Sunday, September 23, 2012
Update on my New Job
Thanks so much to those who have been praying for me to learn my new job. Things have been going better, so God is answering your prayers! The Lord has also been using this situation to strengthen my faith and to help me get over perfectionist thinking. I have been encouraged by Psalm 103:13-14. It really helps to know that Father is compassionate.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
One Spirit with God
"He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him." 1 Corinthians 6:17
I've been reading Destined for the Throne by Paul Billheimer, and this book explains 1 Corinthians 6:17 pretty well. Billheimer says that our bodies derive their reality from their relationship to the spirit; therefore, the spirit is the real us. And because the Christian's spirit is joined to the Lord, in our essential beings we are seated with Christ in the heavens, as it says in Ephesians 2:6. We are united with Christ as members of His body, and because of this we are partakers of all He is and all He has. In other words, EVERY blessing and EVERY good thing that we read about in the Bible and EVERYTHING that Jesus has and is is ours too. Think about that for awhile! (See also Ephesians 1:3).
For example, Jeremiah 31:12b says, "Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all." I used to think this referred to heaven and wasn't for now. But now I think it does apply to us now. Galatians 5:22 says that the fruit of the Spirit is joy, and certainly God's people have His Spirit now. I'm not saying that we always feel joyful. But God turns our sorrow to joy. I have experienced this. I was discouraged because of struggling to learn my new job (at Lifeway Christian store). I felt like a worthless failure. I asked Jesus to speak to me about this. He took me to Romans 8 where it says that He is for me, God gave His infinitely valuable Son for me (thereby placing infinite value on me), and He will, with Christ, freely give me all things. The Lord also showed me that my job isn't the important thing. What's important is that I believe Romans 8, that my boss connects with Jesus and finds peace, and that the Lifeway customers are loved and respected (and they may have to learn patience!). My discouragement turned to joy.
My father's funeral wasn't a happy time; all of us were grieving. Yet the Lord comforted me and gave me peace in my heart, and there's joy in that.
These thoughts are amazing to me, and I'd love to get your comments about this.
Blessings,
Sandra
I've been reading Destined for the Throne by Paul Billheimer, and this book explains 1 Corinthians 6:17 pretty well. Billheimer says that our bodies derive their reality from their relationship to the spirit; therefore, the spirit is the real us. And because the Christian's spirit is joined to the Lord, in our essential beings we are seated with Christ in the heavens, as it says in Ephesians 2:6. We are united with Christ as members of His body, and because of this we are partakers of all He is and all He has. In other words, EVERY blessing and EVERY good thing that we read about in the Bible and EVERYTHING that Jesus has and is is ours too. Think about that for awhile! (See also Ephesians 1:3).
For example, Jeremiah 31:12b says, "Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all." I used to think this referred to heaven and wasn't for now. But now I think it does apply to us now. Galatians 5:22 says that the fruit of the Spirit is joy, and certainly God's people have His Spirit now. I'm not saying that we always feel joyful. But God turns our sorrow to joy. I have experienced this. I was discouraged because of struggling to learn my new job (at Lifeway Christian store). I felt like a worthless failure. I asked Jesus to speak to me about this. He took me to Romans 8 where it says that He is for me, God gave His infinitely valuable Son for me (thereby placing infinite value on me), and He will, with Christ, freely give me all things. The Lord also showed me that my job isn't the important thing. What's important is that I believe Romans 8, that my boss connects with Jesus and finds peace, and that the Lifeway customers are loved and respected (and they may have to learn patience!). My discouragement turned to joy.
My father's funeral wasn't a happy time; all of us were grieving. Yet the Lord comforted me and gave me peace in my heart, and there's joy in that.
These thoughts are amazing to me, and I'd love to get your comments about this.
Blessings,
Sandra
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Persevering Trust
The Lord likes perseverance. Jesus told a story (Luke 11:5-13) about someone coming to his friend late at night to ask for bread. He said that the man in bed might not get up because of friendship, but would give the bread because of the pestering. Jesus wants us to believe the truth that He'll give to us because of friendship. But He loves to wait until the last minute to meet the need, because that gives us the greatest opportunity for faith, and faith results in eternal rewards (1 Peter 1:6-7). We need to be confident that the one who hopes in Him will not be disappointed. Like when I was a little child and I was very sure that Daddy would always bring home all the groceries we needed, and even some treats! I am praying for all of us that we'd have that childlike trust in the Lord for the long haul.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)