“Feeling the stress of a fallen world is part of existence. We might call this the’blues.’ Romans 8:23 teaches, ‘we groan.’” “The blues are common to the lot of a fallen human race.” “… Expectation of a carefree life or constant euphoria and excitement are neither scriptural nor true to experience.” Steven Waterhouse “The fact that you have become a Christian does not mean that you cease to have to live with yourself — You will have to live with yourself as long as you are alive. ” Martin Lloyd Jones Depression is related to 1. Little interest or pleasure in doing things, 2. Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless, 3. Trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much, 4. Feeling tired or having little energy, 5. Poor appetite or overeating, 6. …you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down, 7. Trouble concentrating on things, 8. Moving or speaking so slowly,…
Category: <span>God’s Psychology</span>
“And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said,” “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” 2 Samuel 18:33 A father loves his son most powerfully. King David weeps for his son even though this son had conspired to kill him. A grown man remarked: “My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.”memesbams We may not believe in ourselves — but our father may. In us? Our heavenly Father believes in what His nature can produce in us — in spite of our disbelief! He’s the Father of fathers. He is Love above love. Romans 8:14 teaches: “For those who are led by God’s Spirit are, all of them, God’s sons.” …
Jesus met some fishermen one day and said to them “I will make you Fishers of men.” Over time, these men became Great evangelists and fishers of men. The only thing required was the Holy Spirit. Prior to the Holy Spirit being added to them, they could not be fishers of men. Why? Let’s examine what the Holy Spirit brought, and some aspects missing without Him . Taken from Doctor Carl H Stevens. ” Without the Spirit, a man is left to his “Old Sin Nature.” ( OSN.) The OSN is insecure-not well adjusted-lacks confidence in God’s plan and details of providence. The OSN Is overly sensitive. Does not trust in the purpose of the steps that God leads us. The OSN is paranoid: Suspicious and easily irritated. The OSN produces a negative attitude which produces negative reactions. The OSN interferes with the digestion of categories (of The Scriptures), and…
What am I going to do this year? The question runs In my mind In circles. The year is new and I just feel like I must make some resolutions, So let me think… what does a resolution mean? “The act of finding an answer or solution to a conflict, problem, etc.: an answer or solution to something. : the ability of a device to show an image clearly and with a lot of detail. Merriam-Webster I was encouraged by the definition but with dejection I mused, we can only look through a “glass darkly.” One day we will see God face to face, but not now; not this year; not in this lifetime. Nevertheless, I think I have hit on something. “The only thing you know Is that God knows what he’s doing.” “God does not tell you what He is going to do; He reveals to you who…
Charles Spurgeon speaks of The Holy Spirit from his sermon, “The Comforter.” “I am in distress, And I want consolation. Some passer-by hears of my sorrow, and steps within, sits down and assays to cheer me; he speaks soothing words but he loves me not; he is a stranger; he knows me not at all; he is only come in to try his skill. And what is the consequence? His words run over me like oil on a slab of marble. They are like the pattering rain upon the rock; they do not break my grief; It stands unmoved as adamant, because he has no love for me.” “But let someone who loves me dear as his own life come and plead with me, then truly his words are music, They taste like honey. He knows the password of the doors of my heart, and my ear is attentive…
Through the cross of Christ we die to ourselves. He took us with Him to that death; He died ‘for’ us but also ‘as’ us. Our new life has co-crucifixion stamped all over it. Christ died, yea rather has risen and we with Him. We are risen unto eternal life. Eternal; have you thought of it? A life with no beginning and no ending resides in your being. It supersedes and replaces the mere natural life which has been corrupted by the deceitful lusts. That old life and old man are judged forever, and we know it, believe it and reckon it. Romans 6 teaches us. I am required to make the choice of living in the new, otherwise the old usurps and re-establishes itself. ‘Choices’ themselves reside in the new man; in the old I only have the illusion of free choice. I must take care to establish, feed,…
“In 165, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, a devastating epidemic swept through the Roman Empire.” “…it was the first appearance of Smallpox in the west, Zinsser (1934). “But, whatever the actual disease, it was lethal. During the fifteen year duration of the epidemic, from a quarter to a third of the empire’s population died from it, including Marcus Aurelius himself.” ” Then in 251 a new and equally devastating epidemic again swept the empire, hitting the rural areas as hard as the cities.” “This time it may have been measles.” “The Rise of Christianity” Rodney Stark “…the role they, (the plagues), likely played in the decline of Rome was ignored by historians until modern times.” ” again and again, the forward march of Roman power and world organization was interrupted by the only force against which political genius and military valor were utterly helpless — epidemic disease.” Zinsser…
So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. James 2:12 What is this perfect Law of Liberty?”…the genuine ability of a living creature to manifest its whole nature, to do and be itself — most unrestrainedly.” Where resides this Perfect Law of Liberty? “…the law of liberty is that which issues from the tendencies of a man’s own nature inwardly filled with God.” “Look at Christ, and see it in perfection. His was the freest life man that ever lived. Nothing could ever bind Him. He walked across old Jewish traditions, and they snapped like cobwebs.” Phillips Brooks, The Candle of the Lord. Likewise, the Spirit-filled believer looks into “the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein — ” (James 1:25). He keeps the free posture, he operates freely. “He has a little mirror in his soul that keeps reflecting the nature of…
“Reflection is the change in direction of a wavefront at an interface between two different media so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated.” wikipedia “The throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it.” oxforddictionaries “the production of an image by or as if by a mirror — the action of bending or folding back.”merriam-webster Pastor Carl H. Stevens made an observation, “God’s nature reflects Divine light, but moral light is merely a reflection of the best human nature has to offer—created light, which has its beginning in human integrity.” So, it appears that a man reflects. The reflection bends or folds back from within a man, what consists of that man’s “identity.” Let’s look closer. “For as he (a man) thinks in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:6 From Psychology Today, Susan Nolen-Hoeksema contends. “The organization of our brain sets us up for overthinking,” The…
We learn that we must not pre-Judge any man. We must be sensitive to their every neediness. A simple expression could be a cry for help — an affirmation could be a struggle to self-justify; a shout for acceptance, a groping for hope. A “sophisticated” person dares not ask for help, grace, our mercy; we must plead with them to not fear, to know they are safe in asking. Unmerited-acceptance is our sensitivity to them, enabling their humble, uninhibited beseeching to be loved — a free response. Similarly, we cannot run roughshod over God’s initiations to us. Like with men, sensitivity is required. God cannot penetrate through a mini-obstinate attitude. A mere quirk of resistance sends The Spirit awry. Our tiny peevings dismiss His healing, our entitlements quench the Spirit — betimes. God will not over-ride my emotion-driven free volition. But, we ask, do not our wounds cause instantaneous…