THE INNER ROOM - "Learn and Grow - to Maturity". Please read the 1st Post.

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I sure agree with you that because Faithwoman is sharing REAL LIFE with us, we can then relate to it, and it can be SUCH a help to MANY! And introverts will usually find this harder to do than extroverts. Each to his own!

I think she's just plain tuckered out from all that she's been involved in these past weeks. Would have knocked the strongest person around! She just needs time to recover, and God will help her to REST and be RELAXED in Him, and get strength from the Holy Spirit. I think for many folks it's okay to feel a bit down. However, as you grow more and more towards maturity, your inner strength, WHICH IS GOD'S SPIRIT IN US, becomes stronger and stronger!! (I can tell you that this is pretty wonderful!!)

When we're worn out is when the negative thoughts and feelings will come. This is just part of our humanity - not necessarily satan initially. But what can THEN happen tho, is that once we're down, he will try and get to us. I see him as a wuzz really!! He KNOWS that we have strength from the Lord God, and so he will try to attack us when we're at our weakest. "Pigs" to him, I say! He's a defeated foe! I will NOT give him the time of day, cos I BELONG TO THE KING OF KINGS!!!

Love ya!!

- BM

EDIT! Yes, Faithwoman is a writer, but I've always thought you express yourself quite well, hon! Some of the Spiritual things you write are quite wonderful!! (And we all have our special things in the Lord, don't we.)

You just go straight ahead and write whenever you feel to! People here are amazingly loving and accepting. I have no doubt at all that we'll understand what you're saying, okay!!
 
Reaching Higher #21

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A Sincere Thankyou!! - Part 3

... Continued from Part 2, "There's a 'Normal Christian Birth', but Most of Us Have Missed It!"

This post is specifically to HONOUR each one of you, individual by individual, coming here to read the initial Parts of this Series! I see your desire and determination to FIND and to KNOW the TRUTH!!! I've noted with GREAT interest how you're taking TIME to read and to take in and to understand! I KNOW I threw a lot at you in those first Parts. But I could NOT leave just one Major Part - leaving some dear folks way up in the air!! - but for their sakes simply HAD to do the second at the same time (thus giving you SO MUCH to read and try to digest!)

Love you for being so UNDERSTANDING!!!

I originally fully intended, and stated, that this Series would also be for UNBELIEVERS - where they could come to hear the Gospel, with the possibility of getting saved. But God has NOT moved that way... Why could it not be otherwise?? The answer is that He knows the right way, He IS the way, and He NEVER makes a mistake!

As to how I feel, of course I'm SAD to not be preaching Jesus in this Series with a view to inviting folks to come here and get Born Again. Instead, however, the Messages ASSUME that you already KNOW about Jesus' coming, His death, and resurrection, AND that you believe it!!

I've nearly finished writing the next - and maybe the most IMPORTANT - Message. Gotta get it RIGHT! - but SOON, okay!! (I told you Messages would differ in length, didn't I!) *nods convincingly!*

Continued in Part 4 "Here Lies the Problem, and Solution, for Most of Us"...

- BM with his special Lady

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THIS IS THE BIG ONE AT LAST!!!

WHAT I'M PRAYING...

Is for every person who CAN and WILL profit in the Lord from Part 4 of this crucial Series (below) to COME and read - then DO it!

It cannot possibly HURT anyone to do so!!! And if you are serious and earnest about God then THIS CAN CHANGE YOUR CHRISTIAN WALK FOREVER!!! NO EXAGGERATION!! Has done so for ME!!

That's how IMPORTANT and how EFFECTIVE it is! - because it's fully SCRIPTURAL... and TESTED and PROVEN by numbers of people around the world!!

In Jesus' love, forever!!

- BM
 
Reaching Higher #22

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Here Lies the Major Problem, and Solution, for Most of Us - Part 4

Continued from Part 3, "A Sincere Thankyou!!"

LET'S SUMMARISE what we've looked at so far:
• What our sin really is and how it works
• What has to change and how
• How SERIOUS this all is
• That most of us are NOT fully Born Again (not our fault)
• Our sin is AGAINST GOD! - and it HURTS Him terribly!

Okay, we left Peter as he preached Jesus to Jews from many nations: Acts Ch 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Now that's a response we don't hear very often today!! Absolutely shocked at how they'd treated Jesus their Messiah, they cried out: "WHAT MUST WE DO??"

Peter's answer was immediate, simple, clear, and very direct: REPENT!!! Acts Ch 2:8 Then Peter said to them, “Repent... BUT - did they UNDERSTAND what that meant? A few years earlier came a man preaching the same message. John the Baptist, paving the way for Jesus to start His ministry: Matthew Ch 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Many came to hear his message - and many responded: Matthew Ch 3:5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

Continued in the next post...
 
... Continued from the previous post

So even BEFORE Jesus said one word, they REPENTED, they CONFESSED their sins, and were BAPTISED in the Jordan. Sounds like they understood, doesn't it!! But do WE? SO MANY of us have responded to a so-called "Altar Call", repeated a so-called "Salvation Prayer" by the Pastor, maybe - but maybe not - had a little of what they'd just done explained to us - AND THAT'S ABOUT IT!!! We MUST ask: "SO IS THAT ENOUGH?" and the utterly clear ANSWER is: "NO, NO, NO!!!

I never had explained to me what getting Born Again/Born of God was about. I never got ASSURANCE of being Saved. I never got FILLED with the Spirit. I believed in Jesus, certainly, and accepted that He was my Saviour from sin - but beyond that, as to the things of HIGH IMPORTANCE, I knew just about SQUAT!!! It was 13 LONG years before I heard the first sermon explaining that Jesus had to be my LORD as well as Saviour!! I acted IMMEDIATELY on that, but even then, I still didn't know and understand anywhere NEAR enough! And my problem lay in the question of REPENTANCE!!!

The Greek words for "repent" actually means "TO CHANGE YOUR MIND"! Okay then, but about WHAT? To change your mind about your sin. About: (a) sinning against your own body (b) sin against others, and most of all (c) sin against the God:
.:: Who created you
.:: Who gave you life, and gives you life every moment
.:: Who loves you and cares for you and about you!...
because ALL SIN, EVERY 'small', 'medium' or 'large' sin WAS and IS straight-out AGAINST HIM!!!

Ever noticed how GOOD and how QUICK we are to see the other guy's sin! We're simply BRILLIANT at this!! Well the time is now HERE for YOU to turn the SPOTLIGHT INWARD!! To SEE and DISCOVER all of YOUR SIN, much of it UNCOVERED, FORGOTTEN - and NEVER EVER REPENTED OF!! This is holding up ALL of your walk with the Lord. It is a horrific and DEVASTATING BLOCKAGE!!!

What we're about to do is to get you as ABSOLUTELY RIGHT WITH GOD as possible, to get your CHRISTIAN LIFE on track, and to start you actually enjoying KNOWING THE LORD GOD PERSONALLY!! - and more!!! This will be your challenge - or else continue along just as you are, right up until DEATH! Are you even CERTAIN that you're saved? HOW CERTAIN?? Ready to stake your future for all eternity on it?? Okay, let's make certain!!! Please do NOT expect below to be easy!! Also DON'T try to do it all at once! PLEASE PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER - as they pray for YOU!!

Concluded in the next post...
 
... Concluded from the previous post

  1. Get with the Lord. And that means ALL OF US! You need privacy - specifically in a situation where you are alone with Him.
  2. Ask Him to HELP You with this MAJOR task. He WILL!!
  3. Meditation in His Presence. You should start to spend time 'meditating' on your whole life. In a sense letting your mind wander over all of your life: over 'the good, the bad, and the ugly', as it were! The reason for this? When you came to the Lord you may have said something like this, "I repent of all my sin, and turn away from it now." NOT SPECIFIC! NOT EVEN GOOD ENOUGH TO MAKE REPENTING REAL TO YOU!!
  4. Slowly Identify the Sins of Your Life. Some may think this is all NEGATIVE - like "wallowing" in all of your sin, even to the point of doing damage! NO WAY!! We are doing this so as to clear out all the 'gunk' in our life by CONFESSING and REPENTING of ALL OF OUR LIFE'S SIN!! Nothing less will do - but the FREEDOM you will get from this will be quite awesome!!
  5. Start Talking to the Lord about Your Sin! This must be aloud and verbal. Doing it in your head is NOT good enough for this important task! The importance of speaking with our mouth is Scriptural. Romans Ch 10:9a Because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart... 1 Corinthians Ch 1:21 For... it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Preaching is with our lips, and so is confession. If your situation means you need to speak quietly, that's fine. What you MUST do is: your LIPS must form the words (no sound necessary).
  6. Start Specifically and Definitely Confessing Your Sin to the Lord - REPENTING of It!!! Because there will (probably!) be a lot to confess, here's an example of how I may repent before God: "Lord, I just can't believe I did THAT!! I xxxx!!! (naming the sin). I am SO sorry!! I have grieviously and wilfully and knowingly sinned was against YOU, against Your HOLINESS! I know I've HURT You. I NEVER want to do that again!" Please DO NOT forget that SIN is not just what you've done WRONG, but just as serious is your FAILURE to do GOOD that you know you SHOULD have done!!! After you've done that for a couple of major sins, if you're NOT beginning to feel some really SERIOUS AND GODLY SORROW, then I'll be rather surprised.
  7. Continue!!... You'll be able to shorten all those words as you go along - just openly admitting and confessing your sin to Him. YOU WILL WANT TO BE REPENTING of THESE SINS - to have CHANGED YOUR MIND ABOUT THEM!! No longer do you wish to commit them against your Lord and God! You're getting them ALL OUT IN THE OPEN between you and the Lord, so that NOTHING can continue to be between you - SEPARATING you from HIM!! It's such a wondrous FEELING!!
  8. There Are Some Sins That Will be Difficult! (a) The first of these are the ones that involved SO MUCH HURT that you may have pushed them down so far as to be hard to get them back out. (b) Another lot are those YOU FELT SO GUILTY ABOUT that you simply HAD to justify yourself, convincing yourself that it wasn't all that bad; maybe even that it wasn't sin! BUT IT WAS!! There can be NO EXCUSES beteen you and the Lord! HE KNOWS THE TRUTH! YOU have to front up to it!!
  9. If You're Confessing a Sin, but You Don't Want to Truly Give it Up - then be honest with yourself that you are not REPENTING of it! Sometimes all we can do is WANT to give it up, and CONTINUE wanting to DO SO, and PRAYING about this (but NOT feeling GUILTY), and plug away at this till the day you SUCCEED!!!!
  10. To Get to ALL of Your Sin May Take Days, or Even Weeks! This is GOOD! Trying to finish by midday yesterday is not the way. Be SERIOUS, but take your time. Do a bit each day, so as not to BOMB yourself out!
  11. This is Ongoing! God will slowly show you more sin to confess and repent of!! You want to stay as CLEAN from all SIN as you possibly can. So ensure that REPENTANCE is part of your Christian walk with Jesus!
DO WELL!! Heavenly Blessings to you, every one!!!

Continued in Part 5, "Going Further: Completing the Job!"...

- BM, with his Lady

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... Concluded from the previous post

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1.
Get with the Lord. And that means ALL OF US! You need privacy - specifically in a situation where you are alone with Him.

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Amen x 1,000,000,000. That is the basic tenant of our faith- a living relationship with our Heavenly Father. That is after all why Christ went to the cross- to open the way between God and man.How many wish to be called by His Name and yet never really get to know Him?

My the Lord strengthen your harts and minds and refresh your spirits.
Many blessings in His wonderful Name,
brother Larry.
 
Awesome messages! I loved it! I needed those!
Sweets.. looking forward to your sharing.. thank goodness we have each other for prayer!

Hugs
Faithwoman
 
I really DO intend to write about what I've gone through, but first I have to digest all the new BM messages. I've printed them out and read them while the children sleep. But I intend to take it slowly. I want to "drink" it all in.
 
Awesome messages! I loved it! I needed those!
Sweets.. looking forward to your sharing.. thank goodness we have each other for prayer!

Hugs
Faithwoman

I really DO intend to write about what I've gone through, but first I have to digest all the new BM messages. I've printed them out and read them while the children sleep. But I intend to take it slowly. I want to "drink" it all in.

Thanks you guys! - hoping and praying that all will "read, mark, and inwardly digest" as my dear Mum would've said!

Much love to both you dears!!

- BM
 
More and More Cleansing

I think I was at Message #198 when I started cleaning out my closet of anything I missed that was standing between me and my relationship with God. See, you have to clean out your closets before you can climb up into the Attic and get any good out of it. Here is something I gleaned from your message, Mr. Bondman:

"As we ALLOW His Word to infiltrate every corner of our being until we are, as it were, virtually IMMERSED in it; aswe TAKE FULLNOTE of His words to us, PONDER them, CONSIDER them, ALLOW them to go deep, deep into our very being, we are more and more CLEANSED of the rubbish and garbage there!! Righteousness of life - living righteously - then TAKES THE PLACE of this!!! Praise His Holy Name!!!

I didn't uncover more garbage, you see, until I took note of this message (actually, the H.S. grabbed me), and then it "came to me" that I needed to pay attention to something I have depended on for awhile. It was a drug for depression. I was abusing it by taking one every time I felt I needed it, instead of as prescribed. I didn't really "see" this until I started to "let God's Word infiltrate every corner of my being."

Sometimes we get into the habit of doing something for so long, that it really doesn't occur to us that we are depending on it. In my case, there was really no one there to point it out to me. Until this Message 198 entered onto the scene. :eek:

So, when I faced what I was so dependant on (instead of depending on God), my doctor helped me gradually get off of it, which was pretty intense because it is a narcotic, and there are pretty disturbing effects when you try to get off of it. It's not something you would want to attempt on your own.

I had expressed this to BM in my most desperate time, and he requested you all pray for me. I appreciated that so much. It really helped speed things up. Prayer does that. :rolleyes:

I just felt like all of you who prayed for us, desearved to know the end result of what you didn't know you were praying for. Praying for BM and his Mrs. allowed them to discover ways to encourage me during my time of struggle, which in turn became shorter in the long run.

I am on something else now which is less addicting. I feel like a weight has been lifted off me and I can think more clearly. I feel like I can start all over and forget all the chaos of the past. I know we all go through things we don't understand, but it's so reassuring to know that Father understands and cares enough to put others in your path to pull you through. I thank my God for the friends I have on this forum. :israel: Sweets
 
Man we sure have to stay wide awake to live on this planet in 2009, don't we! Sweets' experience sure just proved that. There are so many traps for the unwary, and in my opinion ONLY GOD, AND A REAL DAILY RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM can keep us safe. He is THE ROCK. Just HIM. All else is shifting sand! (sometimes even quicksand!!)

When you quoted this:

"As we ALLOW His Word to infiltrate every corner of our being until we are, as it were, virtually IMMERSED in it; aswe TAKE FULLNOTE of His words to us, PONDER them, CONSIDER them, ALLOW them to go deep, deep into our very being, we are more and more CLEANSED of the rubbish and garbage there!! Righteousness of life - living righteously - then TAKES THE PLACE of this!!! Praise His Holy Name!!!

... I read it through and thought, wow, that's really good!! *haha!* Happens all the time when I go back and read stuff I've written (maybe the Lord really does write it through me, after all...) Every word of that quote is spot on: I want to be so immersed in His Word that it cleans me up, enough for me to get IMMERSED IN THE LORD GOD HIMSELF!!!

Bless you for sharing, hon!! The Lord has 'got you' and He's NOT gonna let go!! You can go on from child to teen to adult in Him, and ultimately become a fully mature Christian AND a real "Woman of God"!!! That will be FANTISTIC!!

Love you heaps!

- BM


EDIT: It is Message #198 quoting from John 15, possibly my most favourite Chapter in the whole of His Word!
 
Just want to share one more thing with you. I recently read something that changed my whole perspective on my Christian walk and how I should look at it.

This life is just a vapor. We should live it viewing the WHOLE picture. The dot is the time you spent on earth. The line is your life in eternity. Which one should you be living your life for? The dot, or the line? (See example below)
. ________________________________________________

So, as a Christian, our priorities should not be how we live our life on earth, but how much our life on earth will affect our life in eternity. Meaning, living our lives for others on earth instead of for ourselves, will make our lives richer throughout eternity. I hope this makes sense.
 
Oh, wow, that sure is great! I love the illustration (am a little upset with myself for not thinking of ever doing that!)

Now to a story I reckon you'll love!! I didn't know you were still up and so hadn't checked for any posts. Meantime the Lord set me to write a Message, but it was not at all clear where the Message was going... In fact I wasn't even totally convinced that I should be writing one! But I kept going, and in the end had to totally change the Title of it because it ended up so different from where I started!!

But the thing is, as you'll see, we both wrote about the same/similar basic subject matter at the same time!!!! DON'T YOU JUST LOVE GOD!! I adore His sense of humour! I love how He's constantly aware of every tiniest thing that's going on, and every so often decides to give you a "confirmation" that you're doin' pretty good!! To me that's CARE and THOUGHTFULNESS added to His AGAPE!!

Feel good about you and Father, dear one!!!

- BM
 
Reaching Higher #23

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About What's First - and What's Next

Many of us can live here on earth for a little while longer. But for ALL of us, Eternity is what comes next: where God is, where He dwells. NOTHING of earth is there! It's kind of ALL GOD in Heaven! It all revolves around HIM. Everything does! Should be like that here too, but of course it's NOT - and we understand that it's SIN that causes that - ENTIRELY!

HEAVEN ON EARTH?

But as individuals who truly CARE about God we can do a quite remarkable job of living like it's ALREADY HEAVEN!! For example, we DON'T have to "worship" earthly things and earthly ways, but instead REPLACE them with heavenly things and heavenly ways. Still with our FEET FIRMLY ON THE GROUND I hastily add! - there's maybe nothing too much worse than the person "who is too heavenly-minded to be of any earthly use"!!

We could maybe sum it up as "Being Spiritual -- ON Earth"!! That's how I've learnt to live. There are earthly things to be done obviously, but they all have to take their proper place in the SPIRITUAL scheme of things. If they don't "fit in" with the Spiritual, then I discard them, and find something that DOES fit! Thus I need MONEY for things like being able to eat, and clothe me, and house me, and medicine to keep me alive. But I'm very, very careful to SAVE the rest and give it to people far more NEEDY than I am!!

OTHERS ARE A PRIORITY!

So I regularly give FOOD to the "Untouchables" in India, via gfa.org. Sometimes clothing. Sometimes some money to help them have a clean water well, and other needs. Jesus said: As you do these things to my brothers, YOU ARE DOING THEM TO ME!! (Click) Matthew 25:40. I just LOVE that thought! I also give to Missionary Pastors there, so they can bring the Gospel about the Lord Jesus to people who've never heard of His LOVE! SO INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT!! In this way some of them really, really come to believe in Him - and so I'll be with them in heaven!! WOW! That will be awesome!!

I take care to "feed" the Spiritual aspect of my life every day. This involves Prayer - time spent with the Lord. Also time spent with His Word to get to understand it - so I can live it out! There I learn that as someone who belongs to Him, I need to always be OBEDIENT to what He says. I also need to stay CLEAN and as free from SIN as possible. I do that by keeping "a short account" with the Lord: any sin I commit or become aware of, is CONFESSED and REPENTED of immediately.

THAT IMPORTANT FOCUS!!

Via means like these that He teaches us in His Word, I have grown towards Him more and more, so that He's become THE FOCUS of my whole life now. NOTHING else comes ahead of HIM!! REPENTNG and growing closer to Him enables me to grow in righteousness and holiness, which I know pleases Him greatly (rather pleases me too, I must admit!!) So the Spiritual side of my life is what I work hard on. Basically the rest has to fit in with that!!!

Heavenly Blessings!

- BM, with his Lady

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What's that saying? "Great minds run in the same places." Or something like that. :rolleyes: Yeah, like I said, my mind is so much clearer now and I couldn't sleep until I posted a few things on CFS. Now I can retire and sleep in. Have a great week-end!
 
What's that saying? "Great minds run in the same places." Or something like that. :rolleyes: Yeah, like I said, my mind is so much clearer now and I couldn't sleep until I posted a few things on CFS. Now I can retire and sleep in. Have a great week-end!

It's so wonderful that your mind is so much clearer, hon! And here was the Holy Spirit giving you Spiritual encouragement with your great
. and _________________________________ post!! Woo-hoo!

Much love!

- BM
 
Wow Sweets! Thanks for sharing your most inner personal struggle! Praises to the Lord for what he is doing in your life.

I saw exactly this in a woman who came to the bus today. She stood there with a cane in the hot beating sun. She looked ill. I had her come on the bus to sit and wait for her groceries. I thought she was going to pass out! I was trying to find her something to drink. Bridget took one look at her and knew exactly what was going on! She called her out on it. She stated "Missy" how much medication did you take today? You are not looking good. "Missy" tried to shove it off as being overly tired. Care-A-Van gets to know the folks of the street because we go back to the neighborhoods each month.

No.. she was overly medicated. I mean she was "out there". She had narcotics she was suppose to be taking for something else, but came way addicted to them and now just drugs herself out. I helped her home along with her 7 year old daughter. She could barely get in the door. Got her to the couch. The woman she is staying with along with her 5 kids, just shook her head. When i stepped outside I told " Jane", that we knew what was going on. "Jane offered for the woman and her kids to stay a night when they needed it.. It has turned into going on 3 weeks.

I went back tonite to check on "Missy" and offer to take her to church. She was not up to it but her daughter said she wanted to go to church. The little lassy put on the cutuest dress, red with white lace and black patent shoes. I thought I need to go home and change, I was in jeans and my care-a-van shirt. We came to my home. I suggested to Missy that the both of us, maybe scrub up a bit, this small child had dirt from head to toe under this little dress. We wiped our faces and arms, and legs and then went to church.

The young girl did not have a bible, so I asked the youth pastor if they had a bible (this was not my home church, but one I love going to on Sat nites). She took her into a classroom , gave her a young kids' bible. you would have thought someone gave her a million dollars. We went and had ice cream and then I took her back home.. home for her is an apartment with a mother that is drugged out the majority of the time, people running in and out. oh it broke my heart.

Now I know you were not as bad as "Missy", but I praise you for sharing your personal struggle. We all know and have experienced the freedom that comes with Christ.. when we know him and seek him with our whole heart and allow him to strip us.. man what he does is soooo exciting. I pray that Missy will come to know him and see the hope.. in the meantime I pray that God will protect the children in this home.

Group hug to you Sweets... :groupray::groupray::groupray:
Faithwoman
 
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