I GOT QUESTIONS

[Gentletouch]

Which problem do you have, envy or jealousy? A blessing for us if we have none of it. But aren't we all visited sometimes with envy or better jealousy sometimes?

Do you know the difference?

There is a beautiful write-up of Dr. Charles Swindoll on Envy more than jealousy on this Article.
Dr. Swindoll has a Radio Broadcast called "Insight for Living" and he is the number minister for me for the present time.

On Envy he wrote:

"Shakespeare called it "the green sickness."
Bacon admitted "it has no holiday."
Barrie said it "it is the most corroding of the vices."
Sheridan referred to it in his play "The Critic" when he wrote, "There is not a passion so strongly rooted in the human heart as this."
Philip Bailey, the eloquent poet of yesteryear, vividly described it as "a coral that comes hissing hot from hell."

And speaking of hell, no one has done a better job of portraying envy than Dante. In his work "PURGATORY," you may recall, the envious, sit like blind beggars by the wall. Their eyelids are sewed shut. The symbolism is apt, - showing the readers that it is one of the most blindest sins - partly because it is unreasonable, partly because the envious person is sewed up in himself. Swollen with poisonous thoughts. In a dark, constricting world of almost unendurable self- imposed anguish.

What exactly is envy? How does it different from its twin, jealousy? Envy (the most sophisticated of the two) is a painful and resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another ......accompanied by a strong desire to possess the same advantage. Envy wants to have what other possesses. Jealousy wants to posses what it already has. Jealousy is coarse and cruel. Envy is sneaky and subtle. Jealousy clutches and smothers. Envy is forever reaching, longing squinting, thinking, (and saying) sinister insinuations.

When you stop and think about it, envy is the worse of the two. GOD declares several times that HE is a "jealous GOD" ..... but not once does HE admit envy."

Any comment on this before we go ahead with next part of the article? Which one do you prefer to discuss more? If it is "Jealousy" then It would drive me to searching not unless someone would like to do it for us. ???

Gentletouch

[Gentletouch]

Continuing with the article:


Envy finds acceptable ways of expressing its resentment. One favorite method is the "but" approach. When I talk of someone I envy, I may say, He is an excellent salesman but he isn't really very sincere.. Or "Yeah, she has a brilliant mind, but what a dull teacher.! "Or "The man is an outstanding surgeon, but he doesn't mind charging an arm and a leg."

Another favorite avenue of expression envy enjoys to travel is the "reversal" approach. Someone does a good job and I cast a shadow over it by questioning the motive. An individual gives a truly generous gift and we mutter., "He's obviously trying to make impression." A Christian couple buys a new car and a few pieces of nice furniture. Watch out! There will be somebody who will squeeze out an envious comment like, "Well, they probably don't tithe. WE'd have a lot more money to spend if we didn't tithe."

One wag wrote this doggerel:

I hate the guys
Who minimize and criticize
The other guys
Whose enterprise
Has made them rise
Above the guys who criticize.

The "unfavorable comparison" approach is equally cynical. The baritone does a commendable job on Sunday as an envious pew-sitter thinks, "Compared with Robert Hale, he's a dud." Or, "If you think my neighbor has a nice lawn, you ought to take a drive out to Palos Verdes. Those places will make the Franklin grass look like it has the mange!"

It's a curious fact that envy is a tension often found among professionals, the gifted and the highly competent. You know, doctors, singers, artists, lawyers, business men and women, authors, entertainers, , preachers, educators, athletes, politicians and all public figures. Strange, isn't it, that such capable folks find it nearly impossible to applaud others in their own field who excel a shade or two more than they? Envy's fangs may maybe hidden, but take care when the creature coils ... no matter how cultured and dignified it may appear.

(Dr. Charles Swindoll)

Gentletouch

[windward]

Dear GT -

Okay. I'll be "transparent" as some church folks say, and fess up. I have a problem with both!
In the space of about two years, two of my close friends and I went through divorces. They have the same job as I do. However, they didn't get taken to the cleaners by their ex-husbands like I did, and neither one of them has to pay spousal support or pay off huge attorney fees. Therefore, they are able to enjoy the full benefits of the money they make, whereas I do not. So, I guess I'm envious of them because they have and do some things that I cannot, and I am jealous because I want all of my salary, I don't want to give any of it to my ex husband, and I certainly don't enjoy having to pay off his attorney and mine.
I don't seem to find myself envious of other people who make more money or don't have to work, etc. But I do I fight often the urge to feel sorry for myself and the feeling of getting gypped - like, gee, Lord, I'm walking with you and I got slammed, and they aren't and they didn't.

And because the alimony award is until he gets remarried or one of us dies and the attorney bills are in the five figures, sometimes I feel like I got a "life sentence" while other people are free and bouncing along. So I will confess to both. Now, how do we fight these feelings, GT? My husband tells me that some day my ex (who claimes to be a Christian) will have to give an account of himself and how he has behaved before the Lord, but that doesn't make me feel better now. On an interesting side note, one of my friends is envious of me because I don't have to deal with sharing child custody with a consistently unpleasant ex-husband, so I guess it goes both ways!

[Gentletouch]

My dear sister Win, I was crying inside while reading your post. I could feel how you feel. I do know what you mean.

When My husband decided to marry the girl given to him by his wrong crowd friends so that the other woman could have all the proceeds from the company including his possession like house and car I was almost fighting the divorce process. I was not well grounded in the evangelical faith then. All I know is that it is wrong to have a divorce. I only know that I'm grounded in GOD's word and I love my husband to the uttermost. GOD arranged it that before he moved to USA to start a business, he did a homologation of property to protect me and my children. He gave me everything that we put together, house, car, furniture, appliances and money from joint account. He promised before our notary that he will personally pay all our debts.

The proceeds of the company he established in USA went to the woman. I have to share my children with her when my dh died of cancer as she pretended to my husband that she cares for our children but after my dear ex-hubby died she did not share anymore what my ex-dh left that she promised to look after my children's marriage. I paid for both marriages of my children. So Win, we might have different troubles in our marriages but after I have learned the binding and loosing prayer, I'm no longer bitter. I released them all to GOD and stand in my position as a good mother, as good Christian and striving to win souls for CHRIST during all the opportunities I get.

Yes, I'm jealous when my children spend time with her knowing she is not worthy of it except for her soul's needs of salvation and for the sake of peace for my children. I raised my children alone by myself and jealous of how much GOD would like us to treat others very well even if we suffer because them. You know what? I loosed my attention, envy, and resentment and jealousy towards this woman and the time my children spent together with them, in JESUS name from me so that my tormenting thoughts will not continuously follow me. Win, I started to understand why GOD admonished us not to love this world nor anything in this world. All experiences in our spiritual journey are very tough and hard to endure but with GOD's help we will make it. May the LORD guide you to find blessings to pay for yours and his lawyers. It's awful that there are men whose hearts are very hard, thick and calloused but my dear sister Win, hang in there and keep crying to GOD for all your needs what ever it is. We will survive my dear sister! You know, this is the reason why I'm praying for revival so that GOD will come soon to give us all permanent release from the sufferings we are going through here on earth these days. How I wish all of us can come together and have a party of celebration. I know that the start of it we will all be crying for what we have gone through, the support and love we get from each other and I know the Holy Trinity will be there with us to comfort us. May there be a rich person who will help us materialize our dreams and pay for our fare and the whole thing of the Reunion. Maybe we must write Dr. Phil and share to him our dream and desire to make it happen .... "the CWT Board Discussion Reunion." Wow, that would be amazing.

((((((((((HUG to you Win.))))))))))))) I love you in the LORD and I just pray for GOD's grace, lots of it to help you carry on.


Psalm 37:1 (NIV))
 1 Do not fret because of evildoers,
         Nor be envious of those who do wrong.

Psalm 73:3 (NIV)

 3. For I was envious of the arrogant         
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 
         


Proverbs 24:1, 19-20 (NKJV)

Proverbs 24: 1 (NKJV)
 1 Do not be envious of evil men,
 Nor desire to be with them;

Proverbs 24:19-20 (NKJV)
19 Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the wicked; 
      
20 For there will be no prospect for the evil man;
      
The lamp of the wicked will be put out.

Gentletouch

[Gentletouch]

Last part of the 'Article' of Dr. Swindoll:

" Envy in Scripture? Look at the facts.It sold Joseph into slavery, drove David into exile, threw Daniel in the den, and put CHRIST into trial. (If you question that, better check Matthew 27:18). Paul tells us that its one of the prevailing traits of depravity (Romans 1:29), and a team member that plays in the same backfield with profanity, suspicion, and conceit (1 Timothy 6:4).

The answer? Contentment. Feeling comfortable and secure with where you are and who you are. Not having to "be better" or "go further" or "own more" or "prove to the world" or "reach the top" or ......

Having some big struggles with envy? Eating your heart out because somebody's a step or two ahead of you in the race and gaining momentum? Relax!. You are - you -- not them! And you are responsible to do the best you can with what you've got for as long as you're able.

Remember the race isn't over. And even when it is, a lot of things you got hot and bothered during your lifetime won't even show up during your lifetime in eternity. I don't care how many trophies or award or dollars or degrees maybe earned or won on earth, you can't take them with you. So it isn't worth the sweat. Death always cures "the green sickness."

Notice:
Think about the ingredients for contentment implied in the famous Hebrew blessings in Numbers 6: 24-26.

How do you turn this blessing as a prayer for yourself? "

Gentletouch

[Gentletouch]

God's Jealousy

Exodus 34:14 (also Ex 20:5 Dt 4:24)
Do not worship any other god, for the Lord , whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Merriam-Webster gives the following definition of jealousy:
1 a: intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness b: disposed to suspect rivalry or unfaithfulness
2: hostile toward a rival or one believed to enjoy an advantage
3: vigilant in guarding a possession [new colonies were jealous of their new independence -- Scott Buchanan]
We usually think of jealousy in terms of meanings 1b and 2, such as an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend becoming enraged when the person they love starts dating other people, or a husband or wife being unduly suspicious of their spouse and making unreasonable accusations or demands. I would say that meanings 1a and 3 apply to God's jealousy: he is intolerant of our being unfaithful to him (in the sense of our worshiping something or someone besides him), and he is vigilant in guarding our virtue, for it ultimately harms us to worship false gods and not have the benefits of God's love and blessings (see the article on worship).
One may even say that God has a "righteous jealousy," just as he has a righteous anger towards evil. A husband or wife has a right to feel jealous if their spouse cheats on them with someone else; parents who have raised their children well have a right to feel jealous if their children thank a stranger for their upbringing. Similarly, God can have a righteous jealousy when people give to other people or gods the reverence and worship that should be given to Him, or offer gratitude to false gods or other people or things for what God has given them.

Other responses (offsite)
• Glenn Miller on the jealousy and wrath of God
• Article from RBC Ministries on the jealousy of God in the Old Testament
Related articles
• Is God conceited for requiring worship?
• How can God require us to love him

(Google search)


Gentletouch

[Gentletouch]

October 28, 1984 (Morning)
Bethlehem Baptist Church
John Piper, Pastor
 
THE LORD WHOSE NAME IS JEALOUS
(Exodus 34:10-16)
 
And he said, "Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been wrought in all the earth or in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord; for it is a terrible thing that I will do with you.
"Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither you go, lest it become a snare in the midst of you. You shall tear down their altars, and break their pillars, and cut down their Asherim (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they play the harlot after their gods and make your sons play the harlot after their gods."

You recall that this is the second time Moses had ascended to Mt. Sinai to receive the ten commandments from God. Back in chapter 32 he had shattered the first stone tablets when he saw the people worshipping the golden calf (32:19). Now after pleading for mercy, that God would spare the people of Israeli, Moses approaches God again and prays (in Ex. 34:9) that God would take them to be his inheritance.
God responds in 34:10, "Behold I make a covenant." A covenant is God's solemn promise that he will give the covenant people certain benefits if they will keep the covenant. Keeping the covenant means obeying the terms of the covenant. So a covenant involves three things:
1. promises, which God will perform if the people keep the covenant;

2. commandments or terms, which the people must keep in order to receive the promises;

3. warnings, of what will happen if the covenant is broken.

When God says in 34:10, "Behold I make a covenant" he means that he is willing to go back and start over with the ten commandments which were the terms or commandments of his covenant with Israel. Look at 34:27-28, "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Write these words. In accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.' And he was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments." So the ten commandments are the terms of the covenant referred to in 34:10 when God says, "Behold, I make a covenant."

If the ten commandments sum up the terms of the covenant that Israel must obey, what are the promises of the covenant? What does God promise to do for his covenant people? The most important answer to this question comes from looking at what God has just said before verse 10. In verse 1 he told Moses to cut two tables of stone like the ones he broke and to come up on Mt. Sinai to hear the words of the covenant. Then in verses 6-7 God comes down, but before he gives any commandments he reveals what it is about himself that prompts him to make this covenant -- "The Lord, the Lord a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin but who will by no means clear the guilty …"

In other words, before he declares the terms of the covenant he wants to make perfectly clear that it is a covenant based on mercy and love and forgiveness. So the very first promise of God's covenant is to mercifully forgive repentant sinners. Verse 7: "forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." You recall from our sermon on this verse that the difference between the guilty whose sins God does clear and the guilty whose sin he does not is the difference between the repentant and the unrepentant. Those who are broken and humbled by their sin and return for mercy are forgiven. Those who are not broken but go on presumptuously will not be forgiven. So the covenant here is based on the merciful willingness of God to forgive repentant sinners.

We will never understand the unity of the Bible until we understand that the great covenant made with Israel at Mount Sinai was not a covenant of works. Here's what I mean. There are many Bible teachers today who say that this covenant (Mosaic) pictures God as an employer, the covenant people as employees, the ten commandments as the job description, and the covenant blessings as the wages paid to those who earn them by obedience. In other words, they say, this is not a covenant based on God's mercy but on Israel's merit. The blessings promised are not freely given, they are earned.

The covenant made with Abraham, they say, and the new covenant sealed by the blood of Jesus are based on grace and the blessings promised in those covenants are given freely to faith. But the covenant made on Mt. Sinai is not based on grace, and its blessings were not to be received by faith. It is a covenant of works because God only pays its blessings to people who perform duties valuable enough to earn or merit God's blessing.

Generation after generation of Bible believers have been trained to believe this view by the footnotes of the Scofield Reference Bible and now the Ryrie Study Bible. But I appeal to you to be your own careful, humble reader of the Scripture. Will this view stand up in Exodus 34? When God says in verse 10, "Behold, I make a covenant!" right after declaring himself to be a God who is merciful and who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin, can we really believe that this covenant is not based on mercy? Can we really believe that the covenant has no merciful provision for forgiveness in it? And if it is based on mercy and does provide forgiveness, how can it be a covenant of works? If a person sins under this covenant and flees to God for mercy and finds forgiveness how can we say the covenant is based on merit? Is it merit we offer to God when we plead his mercy and ask for forgiveness?

But perhaps someone will say, "Even employers forgive their employees little mistakes, but then only keep paying them if they don't make too many blunders; they have to keep doing work valuable enough to earn their wages. In other words, maybe this is a covenant of works based on merit even though God shows some mercy and forgives some sins."

But there are two problems with that. 1) One is that these so called employees haven't just committed little mistakes. They blasphemed the "boss" with the golden cow and deserve to be damned for the outrage of their sin. The main point of Exodus 32-34 is to show that if merit were basis of God's dealings with this people they would have been destroyed long ago. The covenant of Exodus 34 is not the rehiring of a secretary who broke the boss's pencil. It is reunion with a wife who committed open adultery.

There's another reason why we shouldn't think of this covenant as based on merit and works with a little forgiveness and mercy tossed in. The reason is that the basic requirement of the covenant is worship not work. But you can't worship an employer whose needs you are meeting in order to earn his wages. The only kind of being you can truly worship is one whose fullness meets your needs. If God wanted to be pictured in this covenant as an employer who pays wages of blessing to employees who supply him service valuable enough to earn these wages, then he would not have written a so-called job description requiring worship above all else. You can't worship an employer who depends on you to meet his needs. So the very content of the ten commandments contradicts the idea that this covenant is based on Israel's meritorious service. It is based on God's mercy and it demands worship.

Let's try to see the textual basis for this in Exodus 34:10-16. In verse 10 after declaring, "Behold, I make a covenant!" God promises to do marvels for all the nations to see -- and to do them with Israel. In other words, God promises to show his terrible might before the nations on behalf of Israel. That's his covenant commitment.

Now what does God command as a response to this promise? Verses 11-13: "Observe (take note for yourself) what I command you this day. Behold I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither you go, lest it become a snare in the midst of you. You shall tear down their altars, and break their pillars, and cut down their Asherim." All this is an application of the first commandment; "You shall have no other gods before me."

The reason for tearing down pagan altars is to guard their hearts for Yahweh alone. The reason for not making covenants with pagan peoples is to escape the snare of divided loyalties. The commands of the covenant don't describe the services God needs as an employer. They describe the faithfulness he wants from his wife. It's as though he said, 'Don't make dates with other men; don't keep the pictures of your old boyfriends on the dresser, lest they become a snare for you and draw your heart away from me."

Verse 14 makes plain what the covenant demands from Israel and what image we should have in our mind. "For you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." The demand of the covenant is for single-minded worship of God alone. And the image created in our mind by the word "jealous" is the picture of a lover or a husband who gets angry when someone else competes for the heart of his wife or when her heart goes away after other lovers.

This picture is confirmed by verses 15 and 16 which warn Israel against playing the harlot with other gods. The demand of the covenant is: don't be a harlot. Don't commit adultery against God. Don't let your heart turn from him and go after other things. For your God, your husband, whose name is Jealous is a jealous God.

These are two reasons I have stressed that the covenant of Exodus 34 is not a covenant of works but is based on mercy. One is to help us appreciate and benefit from the unity of the Bible. The covenant made with God's people at Mt. Sinai is the same kind of covenant made with Abraham and made with us in the death of Christ. It is based on mercy, it provides forgiveness, it has divine promises and warnings and commandments, and its basic requirement is single-minded devotion to God alone.

The difference between the covenant with Moses and the New Covenant sealed by the death of Christ is not that one offers salvation on the basis of merit to be earned through works while the other offers salvation on the basis of mercy to be received as a gift through faith. That is not the difference. Both teach us to worship God alone as God. And you cannot worship God as a sovereign, all-sufficient, merciful God without trusting him. Therefore, both covenants -- all God's covenants -- are covenants of grace which we keep by faith.

You don't need to skip over large portions of the Bible saying, "Oh that's Jewish," or, "that's legalistic." All of it reveals the blessings that come from the grace of God to be enjoyed by the obedience that comes from faith in God. It is true that the form of that obedience may change from one period of redemptive history to another (for example: we don't make animal sacrifices since Christ has given himself for us; and we don't establish cities of refuge since the people of God is no longer a single ethnic, political group). But nevertheless the necessity of obedience for covenant keeping, the origin of obedience in the power of the Holy Spirit, the appropriation of that power through faith, the goal of obedience in the glory of God -- all these are the same in all God's covenants throughout the Bible.

I want us to be a people who love and understand the Scriptures. I want us to see its unified picture of God and experience its power. If, as we believe, this is the inspired Word of God, everyone of us should devote time and energy to search it and ponder it and study it and memorize it and pray over it and be changed by it -- all of it including the covenant of Moses.

But there is another reason why I have stressed that the covenant of Exodus 34 is not a covenant of works but is based on mercy. I wanted to make sure that we saw the jealousy of God in its true context.

God is not jealous like an insecure employer who fears that his employees might get lured away by a better salary elsewhere. God's jealousy is not the reflex of weakness or fear.

Instead God is jealous like a powerful and merciful king who takes a peasant girl from a life of shame, forgives her, marries her and gives her not the chores of a slave, but the privileges of a wife -- a queen. His jealousy does not rise from fear or weakness but from a holy indignation at having his honor and power and mercy scorned by the faithlessness of a fickle spouse.

The ten commandments are not a job description for God's employees. They are the wedding vows that the peasant girl takes to forsake all others and to cleave to the king alone and to live in a way that brings no dishonor to his great name.

God is infinitely jealous for the honor of his name, and responds with terrible wrath against those whose hearts should belong to him but go after other things. For example, in Ezekiel 16:38-40 he says to faithless Israel, "I will judge you as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. And I will give you into the hand of your lovers and they shall throw down your vaulted chamber … they shall strip you of your clothes and take your fair jewels, and leave you naked and bare. They shall bring up a host against you and cut you to pieces with swords."
I urge you to listen to this warning. The jealousy of God for your undivided love and devotion will always have the last say. Whatever lures your affections away from God with deceptive attraction, will come back to strip you bare and cut you in pieces. It is a horrifying thing to use your God-given life to commit adultery against the Almighty.

But for those of you who have been truly united to Christ and who keep your vows to forsake all others and cleave only to him and live for his honor -- for you the jealousy of God is a great comfort and a great hope. Since God is infinitely jealous for the honor of his name, anything and any body who threatens the good of his faithful wife will be opposed with divine omnipotence.

God's jealousy is a great threat to those who play the harlot and sell their heart to the world and make a cuckold out of God. But his jealousy is a great comfort to those who keep their covenant vows and become strangers and exiles in the world.

(From John Piper: Our mission is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples, through Jesus Christ. Feel free to copy and share this message by following our lead in not selling it but by providing it freely to others. We ask that you share it in its entirety as is. For more information about our ministry visit our web pages at Desiring God Ministries or email us at DGM.)

Gentletouch

[Gentletouch]

I have another question quoted from Dr. Charles Swindoll's writing. This is what he said:

"GOD did not give us HIS word to satisfy our curiosity; He gave it to change our lives. Can you name a couple of specific changes GOD has implemented in your life during the past six or eight months? Has HE been allowed, for example, to change your attitude toward someone ... or an area of stubbornness ... or or a deep-seated habit that has hurt your home and hindered your relationship with others for a long, long time .... or a pattern of discourtesy in your driving .... or a profane tongue ... or cheating ... or laziness?"

Wow, I know you ladies have so much to share on this one. Your great testimony is all over the Discussion Board. We would like to hear it once more. You might like to cut them where you posted it and paste them in here then I will slowly post the further comments of Chuck on the title called "CHANGE."

Gentletouch

[Gentletouch]

Ok, I will pursue the present question at the start of the article on "Change" by Dr. Chuck Swindoll. Here it is:
THE TAILOR'S NAME IS CHANGE
When you boil down life to nubbies, the name of the game is change. Those who flex with the times refuse to be rigid, resist the mold, and reject the rut - ah, those are the souls distinctively used by GOD. To them, change is a challenge, a fresh breeze that flows through the room of routine and blows away the stale air of sameness.

Stimulating and invigorating as change maybe -- it is never easy. Changes are especially tough when it comes to certain habits that haunt and harm us. That kind of change is excruciating -- but it isn't impossible."

Any comment / s ?

Gentletouch

[Gentletouch]

Continuing on Dr. Chuck Swindoll's article:

Jeremiah pointed out the difficulty of breaking into an established life pattern when he quipped:
Can the Ethiopian change his skin
or the leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good who are accustomed
to doing evil (Jeremiah 13:23 NIV)

Notice the last few words, "accustomed to doing evil." The Hebrew say's literally, "learned in evil." Now, that's quite an admission! We who are "learned in evil" cannot do good; evil habits that remain unchanged prohibit it. Evil is a habit that is learned; it is contracted and cultivated by long hours of practice. In another place, Jeremiah confirms this fact:
I waned you when you felt secure,
but you said, "I will not listen!"
This has been your way from your youth;
You have not obeyed me (22: 21 NIV)

All of us have practiced certain areas of wrong from our youth. It is a pattern of life that comes "second nature" to us. We gloss over our resistance, however, with the varnish of excuse:
"Well, nobody's perfect."
"I'll never be any different; that's just the way I am."
"I was born this way - nothing can be done about it."
"You can't teach an old dog new tricks."

What do you think? Can we break the pattern of life we have learned from youth? If so, how? Is this like being in Jail?

Gentletouch

[Gentletouch]

Continuing on Dr. Swindoll's article:

Jeremiah tells us why such excuses come so easily. We have become "learned in evil." .... it has been our way from our youth. In one sense, we have learned to act and react in sinful, unbiblical ways with ease and (dare we admit it?) with a measure of pleasure? Admittedly, there are many times we do it unconsciously; and on occasions, the depth of our habit is more revealing.

It is vital - it is essential - that we see ourselves as we really are in the light of GOD's written word. .... then ready to change where change is needed. I warn you, the number one enemy of change is the hard- core, self- satisfied sin nature within you. Like a spoiled child, it has been gratified and indulged for years, so it will not give up without a violent temper tantrum. Change is its greatest threat, and a confrontation between the two is inevitable. Change must be allowed to face and and conquer the intimidations of inward habit - and I repeat the warning that a nose - to nose meeting will not be an easy one.

The flesh dies a slow, bitter, bloody death - kicking and struggling all the way down. "Putting off" the clothes of the old man (the old, habitual lifestyle). The tailor's name is CHANGE, and he is a master of fitting your frame. But the process will be painful ... and costly!

Wow, is there hope for the old, habitual lifestyle to be changed? What's your experience in changing that habit you just learned is the opposite of what GOD would like us to be?

Gentletouch

[Gentletouch]

Continuing on Dr. Swindoll's article:

Jeremiah tells us why such excuses come so easily. We have become "learned in evil." .... it has been our way from our youth. In one sense, we have learned to act and react in sinful, unbiblical ways with ease and (dare we admit it?) with a measure of pleasure? Admittedly, there are many times we do it unconsciously; and on occasions, the depth of our habit is more revealing.

It is vital - it is essential - that we see ourselves as we really are in the light of GOD's written word. .... then ready to change where change is needed. I warn you, the number one enemy of change is the hard- core, self- satisfied sin nature within you. Like a spoiled child, it has been gratified and indulged for years, so it will not give up without a violent temper tantrum. Change is its greatest threat, and a confrontation between the two is inevitable. Change must be allowed to face and and conquer the intimidations of inward habit - and I repeat the warning that a nose - to nose meeting will not be an easy one.

The flesh dies a slow, bitter, bloody death - kicking and struggling all the way down. "Putting off" the clothes of the old man (the old, habitual lifestyle). The tailor's name is CHANGE, and he is a master of fitting your frame. But the process will be painful ... and costly!

Gt: ----
The second paragraph I agreed picture our sinful nature but GOD gave us a remedy we can use against it. Do you agree? what do we have in GOD's word, in GOD's kingdom that would take us out of the situation?

Gentletouch

[Gentletouch]

Let me post the rest of Dr. Swindoll's article then let us get the digest of it and talk on some questions we have asked.

Change - real change - takes place slowly. In first gear, not overdrive. Far too many Christians get discouraged and give up. Like ice skating or mastering a musical instrument or learning to water ski, certain techniques has to be discovered and developed in the daily discipline of living. Breaking habit patterns you established during the passing of years cannot occur in few brief days. Remember that. "Instant" change is as rare as phony.

GOD did not give us HIS word to satisfy our curiosity; He gave it to change our lives. can you name a couple of specific changes GOD has implemented in your life during the past six or eight months? Has HE been allowed, for example, to change your attitude toward someone ... or an area of stubbornness ... or or a deep-seated habit that has hurt your home and hindered your relationship with others for a long, long time .... or a pattern of discourtesy in your driving .... or a profane tongue ... or cheating ... or laziness?

Perhaps better question would be, "Exactly what changes do you have on your personal drawing board?" or --- "What are you asking the LORD to alter and adjust in your life that needs immediate attention?"

The tailor's name is the HOLY SPIRIT. You can count on HIM to dispose of your old threadbare wardrobe as quickly as HE outfits you with the new. BTW, HE's also on call twenty-four hours a day when you have the urge to slip to the old duds "just one more time." If you ask HIM, HE'll help you remember what you look like on the day you first walked into HIS shop. HE has a mirror with memories --- the Bible. 'Nuff said.

(DR. Charles Swindoll)

Gentletouch

[Gentletouch]

Jeremiah pointed out the difficulty of breaking into an established life pattern when he quipped:
Can the Ethiopian change his skin
or the leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good who are accustomed
to doing evil (Jeremiah 13:23 NIV

Perhaps better question would be, "Exactly what changes do you have on your personal drawing board?" or --- "What are you asking the LORD to alter and adjust in your life that needs immediate attention?"
(Chuck Swindoll)

In this situation our condition seemed hopeless, isn't it?
No, not after I have learned to use the lesson of bonding and loosing prayer. You see Matthew 16:19; 18:18

Matthew 16:19 (New King James Version)
19. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed[a] in heaven.”

Matthew 18:18 (New King James Version)
18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

GOD did not give us assurance about the keys to the kingdom once but twice. Saying it repeatedly means HE strongly emphasize this truth. Anything that is repeated makes the surety of the situation and Jeremiah 1:12 says:

Jeremiah 1:12 (New International Version)
12. The LORD said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching [a] to see that my word is fulfilled."

With this in mind I can use what GOD told me is the keys to HIS kingdom to see everything fulfilled according to HIS will. If I know GOD and I walk close with HIM I know what pleases HIM and what HE hates most of the time if not all the time. Notice that GOD is talking about keys not just a key. I believe it can unlock so many doors of power we must discover and explore with prayers for GOD's providencial blessings HE is ready to give us.

So this is how I would pray. If my weaknesses that I learned was lying, gossiping, easily angered, a worrier, suspicion, fear, low self-esteem, pride, worldliness, lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, pride of life, laziness (whether spiritually or physically), stubborness, refusal to study that end up to lack of wisdom and lack of knowledge, .. .... you can loose it from yourself, even generational bandages (Inherited weaknesses), any addiction, bad habits, unforgiveness and bind our mind to the mind of CHRIST, to the path of CHRIST and so forth.

(Notice that I start my loosing prayer with I loose the ORIGIN, THE CAUSE, THE REASON, THE DESIRE of my physical and spiritual laziness .... the reason here is that if we only loose our weaknesses or personal problems and we let the origin, cause, the reason which might be memories of the past, or reason why things happens, where did it start, why? what is the beginning of our weaknesses, it will keep coming back if we do not loose it also from us because the whole thing of the problem like roots, bodies and fruits are not completely demolished or destroyed and loosed then our deliverance from it will take a longer time. Check this verses out and pray that the HS will reveal to you the whole meaning of it.

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (New King James Version)
3. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the WEAPONS of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
5. casting down arguments and EVERY HIGH THING that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing EVERY thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
6. and being ready to punish all disobedience WHEN your obedience is fulfilled.

The HS might will reveal to you far greater truths revealed to me for HE speaks to everyone in a powerful ways so I pray that we would gather the truths HE has for everyone of us from the above verses.)

I would pray, "FATHER, I loose, I cut, I sever from me the old and wrong, and ungodly pattern of thinking. I loose from me wrong attitudes, wrong habits, wrong behavior, wrong beliefs, evil imaginations, wrong motivation.....

I loose from me the cause the reason the desire not to forgive, to distrust, my self-denial, my self- preservation, my self-exaltation. I loose from me the origin, the cause, the reason, the desire to gossip and hurt (name) badly w/ it. ...
I loose from the the origin, the cause, the reason, the desire to remedy the situation by being angry instead of YOU LORD, doing the solution for it. ...... I loose from me the cause the reason of my worrying, being fearful, and low-self esteem instead of giving everything to you.
I loose from me the cause the reason the desire to lust by sight, w/ my flesh/ and lusting for recognition and high position in this world.
I loose from me the origin, the cause, the reason, the desire to drink alcohol and take harmful substances. ......
I loose, I cut, I sever, the origin, the cause the reason, the desire to continue in my my habits of flirting to opposite sex by words or deeds, laziness. being contented to listen to not sure information without testing the spirit by going deeper into the truth.

Actually, we can loose just about any bad things from us that we do not want, any pattern of thinking, bad habits we grew up with, bad attitudes we learned from our environment, bad life-style we mistakenly chose or we were mistakenly deceived in, we can loose from us any training we innocently accepted us truth with the power of the HS... remember that the word of GOD that says, " ..... If GOD is with us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) and 1 John 4:4 says "Greater is HE that is inside us than he that is in the world."

GOD word is very powerful if we take it as truth in our lives. It would be merely as word of doctrine if we take it as just some words to read to calm our spirit of anxiousness or just satisfied us with little comfort it momentarily bring us.

It can give us abundant life if we continually and daily practice it.

Gentletouch

[Gentletouch]

The post reply page just took my reply I'm working on just took it away and dump it somewhere. I guess it didn't like what will help us overcome our present problem for good or handle it powerfully when it comes.

The last post might be a great help for us to completely handle our obstinate problems or problems of our partners, check it out.

I will see you in two weeks if I'm too busy to come in during my vacation.

GOD bless you and your families my dear sisters. I love you lots in the LORD.

Will be praying.

Gentletouch