Hi twirla ,
gotta go but thanx all for your replies they really helped and i feel more assured. BUT i'm still stumped over the ephesians chapteer 18 and the chapter in james that says if you don't do one law you're guilty of all (something like that) what can you say about this?
Once again , it's good that you're concerned for the sake of your souls sake ; and do not want to be conned into a false sense of security , nor over whelmed by a sense of impossibility .
Well , here's another way to describe the way of Salvation .
When we accept Christ ( Holy Spirit ) into our life , we have a guide , built right in to our spirit , and He speaks to us through our mind and our conscience .
If we are receptive to this leading , we are directed to make the choices and sacrifices which cause our soul to develop into the likeness of Christ .
That is , honest , thoughtful , fair , loving , kind , compassionate , diligent to do good , steadfast in resisting temptation to do evil , etc . etc .
Once , in a vision , I saw The Lord standing before me , while I sat alone at a picnic table , I felt a bit afraid to look straight up at Him so my head was bowed down a little ; but I was glad for the vision , and wanted to talk with The Lord : So I said , " Lord , I've really come a long way haven't I ?" [ cause to me it seemed as if I had ] But He replied , " My son , you've barely taken a few steps ".With that I looked up a bit at Him standing tall before me ; and He held out His arms in the spreading out of a scroll about 1 foot wide and 2 feet long ; and said , " There is a whole list of things which must be accomplished in your life , but you are only able to bear one or two of them at a time ." Then I cast my glance downward for a moment , and when I looked up again , He was gone .
Then the Holy Spirit ministered to me the understanding that there are many things which need to be changed about us , before we can fit in to the spirit and beauty of God's Kingdom ; and there is a distinct order to which of those things are to be addressed first , second , third etc . , And that God is willing and able to see us through the whole list ; as long as we are willing to trust in His leading . but what often causes us to fail to make progress is that we are out of sync with the order which The Lord is seeking to address us in ; ( like when from my own infatuation of feeling I'm far along on the path of Sanctification ) , causes me to focus on something which is say # 163 on the list , when The Spirit of God is seeking to have me focus on # 7 . This causes our mind , our spirit , to be out of time with The Holy Spirit and The Mind of Christ . And makes progress to any degree extremely unlikely .
This is how our faith should work - We should realize that , with God all things are possible ( especially all things which are good and redeeming in nature ! )
Then by being in tune with what the Lord is emphasizing does need our attention we , together with Him , working in us , can go about a systematic cleansing and resurrecting of our life from the inside out !
He supplys the power and the inspiration , we complete the circuit by accepting , agreeing , and adopting His Way and His Judgment .
This is akin to the parable in Matthew 13:33 <---> ...
The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
[Read the whole Chapter for better understanding or this matter also . ]
The leaven here is good , ( leaven sometimes represents sin ), but here it is representing faith .
1. Faith to behold Christ = acceptance ( As Jesus said ,
if I be lifted up , I will draw all men unto me .) [ See John 12:32 ]
2. Faith to believe on Jesus = agreement (
Can two walk together , except they be agreed ? ) <---> From Amos 3:3
3. Faith to receive Jesus = adoption (
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him . )<-----> John 14:23
There is some confusion over misinterpreting acceptance of Jesus for adoption of Jesus .
Largely because between the two is agreeing with Jesus , and that is where the sinful side of humanity likes to cut corners , sometimes to the point of resorting to outright denial of the truth .
As long as we are progressing along these avenues of Salvation , we have confidence that , were we to die today , it will be well with our soul : for God can easily add time to the quotient . In other words , if we are allowing the Spirit to lead us in the saving and recreating of our soul , the fact that we may suddenly die , from something we did not sinfully cause or forsee happening , is not condemning .
But if we are not accepting and agreeing with the Lord's leading ( and by this I mean what we're personally convicted of by The Word of The Lord within ourselves ), then that's where the doubt arises ; and rightly so ; for God does not will for us to be confident while in a state of rebellion to His revealed will . The doubtfulness is meant to alert us - something's wrong !
The only honest way for the doubts to go away , is to let go of the things which cause our spiritual cleansing and rebuilding to come to a halt .
There are some delusions / deceptions which can make the doubts seem to go away ; but I cannot recommend them .
All that we need , to be fully transformed into Christ's likeness is freely given us , for that one and self-same purpose .
Can it be difficult at times ? Why , yes , it can !
Is there another alternative which will bring about the same results ?
Why , no , there isn't !
That's why it can be difficult , otherwise we could just switch sides ;( every time a situation came along which made being faithful with what we've been given appear to be a cross we need bare ).
Regarding dress , modest apparell ( See 1st Timothy 2:9 ) is the general rule .
If it's hot to wear long sleeves etc. that may be a just cause , yet , we are to look out for how others are being affected by the choices we make .
And it sounds like Twirla , in your case , you tend to savor the attention that comes with being a bit showy . Which is an altogether different type of , trying to stay cool .
If this is something The Lord is impressing on your heart , that should be given your attention , for the sake of being more in agreement with Christ's character , then you should indeed , prayerfully seek resolution in this matter . So you can move on and be blessed with the awareness that progress is being made in your being transformed in The Lord so that you can serve God acceptably with confidence .
Well That's All For Now , May The Lord Be Pleased To Bless .
wm