What would you tell yourself...........

[MrNoodle]

You would not be who you are without the past. Accept your past, but look forward to your future!

 

[aiki]

What would you tell your 40 something-year-old self if you could turn back time? Doesn't matter what it is, or what it's about, what would you tell yourself? Are there any life changes you would warn yourself to make right now?

"Only one life, 'twill soon be past.
Only what's done for Christ will last."

With each year that passes, I come more and more to see the enormous truth in this little adage. Oh, I've nodded my head in agreement with it many times. But now, having left my forties behind, more than ever it carries a weight, a profundity, that only grows greater with the passage of time. Paul the apostle, though, goes even "deeper in and higher up":

Philippians 1:21
21 For to me, to live is Christ...

The older I get, the more I see how diffuse, how distracted, my life has been. Life is Christ, not a successful career, or seeing the world, or making a mark on it, or living comfortably, or making as many happy memories as possible, or even having deep, intimate human relationships. The more I enter into this truth, the more fulfilled, and centered, and at peace I am. Christ is not merely my friend, or my Saviour, he is the well-spring of my existence. Understand this - really understand it - and the remainder of your life will have all the truest and fullest meaning, purpose and joy it can possibly have.

Colossians 3:2-4
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

 

[Dan61861]

You're old, invest in a walker.

In Christ
Daniel

 

[Anguspure]

This question is for those with a little age and experience in life, those people that have been there, done that and got the T-shirt. I am in my 40's, and I am interested in ANY wisdom given, I wanna treasure and make use of every day of my life to the fullest. What would you tell your 40 something-year-old self if you could turn back time? Doesn't matter what it is, or what it's about, what would you tell yourself? Are there any life changes you would warn yourself to make right now?

At all costs; first serve your Lord.

 

[Cubits]

Matthew 13:44
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

We may have stumbled onto God accidentally, maybe we were looking for something else, searching and then God Himself allowed Himself to be found by us. What do we do then? Do we just scratch the surface of God's word or are we willing to go deeper, digging for more understanding? To sell everything is to give ones heart to God, this is the best offering a child of God can give as a sweet smelling fragrance. Once we have this great treasure, no man, no principality, no power, no angel, nothing separate us from the love of God, nothing take away the testimony from our hearts that we have received from God. Mans argument will never convince otherwise that Jesus is more real to us than the air we breathe. So what would i tell myself; Shaun stop what you are doing because you do not know with what you are messing around with. But that did not happened because it is in God's perfect timing that we came to Him and He knew us all before the foundation of the world and called us to Himself. God's works all things together for good, so even though i would have liked to have come to the Lord sooner rather than later in life this was not God's will. I rejoice that He has allowed me to find the treasure that is Jesus Christ and He is deeply seated within my heart. God could take the devil out of picture at any time but He chooses not to because he is a puppet, a pawn and God uses him to His advantage so that we become more obedient and so that we become stronger in Christ, trusting Him through ALL things. The Creator cannot be compared to the creation and the Lord God is behind ALL things whether we like to accept that or not. God prepares us for the task head; preaching the gospel. This is why we are not in Heaven right now and still upon the earth, we still have a mission to accomplish, a co-operation of mind, body and spirit with our Lord of ALL to reach the lost. So now i suppose i would tell myself; Shaun everything will be ok, you just wait and see buddy, the Lord even though you not yet know Him has got this all worked out.

 

[AlexDTX]

What would you tell your 40 something-year-old self if you could turn back time?

Do not confuse religion for relationship with Christ.

When I came to Christ I was 32, and I am now 63. I had a simple faith because the experience and presence of God was overwhelming. As a brand new believer I followed my father's scientific advise: never listen to anyone about a subject until you have examined the subject thoroughly for your self. So I read the Bible from cover to cover every year (following the read the Bible in a year plan of 3 chapters each day) for the first 5 years of my salvation. But I went to church and was still hearing the pulpit messages that did not always agree with what I read in the Bible. Everywhere I went the same pulpit message kept getting drummed into my head so I started believing the religious messages over what I read in the Bible. I slowly became a Pharisee and slowly lost my intimacy with Christ. After 20 years of Churchianity I finally had to walk away from congregational life and found my relationship with Christ again.

Again, do not confuse religion for relationship with Christ.

 

[HeLeadethMe]

Oh is this the over 40 club..? Can I join...? Blessed by all your posts. I haven't got the tee-shirt either, but still running the race for that prize, and if by the grace of God I get it, I will place it at the feet of Jesus.......pushing 60 so this must be the home stretch starting right about now. Ouch it hurts to see that number in writing. Not sure I'll ever get over wondering where the years have gone.

I haven't got any words of wisdom whatsoever, but I know Who does, and can only repeat His words.........deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him, and just keep following, keep following, no matter what. I wish I had trusted Him more through the early stormy years, I just had no understanding back then.......but somehow my anchor held anyhow, only because He was holding on to it. Be not surprised at the painful trial.......faint not when thou art chastised by the Lord, because He chastises who He loves as sons. I regret wasting (if anything can really be wasted in the Lord) so much precious time in churches that did not preach the true gospel, it wasn't until my early 40's that the Lord led me out of churches into the wilderness and began showing me the gospel in HIS word. Can't say I have been a fast learner though, but the Lord is merciful. I would say probably the biggest lesson of all that I have learned, even still learning it actually, is that it isn't about this life at all, this life is just a passing shadow, to prepare us for a much longer eternity, so we are not to put our eggs in the basket of this life at all, but rather we are investing, losing, those eggs as far as this life is concerned and putting them one by one in the basket above where they wait for us to join them, so to speak. Selling all to buy the field where the pearl of great price is hidden. Where your treasure is there your heart will be also. This life is so short and full of trouble anyhow, it is such a paltry sacrifice to give to the one who gave His all that we might be saved. And everything I say is still preaching to myself also.

Advice for any believing couples with young children........keep them unspotted by the world.......if you can at all take them out of the schools of the world, and schools run by erring churches too for that matter, and allow no mass media in the house, TV, and internet except possibly with very strict controls (not knowing how good the technology is for that) .......we truly have to come out and be separate from the world because our corner of the world is no longer even pretending to follow the ways of God, it is literally wallowing in the bottom of the barrel now, and the devil means business so we have to as well. Though even then, know that your children must be born again of their own free volition. Raising kids is hard to navigate when one spouse is unbelieving, impossible really, I still have no good answer for that, I probably should have put my foot down more, though I'm not sure as a wife. You can't really protect them from the ways of the unbelieving spouse, so have to really place them in God's hands and pray for them a lot. The Lord is faithful, and He is able.....be the persistent widow where your children are concerned and give Him no rest day or night until He has had enough of our pestering. The Lord bless you all, I enjoyed reading your posts and testimonies.

 

[GandalfTheWise]

This question is for those with a little age and experience in life, those people that have been there, done that and got the T-shirt. I am in my 40's, and I am interested in ANY wisdom given, I wanna treasure and make use of every day of my life to the fullest. What would you tell your 40 something-year-old self if you could turn back time? Doesn't matter what it is, or what it's about, what would you tell yourself? Are there any life changes you would warn yourself to make right now?

Brief bio: 54 now, became Christian at age 12, married 33 years, have 3 adult kids (2 married, 1 grandchild).

1. Serving God is not so much about being busy doing things, it is more about being. He doesn't have this giant to-do list that you're falling short of. The goals and calls He put in your heart when you were younger are not goals and calls; they are promises about what He will do and what you will become. Moses wanted to be a great leader (as he had been training and practicing for in Pharaoh's household and the circles of education and power and money in Egypt). God wanted a prophet and shepherd. Moses had to give up all the stuff he leaned on to become much greater than he had ever dreamed. He didn't miss God's "call"; he just didn't realize it was a promise that would show up later in a form he would never have dreamed of. All that stuff God laid on you heart 30 odd years ago? He remembers it. You didn't fall short of it. Those are just promises that He'll bring about; they're still sitting out there.

2. Most of what you thought you knew about learning new subjects is BS. The western education system largely destroyed your ability to learn new things of any complexity. In 10 years, you can be functional in Spanish, Chinese, and a few other languages if you learn how to teach yourself correctly. There is "learning about a topic" and then there is "learning how to do something". You've excelled in your life at "learning about a topic" but never "learned how to do something" when it comes to languages. You can be an artist. You can be a polyglot. All those things you had assumed you could "never" do are a matter of both "learning about the topic" and "learning how to do it". Use your ability to see the big picture to learn the important stuff about a topic; and then figure out what is the best way to practice the skills. Do it in two ways; practice both the big picture skill and the detail oriented drills. Doing the big picture skills makes it fun and ties it all together. The detail drilling and practice will allow you to avoid bad habits and actually improve. Go online and look at both the "formal teaching" of a topic and the people who have successfully taught themselves, and figure out how to adapt that stuff best for you.

3. Don't stress about stuff out of your control; especially noble and worthwhile causes. It seems like being "concerned" is a good thing; but it's not your burden to bear, it's not good for you. It only takes away from the stuff you should be worried about.

4. Spend more time with people and less at work. Being a "model" employee is just giving away your time to corporate interests. As long as your colleagues respect you (and a good boss respects you), you are fine.

5. Your gifts and talents are tools; they are not your identity. You've made "what you can do" your identity; You have no clue who you really are or what you are capable of. You are not "a teacher" or "a scholar" or "a musician" or " a parent" or whatever. You are something much greater and powerful than all of those things. You've spent your life pouring your energy into gifts and talents in your own strength, you don't know what it's really like to just let God's life flow through you. Those times you feel like all the prayer, spiritual disciplines, preparation and effort for ministry are finally starting to bear some fruit; those have been just the few drops of rain that piddle down before the real downpour strikes. You've been trying to make life work through your own efforts and strength, it's time to sit back and just let God's life and power and glory just flow through you. His burden is light and easy.

6. The BIGGEST LESSON OF ALL: God has created you to be a unique treasure and work of art. He wants life to flow into and through you. He wants you to know who you really are deep inside your heart. The things that are deep inside of you that you feel make you like who you are come from different sources: a) there is what God has put there and wants you to be, b) there are wounds and scars that the enemy and world have given you that God never intended to be there, c) there are lies from the enemy and the world that directly attack who God meant you be, d) there are the "good" expectations you've picked up from friends, family, church, social circles, etc. Figure out what God has put there and learn how to be that person. He intended that His Spirit would cause His life, glory, power, and strength to flow through that person He meant you to be. Don't be a carbon copy of a "good Christian" doing "good Christian things". Be that unique work of art that will reflect Him. All that ministry stuff that you sincerely strived for, fasted for, prayed for, labored for...that never seemed to bear the fruit you wanted to see? it's something that He meant to naturally flow through you where He provides the results. The christian life is not something meant to be the result of your labor, dedication, and holiness; it's meant to be the fruit of His presence in your life. Dude, that person He meant you to be has been sitting there are along. Your deepest God-given heart and identity is a strong resilient thing that has been there all along. It shows up differently for different people. For you, remember all those times when there'd be particular scenes in movies or passages in books where you were just struck by it, felt overwhelmed, and sometimes had to choke back tears? Remember those times you were reading LOTR to the kids and had a couple passages you had to choke through not letting them see how it affected you? That's the real you. Not those scenes that affect everyone, but those that others did not notice. That was the time the real you was responding to seeing itself in a mirror. Those aren't pipe dreams or day dreams or silly fantasies, there is a powerful noble wise man inside of you that He intended you to be. Let who you are flow out in the times and situations that God has put you into to be you. It's not you doing it; it's Him flowing through you in that unique way He wants to touch the world through you.


Anyway, that's what I'd send back in a reverse time capsule.

 

[Solomons Porch]

is that it isn't about this life at all

Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.

we truly have to come out and be separate from the world

place them in God's hands and pray for them a lot

 

[Solomons Porch]

Do not confuse religion for relationship with Christ.

 

[ToBeLoved]

I would tell myself to listen much more and talk much less.

And I would prioritize finding a Godly man early in life. Bad marriages with unGodly people lead to many, many problems, especially once one has children. It's a lifelong commitment with someone who is nothing like who you truly are and believes not as you believe. It's brutal.

 

[Solomons Porch]

1. Serving God is not so much about being busy doing things, it is more about being.

He didn't miss God's "call"; he just didn't realize it was a promise that would show up later in a form he would never have dreamed of. All that stuff God laid on you heart 30 odd years ago? He remembers it.

The detail drilling and practice will allow you to avoid bad habits and actually improve.

Don't stress about stuff out of your control

Spend more time with people and less at work

Your gifts and talents are tools; they are not your identity. You've made "what you can do" your identity; You have no clue who you really are or what you are capable of. You are not "a teacher" or "a scholar" or "a musician" or " a parent" or whatever. You are something much greater and powerful than all of those things. You've spent your life pouring your energy into gifts and talents in your own strength, you don't know what it's really like to just let God's life flow through you

The BIGGEST LESSON OF ALL: God has created you to be a unique treasure and work of art. He wants life to flow into and through you. He wants you to know who you really are deep inside your heart. The things that are deep inside of you that you feel make you like who you are come from different sources

it's Him flowing through you in that unique way He wants to touch the world through you.

 

[Solomons Porch]

I would tell myself to listen much more and talk much less.

finding a Godly man early in life

Oh they could save themselves a lot a lot of heartaches if they only knew the outcome of being unequally yoked

 

[GeorgeJ]

What would you tell your 40 something-year-old self if you could turn back time?

1) Take life one day at a time
2) Parenthood doesn't stop when the kids leave the house - in fact, in some ways, it gets harder.
3) Life goes by faster the older you get. Don't blink.
4) Don't forget to thank God for all the blessings you don't deserve.
5) Life's hard and it ain't gonna get any easier.

 

[Solomons Porch]

3) Life goes by faster the older you get. Don't blink.

So true GeorgeJ

 

[disciple1]

This question is for those with a little age and experience in life, those people that have been there, done that and got the T-shirt. I am in my 40's, and I am interested in ANY wisdom given, I wanna treasure and make use of every day of my life to the fullest. What would you tell your 40 something-year-old self if you could turn back time? Doesn't matter what it is, or what it's about, what would you tell yourself? Are there any life changes you would warn yourself to make right now?

This is what I've done the last 35 years, if I could go back to any age I could read, this is what I'd tell myself.
Matthew chapter 4 verse 4
Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
Romans chapter 1 verse 28
Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.

John chapter 8 verse 31,32
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, " If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
2 John
9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
Job chapter 23 verse 12
I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

Matthew 11
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Luke chapter 21
33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Romans chapter 10
17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
Mark chapter 13
31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
James chapter 1
25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
James chapter 4
8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Isaiah chapter 45 verse 19
I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob's descendants, 'Seek me in vain.' I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right.
Jeremiah chapter 9
24 but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.
Jeremiah chapter 5 verse 1
5 “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem,
look around and consider,
search through her squares.
If you can find but one person
who deals honestly and seeks the truth,
I will forgive this city.

 

[Solomons Porch]

Awesome scriptures and this is what I fear for those that DO NOT follow His ways and are given over to their own delusions, in turn, they blame God

, so God gave them over to a depraved mind,

 

[Halbhh]

This question is for those with a little age and experience in life, those people that have been there, done that and got the T-shirt. I am in my 40's, and I am interested in ANY wisdom given, I wanna treasure and make use of every day of my life to the fullest. What would you tell your 40 something-year-old self if you could turn back time? Doesn't matter what it is, or what it's about, what would you tell yourself? Are there any life changes you would warn yourself to make right now?

I'm not that much further into the future, just early 50s, but in my own case, I'd be able to say that the amazing that happened does indeed mean just what it seems like it means -- that God is amazing, and it's all true, all that Christ said, and there is good reason for hope for the most amazing things. That following what He said pays, and it's the right path.

 

[PropheticTimes]

Wow, the whole thing is that no matter what I told my younger self, I wouldn't listen to me LOL. As a stubborn youngster who knew it all, I didn't listen to the wisdom of others and I really wish I had. So I guess mine would be - do your best to learn from the experiences of others, it can save you a load of grief down the road.

 

[Brian Mcnamee]

This question is for those with a little age and experience in life, those people that have been there, done that and got the T-shirt. I am in my 40's, and I am interested in ANY wisdom given, I wanna treasure and make use of every day of my life to the fullest. What would you tell your 40 something-year-old self if you could turn back time? Doesn't matter what it is, or what it's about, what would you tell yourself? Are there any life changes you would warn yourself to make right now?

I got an nice TV at one time with a DVR and all included in my package. This thing had so many capabilities that were included that to get the full benefit and understand the potentials that were included I would have to 1st study the manual to know what they were then practice following the specific steps to gain the benefits I had discovered.
As a Christian God has designed us and created us and purchased us. The scriptures are God manual for life. The basics are to agree with God and there is a basic list of not to do's both in action and thought. If you keep your computer free from viruses it runs more efficient. God is trying to put in us His operating system by the Holy Spirit. This system has wonderful growing character that is specific to your individual personality making you unique in your manifestation of Christ in your heart. As you go through life the intimacy and familiarity of your relationship with Jesus is developed through reading the word, meditating upon it and prayer. The types of prayer are always a unique opportunity to 1st acknowledge God for who He is and be thankful for what He has done. It is an opportunity to intercede for others and ask for wisdom guidance and forgiveness.
God created us for fellowship with him and employment by Him for the sake of the kingdom. Jesus had the ministry of reconciliation and has handed that too us. That does not mean we all go into the mission field but that we are in a mission field where ever we are so those we have effect on we have the opportunity to share with. If we trust God we will walk according to His standards and seek his character and guidance. Everyone path and direction will be unique but you might find yourself making choices based on a spiritual nature rather than a temporal one. God is good and when ever I have submitted my life like describes it has always been the fullest times of my life because you then are in the center of Gods will. When I have deviated from this like Jonah and gone the opposite direction I have wasted time and opportunity and sowed the seeds of pain and regret that prove the best path is always one that agrees with Gods standard and direction given through scripture. So turn off that TV and put at least an hour a day into study and prayer and also journal your prayers and thoughts.