THE INNER ROOM - "Learn and Grow - to Maturity". Please read the 1st Post.
- Thread starter Bondman
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Asking for prayers for Brett - he has been sick the last week and I just found out today (my poor hubby) and it makes me sad that I can't be there to help him - even if it were just to give him a hug.
So hard for you both! Yes, we do need hugs, don't we - very important!
Always praying for both you and Brett.
Blessings, hon!
- BM and his Mrs
PRACTICAL NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY
MESSAGE #12
PERSONAL WHOLENESS
WE ALL NEED TO BE WHOLE!
This message is about true PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY that The Inner Room is all about. In fact this need to be whole is a desperate need for all peoples! Only by moving and growing towards wholeness can we begin to live life as we wish it - AS WELL AS having our relationships starting to work well. GOD WANTS NOTHING LESS FOR YOU THAN TOTAL AND COMPLETE PERSONAL WHOLENESS!!! I've long said that relationships ARE the most difficult thing on the planet! - so it's NOT going to be easy for us to get them working effectively. The more wholeness we have within ourselves the better they WILL!
Each of us has taken an IMPORTANT STEP toward wholeness in taking Jesus as both our LORD and SAVIOUR. And you could be forgiven for thinking that ought to enough, right? Perhaps for some it is - but for most of us it's not. The thing is that we all need a VERTICAL relationship as well as HORIZONTAL relationships working in our lives, i.e., our relationships with others as well as with God.
If either of these two relationships are not working well, our life will not be anywhere near what we want, nor anywhere near what the Lord wants! So we need to ADD to being a Christian Believer the ability to get on well with others. But here we immediately come up against what can be a MAJOR problem for many of us. It all revolves around LOVE. To be more specific: LOVING OURSELVES!
QUESTIONS
.. Can I truly love God if I don't love myself?
.. Can loving God HELP me to love myself?
.. Or do I need to love myself first, before I can start to love love Him?
There's no clear answer to these - they often seems to be 'mixed in together', and I suspect it's different for each Believer anyway. I also believe that for many of us, learning to love God and love myself do kind of 'go together', i.e., one builds the other, which builds the first, and so on. BUT DOES WHAT THE ORDER IS REALLY MATTER? I'm not sure that it does all that much. WHAT DOES MATTER IS THAT WE GET THESE THREE CRUCIAL THINGS WORKING:
.. Loving/accepting myself
.. Loving God
.. Loving others.
What is pretty clear is that there's an incredibly major need for us all to learn to love and accept ourselves. I'm convinced that this world is chock full of people with low (or no) self-esteem or low self-worth (as I suffered from for MOST of my adult life!) I believe that even many of those extroverts who look like they're totally in control are either covering up their low self-esteem by their extroversion OR they used this to help build their self-esteem - but may still be at least partly covering up anyway!
So LOVING MYSELF... LOVING GOD... LOVING OTHERS - it can be mighty hard for most of us to get these working. When they're not, our life will NOT be doing well. Conversely, when we DO them them working, it's can be almost like 'magic' the change that comes into our lives!
HELP IS AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW!
I've only met one CHRISTIAN GENIUS in my life. I was in hospital in Sydney under Professor Steinbeck a number of years ago. His understanding of the Scriptures fair blew my brain! Sadly I only managed to have one short discussion with him - but it changed the course of my whole life!! He could see my low self-esteem at that time - who couldn't! Afraid of my own shadow I was... His giant brain easily figured what it was I needed. He recommended 3 books for me to read. I'm passing on the recommendation of the 2 short paperbacks that changed me forever, i.e, they are the good Prof's strong recommendation - AND mine as well! They are SO easy to read. Very clear and easy to UNDERSTAND. With illustrations to help you get the point!
The first one is Why Am I Afraid to Love?, which has sold over 15 million copies and you can purchase used ones for almost nothing from Amazon here:
Amazon.com: Why Am I Afraid to Love?: Overcoming Rejection and Indifference: Books: John Powell. On the left at Amazon is the book cover: click it to see 'inside' the book. Click the arrows on the right of the pages to go to the next page. Towards the bottom you'll see the book most other people purchase at the same time: Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am? Which is exactly the Professor's and my recommendation also!! Click on the link to go and check out this 2nd book also.
THESE TWO BOOKS ARE SO GOOD THAT THEY NEED TO BE ON EVERYONE'S BOOKSHELF!!!
Please don't be put off by the titles: they are the very things the author will HELP you to fix!! There's no need for fear or concern. And if it should be that you don't really need them, then read (so you can PERSONALLY recommend them), then give them away to someone who does!!
With love peace and joy to all!
-BM and his Lady
QUESTIONS ALWAYS WELCOME!
The bad news 
I woke up sick I have one of those headaches that puts pressure behinds your eyes and that hurts. I overslept and woke up depressed thinking I had missed class.
I got up and I signed into yahoo cause I had been disconnected and yahoo it my connection to my hubby and I had a message from my friend (and fellow army wife) Holly that we were supposed to get snowed in at Staci's house cause she had all the food.....
wait snowed in? I ran to the window and what did my delighted eyes see? Snow on the ground and no school for me.
I woke up sick I have one of those headaches that puts pressure behinds your eyes and that hurts. I overslept and woke up depressed thinking I had missed class.I got up and I signed into yahoo cause I had been disconnected and yahoo it my connection to my hubby and I had a message from my friend (and fellow army wife) Holly that we were supposed to get snowed in at Staci's house cause she had all the food.....
wait snowed in? I ran to the window and what did my delighted eyes see? Snow on the ground and no school for me.
Haha, that's all kinda funny! 
- especially to an Aussie like me who's gone South (yes, South!) to see the snow just once in my life. There was plenty on the ground and it was very cold, but we saw just a few snow-flakes falling - and that's my sole experience...
I dunno if I should mention that it's hot and humid here. The temperature in the kitchen when I got up was 32 degrees C, 90 degrees F. With the high humidity, it was HOT!
- especially to an Aussie like me who's gone South (yes, South!) to see the snow just once in my life. There was plenty on the ground and it was very cold, but we saw just a few snow-flakes falling - and that's my sole experience...I dunno if I should mention that it's hot and humid here. The temperature in the kitchen when I got up was 32 degrees C, 90 degrees F. With the high humidity, it was HOT!
Haha, that's all kinda funny!
I dunno if I should mention that it's hot and humid here. The temperature in the kitchen when I got up was 32 degrees C, 90 degrees F. With the high humidity, it was HOT!
We rarely get snow - where I live in the south lol if we get a dusting of snow the chances of school being closed are very good. So when we get a couple of inches of snow (and in this case ice) school will be closed.
Now the 90 degrees is a cool day during the summer here we are better at dealing with the hot and humid than that cold and icy
I really dunno just where Tennessee is, but obviously you have extremes of climate to get snow in winter, and for 90 degrees in summer to be a cool day.
In far North Queensland into the Tropics I've experienced 112 or 113 degrees, 45 celcius. But fortunately it was a dry heat where I was teaching at that time, and so it was nowhere near as bad as 90 WITH high humidity here in Brisbane! That humidity is the killer.
In far North Queensland into the Tropics I've experienced 112 or 113 degrees, 45 celcius. But fortunately it was a dry heat where I was teaching at that time, and so it was nowhere near as bad as 90 WITH high humidity here in Brisbane! That humidity is the killer.
We get four seasons a year. We have been known to top over a 100 with humidity in the summer - TN's summers aren't for the weak
. I went to Arizona with Brett one summer where they have a dry heat and I really suffered out there lol I do better with the opressive humidty because I was born and raised here and have adapted to it.Where I live the high this past summer was 112 PLUS humidity - miserable indeed
but like I said I grew up with it and we would go play out in tempetures like that 
good timesAmanda, okay ya got me, girl! I've now decided against emigrating to Tennessee *broad grin*, and will happily stay where we are in good ole Oz!
Fluffy, the dry heat I love, but that cold would probably do us both in - and that would be that!!
Rebekah, hi sweets! Maybe let the warmth of His love FILL you inside - to push out all that cold (do you like that thought? *smile*)
Fluffy, the dry heat I love, but that cold would probably do us both in - and that would be that!!
Rebekah, hi sweets! Maybe let the warmth of His love FILL you inside - to push out all that cold (do you like that thought? *smile*)
I love Tennessee
I am looking forward to starting my life with Brett wherever we go but I am DREADING living my home. I've lived here for 21 years....I'm excited about leaving but terrified just the same
I am looking forward to starting my life with Brett wherever we go but I am DREADING living my home. I've lived here for 21 years....I'm excited about leaving but terrified just the same
I can understand that. 21 years is a long time - but you'll do fine!
I lived on our sugar-cane farm for my first 18 years, and couldn't wait to leave and come to Brisbane. It's funny that I've ended up back down here after being as far North as the top of Queensland.
I am extremely passionate about my country and particularly my State of Queensland. You Americans feel that you have the But I will NOT mention that I could show you things where ours is better - nope, not gonna mention that at all. No, no, don't even try to get me to mention it cos I WILL NOT MENTION IT, okay? Okay!!) *hehehe*
We both love our bush, the unique plants, trees and flowers, our unique birds and marsupials, the wide open spaces, the eucalyptus smell of the bush, our laid-back lifestyle, and the easy-going attitude of Aussies. Yep, I would hate to ever leave and don't intend to (we very nearly lost Australia to the Japanese near the end of the war, and American servicemen and women helped us to prevent that).
Enough of these emotional reminiscences. Bless you, sweetie!
- BM and Mrs
YAY! I'm an Angel
YAY! I'm an Angel
Whoo, hoo!! Well done, girl!!! (does this mean you just "God you wings?" *hehe*)
PRACTICAL NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY
MESSAGE #13
SCRIPTURE (4) - BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING!
PART 1 (Part 2 is HERE)
Philippians Ch 4
6 Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in every thing, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requirements made known to God.
Umm... seems to me we don't obey THIS this command by God! Don't be anxious about, well... ANYTHING, He says!!! Oops!!
Do you feel like this command is plumb IMPOSSIBLE? Hmm, maybe the rest of the verse will help: "but in every circumstance of life and in every thing in life -- PRAY! Okay, that makes good sense. So it's PROBLEM => PRAY.
Next, notice the two words popped in there that we can so easily miss: 'with thanksgiving'. We don't thank God anywhere NEAR enough, do we? So now it's PROBLEM => PRAY with a THANKFUL HEART.
And finally we're invited - yes, invited by God Himself - to make our requirements known to Him! Wow-ee, to come and tell Him what we're feeling in our life as to our needs. This is CHILD OF GOD coming to FATHER GOD (Abba) and telling Him what we NEED! Not what we WANT - no, no, that can easily be quite selfish and thus is NEVER gonna be answered, ever! - just our REQUIREMENTS, the things we're feeling that we need so we can succeed at living as His man, His woman, living as He wants us to. And remember that this covers EVERYTHING - our physical needs, emotional needs, mental needs, Spiritual needs - THE WHOLE BANG LOT!!! ...And that's it, in its TOTAL SIMPLICITY!!
Oh, nearly forgot the next verse:
7 And God's peace which passes all understanding, shall mount guard over, and keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus.
So finally we have:
• PROBLEM => PRAY with a THANKFUL HEART => RECEIVE TOTAL HEART PEACE!
Don't you just love it!!!- BM and his Lady-love
QUESTIONS WELCOME!
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