growth

Confessions of a screwed up middle aged man: trials

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Trials come to all. It is what we are told will happen within the Bible. Some will be by God Himself. Testing our mind and our spirit. Challenging us to think, overcome, and if that does not work turn to His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
I have been going through one of these trials for about a month now. It is now time to put it into typed words what it is like to be going through this time of stress and hopefully growth in my faith.
From outward appearances the outcome seem to be bright, and bless by God. From within the struggle even though I do see the outward manifestation that is to come I still must make it through the dark tunnel to the light that awaits upon the other side of it.
It is not important the details of the trial before me, but it is one that in the long run will strengthen and hopefully allow my family to bond and to join as one. Through this trial I have seen the change within me from the man I was before my year of Job and the man I am today. I am actually doing things I only, maybe, thought of doing a few years ago. Now I know when the burden is more than I can carry on my own so I seek support from my soon to be wife and if that is still not enough we join together in pray. Turning over to God and allowing Him to lead us down the road He see that is best for us to go down. Should I go to pray first? I cannot answer that without thinking: “where is the growth?” A parent wishes his child to learn to stand upon their own two feet and not lean upon the parent anymore but to prove themselves to be adults. This I think is how God wishes us to grow as well. To stand upon our own two feet for as long as we can, but I must add that He wishes us to know when it is time to turn to Him and His Son and to seek their guidance and comfort.
It is hard to explain how to “know” which is the correct road, but I will say this. I can tell when it is me making the choice and when it is God directing me. I can sense within me that it is Him influencing me through the Holy Spirit, for I can tell it is coming not from within me, but from an external force that is guiding me down the right road.
It is important that people that call themselves “Christian” come to learn the difference, for when they do not, more times than not they listen to themselves more then they listen to God. As a result we have the society we now live within. A society full of pseudo-Christians, otherwise known as “hypocrites,” that cater to the latest whim and fad of “faith” being taught to them by those that have no real concept of God themselves. This is the thing that Jesus had to deal with when He walked the earth over two thousand years ago and had to deal with the leaders of the Jewish faith that would later crucify Him. They did not know because they did not listen God that Jesus was His Son, but on the third day when He rose from the dead all learned that He was truly the Son of God. Many today, even those that “lead” churches live like they are Pharisees.
A true believe in God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ is to have the knowledge within oneself that God is not “in” you. True the Holy Spirit can fill you, for I have felt the pouring of the Holy Spirit into me, but I also know that the spiritual world and the real world are two different places. God, His Son and the Holy Ghost can and have gone between these two realms. We cannot at this time, but we are promised that we will when we loss the corrupted with the uncorrupted. It is from the spiritual place that we receive direction from God, which is beyond this temporal form we now live in. When can learn the difference through trials of your faith, much like the one I am now going through. You learn how to grow in your believe in God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

The ongoing rebirth of the church

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Since Jesus made Paul his thirteen disciple, we have witnessed more than once the rebirth of the church. Sometime it changed by the simple posting of doctrines on a door. Other times with blood being shed.
This was not the promise to Israel though. They have been promised to be the first children of God and so they have not had to go through a true rebirth. Have they been through trials? Yes, and many would say they still are.
Since we Christians have been given the blessing of becoming the thirteen tribe of God. The true essence of free-will has been reinstated.
Within Revelation in the second and third chapters are letters to seven churches. Each reflects the acts of free-will and their results. Be they good or bad.
This is why the Christian church as a whole has gone through these rebirths. Now we can learn from the trials of Israel. Within this nation, there have been intercession. Usually by their leader or prophet. We within the Christian church have those that have intervened. For example Martin Luther. He intervened due to the corruption within the Catholic Church and as a result, the church was reborn. Once again focused on God and His Word. This rebirth is seen in Israel as well, but it is not manifested as highly as it has been for those of the Christian faith.
It is now once again time for rebirth with in the Christian church on whole. We have pedophiles hidden and protected within the Catholic Church. We have churches that support same sex marriage, abortion and greed. Many teach that we are too seek reward from God now. That God is our servant not the other way around. Many just sit by waiting for someone to say something. Mostly though when someone does say something they are ignored and called troublemakers. Seems I have heard many in the Old Testament called the same.
It is now that there is a need for a rebirth of the church. Once again, we need to return our focus unto God and His Word. Stop burying your heads in the sand as the world falls to the minions of Satan. It is now that we must shout our faith and stand for the teachings within the Bible.