Lately, I've been struggling in my heart over prayer requests that I get from friends and family about health issues they are facing. I've FINALLY been trying to get to the bottom of why it is so hard for me to really FEEL the compassion for them in my prayers. It's because I haven't been praying for them to repent as well as for them to heal physically.
I know that if I have a stomach ache from eating food that is not good for me (I get super bad heartburn from deep fried anything) Sure, I can ask for prayer from my husband and family in the Lord.......but need I neglect to repent for doing that which is not good for me in the first place??
It's sort of like........not brushing your teeth, and then you're having to face getting cavities filled and a root canal done. You can ask for prayer for that pain that you're about to go through, but you should repent for your foolish neglect of taking care of what the Lord has given you.......namely, your body.
Don't get me wrong, I have compassion.....I mean, I brush my teeth 4 times a day and still get cavities!
So, obviously, there are some things that are hard to go through even doing your best to be a good steward of your body.
I MAINLY struggle with the prayer requests for people having to undergo some bigtime procedures that are the result of tremendous OBVIOUS neglect of their health for years and years who will quote you the text "physical training is of little value" ---who also eat pounds of sugar and fat with every meal
Am I the only one who has ever struggled with this?
I feel the other side too......and the Lord does not let me go on this...oh, boy does he NOT let me go.
One time when I was out and about, I was on the phone with Brent, he said "hey why don't you just come home and we can have some leftovers instead of spending more money eating out/eating junk?"
We hung up and I pondered......in my foolishness..... I then went to noodles and co and ordered one of their super duper fatty noodle dishes....instead of going home as my loving husband suggested....to eat HEALTHY leftovers.
Wellp...long story short....I got food poisoning.
Talk about a rubuke......for eating garbage #1 and for not heeding the counsel of my loving husband #2
Got it loud and clear Lord......for 24 hours straight...I repented and was....ill......really ill.
Anycrux, if anyone has any thoughts, please feel free to post em?
But please....don't accuse me of 'being judgemental' though....as I don't have time to sit and argue about that......I am not bringing this issue up to point out any one particular person....I promise!!!.....
I bring it up to mention my own struggle and need for repentance, and perhaps to encourage others who eat 'pretend food' to consider what they ask for prayer for.....that they might see the need to ask for prayer that they would find repentance, and the ability to make a change.
Too often, food idolatry is overlooked in our churches.......as well as physical laziness......and I think we need to help eachother see that we can serve our testimony by having self control with food and by 'beating our bodies into submission" ie.....working out in some fashion or another.
I'm tired of myself......
with much love,
J
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The sorrow of a wasted life is immense
Ever been to a funeral where you know that the person who has passed away most likely didn't know the Lord.......and so the pastor is put into this impossible situation where he must preach hope and Christ without insinuating the likelihood of the deceased not being in the presence of the Lord?
I have. A few times. The fellow believers at the funerals have the most grievous faces.....more so than the people who have been lied to by the pastor.......pastors who pretend that the lost one is somehow able to be with the Lord without any evidence of faith lived out in their life. ie....not only did they never speak about the magnitude of what Christ has done for a wretch like them......they loved ONLY those who loved them....and even that love was low and weak.
I was recently at a funeral of someone I didn't know at all really. But it got me to thinking about other funerals I had gone to.......
My former boss' funeral (Scott Richards of the Northstar Resource Group in Minneapolis) was one of them.
He was raised as a very privileged young man, whose father owned the company......but sometime in his 30's he was diagnosed with a disease that was pretty much guaranteed to take his life and they gave him something like 7 years to live.
I can't remember at what point he was given the grace to believe the gospel.....but his life RADIATED Christ even though he wasn't perfect. (as one working as his admin assistant, I can tell you that he absolutely was not perfect......)
But he loved the one who was perfect. He treasured and clung to Christ as God's provision for his soul....and this man, though he was very wealthy, went about with gospel tracts and he studied apologetics hard memorizing much so that he would be prepared in and out of season to defend the gospel......he's known to give out books and tracts to people at quiznos. :)
The man did not care about how people might perceive him.......he cared about their souls.
So you can imagine his funeral.......it was sad but joyful at the same time.
We believers know where he was with our whole hearts and we rejoiced for him, grieving only for his wife and two small children who were left behind without their daddy who was a strong leader and proclaimer of truth.
I couldn't help but smile as I cried at his funeral........so many of the friends that I worked with who do not know the Lord were present, also weeping........but I wondered and prayed that they would have eyes to see and ears to hear the Gospel of God that was preached very clear that glorious day. I haven't heard of anyone coming to know the Lord from that day as of yet, but seeds had to have been planted.
The other funeral was of my ex-boyfriend, Chuck Roberts. He was only 32 when he died.
I was beside myself at the wake......not knowing that he had actually repented and trusted Christ just 6 months prior to his death. The pastor was amazing. He loved the Lord and as he prayed and I prayed he recognized that I knew his Lord too. He pulled me aside and gave me great comfort that he had spent much time with Chuck over the last days/weeks and believed that there was a nature change.......that Chuck was trusting in Christ when he died.
WOW.
I had shared the gospel with Chuck about 400 times over the course of 4 years prior to his conversion and didn't think he was listening. I'm so glad that i wasn't there when he got saved, but that the Lord proves that He is God.....and that no human can argue another into heaven.....it is God's giving a new heart with new and right desires so that He gets the glory and not man.
I'm rambling and not sure why.
Death is sobering....and I'm trying to get my arms around it........to really consider my own death daily........so that I live more on point.
I'm so tired and weak today......perfect opportunity for the Lord to show himself powerful and merciful.
Have a blessed day......pondering your own short time on this earth is hard, but in some strange way, refreshing.
in Christ Jesus
JB
I have. A few times. The fellow believers at the funerals have the most grievous faces.....more so than the people who have been lied to by the pastor.......pastors who pretend that the lost one is somehow able to be with the Lord without any evidence of faith lived out in their life. ie....not only did they never speak about the magnitude of what Christ has done for a wretch like them......they loved ONLY those who loved them....and even that love was low and weak.
I was recently at a funeral of someone I didn't know at all really. But it got me to thinking about other funerals I had gone to.......
My former boss' funeral (Scott Richards of the Northstar Resource Group in Minneapolis) was one of them.
He was raised as a very privileged young man, whose father owned the company......but sometime in his 30's he was diagnosed with a disease that was pretty much guaranteed to take his life and they gave him something like 7 years to live.
I can't remember at what point he was given the grace to believe the gospel.....but his life RADIATED Christ even though he wasn't perfect. (as one working as his admin assistant, I can tell you that he absolutely was not perfect......)
But he loved the one who was perfect. He treasured and clung to Christ as God's provision for his soul....and this man, though he was very wealthy, went about with gospel tracts and he studied apologetics hard memorizing much so that he would be prepared in and out of season to defend the gospel......he's known to give out books and tracts to people at quiznos. :)
The man did not care about how people might perceive him.......he cared about their souls.
So you can imagine his funeral.......it was sad but joyful at the same time.
We believers know where he was with our whole hearts and we rejoiced for him, grieving only for his wife and two small children who were left behind without their daddy who was a strong leader and proclaimer of truth.
I couldn't help but smile as I cried at his funeral........so many of the friends that I worked with who do not know the Lord were present, also weeping........but I wondered and prayed that they would have eyes to see and ears to hear the Gospel of God that was preached very clear that glorious day. I haven't heard of anyone coming to know the Lord from that day as of yet, but seeds had to have been planted.
The other funeral was of my ex-boyfriend, Chuck Roberts. He was only 32 when he died.
I was beside myself at the wake......not knowing that he had actually repented and trusted Christ just 6 months prior to his death. The pastor was amazing. He loved the Lord and as he prayed and I prayed he recognized that I knew his Lord too. He pulled me aside and gave me great comfort that he had spent much time with Chuck over the last days/weeks and believed that there was a nature change.......that Chuck was trusting in Christ when he died.
WOW.
I had shared the gospel with Chuck about 400 times over the course of 4 years prior to his conversion and didn't think he was listening. I'm so glad that i wasn't there when he got saved, but that the Lord proves that He is God.....and that no human can argue another into heaven.....it is God's giving a new heart with new and right desires so that He gets the glory and not man.
I'm rambling and not sure why.
Death is sobering....and I'm trying to get my arms around it........to really consider my own death daily........so that I live more on point.
I'm so tired and weak today......perfect opportunity for the Lord to show himself powerful and merciful.
Have a blessed day......pondering your own short time on this earth is hard, but in some strange way, refreshing.
in Christ Jesus
JB
Monday, August 16, 2010
The Jehovah Witness Issue
So, I'm currently studying and praying through some of the doctrines of the JW to prayerfully get to the crux of the matter with them. My first and main question is: WHY does it matter that they do not accept that Jesus IS God incarnate?
This was bothering me during my quiet time this morning........because they are SO DANG close to orthodox Christianity, that they call themselves Christian............but rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity is just kinda fruity, since it has always been understood as part of the dogma for the faith. To me, the question of WHY could be asked about many doctrines that I believe are critical........(doctrines of Grace).........WHY does it matter that someone understand that doctrine? DOES it matter?
I know many believers who cannot get that paradigm to shift.......but I know they are true believers by their fruit.....so, I don't believe I need to pull at that thread.
I got to thinking more about how other faith's are SO close to the truth......but just off enough to be heresy.
ie...Islam.
They believe that Jesus was born of a virgin named Mary.....they believe that he was sent by God....but that he was not God....nor do they believe he was the Son of God.......nor do they believe that he died on the cross, but they think that somehow Judas Escariot traded places with him......(sigh) but they think he was just a prophet....sure, a sinless one, but a prophet only.
Their book calls him the "messiah" something like 23 times, but they do not have any idea what he is the 'savior of'
Instead, they believe that God will somehow weigh their good and their bad and if they have more good than bad, they might be given mercy. (if they "earn" it) yikes.
The next super super close call is Catholicism.
Having been raised in the faith, this issue is close to my heart.
They believe in the trinity; they believe Jesus was God; They believe all of the tradiitonal dogma......BUT they believe the church (the popes) have the authority to interpret scripture alone..(even though Paul called the Bereans NOBLE for going home to read the texts to "see if the things were true" that were said by the apostle himself.)
They hold up tradition as if tradition is authoritative.......and they mingle Christ with other things like mysticism.....and the praying to his mother to get his attention. (see book entitled "doctrines of Mary")
I've been listening to sermons by MacArthur lately about the catholic church's standings on Mary and other issues. (whether a devout catholic would say they believe and follow the catholic church's stance on the issues is another thing)
It's incredible to me the pride one can take in a banner like "catholic" and love their sin almost as much.
All in all......many catholics that I know believe that if you're baptized, and you never murder anybody, God will let you into heaven. Others that i know who are more devout believe that Jesus + good deeds will get you into heaven.
Both are dangerous positions to take. I hope to be writing myself silly about these topics......(since writing helps me to sort through my thoughts)
Anycrap....if I have offended you and you are muslim or catholic......please know that is not my intent. My hope in the next few weeks of studying is to gain a better understanding of scripture...and to post what I find. The WORD is the authority, not me k.
So, if you think I write something that contradicts scripture, email me or post a comment....I promise I read them all, even the ones too profane for me to publish.
My goal is God Himself, at any cost, my dear Lord.
Jen2
This was bothering me during my quiet time this morning........because they are SO DANG close to orthodox Christianity, that they call themselves Christian............but rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity is just kinda fruity, since it has always been understood as part of the dogma for the faith. To me, the question of WHY could be asked about many doctrines that I believe are critical........(doctrines of Grace).........WHY does it matter that someone understand that doctrine? DOES it matter?
I know many believers who cannot get that paradigm to shift.......but I know they are true believers by their fruit.....so, I don't believe I need to pull at that thread.
I got to thinking more about how other faith's are SO close to the truth......but just off enough to be heresy.
ie...Islam.
They believe that Jesus was born of a virgin named Mary.....they believe that he was sent by God....but that he was not God....nor do they believe he was the Son of God.......nor do they believe that he died on the cross, but they think that somehow Judas Escariot traded places with him......(sigh) but they think he was just a prophet....sure, a sinless one, but a prophet only.
Their book calls him the "messiah" something like 23 times, but they do not have any idea what he is the 'savior of'
Instead, they believe that God will somehow weigh their good and their bad and if they have more good than bad, they might be given mercy. (if they "earn" it) yikes.
The next super super close call is Catholicism.
Having been raised in the faith, this issue is close to my heart.
They believe in the trinity; they believe Jesus was God; They believe all of the tradiitonal dogma......BUT they believe the church (the popes) have the authority to interpret scripture alone..(even though Paul called the Bereans NOBLE for going home to read the texts to "see if the things were true" that were said by the apostle himself.)
They hold up tradition as if tradition is authoritative.......and they mingle Christ with other things like mysticism.....and the praying to his mother to get his attention. (see book entitled "doctrines of Mary")
I've been listening to sermons by MacArthur lately about the catholic church's standings on Mary and other issues. (whether a devout catholic would say they believe and follow the catholic church's stance on the issues is another thing)
It's incredible to me the pride one can take in a banner like "catholic" and love their sin almost as much.
All in all......many catholics that I know believe that if you're baptized, and you never murder anybody, God will let you into heaven. Others that i know who are more devout believe that Jesus + good deeds will get you into heaven.
Both are dangerous positions to take. I hope to be writing myself silly about these topics......(since writing helps me to sort through my thoughts)
Anycrap....if I have offended you and you are muslim or catholic......please know that is not my intent. My hope in the next few weeks of studying is to gain a better understanding of scripture...and to post what I find. The WORD is the authority, not me k.
So, if you think I write something that contradicts scripture, email me or post a comment....I promise I read them all, even the ones too profane for me to publish.
My goal is God Himself, at any cost, my dear Lord.
Jen2
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