[Faith-talk] Faith-talk Digest, Vol 18, Issue 4

Wed Jan 7 22:50:13 UTC 2009

Hi my name is Leah,
I am the admin for a new online youth group. The only problem with the site is there are character boxes that are in the initial sign in.
The site is www.thewatchman.ning.com
if you want to join you can email me @ leah_seabury at yahoo.com give me your email address, and I will give you a temp pass word to help around the character boxes.
I hope to see anyone and everyone. You do not have to be a youth there is something on the site for everyone.

Seabury .M. Leah
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard
that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." (1 john4:1-3 KJV.)

--- On Wed, 1/7/09, faith-talk-request at nfbnet.org <faith-talk-request at nfbnet.org> wrote:

From: faith-talk-request at nfbnet.org <faith-talk-request at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Faith-talk Digest, Vol 18, Issue 4
To: faith-talk at nfbnet.org
Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2009, 1:00 PM

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Today's Topics:

   1. Throw off everything that hinders (WESLEY BURDEN)
   2. Conviction verses compulsion (WESLEY BURDEN)

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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:29:02 -0500
From: "WESLEY BURDEN" <wesley.burden at verizon.net>
Subject: [Faith-talk] Throw off everything that hinders
To: "'Faith-talk,	for the discussion of faith and religion'"
	<faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <0D1F7A9C30D9415180DA57A18214845B at Buster>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

THROW OFF EVERYTHING THAT HINDERS

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
let
us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,
and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1

What a tremendous challenge this verse is to every believer. There are many
things in our lives that are not sin in themselves; however, when they
dominate our lives they often become distractions and hinder our
relationship with the Lord. Satan is very clever and infiltrates our mind
and heart to make stumbling blocks of the very things that are good but
supersede what should be of utmost importance.

One of the tools Satan uses that becomes a heavy weight to us is
despondency...to be discouraged and depressed. Our hearts become heavy, our
countenance becomes sad, and our attitude becomes defeated. This becomes a
weight that easily besets us and drags us down. We become discontent,
critical, and spiritually useless. Such an attitude opens the door, ever so
slightly, to Satan's insidious ways to disrupt, discourage, and defeat us
at
every turn. Let us not give ourselves any occasion to yield to self-pity or
question those encounters that will hinder God's work of grace in our
lives.
Throw off everything that hinders!

Another tool Satan uses is doubt. All of us face difficulties and trials
that test our faith. God allows these occasions to stretch our faith and
deepen our commitment as we dare to trust Him in them. However, if Satan can
cast any measure of doubt in our minds, it will be a costly weight that will
discourage and defeat us. When faced with some devastating encounter, Satan
seeks to make us think, "Surely God cannot be in this. I feel so
distraught
and alone.
Doesn't God care that I am consumed by this need? Oh God, where are you
when
I need you?"

I've been there, have you? What has happened to our faith, our joy, and our
oneness with the Lord in those times? Satan has displaced them all with his
insidious "seeds of doubt." We have opened our heart and mind to
question
God in this thing. Satan has jumped on the opportunity and magnified it and
we have yielded to his infiltration. He has displaced our faith with doubt.
Until we recognize the source of our dilemma, we will be the tool in his
hand and be defeated.

What is the answer to this spiritual defeat? David said, "Delight yourself
in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart" 
(Psalm 34:7). In
spite of whatever discouraging encounter we face, GOD IS GREATER and will
enable us "in all these things [to be] more than conquerors through Him
that
loved us" (Romans 8:37). We can purpose in our hearts to persevere in
faith,
to conquer discouragement, despondency, fear, and doubt with the same
commitment to be victorious over any other "sin that does so easily beset
us." 
Our strength, our refuge, our victory is in Christ!

To "delight ourselves in the Lord" is to find our joy, our peace, our
hope
in the ONE who has promised to exceed our expectations. We must "fix"
our
heart and eyes upon the ONE who said, "Never will I leave you; never will
I
forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).

Read what David said after God delivered him from the hand of all his
enemies and from the hand of Saul. "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress,
and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and
the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my Savior" (2
Samuel 22:2-3).

Do not be overcome...be an overcomer in the power of God!

Stu
<mailto:K5stu at sbcglobal.net>K5stu at sbcglobal.net
Reading your Bible today will help prepare you for A Brighter Tomorrow!
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------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:39:52 -0500
From: "WESLEY BURDEN" <wesley.burden at verizon.net>
Subject: [Faith-talk] Conviction verses compulsion
To: "'Faith-talk,	for the discussion of faith and religion'"
	<faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Message-ID: <DE29733C119C47B6A58123F9141108B3 at Buster>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Conviction Vs. Compulsion

"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is  liberty."

In my younger days I sincerely wanted to obey God and

do his will but was confused about how to know his

will.

I went through a time when I felt that the  "little

voice inside my head" was God speaking to me, which I

interpreted as a conviction. But I was wrong. It was a

compulsion.

Admittedly, it can be tricky to discern between a

conviction and a compulsion. I like to compare the

difference between the two  like that of comparing

lust to love. Lust can look like love, smell like

love,  and feel like love--but is a world apart from

love. Love can wait. Lust can't.  Love gives. Lust

takes. Love is an energizer and a motivator of

persons. Lust  is a deceiver and a destroyer of

persons.

And so it is with compulsions; they can be from

within ourselves, or from the tempter. For instance,

if the devil knows he  can't pull us down into a life

of sin, illicit sex, alcohol and the like, he  will

try and push us over the top and, as the old saying

goes, we become so  heavenly minded we are of no

earthly use.

Whether from the devil or our own self, compulsions

are deceptive and destructive--and are never from

God--ever. For "where the  Spirit of the Lord is there

is liberty" always. But where the spirit of

compulsion is, there is bondage. A conviction is where

you are drawn to follow  and you always have the

freedom not to do so. With a compulsion, you are

driven  and feel compelled to do so--it's that little

voice inside your head that says,  "You've got to do

it. You've got to do it. You've got to do it--or

something bad will happen if you don't." Taken to an

extreme, as it is for  those who suffer from the

mental illness, OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder),

it can drive a person--and those whom they live

with--"crazy."

Because of compulsions, some Christians do some crazy

things in the name of the Lord. True, sometimes God

wants some people to do  unusual things, but never

weird things. For instance, in younger days, had the

"little voice in my head" told me to stand on my head,

I would have  felt compelled to do it. I doubt if I

would have done it, but would have felt  guilty if I

didn't. We need to remember that God's Word says, "Let

all  things be done decently and in order." That's

wise advice to follow. God has  also given us a head

as well as a heart, and we need to use both.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please give me the

insight to know the difference between a conviction

and a compulsion, the  wisdom to reject compulsions,

and the courage to follow convictions that come  from

your Spirit. Thank you for hearing and answering my

prayer. Gratefully, in  Jesus' name, amen."

Stu
<mailto:K5stu at sbcglobal.net>K5stu at sbcglobal.net
Reading your Bible today will help prepare you for A Brighter Tomorrow!
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BlindMen4Christ mailing list
BlindMen4Christ at morales-family.lljfm.net
http://morales-family.lljfm.net/mailman/listinfo/blindmen4christ_morales-fam
ily.lljfm.net

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End of Faith-talk Digest, Vol 18, Issue 4
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