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The tree of knowledge of good and evil

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Wanda:
Consider yourself blessed Heidi, because you truly are. I
rejoice in your humbling.

When I think of how pridefull I used to be I cringe. Not only was that sinful, but it caused me great emotional anguish for years. Believing I alone could fight against,  and even possibly prevent bad things from happening to me and those I love,  was a heavy burden that weighed me down. But it was God's will for me so that he could teach me I could do nothing without him.

It didn't matter that I could see,  time  and time again my way wasn't working. I continued on, repeating the same prideful behavior, until God brought circumstances into my life that caused such enormous pain and hopelessness,  I was on my knees begging for him to help me. By not relying on God we only hurt ourselves, was my lesson learned. I'll be for ever grateful that God freed me from that never ending insanity.

The bottom line, our sins hurt us. The illusion of free will hurts us and not relying on God in every aspect of our lives hurts us.

For me, true peace and rest began with humility.

. Psalm 62

 5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.

6 He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

7 My salvation and my honor depend on God  ; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Selah

Praise to our loving Father and mighty King and Savior Christ Jesus.

Heidi:
It is 8:17am here in New Zealand and I am overcome by gratitude and love for all of you.  Thank you for your responses to my post and for the love in Christ that I am feeling.  We are truly one body with many parts and I for one want to take care of this body that Christ has given us.  May God continue to bless us and grace us with His presence on the forum.

Prune, you are spot on, we are all part of one body....."Let's take care of each other, the way Jesus takes care of us, mainly those who suffer most, for they are the true blessing from God Our Father in Christ."

Wanda, I've been there and done that and currently am going through it........."When I think of how pridefull I used to be I cringe"

Pamela, I pray that God etch this verse on my heart.
Gal.6:17 ,,, From now on, let no one cause me trouble, me for I bear in my body the marks of Jesus.

Weymouth,,,,From this time onward, let no one trouble me, for as for me, I bear branded
in my body the scars of Jesus as my Master.

Rejoice and be glad for the time has come and now is for the children of God to worship in spirit and in truth.

Wanda:

--- Quote ---In the worldwide Church, people that seem to be "possessed by the devil", those souls that can't overcome, now, once and for all, their sins, when they would truly want to get rid of it, being not able to lie smiling and giving a facade of happiness hiding their doubts and flaws Inside of them, are considered to be weak sinner, just like the rest of the world, and their so-called Brothers and sisters Don't hesitate to turn their back on them if they consider them evil, being happy to get rid of those shameful, apparently unproductive parts of their own body of the Christ they made themselves, like wood idols.
--- End quote ---

So true Michele.

One of the saddest memories I have from the church, was that of a brother, who was also an elder. He was the most humble and loving of the 4 elders in our congregation. I came to Sunday service one morning and it was announced he was disfellowshipped and because it was our doctrine we were required to shun him.  That meant even though he was allowed to attend services, we could neither acknowledge or speak to him. He was there that morning, sitting in the back of the room all by himself, with a sad pained expression that had me running to my car crying.  Where was the love of Jesus among the body that day, this sad and broken man sat by himself alone in shame instead of being given love and encouragement from his brothers and sisters? Something he had given so freely to everyone there at one time or another.

His crime, he was loosing his faith, under the heavy burden of caring for a sick wife, running a small business and trying to keep up with the demands of his elder duties. He talked to someone in confidence I'm certain, probably asked for prayers too, and was met with condemning judgement for being spiritually weak, instead of being lovingly counseled. Maybe an offering of lightening his elder duties, or help with his sick wife, any number of things that would help this brother feel he wasn't alone in his struggles. I can only hope God called this man out of the church, but I have no way of knowing because I left myself shortly after this happened.

Prune Soleiado:
Maybe this was a push button for you, Wanda, to go away from that church, among many things I guess?

When I was a member of an evangelical Church, I started to drive myself away principally because the simple idea of hell was disturbing me. And then all of those stupid human rituals on Sunday Morning. I asked questions around me with my so-called "Brothers and sisters" and the elders from this Church: if we really want to stick to the word of God, then why do we have to drink grape juice instead of wine? (that was the very first question) why Don't we talk about God on those Sunday meals together but rather talk about the last car one has bought yesterday? (I hated this carnal way people refused to talk about the word of God while we were gathered together for those stupid meals) What about the greek word "aion"? Doesn't it question totally the word "Eternal" we found in translated bible?..... All these questions I had in mind, and no answers. When I asked, people used to answer me with this "context" idol Ray mentioned frequently. And I found Bible Truths site by searching the right meaning of "aion"...…
Anyway when I started to bother those false Brothers and sisters, I was sitting, more and more frequently, alone at Church, on Sunday and on wednesday's studies. And when I say alone: no one sat by me like on the one or two chairs all around me! But I was laughing in myself, thinking: God wants to show you you're on the right way! I couldn't say at this time why I was thinking it was a good thing being pushed away by the others, now I know.
I remember the last talk I had with a "sister" at Church, on a Sunday Morning. She was talking about lying to her son, arguing that sometimes it is a good thing to lie, and one of the elder was agreeing her! I told them it was against God's command, we ought not to lie, they didn't respond, went sitting to their places, all together of course, far away from me, and that was the time when I decided it would be a really good thing not to come back again in this temple of satan.
No one, whether the pastor's wife who was a good friend, or another member of the Church, ever contact me again. And they were all acting like good souls ready to give their lives for others!
I am pretty sure when we leave the worldwide Church it never happens without some kind of problems first within the congregation. Am I wrong? Does anyone left it without having one problem with one of the members or its terrestrial doctrine, calmly and without any waves?

Musterseed:
Quote from Ray
“ Here is what God calls you and me and everyone that has ever lived”

ECC.3: 18
“ I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men( that’s everyone )
that God might manifest them and that they might see that they themselves
are BEASTS”

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