This is a good lesson for me these days.... Ive been very quick to jump the gun with people lately....

Thanks for sharing....

Have a great day.... May you have many blessings today....

Thanks for the email...  

Love and HUggs

Janica

Amen brother! I had to read this several time because it made the biggest impact on me: "the lost are watching us whenever we are around them and when they catch us like that they feel more secure in staying as they are for they do not see any difference between Christians and themselves."

Yes, I have some of those hot coals too. Thanks for the lesson!

Great lesson....I needed reminding about reading the bible prayerfully and not just reading it to read it... which I often do...and it is true I dont get as much out of it as I do the times when I do ask the Lord to guide me to the right place I need to read, to hear, to be reminded of....

ANd yes I am moving slowly and with great caution... driving into work was enough of a challenge for me(the bumps in the road nearly killed me), but I had to get here the gal Sara I was supposed to work with called in.... so here I sit... Thank goodness its been quiet in here and Ive not had to do much up and downing today.

Have a great day!!!

Love and HUggs

Janica

i just wanted to stop by and thank you for all your support.  I haven't been around much.  Trying to stay busy.  Well, you can scratch that "trying" part....I AM staying busy. 

UPDATE on my blog tho....I returned the car today.  I couldn't find a co-signer.  According to Ford, it was all taken care of.  They let me drive off the lot and everything.  Said I had financing under their credit repair program, and 1 1/2 weeks later, i get a call from them saying, find a co-signer or bring it back.  I cried the whole time.  It was aweful.  It was the first time I really tried to do it by myself, and for a week there, I WAS or I thought.  Thought someone believed in me....HAHAHAHA...the joke was on me again. 

Wasn't meant to be I guess.  Now I'm worried about how I'm going to get to my job.

~m~

[Sapphires_n_jades]

Hey Michael, thank you for your note

I have printed this lesson and will read it later... I love your lessons!

Yes, we too often put the horse before the cart... Thank you for the lesson, I'll try coming here more often! (my hindrance is too much time online, so how about I turn this one into surfing Christian stuff, at least to start?)

thought god loved us no matter what we did...and most of the suff man say is bad...I am not sure god would see it that way... saying no is more of a choice I think... apart from that i like ur post!!

god bless u

Michael

It's funny you should write this today...I've had 3 really good days and now "phhhbt!" I'm full of anxiety and sadness...I really felt hat you wrote.  Thank you my friend!

Claudia

very, very, good and useful lesson :)

thank you

I read this one Daddy...   I try not to read the Sunday school lessons, but I'm not sure how often I will be going to s.school or church until after the baby is born...  I don't want to miss the lesson, so I cheated a little and read it... don't be mad  

love you!

Children has always been the favourite of Jesus because they are straightforward, sober and innocent. They love to come to him and listen. Jesus loves them because they love him through with their hearts and not the mind ... that comes later when they became an adult.

[Trials n Temptations]

You have an amazing amount of understanding. Every time I read I learn something new!

Micheal this is so wonderful.  I really believe you need to make this into a book because it is so enlighting.  It is so helpful for me to see how the Holy Spirit has worked and is working in my life.  It is just amazing to be how important this is...I mean how Jesus was teaching us this on the mount.  I never realize how VERY, Very important this teaching is.  Thank so much for opening my eyes even more to God's truth and teaching.  You have blessed me so much...I really do hope this becomes a book because it I very much needed by Christians to understand.

God bless you...M

Thanks for sharing this. It brought back some memories of mourning I'd like to share aswell. Remember when the movie, The Passion of the Christ came out? I don't know if anyone else reacted to this movie in the same way, but after I saw the movie, I felt like I mourned. Every sunday at church I cried, as hard as I tried to stop myself, I couldn't, just tears would run down my face for the whole sermon. The rest of the week when I read the bible the same would happen. Anytime I focused on the Lord I would cry. This lasted for around 3 to 4 months. I am not sure what was happening....butwhat happened to him affected me very much. I felt so alone at that time. And in such pain. But it subsided in time and I was able to go to church and read without crying, but I am not the same.

Thanks for your words of wisdom once again and explaining spiritual mourning. I like the "ladder" way of describing things. Hope all is well with you. Love, Alice

Yes, yes, YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And amen.

Most excellent entry and I can relate. 

[realdeal]

wow did these words speak to me this morning.  please know that i am taking in these lessons whole heartedly.

"saving me from myself"....those words put things in a perspective for me that i think i needed.  it helps me with the concept of "letting go".

if that makes sense.

My first comment I just really wanted to make sure it wouldn't black out, like some comments do when I have a dark default color on. Anyways, like I was saying, my own pastor was talking along these lines as well.....He mentioned aswell, we accept Him as our Savior but we follow Him out of love....He has done so much for us and He knows what is best for us...being our Creator....he knows how we should walk in this life that would be most beneficial for us......To walk in His ways, to become more like Christ...is to put your trust in Him. I know I don't trust myself or anybody else but God for that matter.

I am struggling with my faith at this time, with becoming more. The Lord says a wife shall go to her husband, a husband to Christ, Christ to God.

My husband is distancing himself from the Lord in small ways. He is a believer. He goes to church sundays, when Im not sick, we pray before meals, but that is about the extent of it for him.

I have tried repeatedly to get him to read from our daily prayer and bible reading book everyday. He gets side tracked....his brother comes over....their working on the car.....I can barely get him to sit down to dinner....Before bed he's too tired...In the morning he's too rushed.....Always an excuse.

I think he's depressed.....and he's just going his own way. I'm finding it difficult to grow with him as well.

I am trying to spend in God's Word. The work I am doing with my book makes that possible. I feel like a hermit tho. I dont get out much.

Anyways, Thanks for  sharing your wisdom with us and may God Bless! Love, Alice

What a brilliant and inspired entry!  Michael, you don't know how much I needed to see this spelled out for me in black and white!  How simple, yet how many of us fail to see it!  Thankfully, I know I am at that place where I am so aware of my sin that I know Jesus is the only One Who can rescue me.  I've come to that place the hard way too, but I'm so glad I'm here.  I now know that I am truly and forever saved, and it is true that I am striving to become more Christ-like.  It is a hard journey, but I think Heaven will be worth it!

i don't think i could describe what this entry taught me.  nothing has ever been put quite this way for me before, and i have to say that it reduced me to tears, the mentioned shame, and other things hard to put into words.

thank you michael.

Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful topic with us. I enjoyed it very much. I usually read from my Daily reading and prayer Bible with Red after dinner, but I think I might share this with him tonight.

I agree, Ive never been poor in spirit due to finances alone. It usually has much more to do with emotional issues and support and the love around you. I have been happy in times of poverty and upset when the moneys been good. There is no quick fix for happiness. Not even weight or looks. Anything, worldly.

Thank you for drawing my attention to the Beatitudes. Have a great week!

This was wonderful, Michael.  I always enjoy your take on things.  You are so insightful.  Thanks for sharing.

Love,

Minty.

This is one of the best sermons I have ever read in my lifetime.  I can't wait for next week to go reread the sermon on the mount.

Loved this entry,

Thanks for sharing it with us.

I really liked this lesson.... I love the Beatitudes.... ANd I liked peeking into what the heart of a christian should look like.

I pray this lesson goes over well received....I am sure it will, they seem to always do.

Have a great week Michael....I will be thinking more over this lesson throughout the week.

Love and HUggs

Janica

Great entry Michael! I wrote a song in my twenties called Behind the Mask. I might write the lyrics in my entry soon. Anyways, it was written in a time, before I was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and I didn't know what was wrong with me, just that I was different, and I had something to hide.

I sometimes think now my greatest impediment is that I am sometimes too forthcoming. I sometimes dont know, in my offline life, how much info to give. I have this idea that since the Lord knows everything about me and sees into all the shadows, I cannot hide, so why try. But sometimes somethings make others uncomfortable. You have to gauge who you are talking too, and what they want to know. When some people ask how you are, they dont really want to know. Then there are those who expect details, details, details! It can be confusing. I've learned it is a good quality to ask alot of questions before talking to much. Online, it is a little bit of a different story. We are all here because we like to communicate. That's a given.

Thanks for your email address...Im hoping to find the time very soon to drop you an email. Maybe share something with you too. Hope your New Year has started out wonderfully. Looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts. God Bless!

I loved this entry.  It is so true that when we do drop our masks, our friends love us all the more, because there is no pretense, and the humanity of that person laid bare is very endearing.  MDD has been a great place for me to shed my masks, because of the unconditional love we receive here.  Lowering a mask makes other people feel they can lower theirs too, and we all then feel as though we can accept each other, and ourselves, because we are all basically the same: flawed and in need of understanding and the grace of God and those we love.  The only people I don't and won't lower my masks to are those who could use it against me, or who refuse to lower theirs, pretending they are perfect.  We have to be careful not to cast our pearls upon swine.  I reveal my true self to humble people: people who won't play the, "I'm better than you; I don't have any flaws" game.  You are humble and true, and that is why you are one of my favourites.

I don't know if you have become acquainted with my good friend, Ray, yet.  He is a gay man who is HIV positive, and who lives alone with his elderly mother in an old folks home.  Sometimes he drinks too much and he hates that he does that.  Over the last three years or more, Timmy and I have come to love Ray like a brother, because he hides nothing.  All his fears, flaws and feelings are laid bare in that diary.  I have been praying for him all that time, and I have seen some positive improvement in his mood.  He was beaten black and blue by his father, when he was small, and he has grown up with an extremely poor self-esteem.  He is one of the most endearing people at MDD, BECAUSE there is no pretense whatsoever about him.  Thanks so much for the thought-provoking entry.  I loved it! 

Minty.

This was a REALLY good entry, insightful (sp?) and I think most people here could really relate. I know I definitely could.... I write about things here on MDD that I don't tell ANYONE else. I think that's why so many people love this place cause we can be so honest and not worry about it. It really is like a big family. We all care so much about eachother and it's weird cause most of us never even met eachother. But you're right, it's because we can "remove our masks" and not judge eachother by appearances. BTW, my place where things "come to me" is in bed at night.

See you next year, Michael. Take care,

- Christine

That's very true.
The things people on MDD know about me
Nobody else in the world knows
And we trust each other so much on here
Have a good christmas, michael

xxx

Wonderful entry...peeling back those layers at MDD & receiving the love I have here has really helped me come out more in my outer life...It has changed my life.

Merry Christmas...M

What a sweet story about you and Denise.. thank you for sharing that with us. I love reading your writings, thank you for coming into my life.
~Love Mystic

I wish that I could say that my journey has been similar to yours. I've experienced one hardship after another as it seemed that God was just within my grasp.

I tried the prayer several times. The one where we dedicate our lives to God and it never worked for me. I still faced the same struggles and I never felt closer.

I HAVE dedicated my entire life to Christ. I HAVE searched my whole life for that relationship and NEVER have I been able to achieve it. And I DON'T believe that I run the car. I'm just a passenger, and that does NOTHING for me. I just don't understand the 'magic' and I never have.

And now thing aren't much better. No, I don't feel depressed, but I don't feel the peace that I KNOW accompanies the holy spirit.

I have belonged to the Morman church for several years and then I went into the charismatic movement and then I went to a bible study that studied the original text of the bible. This is where I learned the most, and where I came to believe that maybe I just don't belong to God.

Is that possible? The bible preaches it. And I can't prove it, but it's all over the scriptures. God talks constantly of his children, his chosen, his sheep, the elect, and etc. What if I am not an elect? What if I am not one of God's children?

What other explanation is there? Why can't I experience what other christians claim to experiment?

I just don't understand.

Michael,

Thank you for sharing your journey with me.... I truy liked the sentenece "  But that's because I'm not in charge any more.......I'm just the willing member of God's family".... It is similiar to the one I say about Im not the driver Im just the passenger... I go where the Lord takes me, and I go the route He sets before me, bumps and all....

I think it is cute how you knew way back in the early years of going to church that Denise was the one.... you just knew it.... Thats how it was when I met Daniel, I just knew he was going to be the one I married and the one who I was menat to be with....that the Lord sent him to me....

I hope you have a good day today....I have amath final to take and a psychology test to take then I am done for the semester.....

My paper is turned in tomorrow I ahve the last 2 pages to type out today then thats ready to go.

Love and HUggs

Janica

Hi Micheal,

Yes, I've done exactly the same thing with my 1st  private diary - and Ryene, my public diary. The former is about my personal journey toward becoming a Christian, the latter about my life since my spiritual awakening/new life experience.

I've been a water-baptised christian since 1982, spirit baptised for 22 years. Seems just like yesterday!!!

Emmi

"...I'm not religious any more; I'm spiritual."

that sentence and the one in the paragraph after it....are intriguing and will definitely have me back here.

Hey now... I didn't say you "wouldn't get many people to read" I said you MIGHT be limiting your audience... there's a difference... really there is...

Love you Daddy!

Wendy

Thank you so much for writing this entry, I agree with you totally.  I did wonder about the Holy Spirit being the one to convict us.  The good thing about all this is that it made me take a deeper look at my faith & why I do what I do...and the Holy Spirit did not convict me, so I came to the conclusion it is right for me to celebrate Christmas.  I do think the verse in Romans is speaking exactly to this situation, it convicted me on the spot when I read it.  

 I also really liked what you said about speaking gently about things, MDD is such a haven for many of us to be able to be completely honest & I believe the reason is because of the encouragement & comfort they receive here...I know I can say that is true for myself. 

I really appreciate your writing this entry. 

Thank you for caring enough about all of us to write it.

God blesses the peace makers...

May God continue to bless you.

  I would love to follow along with your diary here. Arguing and causing dissention is not fruitful to learning, so Im happy to hear your thoughts and share, while being agreeable in nature even if by chance, not in opinion.

Looking forward.

Add me add me add me add me add me!

Love ya!

Kayla

hi michael - i am always interested in hearing about someone's walk in faith, since so many of us have that in common (hopefully), so i will be reading your new diary, also - i'm glad 2 hear your little lilly is doing good-

jan

Hi Micheal,

I did this exact same thing with my old diary, which tells of my condition when I first met the Lord, and it documents my journey from mormonism to christianity, maturity, and growth! I can't wait to read about your experiences. I had a Pastor once who told me that The Law, the teachings and noble principles etc... are just 'dead letter', without a life to live them out in. I was so struck by that, I wrote it down. I expect that's the reason you don't argue, and neither do  for that reason.

I'm looking forward to this.

Emmi

Cant wait to start reading in this one too......

Love and HUggs

Janica