The Fruit of The Spirit.

[charity]

Hi @Nancy,

Time and time again the Lord has had to hoist me up from the depths of despair I have felt at the depravity of my old nature, and set my eyes back on the surety of His promises. We see and experience the Old nature for it is familiar to us, it consists of flesh and blood, and has weight and substance, but the New nature is very much of the nature of faith, isn't it? Which is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

As I thought on the content of your thread, a picture came into my mind of a moment in time, in my life, and I saw myself standing in the rain with an umbrella over me, waiting for my husband to lock up the house, for we were going out. I had responded badly to him yet again, and not shown the love of Christ: and I stood looking at the kitchen window, my mind in turmoil, tears rolling down my cheeks. Having been beaten down by an inward turmoil of self-deprecating negative thoughts, my faith hanging by a thread it seemed. As I stood there, I remember crying out to the Lord, and telling him, that what I saw evidenced in my life gave me no hope to believe that I was His, but that I believed His word, and was trusting Him to fulfill His promises. The words of a hymn came into my mind, 'On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand': and my spirit was dragged from the brink and brought onto the sold ground of faith again, and I was able to praise Him for rescuing me once more.

This is no isolated occurrence, but I can now praise God for His mercy and His grace, and for the battle being waged.

Thank you for your sharing, for your openness.
With my love to you, Nancy.
In Christ Jesus
Chris

 

[charity]

Faith, Hope and Experience were walking along a wall.
Hope was fine as long as he kept his eyes on Faith,
but when he turned around to look at Experience
he fell off the wall, along with Experience,
but Faith went walking on.

 

[charity]

1 There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
like the wideness of the sea.
There’s a kindness in God’s justice,
which is more than liberty.

2 There is welcome for the sinner,
and more graces for the good.
There is mercy with the Savior,
there is healing in his blood.

3 But we make God’s love too narrow
by false limits of our own,
and we magnify its strictness
with a zeal God will not own.

4 For the love of God is broader
than the measures of the mind,
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.

5 If our love were but more simple,
we should rest upon God’s word,
and our lives would be illumined
by the presence of our Lord.

 

[Nancy]

Thank you for sharing Nancy. It took a very long time to really under how God does still love me through all my faults and misunderstanding and mistakes.

How great our God is who sent the Lord Jesus Christ! Just don’t let the sin of unbelief creep into your heart. Continue to hold on to Jesus like the woman who was of the 12 year blood loss who heard about Jesus, sought after Him, and attached herself to him.

Ah, thank you Matthew,
There will never be a time that I un-believe, impossible! Just been a pretty rough road lately and, I know this will pass, and it is already improving. Praise and worship seem to be the go to when anything evil comes at us and, getting on our faces with tears of repentance is a must. Refining can hurt. for sure!

 

[MatthewG]

Nancy

I cry sometimes at Gods mercy and love @Nancy thank you for your response.

blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted

*edited

 

[Truman]

Ah, thank you Matthew,
There will never be a time that I un-believe, impossible! Just been a pretty rough road lately and, I know this will pass, and it is already improving. Praise and worship seem to be the go to when anything evil comes at us and, getting on our faces with tears of repentance is a must. Refining can hurt. for sure!

You are so right about praise and worship! "He inhabits our praises" is more than just a saying! The road may get rough, as I know it does, but I have this family, just as you do. We'll get through this together.
Through all these years and all these tears
And all these fears, You're still with us.
As we stretch out our arms, You draw us near
And embrace us...just as we are!
Thank You, Father!

 

[Nancy]

You are so right about praise and worship! "He inhabits our praises" is more than just a saying! The road may get rough, as I know it does, but I have this family, just as you do. We'll get through this together.
Through all these years and all these tears
And all these fears, You're still with us.
As we stretch out our arms, You draw us near
And embrace us...just as we are!
Thank You, Father!

Amen brother!

 

[Nancy]

Hi @Nancy,

Time and time again the Lord has had to hoist me up from the depths of despair I have felt at the depravity of my old nature, and set my eyes back on the surety of His promises. We see and experience the Old nature for it is familiar to us, it consists of flesh and blood, and has weight and substance, but the New nature is very much of the nature of faith, isn't it? Which is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

As I thought on the content of your thread, a picture came into my mind of a moment in time, in my life, and I saw myself standing in the rain with an umbrella over me, standing waiting for my husband to lock up the house, for we were going out. I had responded badly to him yet again, and not shown the love of Christ: and I stood looking at the kitchen window, my mind in turmoil, tears rolling down my cheeks. Having been beaten down by an inward turmoil of self-deprecating negative thoughts, my faith hanging by a thread it seemed. As I stood there, I remember crying out to the Lord, and telling him, that what I saw evidenced in my life gave me no hope to believe that I was His, but that I believed His word, and was trusting Him to fulfill His promises. The words of a hymn came into my mind, 'On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand': and my spirit was dragged from the brink and brought onto the sold ground of faith again, and I was able to praise Him for rescuing me once more.

This is no isolated occurrence, but I can now praise God for His mercy and His grace, and for the battle being waged.

Thank you for your sharing, for your openness.
With my love to you, Nancy.
In Christ Jesus
Chris

Hi Chris!
Thank you for your kind response. I won't be writing much for a while. Just had reverse shoulder replacement yesterday and hand is getting numb.

" As I stood there, I remember crying out to the Lord, and telling him, that what I saw evidenced in my life gave me no hope to believe that I was His, but that I believed His word, and was trusting Him to fulfill His promises. The words of a hymn came into my mind, 'On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand': and my spirit was dragged from the brink and brought onto the sold ground of faith again, and I was able to praise Him for rescuing me once more."

Bolded-mine. Exactly Chris! Satan loves to whisper into our ears how un-saved he wants us to believe we are. And God IS our Rock, He does not change nor can He be moved! So grateful for my friends on here to be able to let loose on, lol.

God bless and keep you my sister!

 

[Nancy]

Bless you Nancy, love you in Christ.

When I accepted Jesus into my life as a child, I was in bed and my father quoted Rev 3:20 to me, saying “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

My father spoke about our hearts door and how we can open up our heart to Jesus and accept Him into our heart and life. He wants us, He comes knocking, and he seeks us. Many reject him, but we have Jesus in our life, for He is God and God is Spirit.

Romans 8:9 that you quoted tells about the Spirit of God that dwells in us. You have done this, and I have always known from the first time I came onto this forum that you have the beauty of Jesus in you. Luke 11:13 is much the same except to say that the gifts of our Heavenly Father are Good gifts.

The gift of God to all believers is salvation:

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” John 4:10

The result and I see it in you is:

(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
(23) gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
(24) And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
(25) If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
(26) Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Gal 5:22-26

Then there are the greater gifts that only a few people seek and are not necessary for our salvation, but the church would be in even greater trouble if these people did not have the greater gifts.

But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way. 1 Corinthians 12:31

And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:28

Bless you Nancy, you are safe in the arms of Jesus.
.

Agreed Cooper and thank you for your encouragement and kind words brother.
And yes, "safe in the arms of Jesus"
God bless and keep you!

 

[Truman]

Hi, Nancy. Since this is my favorite version of this song and is done by my favorite worship leader, I thought you might like it.

 

[Nancy]

Sorry to hear about this. The give away in this is, "always in the morning" What proceeds the morning? Rebuke the visitors causing all of this. I hate when I hear that the enemy is allowed to run amuck where a person lives and yet they can not perceive it. Where you live and everything you own is The Lords as well as yours. This is part of making Him Lord. I have been through this Nancy. Anyone who is truly The Lords has both The Father and The Son(Jesus) in the form of The Holy Spirit living within them. As such, there is Power and Authority in His Name to remove any unwanted guest or visitors All one needs to do is speak out loud with faith. Remember these words, "The Lord rebukes you, The Lord Jesus rebukes you." After this, they have no choice but to leave. After that, as things start to clear, and clear they will, you will see how they work by taking a molehill and turning it into a mountain. Even that mountain, by faith, can be plucked up and thrown into the sea. The prayers in here will help you in your present situation but there is a time in every believers life that they will have to standup and exercise their measure of faith. Even if it is the size of a mustard seed, the mountain will still be plucked up and thrown into the sea. The Victory has already been won, believe it, claim it and speak it. Be Blessed Nancy, you will be fine.

Thank you GTW27,
Agreed, and yes it is ALWAYS in the morning! as you have said, I have been doing...been saying, I resist you Satan and God rebuke you, you MUST flee at The Name of Jesus!
You are very encouraging bro, thanks and much love in Christ!

 

[Nancy]

Don't fake it, but draw closer to God. That's where you can pretend, even if you don't feel it. Pretend God is right there with you, fathering you, loving you, though you don't see Him.

He is sympathetic to your frustrations, and you your angers and rages, and He knows that you would set them aside in a heartbeat if you could. And He knows His Own reasons for not fully renewing your mind today.

I've just had to accept that this will take time, for whatever reason that God knows is best. Try to be patient with yourself!

Much love!

Thanks Marks! ❤

 

[Nancy]

Great question.

I wish I had a great answer. For me, anger comes from trying to have MY will be done. When I submit to God's will my anger dissipates.



I'll pray for you. Maybe your hormones are out of kilter. My wife suffers from menopause very deeply and often.

Lol, thanks brother but, nothing to do with hormones'. It's frustration from inability to physically DO anything. Which in turn can affect one mentally, socially, emotionally, and psychologically. I know that God is continuing a work in me, humbling me in ways I never knew needed it. It's complex and lengthy and I won't subject you to it.
Thank you for the reply, God bless and keep you!

 

[amigo de christo]

Sister nancy is on the move . Let all praise and rejoice in the Lord .

 

[Nancy]

oh boy…I’m real sad you’re dealing with all that all at once.
Do you want to zoom or FaceTime tonight? I haven’t seen your face in quite a while.

Hey Jen, sorry for not getting back till now, but I had reverse shoulder replacement surgery yesterday. Taking me a long time to reply with one hand as my right hand is pretty numb right now. I'd love to Zoom! Have work being done in the house tomorrow morning, afternoon. Maybe we could do it tomorrow night? Actually, most anytime except for my follow ups and a dental appointment on Thursday.
Thanks for the reply, miss you!

 

[soul man]

Luke 11:13
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"

Romans 8:9
"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

Hello CB members,
According to Luke 11:13 we need simply to ask Him for His Spirit. If this is so, what gives with the extra "baptism in the Holy spirit"? I thought there was only one baptism in The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit...Matthew 28:9 makes this clear to me.
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" ...or, is that three baptisms??!!

Now, seeing that God said He would give His Spirit to those who ask Him. Having His Spirit living inside you will cause you to produce the fruit of The Spirit.

So, my question here is, if a professed Christian has many issues and difficulties producing these fruits, do they NOT have His Spirit, are they "none of His", even though they might plead continually with God to send them His Spirit so as to fight sin? Are we to "pretend" that we are all in with the works of The Spirit? Smile when yo do not feel it in your heart? Pretend to have joy when we do not? So much is so vague and lot's of guess work as to things we THINK God said, not sure but we might just imagine we did.

Confession time. VERY frustrated most of the time and it turns into anger, then RAGE! NOT against persons, ever but while by myself which is 99.9% of the time anymore. Out of this anger and frustration I throw things and break them. How can this happen EVERYDAY, and pretty much always in the mornings, if His Spirit is inside my heart?? Therefore, discernment say's I am none of His. This is living IN sin. Hating sin even while in the midst of it is still sin. Self loathing comes on the tail of every tantrum and it is insanity to CONSTANTLY "repent" every time this happens, (and it IS daily on some level) Repentance should be turning around to walk in the correct direction NOT returning over and over again to the same thing.

I'll be taking a break from here for a bit folks. I do ask for prayer if any will.
thank you all and love you.

It is a tough place to be, seems the valleys never end sometimes! Love you sister see you soon.

 

[soul man]

I was standing in the kitchen this morning. I was in the midst of gathering all my strength to cope with how I felt. Again. I turned around to see the husky running at me, as it had just got up and needed to go out. I was standing between it and the door.
Being a privileged dog, it ran right at me so I tried to jump out of the way. Remember, I was in the midst of mustering my strength. I yelled at the dog. My son was coming down the hall and jokingly said that she needed to go pee. I yelled at him! He walked into the other room.
Fruit of the Spirit? Yeah, when I'm not having a panic attack. When I feel closed in, I panic. I think it's from when I woke from a coma. I had fallen asleep in my bed one night, peacefully, and woke to my worst nightmare.
Life was going okay, considering both of my parents, whom, I lived with, had just died. I was only in double shock. And the recent end of my marriage. I think 2004 was out to get me.
So when I opened my eyes, attached to tubes and wires, in a room with glass walls and colored lights, in absolute agony, and paralyzed, I choked on panic!
It took months to come out of that state and it took some time before I was able to comprehend what had happened. I'd had a rare reaction to a medication, which is classified as a brain disease. Together with my acquired brain injury, thinking didn't come easy.
So, every morning after this time in my life, for about 10-12 years, the first moment or so that I was awake, I relived that first moment when I came out of the coma. I learned to lay quiet until the storm passed.
When I'm caught off-guard and feel trapped, I often react angrily. I think talking now, God is healing me more.
In the movie, "The Matrix," Neo woke up in a pod, hooked up to tubes and wires. If he was in extreme pain and was paralyzed, he would've felt like I did.
I expect that as He continues to heal my traumatized soul, I'll exhibit more fruit of the Spirit.
Nancy, last October you apologized for blowing up a thread of mine...that's okay, it happens to the best of us! Lol

Amazing story! We just don't know what others go through. Reading Nancy's story and what is going on, and your story. We think we know what other's may go through.. but unless you have gone through it you just don't know. I know the Lord is faithful through it all. You giving your testimony, I have mine, nancy, no one is exempt from the suffering in this world. Spiritual.. mental.. emotional.. financial. I like when people can be honest and talk.. and not have to be super spiritual. I try but have a hard time doing that.. I give little bits and pieces here and there but just can't open up. For whatever reason.. the pain.. the shame.. the hurt. I know it is healthy to open up and maybe learned from the suffering but it is no joy!

 

[soul man]

Luke 11:13
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"

Romans 8:9
"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

Hello CB members,
According to Luke 11:13 we need simply to ask Him for His Spirit. If this is so, what gives with the extra "baptism in the Holy spirit"? I thought there was only one baptism in The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit...Matthew 28:9 makes this clear to me.
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" ...or, is that three baptisms??!!

Now, seeing that God said He would give His Spirit to those who ask Him. Having His Spirit living inside you will cause you to produce the fruit of The Spirit.

So, my question here is, if a professed Christian has many issues and difficulties producing these fruits, do they NOT have His Spirit, are they "none of His", even though they might plead continually with God to send them His Spirit so as to fight sin? Are we to "pretend" that we are all in with the works of The Spirit? Smile when yo do not feel it in your heart? Pretend to have joy when we do not? So much is so vague and lot's of guess work as to things we THINK God said, not sure but we might just imagine we did.

Confession time. VERY frustrated most of the time and it turns into anger, then RAGE! NOT against persons, ever but while by myself which is 99.9% of the time anymore. Out of this anger and frustration I throw things and break them. How can this happen EVERYDAY, and pretty much always in the mornings, if His Spirit is inside my heart?? Therefore, discernment say's I am none of His. This is living IN sin. Hating sin even while in the midst of it is still sin. Self loathing comes on the tail of every tantrum and it is insanity to CONSTANTLY "repent" every time this happens, (and it IS daily on some level) Repentance should be turning around to walk in the correct direction NOT returning over and over again to the same thing.

I'll be taking a break from here for a bit folks. I do ask for prayer if any will.
thank you all and love you.

Nancy can we all meet at your place and have a picnic .. please I have a travel ministry I will call it. I get on a plane.. train.. bus.. and minister to people on my my to the destination. I'm being a little facetious but it would be nice to meet other forum members.. I have always wanted to do that, and came close a couple timed. I have been doing online stuff since late nineties.

 

[charity]

Hi Chris!
Thank you for your kind response. I won't be writing much for a while. Just had reverse shoulder replacement yesterday and hand is getting numb.

" As I stood there, I remember crying out to the Lord, and telling him, that what I saw evidenced in my life gave me no hope to believe that I was His, but that I believed His word, and was trusting Him to fulfill His promises. The words of a hymn came into my mind, 'On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand': and my spirit was dragged from the brink and brought onto the sold ground of faith again, and I was able to praise Him for rescuing me once more."

Bolded-mine. Exactly Chris! Satan loves to whisper into our ears how un-saved he wants us to believe we are. And God IS our Rock, He does not change nor can He be moved! So grateful for my friends on here to be able to let loose on, lol.

God bless and keep you my sister!

'If in this life only we have hope in Christ,
we are of all men most miserable.
But now is Christ risen from the dead,
and become the firstfruits of them that slept.'
(1 Cor. 15:19-20)

Dear Nancy,

I praise God that you know and echo the thoughts of my own heart, for we, as those who have been saved by God's wondrous grace, have the same inner working of the Spirit, and mirror each other in experience and thought. How great is His faithfulness, great His longsuffering and patience, how limitless His love. How wonderful an eternity spent experiencing His lovingkindness outpoured will be.

Thank you
With love in Christ Jesus
Chris

 

[stunnedbygrace]

Hey Jen, sorry for not getting back till now, but I had reverse shoulder replacement surgery yesterday. Taking me a long time to reply with one hand as my right hand is pretty numb right now. I'd love to Zoom! Have work being done in the house tomorrow morning, afternoon. Maybe we could do it tomorrow night? Actually, most anytime except for my follow ups and a dental appointment on Thursday.
Thanks for the reply, miss you!

would have to be about 7 p.m. after I close the shop. Mon and tues are my days off. Not that we couldn’t zoom during open hours but we would have to cut off if a customer came in and that might be frustrating jumping on and off and on.