prayer warriors (following Jesus Christ, everyone welcome)

[shortgrass]

Thank you so much Erika! Wow, really needed that one lol never thought of the whole outer self inner self thing hah

Still having a little bit of a hard time believing it but I'm going to keep working ha

Think of it like this:

We ARE a soul, we HAVE a body. ... We are spiritual beings in a "shell", so to speak. What we see on the outside is just that; what we see. But what we ARE, THAT is invisible...our personality, our beliefs, our conscience... Our INNER selves are what we work on. Patience, understanding, tolerance, most important, LOVE. Not love like we love chocolate. Love as in " I would jump in front of a train to spare someone else the pain" kind of love. Love that doesn't expect love in return. We grow inside. We mature in our thinking. We change for the better.


It's hard to fathom the depth of how God became a man and died to release us from damnation and restore an actual relationship with this "big guy in the sky", but that's what we are here for. To reside in a physical 'body' in order to learn to train our spiritual beings into communion with the holy spirit, with God, as his friends, as family. This body is only temporary for training use; but my soul will live forever, hopefully in heaven, with God.

Thanks Cynthia

And oddly I actually do pray all the time about the dumbest stuff, OCD i guess lol but i never really actually pray meaningful stuff

I pray when I'm in the garden. Washing dishes. Tending chickens. Giving thanks for plants, rain, food, and children to dirty the dishes



I forgot to pray a few days ago and lost my composure, almost ended up in jail... I'm still too traumatized to give any details for ypu guys but I'm struggling to keep my mind on God and not negative reactionary emotions like Satan would like me to. So I continue to pray. All I can do at this point is pray to God for help, and it doesn't have to be formal. I consider God my living father, and I tell Him EVERYTHING, even though He knows anyway I can't survive the turmoil without going to the ONE thing I can depend on to be there in my best interests. God. All I can trust is God.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Think of it like this:

We ARE a soul, we HAVE a body. ... We are spiritual beings in a "shell", so to speak. What we see on the outside is just that; what we see. But what we ARE, THAT is invisible...our personality, our beliefs, our conscience... Our INNER selves are what we work on. Patience, understanding, tolerance, most important, LOVE. Not love like we love chocolate. Love as in " I would jump in front of a train to spare someone else the pain" kind of love. Love that doesn't expect love in return. We grow inside. We mature in our thinking. We change for the better.


It's hard to fathom the depth of how God became a man and died to release us from damnation and restore an actual relationship with this "big guy in the sky", but that's what we are here for. To reside in a physical 'body' in order to learn to train our spiritual beings into communion with the holy spirit, with God, as his friends, as family. This body is only temporary for training use; but my soul will live forever, hopefully in heaven, with God.
I pray when I'm in the garden. Washing dishes. Tending chickens. Giving thanks for plants, rain, food, and children to dirty the dishes



I forgot to pray a few days ago and lost my composure, almost ended up in jail... I'm still too traumatized to give any details for ypu guys but I'm struggling to keep my mind on God and not negative reactionary emotions like Satan would like me to. So I continue to pray. All I can do at this point is pray to God for help, and it doesn't have to be formal. I consider God my living father, and I tell Him EVERYTHING, even though He knows anyway I can't survive the turmoil without going to the ONE thing I can depend on to be there in my best interests. God. All I can trust is God.

Wow love the training thing too and everything you just said. You always say such great stuff ha

 

[AmySellersARt]

You are such an inspiration to me! Sorry you had a hard day... I'll be praying for you. Love & Blessings, Amy S

 

[lazy gardener]

Cynthia, I'll pray for you with your upcoming eye surgery. I had lasar surgery on both eyes. Unfortunately, it did not fix the problem it was supposed to fix... for me... But, I'm sure your surgery will go great, and you will have a great positive outcome from it. Take care of yourself, and baby yourself after your surgery. Let others serve you!!!

I am thankful for this glorious day. The sun decided to shine on my face today. I think today was the first sunshine since Easter Sunday here! I got to work outside all afternoon, and moved all of my chicks into their grow out coop. They freaked out as the sun started to go down, and would not go under their heating pads. But, I went out to check on them a few minutes ago, and they were using BOTH pads. Praise God for such a little thing. First time they have used both pads without me having to intervene!

 

[shortgrass]

Gods timing on this one couldn't be more perfect in my world lol... Time to decide whether I'm going to use that armor I've been given to resist the temptation to sin in my anger....





Today’s Truth

You, LORD, give true peace to those who depend on You, because they trust You (Isaiah 26:3, NCV).

Friend to Friend

As I stood on the sideline of the football field where my then eighteen-year-old son was practicing for the South Florida All Star Football Game, I was not prepared for the hideous sounds and horrific sights that assaulted every protective sense I have as a mother. My baby - my six-foot, two hundred and thirty pound baby - was knocking padded giants left and right as he bulldozed his way toward the goal line.

Mixed emotions and foreign thoughts flooded my heart and mind. On one hand, I was so proud of Jered that I felt like shouting to the college scouts standing beside me, “That’s my boy!” On the other hand, I wanted to drag him off the field, lock him in his nice, safe room and never let him play the barbaric game of football again.

The curious thing is that Jered was and is a gentle young man that loves every animal he sees. Jered will do anything to help anyone in need and rarely gets angry. So what happened when he stepped on that football field? I’ll tell you what happened; he turned into a growling, intimidating predator, who would bash heads and bruise any bodies that got in his way.

On the ride home that night, I shared my thoughts with Jered, describing my astonishment at his metamorphosis from the teddy bear I knew to the bulldozing bear opponents feared. He laughed and said, “Mom, ninety per cent of football is mental. If you think tough you will be tough.” I could buy that theory, in part, but looking at Jered’s size, considerable bulk and bulging muscles, I had to believe that his physical attributes had something to do with his intimidating bruiser mentality on the football field. “Son, you are a hulk. Any player would be afraid of you!” He grinned, loving the compliment and then reminded me of a friend who had graduated two years before.

Chris was a short and lean but deadly running back known for intimidating players twice his size. I did remember Jered coming home from several practices complaining, “I’d rather get hit by anyone but Chris. He is brutal!” Jered then said something I will never forget. “Mom, Chris was a great football player because he thought he was a great football player. I have seen so many guys who are bigger, stronger and better who could not begin to play as well as Chris played. In football, success is not only in the body but also in the mind.”

What a powerful truth – on the football field – and in the game of life.

The thought processes of a child are very different from those of a mature person. A child thinks only of himself and his desires. For the sake of survival, every baby comes into this world as a narcissist, thinking only of its own needs. But with healthy growth of the mind comes a natural change in focus from inward to outward.

The thought life of a mature believer must be well trained because the greatest battlefield for the Christian is the mind. Proverbs 23:7 tells us, “For as he thinks within himself, so he is” (NASB). In other words, what we think about powerfully influences who and what we will become. Our actions, our attitudes and habits are born in the mind, an offspring of the thought life we entertain.

We can literally change our life by changing how we think – but we cannot do it alone. God’s standard and guideline for the thought life is very clear and brutally demanding. In fact, it’s downright impossible without God’s power at work in us.

Philippians 4:8 (NCV) “Think about the things that are good and worthy of praise. Think about the things that are true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected.”

We choose what we watch and read, the conversations we have, and the time we spend in the Word. If the mind is not filled with good, trust me, the enemy will fill it with bad. The human mind will always set itself on something.

In this passage, Paul is challenging us to wisely choose that setting, taking charge of our thoughts by inviting the Holy Spirit to empower God’s standard for the mind.

It is time for us to allow the Holy Spirit free reign in training our mind, harnessing our thoughts and measuring them by God’s standard. If we don’t make up our mind, our unmade mind will unmake us. In order to live right we must think right. How about you? Have you made up your mind?

Let’s Pray

Lord, I confess to You that my thoughts are not pure. I have allowed the world and outside influences to pollute the mind that should be set on You. Right now, I choose against my old ways of thinking and invite the Holy Spirit to stand guard over my mind. I commit to fill my heart and mind with Your truth.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn

Recognize the power of your thought life.

Read Colossians 3:2.

Choose God’s worthy standard for your thought life from this day on.

Read Romans 8:6.

 

[shortgrass]

Life In The Spirit

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8:1‭-‬11 ESV
http://bible.com/59/rom.8.1-11.ESV

 

[ocap]

Romans 1New American Standard Bible (NASB)
The Gospel Exalted

1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;
7 to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. 9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, 10 always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
Unbelief and Its Consequences

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

 

[HeavensHens88]

FOREVER

The moon and stars they wept
The morning sun was dead
The Savior of the world was fallen
His body on the cross
His blood poured out for us
The weight of every curse upon Him

One final breath He gave
As heaven looked away
The son of God was laid in darkness
A battle in the grave
The war on death was waged
The power of hell forever broken

The ground began to shake
The stone was rolled away
His perfect love could not be overcome
Now death where is your sting?
Our resurrected King
Has rendered you defeated

Forever He is glorified
Forever He is lifted high
Forever He is risen
He is alive, He is alive!

The ground began to shake
The stone was rolled away
His perfect love could not be overcome
Now death where is your sting?
Our resurrected King
Has rendered you defeated

Forever He is glorified
Forever He is lifted high
Forever He is risen
He is alive, He is alive!

We sing hallelujah
We sing hallelujah
We sing hallelujah
The Lamb has overcome

We sing hallelujah
We sing hallelujah
We sing hallelujah
The Lamb has overcome

We sing hallelujah
We sing hallelujah
We sing hallelujah
The Lamb has overcome

We sing hallelujah
We sing hallelujah
We sing hallelujah
The Lamb has overcome

Forever He is glorified
Forever He is lifted high
Forever He is risen
He is alive, He is alive!

You have overcome
You have overcome
You have overcome
You have overcome

 

[shortgrass]

I need to highlight one verse from that, @ocap.....

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Romans 1:21 ESV
http://bible.com/59/rom.1.21.ESV



I just read a book not too long ago, about how to stay "full of God"... The entire book was based on Romans 1:21. The 4 things that we have to make sure we do or else we will fall from grace and be cast out of Gods family...



1. We HAVE to honor God. That's the biggest pain that I had the other day. I immediately knew I had put the body of Christ to shame with the way I spoke and reacted in my old childish ways. I was immediately separated from God.

2. We HAVE to be thankful. I didn't pray for give thanks that morning, and within 2 hours I was being selfish and ungrateful and demanding. Praising myself instead of God.


3. We HAVE to keep our minds under control, not let our imaginations and fears control us. I spent most if the day " brooding", contemplating, stewing in anger, hateful. I forgot to keep my mind stayed on Christ and I let Satan in. DH was correct in telling me that I was "demon posessed" at that moment in time. I had fallen back into my old ways of thinking and my old ways of acting. And I was getting ready to repeat my old ways if ending up in jail because of my nasty mouth and lack of respect for my superiors. My imagination had run away with me, far from the truth of the situation.

4. We MUST keep our hearts undefiled, clean, filled with good, righteousness, holy spirit... We have to guard our hearts or we will lose everything Christ did for us. We will separate ourselves from the love of God. My heart was full of malice and anger and revenge. I was a very dark person at that moment.

Only by Gods grace was I able to beg forgiveness and try to pick up the pieces before I let in even more evil thoughts and next thing that would happen is I would fall back completely to my past sins of alcoholism and spiritual death. I CANNOT go back there. I WILL not go back there. This was too close. It was too tempting to just "take off my clothes of Christ" and be a spoiled, temperamental, demanding, ungrateful child.

I set myself back to square one. I had to be humbled in order to see just who is in charge here. I had to see for myself how quickly it can happen, having my heart darkened. It can happen in an instant and it scared me to peices.


These lessons stink lol, I know EXACTLY where I went wrong, and it was all in my failure to those 4 things in Romans 1:21.

 

[lazy gardener]

SG, I'll keep you in my prayers.

Good news about my brother: he had his surgery, and for now is doing much better. Thank you all for praying for him.