December 31rst, Saturday Night

To forget yourself and get lost in a maze of helping and giving to others, is really a saved condition. Making a habit of blessing other people and looking out for their good instead of your own will starve out the selfishness that lies in our various areas of life.

Of course though, we need to be right with God ourselves, and He'll take care of guiding us in our relations to others. He wants us to make things right with Him AND with OTHER souls He is seeking to give a new life to. And Jesus said, "As ye have done it unto the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto Me."

From a song called, "Lord, How Long?" :
"Lord, how long can this go on, family life as it is?
Our love is waxing so cold. So much is going wrong.
          We reach out our hands outside our homes,
          Because we think our family's to blame.
          And we forget our own faults, or just don't see them,
         And then we wonder why we're still ashamed.
Lord, we need a change.
Help us come to right relation, make the wrong things right.
May we have a strong connection, turn our darkness into light...
          If we're going to help the world, then it's YOU they must see.
          We must live by Your example with our own family..."

These are some amazing things God has been showing me lately. And He's been showing me deep things ABOUT these things, which I see are very important for spiritual growth and improvement of life. I feel older after a few months of this amazing experience from God than I would if I were making $12 an hour and had my own house and new car and bills and all that stuff. :) God wants to show us how to prioritize, and to remember the important things. If we feel dis-satisfied about living where we are with those we're living with, etc., maybe God is trying to teach us things that are more eternal and best in the long run for us and for others(do we care? Only God can make us care.) And maybe that we ought to seek these things and be strong through the struggles and the deep heart-searching and painful "heart surgery", rather than by-passing our issues and blaming others as we mess up and run away from our troubles. (We would just find other troubles anyway. We really need to get to the ROOT of the problem.)

The struggles, heart-searching, surgery and ALL are more than worth it! The results are better than what our own mistakes, pride, and unwillingness to change, could bring us. ;)
"Lord, how long can I refuse to let go of the things that by Your grace I know
Are not the things that will be best down the road?
Lord, take it all, and no matter what others do, I still have light to live up to.
I can't cast on them all the blame, and just wait for them to change.
Lord, I must do my part for You.
It's Your will I must do. Lord, I trust You will lead me through."

He will, friend, He will. Whatever your personal issues are, if you listen to Him, trust and obey, He will show you answers. You can expect it to involve leaving your comfort zone. But sometimes, it's just a matter of letting go and being still, so that as your voice and crazy/confused/spinning-out-of-control mind were hushed -- stopped -- Jesus could tell you the truth of the matter.

Whatever the case is -- He really, sincerely, wants to help you.
"Help us put first things first, and to look in the mirror.
And instead of blaming others, the golden rule adhere."
Jesus said, "Do unto others even as you would that they should do unto you."
"The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness..." James 2:20,21. Can we admit it? Acknowledging our sin...it's like going through a dark tunnel for a minute, and then coming out to the other side, which in this case is a much better place to be than the side we came from. It brings us to this: We are in favor with God, simply because we chose Him, not our self, which makes us happy and at peace. Can we admit our true condition? Jeremiah 3:13,14: "Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed My voice, saith the LORD. Turn, O backsliding children..."
Back to James: "Wherefore lay apart all superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness [Let's sell our pride and exchange it for meekness, a treasure in that field.] the engrafted word, WHICH is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving you own selves."

"I Am The Light of the World..."

"I am the light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
"Trust ye not in a friend...I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation [love bears all things] of the LORD, because I have sinned against Him, until He plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness."
"...we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
"The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble." "But the path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."
"If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
--If your path is dark now, it doesn't have to always be that way. Jesus cares for you and desires your companionship more than we've desired our aching heads to be still. He says to us in many ways through our consciences throughout our life and throughout each day, "Incline your ear, and come unto Me: Hear, and your soul shall live..." "A new heart also will I give you, And a new spirit will I put within you..." What can we do if we are walking in darkness? We must listen to God, when He says, "Turn [here]...and live..." As we live up to the light we know, our miserable darkness will vanish away, bit by bit, fiber by fiber, and our path WILL grow brighter and brighter until the perfect day. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD..." "...take hold of MY strength, that [you] may make peace with Me; and [you] SHALL make peace with Me."
"It feels like it's night now, but that's okay. Soon will be the dawn, the dawn of a brighter day..."--