Breaking Free Study- To Know God and Believe Him (Week 2)

To Know God and Believe Him Beth wrote in her study, “I always viewed myself as a big spot on a white dress. - A spot that everyone saw and pointed in disgust. I thought everyone else was beautiful in God’s eyes except for me. At a wedding- I watched in awe as the stunning bride walked down the aisle. God whispered in my ear, “That is how I see you.” I can’t begin to tell you how free I am! I no longer feel dirty or spotted with guilt. I am true child of God, - without spot or blemish. Page 32. A Christian is held captive by anything that hinders the abundance and effective Spirit filled life God planned for her. As yourself, Am I experiencing the benefits of my covenant relationship with god through Christ, or do the benefits I read in Scripture seem more like warm, fuzzy thoughts? Just as the Israelites were in bondage, a foreign yoke my keep us from realizing the 5 primary benefits God plans for His children to enjoy. 1. To know God and believe HIM 2. To glorify God 3. To find satisfaction in God 4. To experience God’s peace 5. To enjoy God’s presence We will study the benefits, “that you may know what is yours.” Isaiah 43:10-13 I absolutely LOVE, LOVE Isaiah! MY favourite verse is Isaiah 61. Read it if you get time, to me... this is my life message! Ladies, if you read Isaiah 43:10... God is inviting YOU, Us...ME... to know Him! WOW, What an honor, an invite... to know that HE wants us to know HIM! KING of KINGS! Beth ma it a point for us to know that the Hebrew word for know is yadha. This term means a personal level “of intimacy that God wants us to have with HIM, to truly know him, on the deepest level, to know God intimately like a husband knows his wife, and with reverent familiarity.” Wow, what an honor! I love this... “One of the most beautiful elements of salvation is simplicity. Christ has already done all the work on the cross! All you have to do is... 1. Acknowledge you are a sinner and cannot save yourself. 2. Acknowledge that Christ is the Son of God and only He can save you! 3. Believe his crucifixion paid for your sins and His death was in your behalf. 4. Give Him your life and ask Him to be your Savior and Lord. (Beth Moore, page 34 Breaking Free) Whether you feel close to God or distant, the point is that He loves you. How you feel about your relationship with God is how you feel. God loves you whole-heartedly, and puts no limitations on his love for you. If you feel like your relationship with Jesus is not strong, it’s because of you! Jesus never changes; it is up to you to see Jesus how Jesus see’s you, with adoration and love! If you are not committed to him, now is the time, Do the steps above and sit still and allow his love to permeate your entire being! “God will mend your heart, your mind, change them, and make them like HIS!” Beth in her study says this, “Our level of trust is a monumental issue in the life of every believer. Many variables in our lives affect our willingness to trust God. A loss or betrayal can deeply mark our level of trust. A broken heart never mended by the true Healer handicaps us terribly when we’re challenged to trust.” I have to be real with you, trusting God and trusting that He loves me has not always come easy for me either, after I lost my brother Daniel, I was very mad at God, I could not understand why he took him from us. I realize that Daniel was never ours to begin with, he was God’s child, and although it took some time God never left me, He never gave up on me, even when I gave up on Him! He understood my anger, my pain, and grieved with me. I realized later that God too lost someone He loved special too, when He had to allow Jesus to die on the cross, He too lost his son. Thank Goodness Jesus is Alive and here, but God had to turn His heart away from his son for the sake of His other children. What a sacrifice! I do not know if I would be able to do that for another person? I don’t think so. “Trusting an invisible God does not come natural to any believer. A trust relationship grows only by stepping out in FAITH, and making the Choice to trust. This Step sometimes seems more than we can take, but God is anxious to help us overcome our unbelief.” The ability to believe God develops most often through pure experience. I found him faithful yesterday. He will not be unfaithful today! (Page 35, workbook)” This is deep, trusting an invisible God does not come natural or easy to anyone! I thought I was the only one, to not be able to see God, something intangible is hard, often times we revert back to something that is more familiar or convenient, something we can touch, another tangible person, sometimes we put other people or items, such as material things above God, simply because we can see them. SCARY!

Seeking Jesus

Have you ever wanted to feel the presence of God so bad, that you were willing to seek him right exactly where you were at the time? Whether it be sitting in a peaceful chair, or walking down a city street, you just had to feel his presence right then and there! Sometimes in those moments, I seek the more inner quiet space within my own soul to wait for Him to appear. I have been in the building with those bright florescent lights and closed my eyes looking up to the ceiling, feeling the warmth of the lights on my face, imaging that warmth, is the warmth and glow of Jesus and His love for me. It is a very peaceful time, almost as if you are sitting outside looking up feeling the warmth of the sunshine on your face, a very tranquil moment. I desire those moments, and find myself spending more time seeking Him out. I realize that it is not necessary for me to have to find some abandoned quiet room to talk to God. He will meet me right where I am at, doing exactly what I am doing at the time. Looking back on my childhood, I realized that I have always felt that where ever I was, I was a visitor. It is no one in particulars fault, I am not blaming anyone, and maybe it was something inside of me that never felt settled. I know it had to have been me making myself feel this way, because the people in my life always tried to make me feel like I belonged. I remember growing up my dad would tell me that there is nobody in life that will love you more than your family. I guess after my parents divorced, and our family split up, that statement brought confusion as to what my reality appeared to be versus what I was told. My thinking remained that families are a temporary arrangement in time, ever changing with the status of your marital status. I understand the concept of unconditional love, my grandparents always told me that they loved me no matter what, I believed that with every human capability that statement is true. I also have learned that My Father, in Heaven truly loves His children unconditionally. In the past, I have to be honest; I struggled with what having a relationship with the Heavenly Father truly consists of. I understand with my limited understanding, what my ideology of relationship defined is, but I am learning that it is a deep, tangible, liberating relationship that changes with time, and maturity. The concept of loving God and being in love with God is more profound. Sometimes I find it difficult to be in relationship with Jesus when I can’t see Him, and cannot audibly hear him. It is during those times that I realize I am not spending enough time in the Word. Once I jump back into the pages of the Bible, I feel his presence again; it is a daily thing for me.