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."

A Christian in the Home -- (Part 1)

-- Is a Christian everywhere, in Singleness of Heart --

Matthew 19:19 says, "Honour thy father and thy mother: and, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Do you know what I have to say to that? "With men it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible." I personally don't have a tendency to easily love everyone, family included. It is natural for me to be un-Christlike, but Jesus has something higher for me, something better, something powerful, something called "charity," Christlike love. It is stronger than human nature. It "beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." It really does bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things, including home and family life.
            Now I know it doesn't take a Psycologist to figure out that it's easier to show our "real self" with the people we live with (the psycological side of it is interesting, though). While we naturally would want to impress people outside of the home, we feel much more comfortable and "off-guard" when at our place of residence, around the people we live with and see pretty much everyday.
            I am happy, thrilled, and excited to say, that God has solutions for every issue involved in this, and one principle  and beautiful truth is...singleness of heart. Ephesians 6:5-7 says, "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eyeservice as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will ["For it is GOD which worketh in you to will and to do of His good pleasure."]doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord..." Jesus wants us to be so deeply and firmly consecrated to Him that we will not serve self by pleasing people(and just pleasing ourselves when people aren't around), showing off, etc. He wants us to be so consecrated to Him that we will serve Him alone, wholeheartedly. Serving God and serving humanity go together. So, when we serve God, we are serving our families, and when we serve our families (taking Christ's example by His power and love) we are serving God.
            "The Lord requires perfection from His redeemed family. He calls for perfection in character-building. Fathers and mothers especially need to understand the best methods of training children, that they may co-operate with God. Men and women, children and youth, are measured in the scales of heaven in accordance with that which they reveal in the home life. A Christian in the home is a Christian everywhere. Religion brought into the home exerts an influence that cannot be measured." MS 34, 1899.

Will post part 2 eventually... :) God bless you!