Growing in Christ

[leastone]

Hi Chris:

I truly praise God with you and am encouraged by your excitement for Him! And thank you for sharing with me; that is uplifting to my spirit as well.

LeastOne

 

[leastone]

Hi Saints:

Once during a particularly troubling period of my life, I was walking along a dry river bed feeling kind of lost in myself and my life, when I found an old tea cup half buried in the dirt. I dug it out and it was caked with dirt on the outside and packed with dirt and rocks on the inside. As I was looking at it, the Lord said to me, "Son, that cup is you."

I replied, "Sir?" and He answered, "Let me ask you something. Would you put that cup as it is on your table or in your cupboard?"

"No Sir", I said.
"You would need to clean it up, inside and out, before it would ever be of use to you, wouldn't you?"

"Yes Sir", I agreed.

Then He said, "Pretend that cup is alive and can feel. If you started scraping the dirt out it would probably hurt it, wouldn't it? And it would really hurt when you had to scrape real close to the sides, right?

"Yes Sir", I agreed.

"And what would you do if it began crying real loud and squirming around in your hands?"

"I would probably stop", I replied.

"Otherwise, with it moving and flinching at every touch you made, you could really damage it, right? And you wouldn't want to do that, would you?"

"No Sir", I said.

"So, what would happen then?", He asked me. "Wouldn't you just put it aside, and not use it?"

"Yes Sir", I quietly replied, because I could see where He was heading with this.

"But this could be a beautiful cup for you to use, couldn't it? That is, if you could get it cleaned up!", He asked me. "But until it allows you to do what needs to be done to make it useful to you, all you can do is set it aside, right? You are surely not going to put it out on display, or drink from it, are you?"

"No Sir", I mumbled.

"That cup is you, Son.", He said again to me.

Hebrews 12:6 - "For those whom the Lord loves he disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives."

Proverbs 1:23 - "Turn to my reproof; behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you."

My prayer today is that all of those who are His will sincerely turn to their Father's discipline, that all may grow up into the spiritual maturity in Christ which is their birthright and is worthy of the Lord Jesus, Who is their very Life.

LeastOne

 

[Godsgrace]

Leastone

The LORD works HIS wonders through your writings. You are truly one of HIS children. I am thankful to HIM for having you here to share and encourage me in my walk with HIM.

Many do not know what it really feels like to constantly be in HIS presence. I can not find the words to explain it. I just know that in all things and in all ways I am truly happy and at peace.

Love in CHRIST

Janice

 

[leastone]

Hi GodsGrace:

Thank you for your uplifting words. The Lord continues to amaze me how He has used each one who has responded positively to keep encouraging me when I most need it. More than I can express, I deeply appreciate it.

And I fully agree: the more I come to know Him, the more I want to know Him more - and live always in His Presence. My constant prayer is that He would so clean me out that there would be nothing but pure love between us.

Again, thank you.

LeastOne

 

[leastone]

Hi Saints:

Joh 10:27 - "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me"

Over the years one of the most frequent comments I have heard from other Christians is, "I wish I knew how to hear from God."

And during that time, I have also heard countless explanations of why we can't, why we don't, and why we shouldn't expect to hear from Him. Yet the Lord Jesus clearly says that we will hear His voice!

When we were first married, my wife (who has always been a "busy" person) had the bad habit of starting a conversation or asking me a question and then leaving the room. Quite honestly, it irritated me and we had several arguments about it. I thought it was rude (and still do) although she didn't mean it that way; it was just difficult to get her to sit still and stay focused.

Much of the problem Christians have with hearing from the Lord is for this exact same reason. So many of us - both individual Christians and entire churches - are so busy doing things for Him, we never take the time to just be with Him!

Luke 10:39 - "And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word"

To hear the Lord we must be in His Presence! We must put aside all the hustle-bustle of our daily lives and just sit at His feet and be still.

Luke 10:42 - "...only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

Truly, all that is absolutely necessary to us in life is to really know Him. Everything else in our spiritual growth begins and ends right there.

In His Presence there is only peace, and as you sit still at His feet in that peace, you will hear His words. And as you begin to hear Him, you will get to know Him and not just about Him. And what is even more incredible, as you stay in His Presence, then He will recognize you and call you by name! No matter what great things you do in His Name, if He does not know you then what is the point?

Psalm 46:10 - "Be still, and know that I am God"

My prayer today for each of you with ears to hear, is that you spend your time wisely and be as Mary, who "sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word."

LeastOne

 

[jv4ml]

Thank you and thank God for your openness and guidance, i personally know how hard it is to be so open and unselfish. However, your words and the teachings of the holy scripture will help me grow through Jesus. I will pass along these words as you have. Praise our lord Jesus.

 

[Pseud]

I have missed this thread since i've been away the past week!

I did manage to sneak online at one point, LeastOne and read one of your posts during my week. Thank you for that one and the others that I just now got a chance to read properly!

Blessed be LeastOne, and praise God for His glory shining through you!

(edited for atrocious spelling)

 

[leastone]

Hi Saints:


As always, I deeply appreciate all of your encouragement and prayers. And I praise our Lord for His allowing me to share what He has so graciously given to me. May His Body continue to be built up in His unceasing Love, until she is fully formed as His Bride.

The Way God Works

Romans 8:28 - "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."


Perhaps I am the only one to whom this happens, but sometimes when I pray and am believing for something it seems as if the very opposite takes place! For example, if I pray for patience then what begins to occur is I find myself put in situations that really try the little patience I have. Or, if we have financial needs, and I thank God for meeting those needs, then something breaks down or another bill comes in, so it appears we are worse off than before I prayed! Does this happen to any of you?

So what is going on here? Is it just the enemy attacking? Quite honestly, that is how I have always taken these kinds of things, but lately the Lord has been opening my eyes to see in a new way how God actually works. And interestingly, it has to do with the nature of love, God's principles of growth and the power of the Cross.

Real love has both feminine and masculine qualities: love is nurturing (feminine) and love is disciplinary (masculine); thus, God is both giving and demanding. He "supplies all our needs" and He "disciplines those He loves". Therefore, the response of our God of Love to our faith depends upon how best He can supply those needs: sometimes through a straight-forward gift; but most times through moving in circumstances to put us in position where He can develop us accordingly to where we have the answer we seek (as in my patience example).

So what often appears as the opposite of our faith - that for which we are believing - is really God moving in answer to that faith. And that is truly one of the principles of growth. The outer shell of a seed must die in order that the life within can be brought forth. The outer shell is put under pressure in order to crack it open; then the life within the seed - with the necessary watering and nutrients - is free to begin growing.

My dependence upon the little bit of natural patience I might have must die in order that the patience of God - found in Christ - may be brought to Life within me.

All growth is always inward first, where it is not seen, then outward where it becomes manifest to all. A plant grows in its roots first, then that growth appears in the branches.

And this is the principle and the power of the Cross in all of life: as we persevere in carrying the cross within us in each situation in which we find ourselves, it puts that part of us to death - cracking the outer fleshly shell - in order that the Life within us can grow and become fruitful.

I believe this is what Jesus is referring to in His statement in Matthew 21:44, "And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken..."

My prayer today is that we can make this understanding a reality in our lives, and so see that God is honoring His Word and answering our prayers; and that He give each of us the strength and perserverance to endure our being broken in all our old hard parts in order that the Life of Christ may spring forth from within, producing good fruit to His Glory.

LeastOne

 

[Jesus15King]

Wow!!! Leastone this is a very powerful post. First time I read it. Continue to be a disciple of Christ. It is very inspiritional. God bless.

 

[Pseud]

Good morning/afternoon/evening wherever you may be!

I feel this is the right place to share this. Recently, whilst praying on a matter I received some words from the Lord.

The matter I had been praying on is a little personal and I don't feel like sharing it, but the advice given to me is something that I cannot keep to myself. It will surely benefit us all.

And so, in the moment of silence after I had expressed my concerns to the Lord the words fell on me gently, "The message is simple".

Too many of us, myself included, complicate things and we need to take a step back, look at our lives, read the word and apply it. The message is simple. You know what it is in your heart, and if you just be still and listen, you can get your answers easily.

I pray right now that the Lord softens the heart of each one of you reading this, and that you allow yourself to be filled with more of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Andy

 

[leastone]

Hi Pseud:

Good to hear from you...and you are exactly right! So much of the time in our hearts we already know the answer to our prayers and our questions. Where we struggle so much of the time is in the acceptance of that answer.

LeastOne

 

[leastone]

Hi Saints:

The Lord won't let me share what is going on right now in my life - probably since I am still right in the middle of it - but He has given me the following. I hope it speaks to you.

The Cost of Discipleship

Luke 14:26 - "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children...yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

There I was: 40 years old, separated from my wife and son, living in another state with my elderly mother, umemployed in a small town, and with a blown-up engine in my car. Not knowing what else to do, I prayed. And the first thing the Lord said to me was, "Son, as I told you before: this is My doing. Will you accept My will for your life?" Through my tears I replied, "Yes, Sir"; and then He told me, "Now I want you to embrace it, so that your will becomes one with My will."

Several years before, when I first made an all-out effort to really know the Lord (mentioned at the first of this thread), I finally began discerning His voice. During that time was when I first began praying to be closer to Him, that He would discipline me and teach me how to "live in the Spirit". After awhile, as I contined to learn to focus on Him, He began speaking to me about different things concerning my own destiny with Him and other things He wanted me to do (I still have everything written in a bunch of notebooks). At one point however, He almost casually asked me if I would really do whatever He asked. When I said I would, He said, "Would you leave your wife and son, if that became necessary?"

Luke 4:28 - "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?"

Something about the way He said it set off some warning bells inside my spirit, so I was a little tentative with my "Yes, Sir." And it lodged inside my heart.

Then one night I had a very vivid dream about a man who left his family and went out into the world as a modern-day prophet. It was like watching a movie; the man was long-haired and bearded like some old homeless guy, and just showed up in different places at various times. Anyway, as soon as I woke up I knew in my heart what the Lord was saying: now was the time He had earlier asked me about so casually!

I immediately got up and got before the Lord: "Oh, Lord! Are you going to make me do that?", I cried to Him.

Luke 4: 27 - "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."

"Would you be willing to do that son, if I asked you?", He asked me. I admit, I was really crying now. "Yes, Sir", I sobbed. "If that is what You want."

"No, son. I'm not going to ask you to do that. But you and your wife are going to separate for a time.", He answered. "But I promise I will bring you back together, closer than you ever were before."

The very next day my wife asked me to leave, telling me she didn't want to love me anymore. And a week later, after unsuccessfully trying everything I could to reconcile with her, I quit my job, left my wife and son, and moved to another state.

There is a lot more to this whole story, for the Lord used this time to teach both my wife and I a great deal, and to grow us up. But after nearly three years, my wife called me up and asked if I wanted to come home. She had filed for divorce, so we had to remarry, but since then we have been closer than we ever were and really appreciate one another. He used that time to grow us spiritually, teaching us a great deal about true love.

The point? To enter the Kingdom of God - the Kingdom which is Christ and is only found in Him - requires a sincere humility, total obedience and a complete determination to follow wherever God may lead you. And He will lead you to wherever and whatever is necessary to make Himself the only Lord and the first love in your life.

As the Bible continually stresses to us, following the Way of the Cross - which is the only way to grow in Christ - guarantees suffering in our flesh. Dying to ourself causes suffering; giving up ownership to whatever we may think we have causes suffering; letting go and trusting God with our loved ones causes suffering. And giving up sin - especially long-embedded sin - definitely causes suffering.

My prayer is that we - as those who are called out of this world - each learn to "humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God", praying with our Lord Jesus, "not my will but Thine be done" and through our tears, embrace His will for our lives.

LeastOne

 

[scott29]

Thank you so much for your post. God knows that it impacted my heart. May God bless you for being obedient and sharing this with me.

 

[leastone]

Hi Saints:

Praise God! I asked Him to let me share some of the benefits of being His disciple and He has given me permission - and I finally have some time today. So I offer this as an encouragement that some of the rewards for being truly His are in this life as well. And there honestly is no boasting about any of this on my part; for how can any of us boast about the gifts He gives us?

For me, one the greatest things about coming to know Jesus has been having His Presence in my life daily. He is always there and I can converse with Him at nearly any time. No matter where I am, He is a knowable Presence with me, and that is a gift beyond measure; a gift more valuable than any riches of this present world.

I really am not a religious person, and rarely bring up conversations about God or Jesus with others - unless the Lord leads me to do so. But I have often been told by people that have no idea what I believe that there is something about me that just seems peaceful! That they like when I am in meetings or whatever, because people who are otherwise hard to get along with act differently when I am there. And I know that it isn't me, it is Jesus!

Once a long time ago (when I didn't know beans about much spiritually - not that I know all that much now actually), I was sitting outside late at night just praying in the spirit, when I could sense a Presence there with me. I heard a soft voice tell me to bind the spirits of deception and seduction, and when I did, the voice became louder and I could tell it was coming from the corner of the carport, about 8 feet up, and I could feel His presence much stronger although I never saw Him. He identified himself as the Angel of the Lord and said He wanted to use me for something. I was sitting with my feet up on another chair, so I casually asked Him if I should kneel down or something (like I said, I'm not really religious).

He said no, that He was a servant of the Lord just as I was. Then He asked if I knew He loved me, and immediately I felt such a rush of warm love flowing through me! Then He asked me again, with the same result. And then a third time. By then, I was crying (I am also not that emotional usually, believe it or not!) And then He said He wanted to give me a gift of knowledge and that He would send me to someone He wanted saved. All of a sudden it was like someone had opened the top of my head and poured in hot lava! The knowledge had to do with the power of the Name of Jesus. Afterwards, I had such an understanding of various scriptures - that I had never related together before - it was unbelievable! A few days later, a woman called out of the blue asking if I could come over, and it turned that she was the person He meant.

Another time, I had been praying in the spirit for a couple of hours, and just casually said, "I'll pray another hour Lord, just for love." I really meant it that way too; I wasn't expecting anything spectacular from Him. Just as that last hour ended, I was again showered with such love from above, wave after wave, that I felt like my blood was literally boiling in my veins (turned out it was my own spirit man within)! I finally asked Him to stop, as I didn't think I could handle anymore, and when He did I wished I hadn't. But I staggered around the house for a long time after.

These are just a few of the wonderful rewards that He has blessed me with - in this vessel of frail flesh - just for love. His love freely given, and not once have I ever sought such experiences; I honestly did not even know they existed!

Again, I praise God for allowing me to share, and I pray that whoever you are that you will be like the man who found the treasure in the field: get rid of everything so that you may possess that treasure which is Christ Jesus! He truly is Lord of Lord, King of Kings; His Father has given Him all that He has and He is willing to share that bounty with you and me - just for love!

LeastOne

 

[Pseud]

LeastOne, I love reading your posts so much! Please don't ever disappear on us! I can't even begin to explain why or how I like them it's just... love lol..

*throws hand up* got a question if you don't mind?.. You mentioned praying for a couple of hours.. usually my prayer lasts about 20 minutes, if that. What occurs in 2 hours of prayer? I usually end up running out of things to talk about, or not seeming to receive anything when I'm still that I bid my farewell.....

 

[leastone]

Hi Saints:

Psalms 37:4 - "Delight yourself also in the Lord; and he shall give you the desires of your heart."

The word "delight" in this passage of scripture presents an interesting image of how we are to be in our attitude to the Lord. A feminine word, in the Hebrew it means "to be soft" and "delicate"; in its original Latin derivative, it means "to be alluring". In the modern definition, it means "to give or receive great pleasure or enjoyment". Together, these word-pictures describe perfectly how we should be toward God in our hearts; in a word, we should be attractive to Him.

If our hearts are soft and receptive, delicate and feminine then they will be alluring and attractive to Him. They will be a fitting receptacle for His seed - His Word - and a place where His Spirit will find great pleasure and enjoyment. Our hearts will then be a place where He will want to abide, rather than just visiting at times.

Each of us have deep within our hearts certain longings and yearnings to serve Him whole-heartedly and really be what He wants us to be. These desires represent our calling, our true purpose in life, our destiny; these are put there by God, and are the source of our feelings of dissatisfaction with our spiritual life, they are the cause of our hunger and thirst for more of Him in our lives.

As we allow Him to discipline us - pruning and purging and refining us - plowing up the hard ground of our hearts ever more deeply, we will find that His Presence will become more and more evident within the depths or our inner selves. And as He abides in our hearts we will find that our heart's desires will begin to be met, and we will then discover that our own will and God's will for our lives are truly one and the same.

My prayer today is that each of you allow Him to prepare your heart as a fitting place for Him to abide; that your heart become an attractive place for His Spirit; and that your deepest desires - and His for you - become manifest in your daily lives.

LeastOne

 

[Pseud]

Wheeeee! Another post! *grins* thanks LeastOne. I was starting to get worried cuz ya hadn't posted in a good few days Nice to see you

As we allow Him to discipline us - pruning and purging and refining us - plowing up the hard ground of our hearts ever more deeply, we will find that His Presence will become more and more evident within the depths or our inner selves. And as He abides in our hearts we will find that our heart's desires will begin to be met, and we will then discover that our own will and God's will for our lives are truly one and the same.

LeastOne

One of the first things, (if not the first thing), that developed in me was my love for the Lord, the next was the love for others, followed by learning to pray and listen to God, learning to be obedient (specifically forgiving others).

The Lord taught me how to do these things by placing me in situations where I'd need to catch myself before I fell into an UnChrist-like manner. I'd need to recognise that I could either take the path that leads to acting as a Christian, or take the other, less attractive path.

One of the things I find particularly difficult is patience. I have, (albeit rapidly decreasing), a short fuse when it comes to my family members. For reasons I wont divulge I am not particularly close to my relations, and when it came to being patient with them, well, I'd often blow my fuse and have a temper tantrum. The Lord would remind me of how I shoud act, and I'd try my hardest to do that (but often fall short ~.^ )

Time would pass and I'd find myself learning a new behaviour pattern. Followed by another situation where suddenly, I'd realise what I'm doing wrong, correct myself, and before I knew it, I'd be onto the next lesson.

It's only now that I realise that God is working on me by moving around and around in circles. I've reached a point where I'm learning to be more patient and loving toward my family again!

As if a grinding stone is being rotated around and around my spirit, slowly removing layer and layer of black, tarnished, personality, until the white spirit of all that is good will shine through.

If you remember a few posts back, LeastOne talked about a teacup caked in dirt being scraped clean? We must allow ourselves to be scraped clean.. or to be eroded by the grinding stone, in order to be clean and presentable as a Christian.

So you see, we MUST allow Him to discipline us - to prune, purge and refine us. We must recognise what situations we are in and how we could better ourselves. If we do not recognise these things and change them, then how can we Grow In Christ?

Look at your 'trials and tribulations', and ask yourself 'What Would Jesus Do', because I am confident there will be a lesson there that the Lord would want you to learn.

I pray that you remember this passage in your times of hardship, that your lesson will be revealed to you, so that you may quickly be guided past the rough times in your lives.

James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

 

[leastone]

Hey Pseud:

No, I haven't gone anywhere. Actually, the Lord has been taking me through another cleansing process, delivering me of an old sin/stronghold that has plagued me for a long time, and so I have had to fight to stay close to Him as this thing is burned away. Plus, I am in the middle of a work project and had to meet some deadlines...that kind of thing. Several times I have written some things but the Lord stopped me from posting them. Since this whole exercise is as much for myself as anyone else - teaching me a lot of things too - I am doing my best to stay closely obedient to Him.

Anyway, that was a good post of yours. And to answer your other question, I can't pray with my mind - in English - for long periods of time either. I just don't have that much to say. But in the spirit - once I make up my mind to do it - I can pray for several hours.

I believe the Lord has something for me later, but He hasn't given the message to me yet.

LeastOne

 

[Christi]

I just found this thread and read through it. What a blessing for me, especially today. Thank you.

 

[Pseud]

LeastOne: Thanks and I wish you the best of luck, friend!

Christi: This thread is my all time favourite ever, hehe