> General Discussions
Greatest Challenge - own house
tau:
For all the input I got I am eternally greatful. I hope that what has been shared here has been as uplifting and spiritl quenching as any physical food. This indeed has been what Christ was refering to when he asked Peter to feed His flock. Real meat, for the matured and not babes in Christ. This indeed is the race, so here I go - 'there's a race to be ran, there are victories to be won, give me power - every hour - to be true!! ;)
I salute you all. ;D I hope to return back sometime in future to give account of how God eventually settled this one, but don't be holding your breath for any early breakthroughs, just ask Abraham how long he had to wait to have God fulfil the promise to give him a child!! :D
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph 12- 13.
Love and Peace to ALL ;D
octoberose:
Doug, I had been thinking along the same lines, though I couldn't say them with your eloquence. Another Amen!
tau:
--- Quote from: tau on April 08, 2011, 04:01:37 AM ---
For all the input I got I am eternally greatful. I hope that what has been shared here has been as uplifting and spiritl quenching as any physical food. This indeed has been what Christ was refering to when he asked Peter to feed His flock. Real meat, for the matured and not babes in Christ. This indeed is the race, so here I go - 'there's a race to be ran, there are victories to be won, give me power - every hour - to be true!! ;)
I salute you all. ;D I hope to return back sometime in future to give account of how God eventually settled this one, but don't be holding your breath for any early breakthroughs, just ask Abraham how long he had to wait to have God fulfil the promise to give him a child!! :D
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph 12- 13.
--- End quote ---
Greetings to All
I would like to first apologise for the long e-mail!! ;D
As I promised at one stage that I will return to give account of how the "Greatest Challenge" will play its self out, I thought it fit and proper to give an update!! To say that it has been easy to date will really be an understatement, I went through a period of highs and lows struggling with the question "to go for show of support or not", the few time I felt pressurised to attend and did attend, I became more convinced that I really no longer belonged to church, something had really changed and i would horn in on what the pastor was saying and would feel short changed spiritually as most of what he was teaching did not feel spiritually enriching, i felt like i am going backwards and trying to 'fit in' was not working!.
Overtime I indicated to my wife reasons why i want to completely stop attending and would go through some of the church material with her and point out where travesty was being committed with the word of God and how I found it difficult to praise and worship while fully knowing what was being taught not to rhyme with what i believe the scriptures were teaching. My wife eventually relented and as we continued to discuss and share the scriptures, she eventually started to tell me that she herself is starting to think that the pastor is short changing people and she can instanteneously pick up when the pastor is being creative with the truth, the fact that the church is forever tying earthly success to being spiritually rewarded begun to weigh heavy on her, worse, those that are seen as struggling, are looked at as if they have done something wrong!! :'(, this convinced her to let me be. Now my wife prefers that we discuss the bible together, she herself, has not been to church in a while and in a way she says she does not feel like she is missing a lot, she is forever going on about how much one really needs to study the word of God! In my book, this is real progress and I call it a miracle of God! What took years to built God is able to demolish in the shortest time possible and start rebuilding something spiritual.
Amen!
Love and Peace to ALL ;D
[edited to fix the quotation function]-Dave
Dave in Tenn:
I'm thankful for your testimony, and thankfuller that God is reordering your family.
Samson:
--- Quote from: Marky Mark on April 06, 2011, 02:00:43 PM ---
--- Quote ---are you counseling? Hopefully not too hard a line?
--- End quote ---
1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
Hello DougE6.
I do not see how loving your spouse [or to love in general] correlates to not coming out of the babylonian system of things.Are you saying that we must stay grounded in the evil doctrine of the worldly church in order to have approval of our wife,kids,friends or neighbors? To leave behind our carnal way of thinking and to keep His Spiritual Commandments is how we are to give God all of the Praise and Glory.This is the greatest act of love a man can do for His Creator.The general principles that you speak of in the Scripture I posted are for the Spiritually mature,not babes in Christ [I am assuming that tau has read Rays material]. We must come out of her and stay out of her if we are to finish the race,and be faithful to the end. If God has you in the church of satan to soothe the non believer,well,that's ok, because that is where God will have you to be.But when we do not abide in His Word, the truths that we have been given will also be taken away if we do not obey the Holy Spirit.
When we obey God in Spirit and Truth that is true love that we can rejoice in. Just as the wife must submit to the husband so shall the husband and the wife submit to Christ,he is our head and we are the body.When Jesus is the focus of our lives then and only then can one have a full understanding of what it is to love our family members as we ought.If we have a true yearning and commitment to follow Christ and to love Him as we should,we then can begin to live by every word of Christ.
When we put the physical in front of the Spiritual the only thing left is judgement.All Scripture is for the admonition of Gods true Faithful and when one lives His words from without and not from within, the Door in the heavens cannot be opened and His True doctrine cannot be given.As Ray has said so often once you learn a Spiritual Truth,don't ever let it go.To me that is some sound advice from a sound teacher.
Peace...Mark
--- End quote ---
Hi Tau,
You have received well rounded reception of information & answers from most veteran Forum Members & others. Mark's (Marky Mark) response above essentially covers my Scriptural advice to you. Although many have provided sound advice from Scripture, the above counsel are the facts, whether We(That's all of us) Carnally like it or not. Before listing those Scriptural Verses that come to mind when considering attending "Church Services" with a Wife or anyone for that matter, I will attempt to a few comments.
Loving Ones Wife does not require that any of us participate in any of Christendom's Denominations. Now, I'm not referring to a Wedding Ceremony, Funeral or some occasional Ceremonial function, although even in those cases, I would proceed with caution. The following Scriptural references at 1Peter.3:7(assigning them honor as to a weaker vessel); Ephesians. 5:23-25(Husbands, Love your Wife, as Christ loved the Congregation, giving himself up for it); Ephesians. 5:28,29(Husbands should be loving their Wives as their own Bodies); Ephesians. 5:33(Let everyone of you Love His Wife); Colossians. 3:19(Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them). I paraphrased these Scriptural verses due to time constraints. I looked up the word "Love" in all of these verses and all of them are some form of Agape, not the Philia type Love(tenderly affectionate, close Brotherly Love or Familial Love). So, Loving One's Wife or Husband would not necessitate attending a Church Service that might violate one's conscience. Actually, by compromising oneself in this regard, it might open the door for further compromise leading to, at least the possibility of partaking more Spiritual poison. To illustrate: If I had a Glass of water to give you in order to quench your thirst and it consisted of 95% water, but only 5% of it contained a deadly poison, would you drink it knowingly. Apply this spiritually speaking. If your Wife see's you compromise in what might appear to be a "Minor" issue, She may(not necessarily deliberately) attempt to get you to compromise on more Church related stuff.
It was suggested to Me, many years ago, by an Older mature Male to give in & give up to One's Wife in every matter, unless the compromise involves displeasing God or might bring some type of harm to the Family, ie- financial problems, legal issues, etc. So, I essentially do the things the way my Wife likes things, unless it goes contrary to Scripture or brings harm to Our Family. Below are Scriptures that come to mind in regards to Why I won't attend Church Services, Bible Studies or any Type of Spiritual fellowship that contradicts, at least the basics that I've learned & accepted. Read Below !
1Co 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.
1Co 10:22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?
1Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
Pro 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Pro 16:19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Pro 16:20 He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he.
Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
1Co 7:29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;
Be careful Tau, don't compromise for the wrong things, the scriptural example below, although physically happened, it has much spiritual value & meaning and I see much of my past experiences with the veaker vessel portrayed through this Character mentioned below.
Jdg 16:6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
Jdg 16:7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
Jdg 16:8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
Jdg 16:9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.
Jdg 16:10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.
Jdg 16:11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
Jdg 16:12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.
Jdg 16:13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.
Jdg 16:14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
Jdg 16:15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.
Jdg 16:16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;
Jdg 16:17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.
Jdg 16:18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.
Tau, notice in particular verses 15-17. Apparently, Samson thought He needed share His secret with Delilah to prove He "Loved Her." Well, I hope some of this helped, no offense was intended, just trying to help. Ultimately, You get to choose and choose you will, based on some cause.
Kind Regards, Samson.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version