in that direction and now you are dwelling on them.  There are so many things we think about that we shouldn’t really.  They are things that tear us down and don’t build us up in the Lord in any way.  When we struggle with our thought life and entertain thoughts that we shouldn’t sooner or later we give birth to sin.  Our Precious Lord cannot feel at home in these kinds of situations.  I don’t think we realize how much of an effect we have on Christ in us.

Other ways we hinder God’s power in us include:  not yielding to Him, not studying the Word on a daily basis, and neglecting prayer,

Someone has said:

 “Some of us only have visits with our Lord that are short and far between.  We drive Him away.  How? Our hearts are foul with sin.”

Oh Lord, please help me to understand the deep things Paul is trying to teach me, and help me to have a clean heart, so that Christ can dwell in me and be comfortable.  Help me not to offend Him.   In Jesus Name.  Amen.

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Heaven: Who’s In and Who’s Out?

Posted in Faith, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 20, 2013| 5 Comments »

First, I want to say that I am writing this because I’m finding that many people, even church-going people, don’t know what the Bible says about heaven.  The Bible is very clear on who will be allowed and who will not be allowed to enter.  We can speculate all we want but the final say comes down to what God says. Many people think that everyone will go to heaven, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Do you know for sure that when you die you will got to heaven?  How about your friends and relatives?  To tell you the truth I cannot know for sureSatan011 if a person is saved and on their way to heaven or if they are on their way to hell.  Only God knows the heart.  The Bible tells us who will and who will not be allowed in heaven.  This is not me saying this, it is God speaking and warning us.

Who’s Out?

1Co 6:9-10 (NASB) Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,  10  nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

Rev 21:8 (NASB) “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Eph 5:5 (NASB) For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Gal 5:19-21 (NASB)  Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,  (20)  idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,  (21)  envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  (Emphasis mine)

Rev 21:27a (NASB) and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, (referring to heaven)

You will notice that in the last two scripture references it says that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  You see these verses are talking about people who live a lifestyle that is mentioned in these verses.  We all know that no one is perfect and that even those who are truly born-again Christians can and do sin at times.  But, this is the difference.  They do not live in those sins as a life style.  They don’t practice them.

Who’s In? KingJesus

Rev 21:27b (NASB)  but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

This is a very short list isn’t it?  So, we want our names written in the Lamb’s book of life, but how do we accomplish this?

As you can see from the first verses showing who is not going to heaven there are many horrible sins that stand in the way.  If we take a good look at these lists we are sure to find ourselves.

Be sure you’re  saved. It’s that simple.  Confess that you are a sinner and in need of a Savior. Repent, (turn from) your sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  God is holy  and He cannot look upon our sin and therefore we cannot be allowed in heaven.  We need to be cleaned up.  There is a great gulf between us and God and the only way to bridge that gulf is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  He willingly went to the cross to take our place.  You see the penalty for sin is death.  He took on the wrath of God as He bore our sins on the cross and then died in our stead.  They buried Christ and on the third day He rose from the grave.  His resurrection is our proof that He was who He said He was and that we have the promise of rising from the dead and being with Him in heaven for eternity.  Oh, what a Savior!
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John MacArthur on Anxiety and God’s Sovereignty

Posted in Anxiety & Stress, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Here is another wonderful post on anxiety by John MacArthur.  He is doing a series of them and I want to share them with you.  There is a very good short video clip in this one that you MUST listen too.  I think it is the key to victory.  When you get a hold of that teaching, it really makes all the difference.

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It should be clear by now that unchecked anxiety isn’t good for you. It’s a sin expressly forbidden by the Lord, so there is the spiritual cost to consider. But it’s also harmful to your health, your productivity, and your relationships. It wreaks havoc throughout your life, and as we saw yesterday, it strangles your mind.

Click on the link below to continue reading this article:

John MacArthur on Anxiety and God’s Sovereignty.

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Worn Out by Worry

Posted in Christian, Faith, Panic Attacks, tagged , , , , , on November 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Here is an article by John MacArthur that I’d like to share with you.  I know first hand how much trouble worry can add to a person’s life.  I want to thank John MacArthur for writing this and sharing his wisdom on this issue as I know from sharing with people over the years that worry is a huge problem even among Christians.  We can be conquers!

Worry is a common temptation for all of us. The source of the anxiety might vary from person to person, but no one is completely immune. For some, it’s even a favorite pastime, occupying large portions of their days by troubling over their doubts and fears about the future.

You can click on the link below to read all of this article by John MacArthur.

Worn Out by Worry.

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Marry or Live Together?

Posted in Christianity, Culture, God, tagged , , , , , , on November 19, 2011| 4 Comments »

Should you get married or simply live together?

Recently, I heard a conversation between two people who really got my attention.  The first person said, “I know people who have to live together because they can’t afford to marry.  They would lose their benefits.  This is especially true of seniors.”  The other person said, “Yes, I know!  Carl and I couldn’t afford to be together if we got married.  And, there are going to be a LOT more people living together because of the economy.”

I sat and listened and am sorry to say didn’t speak up.  I should have said, “But, they are living in sin!  Is it better to live in sin than to please God?”

Gen 2:24 NASB

  For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

God cannot bless these kinds of relationships.  People wonder why they have so many problems and a lot of it is because they are thumbing their noses at God.

Many couples today are living together.  They have children and when they tire of each other they think they can move on.  This is not how God planned our relationships.

Several years ago my friend and I fell in love with each other and wanted to marry.  We had to count the cost.  For me it meant that I would lose my disability payments along with medical coverage.  That was a big deal!  For him it meant he would have to take on more responsibilities and provide for the two of us.  He was retired at the time and would have to go back to work.

We talked to others about our situation, and I was shocked to learn that even Christians told us that we should move in together.  “Other Christians are doing the same thing,” they said.  “God understands.”  Does He?   He ordained marriage and it is to be the norm.  When we live together we live in sin and are out of God’s will.

Mat 19:4-6 NASB  And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,  (5)  and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’?  (6)  “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

Jesus himself said these words, and the parts in all caps are taken right from Genesis 2:24.  Way back in the beginning God ordained marriage.

We prayed about our situation and came to the conclusion that God wanted us to marry.  That was His will.  We weren’t going to entertain anything else. We thought about my husband’s children and grandchildren.  What kind of testimony would it be if we lived together?  Could we expect more from them down the road?

Then, we counted the cost financially.  We came up short.  We would not have enough money to manage our marriage.  Finally, we decided we would follow God’s will and get married anyway.  We didn’t care if some of our friends thought we were crazy getting married at our age.  We would trust God with the rest. We wanted to do things right!

God came through for us. He didn’t let us down.  He blessed us with enough money to meet our needs and more.  He blessed our marriage in so many ways and gave us peace knowing we did the right thing.

How could God have blessed us if we had decided just to live together?  He couldn’t, because it would have gone against His will.  There are consequences to sin.

I don’t know your situation, but if you are at this blog site it’s most likely because you have anxiety and/or panic attacks.  If so, and you are in a relationship where you are living with someone of the opposite sex, then you need to repent and either get out of that relationship, or get married.  If you are a Christian, God cannot bless you if you are living in sin.  He wants you to get right with Him.  If you are experiencing panic attacks or extreme anxiety or depression perhaps God has allowed this to get your attention.  God loves us and wants the very best for us.  Would you want your child doing things that were against your will for them?  God wants us to obey His word, and when we don’t He disciplines us just as a loving father disciplines his children.

Do you realize that a sexual relationship outside of marriage is sinful?  In the Bible it is called immorality.

1Th 4:3 NASB

  For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;

1Co_6:18

  Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.

I don’t know you, if you are young or older, but if you are considering living together instead of getting married please reconsider and look into the Word for direction.  Living together may seem to be an acceptable lifestyle in our society, but it isn’t with God. You will be blessed if you follow God.

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What is Your Desire?

Posted in Faith, inspirational, tagged , , , , , , , on August 31, 2011| 3 Comments »

I received an email from someone who expressed to me a way in which he was deceived, and this deception prevented him from becoming free from fear. It prompted me to share these thoughts with you. Here is an excerpt from that email:

“i pursue freedom from fear, and i may desire the freedom from fear more than Jesus, so that is the reason i cannot be free from fear, but if i desire and seek Christ, the freedom will come. It is strange but “freedom”can be our idol.”

Have you battled fear for a long time and wondered why you are still fearful? You pray and think you are doing all the right things, but fear still hangs on like a vice grip.

Here is a question that you need to take time to really think about and be honest with yourself. Do you desire freedom from fear more than you desire Jesus?

That’s a heavy question isn’t it? Think about it. What is your desire? Do you realize that your desire for freedom from fear (or any other thing) can become an idol? Why? Because that is the thing you are seeking after. You are seeking freedom instead of Jesus.

Perhaps you have read all the books on anxiety and fear. You’ve ordered all the tapes and listened and watched videos about overcoming panic attacks. You’ve tried all the worldly advise in your pursuit of freedom. You’ve gone to counselors, psychologists, and even Christian counselors, but still you are plagued with fear that annoys and distracts you, and it keeps you from living a full life. How many times I’ve heard people say, “I just want my life back!”

What could be holding you back?

(Jas 4:2b) …You do not have because you do not ask.

I think most of us have asked. We have prayed and prayed to be healed. I know I prayed many times that God would take away the fears that I dealt with on a daily basis and give me the peace that passed understanding. Sometimes, I felt peace for a little while, but then the fear would strike again. What was wrong?

Why didn’t I get healed the first time I asked God to heal me? There are a couple of reason that I can think of.

We must realize that the roots of anxiety and worry is sin. I know that’s a hard pill to swallow. But, let’s look at the Bible.

(Php 4:6) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

(Mat 6:34) “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Read Matthew 6:25-34 and you will see Jesus’ own Words as He talks about worry. He commands over and over that we are not to worry.

(Jas 4:3a) You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives,…

Could that be the answer? Did I have wrong motives? Maybe so. Yes, I wanted to be healed and immediately. But, those thoughts were from my point of view. My motives were to be healed so that I didn’t have to feel so rotten. I wanted to get back out there in the world and pursue my career. I wanted friends again, and a car, and money. I wanted to “get my life back.” It was all about ME! That way MY will.

At some point I realized that it wasn’t about ME anymore. I wanted what God wanted for me. Are you willing to continue to suffer with panic attacks and fear if that is God’s will for you? Are you willing to say to God, “Okay, if this is the way you want me, then I will submit to your will?”

When we get to the point where we no longer fight panic in our own strength and turn to God and surrender fully to Him, then He will fight our battle for us.

When we suffer, whatever it is, God is in it if we are Christians. He is right there beside us to hold our hand if we let Him. He will get us through it, but in the meantime He wants to teach us true dependence on Him. Did you get that? We need to learn to lean on Him and not trust in ourselves anymore, or any other person in our life.

Oh, if we could only desire Jesus Christ as much as we desire to be healed. Will you take that step? Instead of reading books on how to overcomer panic attacks, how about if you read and really study the Bible? Yes, you will find the answers there.

Is your desire to be free from panic attacks, or is your desire to seek and know God?

(Psa 42:1b) …As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God.

What a beautiful picture of how we should want Jesus.

When we die to self and seek after Jesus, God will bless us in ways we never thought possible.

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Are You Good Enough For Heaven?

Posted in Christianity, God, Gospel, inspirational, Religion, Spirituality, tagged , , , on August 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I came across a video that really made me stop and think, “Am I really good enough for heaven?”

What do you think?  Are you?  Do you know for sure that when you die you will go to heaven?

These are questions we all must  answer  at some point.  Watch this video and see how others answer as they take, “The Good Test.”

http://youtu.be/-qFPgLLpGYA

 

 

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