Poetry: A New Life

A NEW LIFE

Your scriptures are so wonderful.

They energize my soul.

I love to read the stories

Of the patriarchs of old.

And also of the women

Who were prominent in Christ.

Who prayed and gave in faithfulness.

No fleshly guile or strife.

But most of all the thing I love

Is what your Word doth do.

It changes all the heart of me,

Transforms and makes me new.

For through the daily cleansing Word

I'm changed to be like you.

The Word restructures all of me.

I'm living life brand new.

***

(c)Sandra Johnson/Draw Nigh To Hope

Let The Old Man Die

Let's be obedient to God to our hurt. To the hurt of our flesh. Jesus was obedient to God to his hurt. What he endured for us was hurtful to the human part of him, as well as to the spiritual, divine part. His flesh shrunk from what he had to do. He came here to do it but he experienced dread, just like we do. 

He was so distressed that he asked his Father three times if it could be done some other way. Like the obedient Son that he is, he ended his supplication with Nevertheless, not my will but thy will be done. 

We are not even being asked to allow our bodies to be abused, scourged and nailed to a cross. We're only being asked to allow our old man to die. Daily.

Ephesians 4:22-24

Romans 6:6-12

II Corinthians 5:17-19

***

We Need The Entire Bible For Transformation

It is important to read several scriptures, a whole chapter, a complete passage and over time, the entire Bible. We must also try to read it everyday. We learn the context of points, lessons and stories and get a more accurate understanding about what is being said.

Christians who only read and quote favorite scriptures do not grow. 

We need all of the Word over a period of time for our minds to be renewed and to begin to be transformed. 

As we daily read the Bible the conversion begins. This is through the Holy Spirit. He took up residence in our reborn spirits when we acknowledged and accepted Jesus Christ as God's ordained Savior. The Holy Spirit is a person, like Our Father and Our Savior. He's not a dove, a tongue of flame or a breeze, though he can use these things to operate. 

Working with the Holy Spirit through acceptance and obedience, and eating and drinking a variety of Bible scriptures daily starts the miracle transformation within us. We can then learn to apply the Word to our daily lives in a practical and beneficial way.

A Way Out Or A Way Through?

The Lord promised in his Word, Psalm 23, that he would prepare a place before us in the presence of our enemies. This scripture was illuminated to me by the Holy Spirit and I discerned that it is not saying, necessarily, that God will remove the enemies from our lives. Maybe he will. Maybe he won't. Maybe he will at the time he has appointed. When we read this scripture however, we want immediate deliverance from our enemies' attacks.

We want so badly (especially those of us who have been suffering attacks for so long) for that passage to mean that God is going to wave his divine hand and say POOF! and the enemies and their attacks will be gone. Psalm 23 is revealing that the enemies are present to see our advancement, deliverance, success and favor in the midst of their evil. Thou shalt prepare a table in the presence of my enemies.

These people under the influence of rulers of the darkness of this world may or may not care. Seeing God's favor on us may make an immediate difference in their lives but it mostly likely will not. People who are bent on following the influence of principalities and powers are not quick to see their wrong.

We were there at one time, living reprobate lives, subject to any wicked thing against others, no matter how good we thought we were. We hurt people overtly and covertly, purposely and unconsciously. We know that it takes the timing of the Holy Spirit to bring us into His marvelous light of truth and set us on the path of transformation. It's up to God when and how our enemies are blocked from their access to us. 

We are quick to embrace a way out but is that best at this time? Is it God's good, acceptable and perfect will for us to have a way out on this stretch of our journey? When it is not the appointed time, a way out keeps us weak. A way through, alternatively, builds our faith and spiritual strength. 

After the way through comes the way out. I want increased faith to walk in the freedom of Christ and more power to destroy the works of the devil, don't you? That's the ultimate goal, the building up of our most holy faith and the reception of power from on high, no matter what our enemies are doing. 

Being A Positive-Minded Christian

Living a successful Christian life and doing things God's way requires a positive mindset. Walking in the Spirit requires a positive mindset. Being transformed by the renewing of our minds through reading the Word daily requires positive mindsets going in. Allowing our faith to be increased by God requires positive mindsets. Make no mistake, for wonderful changes to come about, we have to start with positive mindsets. We have to believe! That is positive-mindedness. 

Have you been negative-minded when coming to God in prayer? Were you raised in a negative-minded family? Have your trials and troubles in life fostered a negative mind in you? Are you so tired of life, so tired of praying, so tired of hoping that your mind is now negative to God's possibilities? Well, the Holy Spirit is our Comforter and Guide and will restore positivity and faith in us if we let Him.

Allowing the Word to sink in as we read it daily will prune us. We are the branches of Jesus Christ and we have to be regularly trimmed in spirit and attitude. This cutting process will convert and transform our negativeness to the positive-minded position that we need to be in to receive from Our Heavenly Father. 

Are you eating and drinking The Word daily? Are you reading around in The Bible rather than reading the same old scriptures that are tired to your mind and heart? Are you ensuring that you are getting a balance of The Word rather than reading The Lord is my shepherd or Our Father, which art in Heaven everyday? Are you becoming familiar with more obscure scriptures? It takes the entire Word, Old and New Testaments, to transform us and round us out to positive thinking, feeling and behaving. 

Closer Than Ever To God

Sometimes, I have heavy burdens and feel alone just like you do. I'm learning and growing through these times. The Word is a lamp and a light and we just have to keep at it, keep praying and keep choosing to believe. Though not always easy, it's as simple as that. Putting His Holy Word daily into our minds gives us the stored-up strength that we need to beneficially endure these intense journeys.

God often gives us relief, at the last minute, from our severe struggles. When we feel we can't take anymore, we cry out and push forward against all odds, determined to believe that he cares. We refuse to be defeated by the world, the flesh and the devil. At those times, we remember that we have the power of God living within and we hang on by a thread of heartfelt determination. It is then that relief comes and our spiritual branches painfully grow a little more. (John 15:5-11)

After that, God mercifully gives us mental and emotional rest for a time. We can then catch our breaths, square our shoulders and see clearly that we are doing better, that we are closer than ever to God.

 

Walking With Christ: Esther From Germany Shares A Few Thoughts

We draw closer to God through the reading of his word for ourselves and in having faith in him alone.

Growing spiritually requires dying to our flesh daily. It isn't easy but our willingness to please God gives room for the Grace of God to help us grow spiritually and to overcome our weaknesses.

Regarding age difference and marriage, the Lord knows our needs. His will concerning this area in our lives, regarding a Christian partner, will be done.

 

As Christians, we are supposed to be dating with a purpose. Sadly in today's society, not a lot of Christians see it that way. They have fully embraced the way of the world when it comes to dating.

There are many new, born again Christians out there but unfortunately many are being continuously fed milk instead of hard meat. They totally depend on the pastor, not reading the Bible for themselves.

 

Many of these new Believers still believe that fornication is okay in the eyes of God. 

One of the problems with new generation Christianity is that they are not rooted in God's Word. They are sensitive and easily offended at the same time. They think it's okay to keep having a little bit of the world and a little bit of Jesus.

 

They think the Grace of God is there to continue to endure willful sin. When someone tries to show them light in those areas, they scream don't judge me.

 

See Esther's mini-bio below.

 

 

 

Esther is 43, single/never married and she has no children. She lives in Fürth, Bayern (Bavaria) Germany and is a Christian who fervently loves the Lord. She works with elderly nursing home residents who are living in their final stages of earthly life and are in need of full support and assistance, including palliative care, on a daily basis. Esther shares about her personal life and relationship with God:

 

My last romantic relationship was 7 years ago and I was unequally-yoked. I remember while taking a shower that I told God I was going to totally commit my life to Him. I vowed that the next relationship I became involved in was going to be courting to get married. I promised my Heavenly Father that I was going to honor His word and not defile myself again with sexual sin, which the Bible calls fornication. By God's grace, I will not have an intimate relationship again until after I am married. 

 

I came to a point in my life where I decided that if I am going to fully dedicate my life to Christ, I would have to let go of one very obvious sin. I was a slave to the sin of fornication. That turning point was 7 years ago and I have never looked back. My relationship with Jesus has grown ever since, through His grace.

 

My relationship with Christ is my top priority and means everything to me. The more I see how the devil has perverted marriage in our world today, the more I am becoming focused on living for Christ. The shocking part is that I have actually met single men who professed to be Christians but confessed that they can't wait for marriage in order to have sex. They have accused me of being too "religious and extreme" because I have quoted scriptures which clearly state that fornication is a sin. Because of this, they deserted me.

 

I am very active in my local Church but since I started working full-time and studying, I have become less active. That has not, however, negatively impacted my relationship with Jesus.