JD Abshire

All Christains go through periods of testing, trials and tribulation. By my own personal experience it seems the greatest tests come after a period when I "feel" like I am really spiritual, got the devil by the tail so to speak.

I have learned or more accurately, am learning to really be on guard after a spiritual victory because it seems as though the hounds of hell are not far behind. Yes, I can be what is considered a spiritual Christain one minute and totally blow it the next. 

"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." (1Corinthians 10:12) In the preceeding verses of chapter 10 Paul uses the Isrelites as a warning example to the Corinthian believers (and us).

In my own life I will go through these spiritual dry periods feeling the Lord is a million miles away and cannot be found. More times than not I have grieved the Holy Spirit as a result of unconfessed sin or getting side tracked and pursuing personal interests while neglecting to fellowship with the Lord through reading his Word and prayer. 

" So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)
" But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6).

As a believer I would recomend humbly, prayerfully asking the Lord to reveal unconfessed sin in my life. Ask Him what's wrong then if appropiate, confess. (1John 1:9).

December 02 2015 • 2 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

The first thing that I would note about those verses from Psalm 51 is whose side the initiative is on.

All the requests that David made (create in me a clean heart; renew a right spirit within me; cast me not away from Thy presence; take not Thy Holy Spirit from me; restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; uphold me with Thy free Spirit) were not "self-help" measures that David was planning to perform in his own strength and ability. They were actions that David was asking God to perform, because he knew that what he was seeking was something that only God could provide, and that he needed God's help because of his consciousness of his own sinfulness after having been confronted by the prophet Nathan regarding his adultery with Bathsheba, and ordering the death of her husband. Therefore, resolve any known issues of unconfessed sin in your own life, and pray for God's help as David did.

Then, look to God's word, the Bible, and particularly the Gospels, for assurances of the joy that God wants His redeemed and forgiven children to have and makes possible for them, as well as the reasons for that joy -- first and foremost because of the fact that God's Son (who said, "I came that they [i.e., those who follow Jesus] might have life and have it abundantly," (John 10:10) and, "Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)) gave His own life so that you, personally (as if you were the only individual who had ever lived), could spend eternity with Him.

Also, reflect on the ways that God has manifested his love and care for you by the experiences of your life (even if they may have seemed to be difficulties or hardships at the time). It was this type of reflection that enabled Paul, despite the troubles he experienced in life (as he cataloged them in 2 Corinthians 11), to say, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one....In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." (Romans 8:31-34, 37). 

Then, fully meditate on the fact that you are going to live FOREVER with God. I think that even we as Christians can read about that so often, and, at the same time, be so preoccupied with the cares and concerns of this life and world, that we tend to lose sight of how indescribably thrilling and continuously satisfying that experience will be (beyond any fulfillment or happiness that we can now even imagine), of which we will never become jaded or weary, and which will never end.

Finally, focus on others in this life -- loving them, serving their needs, and sharing with them the salvation, assurance, and peace that Christ has given you. As you move away from yourself and your own concerns, and bring the love of Christ to others through your words and actions, you will find a joy that few other experiences in life can offer.

December 02 2015 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report