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God's Little Miracles (book)
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<blockquote data-quote="Darrin" data-source="post: 64092094" data-attributes="member: 336858"><p>January 29, 2012</p><p> </p><p>Anyone who doesn&#8217;t believe in the idea of spiritual warfare has never experienced it. So much has happened in the last month. It&#8217;s been hard to focus on writing. We haven&#8217;t gotten a response in over a month, despite all the flyers we put up. </p><p> </p><p>After much prayer and pondering, I realize that we have to do more. Much more. In this day and age where iniquity abounds and the love of many has waxed cold, it is foolish of me to expect people to come out of the woodwork, bearing stories of God&#8217;s love. Especially so, considering they would be sending the story to an unseen stranger they have never met.</p><p> </p><p>I Googled &#8220;God&#8217;s Little Miracles&#8221; and discovered to my dismay that the name is very similar to the title of a book that&#8217;s already been written. A book that&#8217;s all about &#8220;God intervening in the lives of ordinary people&#8220;. I wondered if I should just scrap the whole project, but came to the conclusion that I can&#8217;t quit now. I&#8217;ll just have to come up with another title. I wonder how many people who read the flyer laughed at the idea, knowing that it&#8217;s already been done. </p><p> </p><p>I do feel that I have to walk away for now. I am a worrier, despite the fact that Jesus specifically told us not to worry. I worry because I see the sin in my life and wonder if I&#8217;ve pushed God too far. When you knowingly sin against God, why should you expect anything from Him? I feel that I have failed Jesus again and again. Every promise broken, every good intention unrealized and unfulfilled. This weekend was the worst-</p><p> </p><p>I&#8217;ve suffered with a horrible nicotine addiction for 23 years now. I am quite certain that God has been talking to me about it for the last few months now. Friday evening, I asked Jesus to heal me of that addiction. I reminded Him that He was able to cleanse lepers, give sight to the blind, and raise people from death. I asked Him if He would please take away my addiction. I believe that He did. I felt Him telling me, &#8220;If only you will trust and believe, and do not doubt that I have healed you&#8230;&#8221;. </p><p> </p><p>I managed to abstain from it from 4PM Friday until 11AM Sunday. A whole 43 hours, tobacco free. Saturday, I was free from it, no cravings at all. The only thing that bothered me was the emptiness that comes from removing something from your daily routine. That is not a physical craving. </p><p> </p><p>Sunday morning, I gave in to the temptation, due to the fact that I tried to eat everything in the house Saturday night. I feel horrible about it. I have once again given up on Jesus and taken the easy way out, or that&#8217;s how it feels. I had such great plans of how I could tell everyone that Jesus healed me of my addiction. How I had no cravings that were stronger than Him. How I was strong enough to fight temptation only because of His strength. I would proclaim to the world and all who would listen, &#8220;Jesus healed me and set me free, and if Jesus makes you free, then you are free indeed!&#8221;. Instead, I went to work today feeling like a total failure. Worse yet, it&#8217;s the kind of failure that I can&#8217;t share with anyone around me. They would never understand my bitterness. </p><p> </p><p>This account is only one of many. I feel that I am failing my Lord over and over, in so many ways. If I am allowed inside the gates of Heaven, I feel that I shall be the lowliest of servants in all of God&#8217;s Kingdom. I deserve nothing. </p><p> </p><p>So much guilt. I feel that I can relate to the pain Peter must have felt after the [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] crew. The Bible says he wept bitterly. I have certainly done that. Never mind that I am human, and a creature of habit, and very much a &#8220;so called&#8221; obsessive-compulsive. None of those things should matter. What is important is that I know better. God has given me the ability to see sin around me and in myself. So, if and when I sin, I do it knowingly. A choice is made. Also, anytime I unknowingly do the wrong thing, I can feel and sometimes hear the Holy Spirit bringing it to my attention. This is indeed a war of spirit and flesh. The pull of the flesh seems monstrous and unmanageable. And yet, I am reminded repeatedly that God is greater than that. There is nothing that is insurmountable to God.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Not all of life is bad, of course. Sheila and I have been working for God more than ever before. She has really come a long way with her photography. While I was taping flyers to church doors, she was taking pictures of steeples, crosses, stained-glass windows, anything that caught her eye. She has given pictures to many people and sold a few. We&#8217;ve decided that if publication of this &#8220;book&#8221; ever becomes a reality, it will include many of these pictures. They are all of a religious nature anyway and would be a wonderful addition to any book about God.</p><p> </p><p>We went to a live nativity scene at a local church just before Christmas. She took some pictures and put them in a nice frame with a border. It looked very professional and beautiful, I might add. She hand delivered it to the pastor and his wife a few days later. It must be a real joy for her to do that. Her thinking is, and I agree, that the church went to a lot of trouble to put on a live nativity, so what better way to repay them than with a framed picture of the event. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>I heard a wonderful idea on the radio the other morning. Bruce Wilkinson wrote a book called &#8220;The God Pocket&#8221;. I heard him explain the idea to Dr. James Dobson. </p><p> </p><p>He basically said to take a certain pocket, be it in your coat, wallet, purse or whatever, and designate it as being your &#8220;God Pocket&#8221;. Then, take some money (the amount isn&#8217;t important) and put it in your God pocket, along with a prayer for God to direct you to the person who needs it. </p><p> </p><p>Later that day, I put twenty dollars in my God pocket and told God, &#8220;<em>Lord, I&#8217;m giving this money to You. It&#8217;s Yours to do with as You see fit. All I ask is that You lead me to the person who needs it and bring it to my attention when I meet them. Also, give me the strength to glorify Your name at that moment. I want them to know that the money is from You.&#8221;</em></p><p> </p><p>That must have been two weeks ago, and I&#8217;m still wondering who I will meet in the near future that needs a blessing from God. I started thinking maybe the person needs more than twenty, so I&#8217;ve been adding more money to the God pocket. Who knows, maybe over time I&#8217;ll have $500 there. That could be such a blessing to someone. I hope God uses me to help them. I owe Him so much.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>My desire to write for the Lord hasn&#8217;t diminished, but has taken new directions. A friend showed me a website the other day that I found very interesting. It pairs you up with a random stranger, for chatting purposes. At any given moment, there are between 15,000 & 25,000 random strangers out there on this same site, all talking to each other one on one. If you don&#8217;t like the person you&#8217;re talking to, disconnect and start a new conversation, simple as that. I start all of mine the same way- &#8220;Hi. Jesus loves you. : )&#8221;</p><p> </p><p>One can easily imagine the plethora of diverse replies I get in response to this warm greeting. Some people really hate Jesus. They say things I won&#8217;t repeat. One guy said, &#8220;Oh, great. A mythical desert superhero loves me&#8221;.</p><p> </p><p>Most people don&#8217;t even respond. They just disconnect immediately. Sometimes I type it 20 times in a row- Hi. Jesus loves you. : ) It makes me think of what Jesus told Peter and Andrew. He said He would make them fishers of men. I think of this website as a lake, and I just keep throwing my bait in the water again and again. Like fishing, I never know how long it will be before I get a bite, or what will be on the other end, or how long I will have to fight to bring it in.</p><p> </p><p>Seriously, sometimes I may spend two or three hours talking to someone, once I find a person who wants to talk. But, it never fails that the person is out there. Every night, there is a person who either wants to argue with me or who is desperate for advice. I have discovered that I have no gift for swaying the opinion of the unbeliever, but I can find good advice for my fellow Christians, taken directly from God&#8217;s word. </p><p> </p><p>More than once I&#8217;ve been told &#8220;Hey, you give good advice!&#8221; Those are such wonderful words to hear, or rather, words to read. I&#8217;ve talked to so many people, reminding them that God loves them. I&#8217;ve listened to their stories of pain and shared my own to show that someone understands. I can see how God is able to use my pain to give me sympathy towards those who feel the same loneliness I feel. I can honestly say, <em>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been there. I know your pain. And if I, an anonymous stranger, know your pain, don&#8217;t you doubt for a second that God knows your pain and that He loves you very much!&#8221;</em></p><p> </p><p>This has been such an experience for me. I have a new respect for the apostles and for all who publicly proclaim Jesus as the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. He sent them out as sheep amongst ravenous wolves. In a sense, I can understand. I have met people on this website that I honestly believe would kill me with their bare hands if we were talking face to face, only because I tell them the Truth as given to me by God through His Holy Word.</p><p> </p><p>Also, I can see that there are so many in this world that are lost, and so many saved who are hurting and suffering, not to mention starving for the word of God. It gives me so much joy to give them His word; to be the voice in the wilderness, reminding them that God is still here, still with us, still loving us and wanting us to turn to Him. I get the impression that out of thousands that use the site, I am the only one on such a mission. That kinda made me feel special, until I realized how it must grieve Jesus to be seemingly forgotten in many sects such as this.</p><p> </p><p>I am so grateful that God has given me an outlet so that I can glorify His name. I hope I am doing right by Him in all that I say to people. My intentions are good and honorable. I am reminded of something else Jesus told Peter. He said to Peter, &#8220;If you love me, feed my sheep.&#8221; I pray in Jesus&#8217; name that I am doing just that.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As I said, I feel that I have to walk away for now. If the book formally known as &#8220;God&#8217;s Little Miracles&#8221; is to be finished, I have to put it aside for now and let God work in my life. I find it so hard to write these days. I&#8217;m having trouble putting my thoughts in order and I believe my writing suffers because of it. I began this entry in late January, but I am finishing now on February 13th.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Darrin, post: 64092094, member: 336858"] January 29, 2012 Anyone who doesn’t believe in the idea of spiritual warfare has never experienced it. So much has happened in the last month. It’s been hard to focus on writing. We haven’t gotten a response in over a month, despite all the flyers we put up. After much prayer and pondering, I realize that we have to do more. Much more. In this day and age where iniquity abounds and the love of many has waxed cold, it is foolish of me to expect people to come out of the woodwork, bearing stories of God’s love. Especially so, considering they would be sending the story to an unseen stranger they have never met. I Googled “God’s Little Miracles” and discovered to my dismay that the name is very similar to the title of a book that’s already been written. A book that’s all about “God intervening in the lives of ordinary people“. I wondered if I should just scrap the whole project, but came to the conclusion that I can’t quit now. I’ll just have to come up with another title. I wonder how many people who read the flyer laughed at the idea, knowing that it’s already been done. I do feel that I have to walk away for now. I am a worrier, despite the fact that Jesus specifically told us not to worry. I worry because I see the sin in my life and wonder if I’ve pushed God too far. When you knowingly sin against God, why should you expect anything from Him? I feel that I have failed Jesus again and again. Every promise broken, every good intention unrealized and unfulfilled. This weekend was the worst- I’ve suffered with a horrible nicotine addiction for 23 years now. I am quite certain that God has been talking to me about it for the last few months now. Friday evening, I asked Jesus to heal me of that addiction. I reminded Him that He was able to cleanse lepers, give sight to the blind, and raise people from death. I asked Him if He would please take away my addiction. I believe that He did. I felt Him telling me, “If only you will trust and believe, and do not doubt that I have healed you…”. I managed to abstain from it from 4PM Friday until 11AM Sunday. A whole 43 hours, tobacco free. Saturday, I was free from it, no cravings at all. The only thing that bothered me was the emptiness that comes from removing something from your daily routine. That is not a physical craving. Sunday morning, I gave in to the temptation, due to the fact that I tried to eat everything in the house Saturday night. I feel horrible about it. I have once again given up on Jesus and taken the easy way out, or that’s how it feels. I had such great plans of how I could tell everyone that Jesus healed me of my addiction. How I had no cravings that were stronger than Him. How I was strong enough to fight temptation only because of His strength. I would proclaim to the world and all who would listen, “Jesus healed me and set me free, and if Jesus makes you free, then you are free indeed!”. Instead, I went to work today feeling like a total failure. Worse yet, it’s the kind of failure that I can’t share with anyone around me. They would never understand my bitterness. This account is only one of many. I feel that I am failing my Lord over and over, in so many ways. If I am allowed inside the gates of Heaven, I feel that I shall be the lowliest of servants in all of God’s Kingdom. I deserve nothing. So much guilt. I feel that I can relate to the pain Peter must have felt after the [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] crew. The Bible says he wept bitterly. I have certainly done that. Never mind that I am human, and a creature of habit, and very much a “so called” obsessive-compulsive. None of those things should matter. What is important is that I know better. God has given me the ability to see sin around me and in myself. So, if and when I sin, I do it knowingly. A choice is made. Also, anytime I unknowingly do the wrong thing, I can feel and sometimes hear the Holy Spirit bringing it to my attention. This is indeed a war of spirit and flesh. The pull of the flesh seems monstrous and unmanageable. And yet, I am reminded repeatedly that God is greater than that. There is nothing that is insurmountable to God. Not all of life is bad, of course. Sheila and I have been working for God more than ever before. She has really come a long way with her photography. While I was taping flyers to church doors, she was taking pictures of steeples, crosses, stained-glass windows, anything that caught her eye. She has given pictures to many people and sold a few. We’ve decided that if publication of this “book” ever becomes a reality, it will include many of these pictures. They are all of a religious nature anyway and would be a wonderful addition to any book about God. We went to a live nativity scene at a local church just before Christmas. She took some pictures and put them in a nice frame with a border. It looked very professional and beautiful, I might add. She hand delivered it to the pastor and his wife a few days later. It must be a real joy for her to do that. Her thinking is, and I agree, that the church went to a lot of trouble to put on a live nativity, so what better way to repay them than with a framed picture of the event. I heard a wonderful idea on the radio the other morning. Bruce Wilkinson wrote a book called “The God Pocket”. I heard him explain the idea to Dr. James Dobson. He basically said to take a certain pocket, be it in your coat, wallet, purse or whatever, and designate it as being your “God Pocket”. Then, take some money (the amount isn’t important) and put it in your God pocket, along with a prayer for God to direct you to the person who needs it. Later that day, I put twenty dollars in my God pocket and told God, “[I]Lord, I’m giving this money to You. It’s Yours to do with as You see fit. All I ask is that You lead me to the person who needs it and bring it to my attention when I meet them. Also, give me the strength to glorify Your name at that moment. I want them to know that the money is from You.”[/I] That must have been two weeks ago, and I’m still wondering who I will meet in the near future that needs a blessing from God. I started thinking maybe the person needs more than twenty, so I’ve been adding more money to the God pocket. Who knows, maybe over time I’ll have $500 there. That could be such a blessing to someone. I hope God uses me to help them. I owe Him so much. My desire to write for the Lord hasn’t diminished, but has taken new directions. A friend showed me a website the other day that I found very interesting. It pairs you up with a random stranger, for chatting purposes. At any given moment, there are between 15,000 & 25,000 random strangers out there on this same site, all talking to each other one on one. If you don’t like the person you’re talking to, disconnect and start a new conversation, simple as that. I start all of mine the same way- “Hi. Jesus loves you. : )” One can easily imagine the plethora of diverse replies I get in response to this warm greeting. Some people really hate Jesus. They say things I won’t repeat. One guy said, “Oh, great. A mythical desert superhero loves me”. Most people don’t even respond. They just disconnect immediately. Sometimes I type it 20 times in a row- Hi. Jesus loves you. : ) It makes me think of what Jesus told Peter and Andrew. He said He would make them fishers of men. I think of this website as a lake, and I just keep throwing my bait in the water again and again. Like fishing, I never know how long it will be before I get a bite, or what will be on the other end, or how long I will have to fight to bring it in. Seriously, sometimes I may spend two or three hours talking to someone, once I find a person who wants to talk. But, it never fails that the person is out there. Every night, there is a person who either wants to argue with me or who is desperate for advice. I have discovered that I have no gift for swaying the opinion of the unbeliever, but I can find good advice for my fellow Christians, taken directly from God’s word. More than once I’ve been told “Hey, you give good advice!” Those are such wonderful words to hear, or rather, words to read. I’ve talked to so many people, reminding them that God loves them. I’ve listened to their stories of pain and shared my own to show that someone understands. I can see how God is able to use my pain to give me sympathy towards those who feel the same loneliness I feel. I can honestly say, [I]“I’ve been there. I know your pain. And if I, an anonymous stranger, know your pain, don’t you doubt for a second that God knows your pain and that He loves you very much!”[/I] This has been such an experience for me. I have a new respect for the apostles and for all who publicly proclaim Jesus as the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. He sent them out as sheep amongst ravenous wolves. In a sense, I can understand. I have met people on this website that I honestly believe would kill me with their bare hands if we were talking face to face, only because I tell them the Truth as given to me by God through His Holy Word. Also, I can see that there are so many in this world that are lost, and so many saved who are hurting and suffering, not to mention starving for the word of God. It gives me so much joy to give them His word; to be the voice in the wilderness, reminding them that God is still here, still with us, still loving us and wanting us to turn to Him. I get the impression that out of thousands that use the site, I am the only one on such a mission. That kinda made me feel special, until I realized how it must grieve Jesus to be seemingly forgotten in many sects such as this. I am so grateful that God has given me an outlet so that I can glorify His name. I hope I am doing right by Him in all that I say to people. My intentions are good and honorable. I am reminded of something else Jesus told Peter. He said to Peter, “If you love me, feed my sheep.” I pray in Jesus’ name that I am doing just that. As I said, I feel that I have to walk away for now. If the book formally known as “God’s Little Miracles” is to be finished, I have to put it aside for now and let God work in my life. I find it so hard to write these days. I’m having trouble putting my thoughts in order and I believe my writing suffers because of it. I began this entry in late January, but I am finishing now on February 13th. [/QUOTE]
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