Between mind and page - aligning the truth

This is a little testimony.It draws together 4 specific pin-points in my life, when the Lord has communicated with me in truth but my mind has not fully understood until this last weekend.... oh! what a blissful day! :-DBack in October 1992, I found myself testifying in church that the Lord wants to restore our souls. (Psalm 23:3a) I had heard a man on the radio, who had become a Christian in prison. He had heard the psalm being sung in the distance and the line 'my soul He doth restore again' just seemed to 'get' him... and he gave his life to the Lord and then his life was transformed as he sat in his cell, reading his Bible and coming to an understanding of how his life had to change.I remember my surprise at the time that God does not want to destroy that part of us (after all), but I had no idea why this testimony had come to me with such power.Then a few months later, I left my husband amidst tacit censure for such unbiblical behaviour. Thus I began a big Bible study to investigate more deeply what God has to say about spiritual authority within marriage and the context and effects of child abuse. Of course, the Lord knew I would be coming across references to 'the soul which does this (or that) shall be cut off', and this background thought (He restores my soul) probably made a big difference to how I divided what I was reading.Now, years have passed and on Saturday I was quoting to someone 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind....' when I realised this was against something I'd heard preached in the late 1970s, the punchline* of which cuts right across the concept of our 'soul' life being anything other than dead (in Christ).It is not helpful if I spell out the error* of thought here, but the contradiction between this bit of 'original' doctrine into which I had believed and the verses in Matthew (Luke 10:27 and Mark 12:33) suddenly appeared clear. It partly (only) explains my longstanding difficulty with enjoying being in God - as I've known I am IN GOD, for a LONG TIME - but it has made a BIG difference.... Immediately it dawned on me, I began to be overcome by a wave of physical rest in my 'being', which has relieved a huge burden from my spirit of the impossibility of making the false doctrine work. After I'd looked 'soul' up in a concordance, NO doubt remained and I expect to feel a whole lot different all the time now.... yes... FEEL a whole lot different! :-)I can imagine some reading this will be incredulous that a gospel which sets out to proclaim the salvation of souls - a fact I've quoted from scripture on quite a few occasions since I came to SI! - can be presented in such a way by a person, as to undermine scripture itself. Well, it can; believe me. :-oThis has made me particularly grateful for the bent on SI, to return to scripture again and again to see what DOES the it say (and not say), which enlightens our understanding?It is with a very big sigh of contentment that I share this, as it's already started to transform how I 'am' at every level of my living. Praise the Lord! :-D :-P 8-) And amen! Bless you all!

Sister Dorcus, I just want to thank you for opening your heart in such a public place and encourage you. Im not sure why there has been no response to this this post yet, maybe no one understood it? It's good that you have shared a little of yourself, that itself takes courage. May God continue the mighty working of healing and strengthening He's doing in you.In His Love,Geraldine

Quite a few days ago, I said in a thread somewhere, I would look for this which I wrote, suddenly, one day, about faith. I'm putting it here because I have no idea which thread I was in! Sorry....

[b][font=Georgia]Simple Faith[/font][/b]

Simple faith has no opinions
No precedent and no extinction,
Needs no help to stand its ground,
Can't explain where it was found;
It only knows it cannot lie
Nor ever turn and self deny.
Simple faith, of heav'nly or'gin
Words with love in true religion,
Answering to the Father's Word,
Believing, simply, what's been heard.

Does this go along with what you were saying?

What did I say which made you think it did?

HeartSong posted

This gradual fall ended with the flesh assuming the authority.

It is this power which Jesus broke absolutely on the cross, that we may overcome the power of sin in the flesh, through the help of the Holy Spirit which now works in us to raise us from the death we appropriate in Him.

The soul, thereby, is saved.

Confusion arises from the idea that our 'soul life' is never going to be acceptable to God... when it is precisely our soul's life He has restored to us.

Does this makes sense?

If I've said something above which anyone wishes to discuss further, I'd appreciate your opening a new thread, so I can keep this for testimony.

Thank you.

This post has been a long time waiting, and there is still very much unfinished in the outworking of this change of mind and heart.....

I should have posted about this, sooner.

Following on the thread 'Women should NOT teach men' (as I've testified elsewhere), the word began to come to my heart, that perhaps I have a ministry to women.... still to come. For the first time this didn't strike me as crazy!

Also, it ties in with my having, now, much more to do with other Christian women; but this has been a very slow transformation within my heart.

I am grateful to the Lord for having allowed me a ministry to males, which (presumably) has allowed me to develop confidence in His word to me, and has been confirmed by those who received it. I have no idea what I will 'teach' women.

I'm aware there is more still to post about my last trip, but I'm still processing it down to a few gems which will convey what is needful.

This morning, I read:

2 Timothy 2:1
You therefore, my son, [u]be strong in the grace[/u] that is [b]in[/b] Christ Jesus.

This stopped me in my tracks. I didn't read any more, for meditating on the thought of being 'in the grace' that is in Christ Jesus. I immediately thought of being 'in the Spirit'. But, 'in the grace'.... what is that?

Then I remembered recently wondering if the Beatitudes, were really Jesus describing Himself.

Matthew 5
3 "Blessed [i]are[/i] the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed [i]are[/i] those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed [i]are[/i] the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed [i]are[/i] those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.

7 Blessed [i]are[/i] the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.

8 Blessed [i]are[/i] the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.

9 Blessed [i]are[/i] the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.

12 "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great [i]is[/i] your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Earlier this week, I noticed this verse, which in Tyndale doesn't mention faith. (Faith is mentioned after it.) 'Meekness' hit me.

1 Timothy 6:11
... follow righteousness, godliness, love, patience, meekness.

Sorry, you're getting this kind of in reverse, because before [i]all[/i] this, the Lord had been bringing to my spirit the phrase 'murmurings and disputings'. It arose in 1 Corinthians which I'm posting in praise, and I was already thinking about lines of authority in the Church because of the Women teaching thread.

Further to meekness, it is impossible to forget this which Jesus said:

Matthew 11:end 25 - 30
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and [i]he[/i] to whomsoever the Son will reveal [i]him[/i].

Come unto me, all [i]ye[/i] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke [i]is[/i] easy, and my burden is light.

So now, I was wondering about the yoke to which Jesus referred. I've heard these verses (28 - 30) preached several times, and sung the last in the Messiah a few times, but never really thought about it till now, or [i]seen[/i] what I see now.... or heard what I'm about to say - that [i]Jesus[/i] was yoked to His Father, and [i]this[/i] is the yoke to which He commends [i]us[/i].

Therefore, being [i]strong in grace[/i] is something about accepting how counterintuitive the effect of believing should be upon us. And, it is something much more substantial than the air which we breathe, although it is like it.

Luke 2:40
And the child grew, and waxed [u]strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him[/u].

Returning to 'meekness', this spoke to me deeply from Tyndale's rendering:

2 Timothy 2:23 - 26
Foolish and unlearned questions put from thee, remembering that they do but gender strife. But the servant of the Lord must not strive: but must be peaceable unto all men, and apt to teach, [u]and one that can suffer [b]the evil[/b] in meekness[/u], and can inform them that resist, if that God at any time will give them repentance for to know the truth: that they may come to themselves again out of the snare of the devil which are now taken of him at his will.

[Young
and the foolish and uninstructed questions be avoiding, having known that they beget strife, and a servant of the Lord it behoveth not to strive, but to be gentle unto all, apt to teach, patient under evil, in meekness instructing those opposing--if perhaps God may give to them repentance to an acknowledging of the truth, and they may awake out of the devil's snare, having been caught by him at his will.

KJV
But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all [i]men[/i], apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and [i]that[/i] they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.]

Despite appearances, ;-) the meekness thing is still working in my spirit.

But this, which Greg posted in Articles this week, has caught my eye, and I want to preserve it here, because it captures something I have a hard time with in practical situations.

'[b]Wrath is one of the Divine perfections[/b]. If God did not punish evildoers He would be a party to evil doing, He would compromise with wickedness, He would condone sin. Of necessity God is a God of Wrath. Consider an argument from the less to the greater. In the human sphere he who loves purity and chastity and has no wrath against impurity and unchastity is a moral leper. He who pities the poor and defenseless and has no wrath against the oppressor who crushes the weak and slays the defenseless, but loves them too, is a fiend. Divine wrath is Divine Holiness in activity. Because God is holy He hates sin, and because He hates sin His anger burns against the sinner. As it is written, "Thou hatest all workers of iniquity" (Psalm 5:5). And again, "God is angry with the. wicked every day" (Psalm 7:11). And now- '

[i]extracted from The Wrath of God by Arthur Pink[/i]

In interested in this, because I was angry for so long without knowing it. Then I knew I was angry - so angry I was inwardly inconsolable for a number of years; then I gave God my [i]backlog[/i] of anger and over a period of hours He received it from me, washed and healed me of it, and gave me fresh, uncluttered clarity in its place. But, I could now feel anger when it was appropriate and deal with issues appropriately.

However, slowly, underneath the order of my new-found peaceful condition, I found I was [i]still angry[/i] over specific unresolved situations, and I was [i]very[/i] angry about certain sins.

However, there is a Christian culture against anger (which is why I'm writing this here) and why I am quoting Pink, who calls God's wrath one of His 'Divine perfections' ... AMEN!

One of the most [u]healing[/u] experiences I ever had when disclosing abuse by a certain person who called himself a Christian, was that the elder I was telling looked angry about what had occurred.

The right kind of anger can also be healing to the person who is angry over sins which in the past he could not prevent or resist on behalf of himself or others. Anger can be comforting.

But, I am not advocating an inward culture of being angry, except in the terms that it is God-like, as Pink has elucidated from scripture.

I know SI has discussed whether God hates only the sin or the sinner too, but either way, it is His goodness which leads us to turn from sin, and His mercy that such turning turns away His wrath, without fail. This is a [u]law[/u] with Him, on which we can depend.

So, how do I hate the oppressor and love him as Christ commanded?

Is it not a paradox that we are here exhorted to hate the sin and the sinner, but while we are being sinned against personally, we are to love the sinner, bless him and pray for him?

I began writing this in the thread by LittleGift called 'Quoting Scripture?' but decided it was personal enough for here. I need to own up!

The Lord has been speaking the word 'unity' to me with regard to the Revival Conference in a few days. Although I may not be there in person, something has changed in my attitude towards going, in that I am very ready to hear what God wants me to hear [i]from Him[/i], through whomever is given that word to deliver. (And I don't just mean the preachers.)

In fact, I was completely turned off by such a barrage of names, faces and spiritual claims, but, I'm intereseted now, because [u]God[/u] has changed my mind.

He has made me recognise that my easy dismissal of the super-tanker organisation which has been required for this event - which has been lovingly, hopefully, and painstakingly evolved by those seeking His face for revival - is something He can use in a personal way for me.

I do realise, now, that my hardness came from having had the word 'revival' abused in a previous 'church' setting, so I didn't trust it any more, nor even cared that those who are desperate to experience a move of God in their own lives, and on behalf of the church and the unsaved have prayed (some for years) might need my heart-felt co-operation beyond what I had already given. Nor did it even cross my mind that my advocacy of 'body ministry' is totally nullified by the attitude I had, in which I was not interested in hearing from God through those whom He had moved to minister in [i]their[/i] callings, in this setting.

I repent.

dorcas wrote:
The Lord has been speaking the word 'unity' to me with regard to the Revival Conference in a few days. Although I may not be there in person, something has changed in my attitude towards going, in that I am very ready to hear what God wants me to hear [i]from Him[/i], through whomever is given that word to deliver. (And I don't just mean the preachers.)

In fact, I was completely turned off by such a barrage of names, faces and spiritual claims, but, I'm intereseted now, because [u]God[/u] has changed my mind.

He has made me recognise that my easy dismissal of the super-tanker organisation which has been required for this event - which has been lovingly, hopefully, and painstakingly evolved by those seeking His face for revival - is something He can use in a personal way for me.

I do realise, now, that my hardness came from having had the word 'revival' abused in a previous 'church' setting, so I didn't trust it any more, nor even cared that those who are desperate to experience a move of God in their own lives, and on behalf of the church and the unsaved have prayed (some for years) might need my heart-felt co-operation beyond what I had already given. Nor did it even cross my mind that my advocacy of 'body ministry' is totally nullified by the attitude I had, in which I was not interested in hearing from God through those whom He had moved to minister in [i]their[/i] callings, in this setting.

I repent.

Thank you for sharing these things, sister.

Roniya said

Thank you for sharing these things, sister.

However, there have been great changes as to how that has [i]felt[/i] to me, since He healed me so much in the months after I joined SI. I'm still experiencing healing from time to time. Some is specific but other times it's undefinable - except I know it's 'healing' rather than anything else.

Looking back, I see that God began to revive me when I was in darkness. I would never have called it a tomb, but it was definitely a place of death to my previous manner of thinking, and a new start and way of interacting with God.

That was my personal revival, which has never stopped. But at times it has been like a waterway which was short of water, or gushing. Now I would say it is a steady river, which is also growing. In the way it has taken over my life, I feel completely different. My mind is quiet - which it never was before - and yet I no longer seem to [i]think[/i] the way I used to, or if I do, my mind becomes tired. Mostly, I feel as if I'm thinking without trying, and have quit asking if it's God who is speaking to me.

This doesn't mean I don't have questions. But for instance, from the very start of the Revival Conference being announced, I was not interested in being there. When I said I would try to go, it felt like a burden which I finally confessed, as I didn't want those who think I [i]should[/i] be there to be disappointed if I didn't come. I've been to the US three times in less than 18 months, so I believe if proof is needed of my interest in the work of God through SI, there it is. But, [i]my[/i] appreciation of God's leading to me is what I have to [b][i]do[/i][/b]. I mean, I am always open to hear a word from God from others (I believe) but there must be that witness from Him in my spirit also.

What God has, with regard to this conference brought to me, is a very long series of preventative responsibilities, which are much more to do with my glorifying Him in my personal life than any of you can know (because I'm not going to spell it out, here). My doing His will, which includes planning another trip to the US early in next year, is my main concern.

In this case, all the indicators on the ground on which I live here, are that I should [u]not[/u] make this trip, and this has been confirmed by God's [u]not[/u] over-ruling my practical circumstances in a supernatural way. Also, then, after the little breakthrough which I described above, (but completely separate from it), I received a word of spiritual confirmation through another saint, thus endorsing the peace which I do now feel, now that I've [i]stopped[/i] trying to figure it out!

I hope nobody feels that I didn't want to meet them. There is no-one here I would not have wanted to meet (for the first time, or, again). But, my meat is to do my Father's will, and to concentrate on obeying [u]Him[/u], picking my way through duties and desires - all of which He has given me. I include failures in that list also, as these are almost a sweeter way to find Him true.

Praise His Name!

This is the link to a thread in which I've just posted.

[url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=20925&post_id=163739&order=0&viewmode=flat&pid=163597&forum=34#163739]repentance - brayley[/url]

Just wanted to be able to find it from this thread in the future.

Coloss 3:17
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, [i]do[/i] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Over the months before the accident, I had been feeling edgy about driving, and that I wanted to give up my car. I couldn't see how that would work, but something about being in control of a car was making me irritable. I don't really have an explanation, except to acknowledge I was aware of not making ends meet. Then, I made a serious error of judgement, while at the wheel of the car, and I had to get over the apprehension associated with driving at all, again.

When I finally, almost accidentally, discovered I was being prosecuted for careless driving - although it now seems obvious that I should have been (prosecuted), I still had very mixed feelings about driving; then, as I was driving somewhere (I know where I was, but not where I was going!), I must have been praying about this and the Lord finally came to my understanding with a clear word. It's impossible to write it, but I knew He was saying that from now on, I am to drive His way, not mine; that He [i]is[/i] with me, and I can go on driving... but differently.

Amen.