Fri, Mar 31st - 8:34AM

Brothers and sisters, too often the victims of abuse, many still shaking in fear and looking over their shoulders out of fear of their perpetrators, are told even urged in order for God to forgive them that they must first forgive the perpetrator. This makes the victims responsible for fixing the perpetrators. This is often done in ignorance, and is the false doctrine of blank check forgiveness. ( Feel free to see more details about this in earlier posts and/or on your own,)

It is victimizing the victim a second time, because the victim has done nothing wrong. God does not hold the poor innocent victims guilty in any way or manner whatsoever. If anything rather than run to the poor victim making demands,  we need to run in the opposite direction to the perpetrators to urge and tell them -Repent of this evil you have done. You have abused, and in some cases even maimed, tortured, violated, stolen, robbed, another human being. Repent of the evil thoughts of your heart and turn to God, and away from your lies that you have the right to beat, injure, abuse and destroy another human being, the person(s) you have harmed. Repent, turn to God and purge yourself from this evil, and believe the truth that all souls belong to God and never you nor anyone else. The perpetrators should be urged to turn themselves over to the authorities, if they have not done so or are not in custody. 1Pe 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

love and truth

serola

Thu, Mar 30th - 4:53PM

There is great healing for victims. Just as people in the world are victimized we should not be surprised to find victims amongst God’s people. The Bible tells us that there is a time to weep:

Ecc 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

The Bible also reminds us not only to share in the joy of others, but also in their times of weeping and sadness.

Rom 12:15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

When people have been victimized they need our comfort, consolation, compassion and care. So many victims have been dehumanized, used like an object and violated on many levels. With God’s help, His people can rise above it. God’s people are never alone in their troubles. Jesus is with every one of us and He empowers us to love and help one another.

Our Lord Jesus Christ can heal a broken heart, and those who have been bruised in this life. A beloved sister in the Lord I know had been abused from childhood and later at the hands of her husband. I thank God that I among others were instruments of God’s healing in her life. It was a miracle to see her put her faith and trust in Christ, and embrace all of His love and the love of His people. She overcame, she rejected the lying messages that came with being abused that somehow she was to blame for her own abuse, that somehow she must have deserved it, that somehow she was never destined to be loved, that somehow she was a defective human being that nobody wanted, perhaps not even God.

Her healing took place over time as she understood the final eternal and everlasting love of Jesus Christ was always hers the moment she believed on Him. She drank in His lavish love and the love of His people, she gained a healthy prayer life, and never looked back again. It was as though the past had been washed completely away. Yes she forgave her abusers, but never again put up with any further abuse from them.

She forgave them directly before God, to glorify His healing her, and freeing her from the bondage of the oppression of her abusers, in no wise endorsing or approving of what was done to her at their hands. In her forgiveness of them, directly before God, she loosed them to where they belonged in the hands of God, and forever loosed herself from their power and from any desire on her part for revenge.

Her abusers never changed. None of us ever approached her to demand that she forgive her abusers, we were more involved that she had a safe place where in peace and calm she could divest herself of any internalized lying messages she had about herself due to being abused. The destruction of these lying messages, in the light of biblical truth, would ensure that she would not go on to do to others what was done to her.

love and truth

serola

Wed, Mar 29th - 7:17AM

Luke 4: 18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. KJV

Brothers and sisters we have such a great merciful and kind Saviour. He even makes provision for those who are broken hearted and bruised in life. Too often victims are blamed for what happened to them and made to feel guilty. This must not be so among Christians. God commands us to offer comfort, consolation, kindness, godly counsel and if warranted a safe place of refuge  to those who have been victimized. For some there is a rush for the victim to be healed instantly by forgiving their perpetrators, and even to go to the perpetrators to let them know that they are forgiven, even though the perpetrator may be perfectly able and willing to continue to harm the victim.

I believe in forgiveness, but unfortunately some have made one verse a doctrine and taken it outside of the full context of scripture, which misleads and causes error, and is very dangerous. Scripture confirms, backs up, authenticates, and proves scripture within the full context of scripture. 

love

serola  

Fri, Mar 24th - 7:02AM

Brothers and sisters again and again the Bible tells us that there is NOTHING PASSIVE about living for God. Now, because God has given you, me and all Christians the power of self-control, it is time to put your faith in action. USE IT!!! ACT UPON IT!!! We are to reign over our flesh, not allow our old nature to reign over us. We are to deliberately, consciously, patiently consistently, and steadfastly put into practice the conduct/behaviors in line with obedience to God’s will. Through the power of God, the Christian will be able by exercising rigorous, consistent, self-control, put to death these great wild urgings and cravings, and lies about food. This has nothing to do with " human will power" and everything to do with the power granted by our Lord Jesus Christ  to every believer to have dominion over their own old nature.

We must and absolutely can follow the plan that God has set forth for us to put Him first and honor His provision by eating no more nor less than what we need. This has nothing to do with asceticism or treating the body harshly, or special foods or diets. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are to honor our Lord God putting Him first and enjoy His provision, being well nourished nutritionally within the boundaries of His natural law. When we put God first, and obey Him out of love weight loss becomes a non-issue, because through His power we gain the self-control to chose a healthy weight and maintain it. We gain the power to choose well consistently what we do or do not put in our mouths. We are strengthened to measure everything by the standards of God to ensure we are honoring Him by His standards not faulty worldly standards. God can and does give His people iron self-control. Once we have it the joy of God's power in us makes us unwilling to ever give it up for anyone or anything.
It is not the will of God that any Christian should lack self-control and by His power we are to strive for that very thing to honor and glorify Him out of love: 

Pro 25:28 He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.

On the contrary the Bible confirms that:Pro 16:32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

love and truth

serola

Thu, Mar 23rd - 1:17AM

Jde 1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. Beloveds, that’s the way the devil and his children are. They have absolutely no shame whatsoever in blaspheming God, even if everybody knows they are blaspheming God, teaching lies about Him hoping to lure people away from the truth. If anybody falsely believes their grandmas, moms or anybody else prayed them into heaven, they and anybody else are still dead in sins. God absolutely commands everyone to come to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. There are no alternative saviors. This means we must be diligent to witness to our children and all that we can: Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. KJV

John 14: 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. KJV

Brothers and sisters, it really hurts us when we have unsaved children and family members, because we know the price they will pay for dying in unrepentant sins. The apostle Paul certainly had this painful experience that some of the Jews were unbelievers. This disturbed Paul so much that he said: Ro. 9:1 I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh…NASB 

Paul well understood that he could not substitute himself for his unsaved loved ones, but this shows how desperate he was for them to be saved.

Just like Paul we have to accept the truth that when some of our loved ones have rejected salvation: Ro. 9: 6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. Ultimately Paul had this to say: Ro. 9:8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. NASB

At the end of the day, the children of the flesh are those who will never believe in Jesus Christ, regardless of how many times they hear the gospel message, and the consequences are all on them no one else.

Here is what the apostle Paul had to say about anyone perverting the gospel:

 Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.  KJV

2Pe 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. KJV

love

serola

Wed, Mar 15th - 8:10AM

Brothers and sisters, the old nature that we have allowed to run rampant by our indulgence of it will not easily consign itself to us putting it to death. The old nature, the Bible assures us, does not have the power or capacity to reason, act, or obey the will of God. The old nature has but one will and purpose to serve itself, regardless of any consequences. All Christians through Jesus Christ are indwelt with the Holy Spirit who enables us to overcome our old nature. There is no need to worry beloveds that somehow you will fail this time too, because you have in the past. Beloveds toss away all anxiety and come trusting and patient that the God we serve is faithful to help His people patiently in all ways to the uttermost.

God does not condemn His people, but helps them, guides, disciplines and strengthens everyone.

Those dealing with the sin of gluttony should be on guard, ready, patient, and expectant, that attempts to control the old man or old nature, will no doubt cause it to generate great mindless wild urgings and cravings that our past indulgences (aiding and abetting) of it have strengthened and allowed it to go out of control by so doing. These great mindless wild urgings and cravings , which must be resisted consistently with God's truth, are often accompanied by various types of commanding bombardments of thoughts, smells and mind pictures of foods to maintain the old harmful system and thwart change. Those dealing with the sin of under eating/starvation will have to be on guard, ready, and expectant to patiently resist their old man which will generate tremendous waves of fear of food and various lies that eating all, any kind of food makes you fat, this is to thwart change and maintain the old destructive patterns.  Armed with the knowledge that we are to always first honor our Provider, and enjoy and fully nourish ourselves with His provision, according to His plan, freely eating neither too much nor too little we will have a steady victory by His power.

love

serola

Tue, Mar 7th - 12:49PM

O, Lord Jesus! I cast down my name, and raise your name above my name and every name forever. I cast down the idols of self and food and raise your name above me and all else forever.

Lord, I exalt you alone as my Saviour, Creator and Provider of all my needs. I give the totality of my worship, honor, glory and praise and the first place in every area of my life, to you, for you alone are worthy. I joyfully turn to agree and do your will and not my own anymore.  

I thank you Lord Jesus, I fully agree with you that your way is the only right way and the only right way is your way. I thank you, Thank you Lord that repentance after salvation is not a forced man-made ritual, to which someone drags us by the scruff of the neck. Lord I praise you that it is your command and your pleasure, that we freely come to you on our own out of love. I have come, Lord Jesus, humbly, gratefully, willingly out of love and complete trust in you to reveal my sins, repent, turn to agree with you and receive all the help, guidance, discipline and strength I need to overcome any weakness or ignorance wherein I have missed the mark. Thank you Lord Jesus, that you always hold me and every aspect of my life in your loving hands forever. Truly you are the Good Shepherd, Keeper of the flock, Counsellor, Provider, Saviour, Creator, High Priest, and Mediator over the house of God. Praise you Lord Jesus for always standing by to help us in the time of need and all times. Amen.

Amen.

love

serola

Sun, Mar 5th - 11:30PM

Lord Jesus, I repent that my prayers of repentance to you in the past were all about me, giving me help so that I could be a slimmer person, look good in my clothes, and even over (or under eat) without suffering the natural consequences that you have ordained.

Lord, I now truly repent and want to honor you above all. I take full responsibility and agree and fully accept the truth that the food you provide must be eaten first of all for your glory and in the way that you command. Lord I turn to you in love, trust and in reverence and obedience to the truth of the natural law that you have ordained for your creations, and by your power I will be accountable to you and show you by my unswerving actions, that I can and will consistently obey it. Above all whether I eat or drink, I will do it all for your glory, Lord God. To be continued.

love

serola  

Sun, Mar 5th - 2:06AM

My heart, Lord Jesus, is heavy with grief, misery, and deep sorrow that I have deeply disappointed you, been disobedient to you, sinned against you, especially in light of your great sinless sacrifice of yourself to take away my sins and to purchase me forever to God. Lord I repent most of all for not putting you first and not honoring you as my provider.

Lord, I repent of failing to take responsibility and to be accountable to you by allowing myself to make an idol of food (or the lack of food as the case may be). Lord Jesus, I repent of sinfully abusing the food you provide that hurt my body that you created for me to live here on earth and carry out your will, never my own.

Lord Jesus, I repent of consistently disregarding the natural law that you have put in place to help me and all men to understand how to use the food you provide to honor you and help us not destroy us.  I repent of choosing wrongfully, sinfully of living the lie that I had the right to use the food you provide my way, on my own terms and not completely on yours. Lord, you know that I have made excuses for myself and blamed everything and everybody for my sin of gluttony (or as the case may be undereating/starvation) but myself.  To be continued

love

serola

Fri, Mar 3rd - 5:05PM

Jubilee Bible 2000       

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Mt. 4:4

Some prayers of repentance after salvation, directly relating to the abuse of food-sins of over or under eating. Of course, repentance after salvation is not limited to this. Brothers and sisters, feel free to pray along these lines, or however God leads you in accordance with the absolute understanding of God’s commandments regarding repentance after salvation. This is a personal, private rendering of our hearts in repentance and is between the individual Christian and God. It is done as a total action of love, for and to Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord. It is fully offering up our hearts, wills and our lives personally, as subject to love and obey Him in grateful humility. We reveal and repent of our sins of failings, turn fully to, and in agreement with Him, and seek His help in those areas of weaknesses or ignorance in which we have sinned and not been careful to obey or live up to His eternal standards.  Obviously, brothers and sisters, God knows all this before we do, nevertheless Jesus is always faithfully standing by to help His people to be conformed to His will and put Him first in all things.

Brothers and sisters, it seems impossible that repentance after salvation would not begin with the overwhelming reflection and realization of the deepest praises and thankfulness due to God alone for all He has done for us.

I thank you Lord Jesus, that you will never take your forgiveness or love from me, and that through your final, finished and complete work of salvation, you have forgiven me and love me forever as you do all who love, trust and believe in you.

Lord Jesus you gave everything for me. I had no power to save myself. In your mercy you suffered and died for me and rose again to eternal life to save me from all my sins. Because of you Lord Jesus, I do not have to die in my sins and be condemned to the wrath of God, and will never suffer eternal death and destruction in the lake of fire with the devil, his angels and all of the devil’s evil human followers. Because of you Lord Jesus I have been placed forever in your body and made eternally acceptable in the beloved. Therefore, Lord Jesus, I have no excuse for disobedience, because you delivered me from the power of sin so that I do not ever have to live in sin or allow it to have dominion over me. I thank you that you have given me, and all of us who are yours, the right, privilege and command to come boldly to you in repentance. By boldness I mean that I am coming to you, Lord Jesus, in full faith in your eternal love and truth without a doubt. 

Lord Jesus, I come to you in repentance, to give account to you and take full responsibility for my failing to give you my reasonable service in making my life a living sacrifice to you in every area.  I thank you, Lord Jesus that you will never Condemn, or forsake me but will forever love, help, guide, discipline, correct, teach and accept me, and at the end of my life take me to be with you forever.       (Believe, Belong,Behave.)  ...to be continued.

love

serola