What is the Lord Doing in Your Life?

[dleerl]

I have only been a member for about 3 1/2 weeks now but I don't see much activity in here. I keep coming in here and checking to see if there is something to read. Other than Gashin's post about his return from mission's I've not seen anything new. So I thought I'd start something so that we could get to know each other a little. To know what binds us together and that is our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have Him in common and we share the Holy Spirit. We are one in the body of Christ.

So what is happening in your walk with the Lord? How is your prayer life going? Are you reading His word every day? Do you have anything to share?

I'll tell you that it's been difficult for me recently. It hasn't been a time where I have "felt" the presence of the Lord. You know those times when you feel so close to Him. The excitement that you can know when He is really working in your life and all sorts of "miracles" are taking place. Those times are great and it's so easy to stay in prayer and read daily.

I am having to count on His word that He is there. I am having to remember that His word is true. I don't feel His presence. I feel like my world is just standing still and nothing is happening, but I know that is actually not true. Tending to be a person who relates on a more emotional level, it is a very difficult for me to not feel connected to God. I'm having to really discipline myself and take my body under control and do what I know I am supposed to do without my emotions prompting me. I count on "feeling" His presence but I know that I have to grow and faith is not feeling it is believing Him, trusting Him, knowing that His word is true. God is stretching me; growing me. I know it's all part of being refined. I'll be glad when this period is over once again. On the upside of this, I find that Holy Spirit faithfully calls me to follow through with all that I should do. My heart may not call me to His throne, or to think of Him, or to sing and praise Him, but the Holy Spirit reminds me throughout the day. I won't sit here and tell you I always pay attention. He is the one who is faithful. I am the one who will always need to be saved.

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All those who have walked with God have viewed prayer as the main business of their lives. ~ Delma Jackson.

 

[beckah54]

You're right, there hasn't been much activity on this forum for a while. I don't know if some of the people that used to post are still members of ECF. I don't see very many posts on the general forum from them.

I am not where I want to be but I'm farther along than I used to be.
In all seriousness, I have been trudging through the desert for a few months now and hoping it doesn't take 40 years before I understand why I'm there. I know these experiences are to refine us and strengthen our trust and dependence on Him, but I miss the intimacy with Jesus that I used to have.

I know I am loved because His Word tells me so but I don't feel it. So, even though I don't "feel" it, I believe what He says is true and will be true forever. I stand on His promise of faithfulness and love. I know my life wouldn't be worth living if Jesus wasn't in it. He is worth so much more than I give Him. So that's where I am right now but not where I plan to stay.

Good to see you here and maybe there will be a revival of this forum soon. I hope so.....it's a good place to meet and support each other.

beckah

 

[dleerl]

Hi Beckhah,

I guess I'm not alone in where I'm at. I have sometimes wondered if women tend to be more prone to that need for the sense of the presence of the Lord in their life. I think you understand what I'm talking about. Maybe I'm buying what men say about us being more emotional but in general I do feel that we have more feelings than men. Men if you are out you can correct me if I am wrong. In my limited experience I see more women with the gift of mercy than men. I believe that is because our spirits are more highly sensitive in general. That doesn't mean that is true in all cases. I have met women who are very logical and not emotional at all.

Today I have been thinking about the miracles that are taking place in Haiti amidst all the tragedy. People are still being found alive 10 days after being buried alive. Surely God is sustaining their lives. Some are reporting that they have prayed to God all that time. It makes me put where I am in a better perspective.

I know that sometimes I become like the Israelites when they were in the wilderness for 40 years, grumbling and complaining. I thank God that He opens my eyes to the true difficulties that people have to endure so that I can put things in perspective and develop a heart of gratitude for all the blessings that I have. I have never had to endure what Paul did and he walked right back into Jerusalem willingly knowing what was going to happen to him. Over time I have been able to see that in all things we are to indeed give praise for we are blessed. We have access to Him, we have salvation in Him, we have hope in Him and if we suffer it is only for awhile. This whole process has taken time for me to realize though. It has taken years for me to grow and I'm still growing. I have so many things to learn and so much growing to do. I just praise God that He is so patient with me and I praise the Lord that He intercedes on my behalf.

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"If you are returning to the Lord with all of your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your heart to the Lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Phillistines." 1Samuel: 3

 

[beckah54]

I agree that we, as women, operate on a more emotional level. Or maybe the emotion is nearer the top with us. Men tend to hold their emotions in check better than we do but I would guess, they feel just as deeply as we do.

I have seen a lot of grown men cry when praying and praising God. Some have hearts softened by God and some have hearts hardened from emotional and physical hurts. Women are the same, with hurts and shame hidden from others but not from God. We all come from different backgrounds and different experiences. God can and will make us whole again if we trust Him, but it is not an overnight thing. All the pain has to be dealt with before we can truly move on. Maybe that's why time in the desert is required......to soften us and make us open to His healing touch. I just know that I love Him and want to be closer than I am.

 

[gashin]

I recommend that you both go on a mission trip and fulfill Jesus' Great commission. Before the trip I was lukewarm about Jesus and honestly did not have much faith in his Words other than in the promise of salvation. I was baptized in August and experienced the emotional high that you have described but that soon dissipated and even on the mission trip I was struggling with loving and trusting in Jesus. But Jesus proved that he does answer prayers and I observed first-hand God's love for us through his creation, especially the Muslims and atheists that he most wants to be in his kingdom. Despite this, I still struggled with loving Jesus and felt that I had not grown especially closer. I struggled badly with lust when I got back and had to prepare for a stressful interview that was held yesterday. I prayed about these things but still felt like I could resolve them through my own efforts through fasting to deal with lust and excessive exercising to look good for the interview. That interview helped me realize how much I had actually grown in Christ - I got maybe 2 hours of sleep over a period of 24 hours because of the jet lag and nervousness and right before the interview I attempted to kickstart my body with a stimulant pill, cigarettes, snus, and tea. This was a terrible idea and I literally felt like I was dying right before the interview - my heart was pumping and my eyes wouldn't focus and I ended up vomitting half my breakfast. The interview would determine my professional career for the next 4 years and I felt like I could not go through with it in the state I was in. I then realized that God was allowing me to experience this horrible situation to bring me back to him. I laid down and prayed to Jesus asking him to forgive me for lacking faith in him by attempting to control my future through my own efforts and asked him to clear my mind and calm my heart. I asked him to come into my body and heal my wounds and I soon felt the presence of the Spirit that calmed my body and mind. I kept praying as I was driving to the interview, barely able to focus on the road and traffic, asking God for his wisdom and his words during the interview and I promised him that I would dedicate any success I had because of the interview to furthering his kingdom. The Holy Spirit seemed to then reveal to me that it was God's will that would determine if I was successful or not and that I should not worry at all about the outcome because I was already promised the far greater gift of Salvation. During the interview, I asked Jesus to keep me awake and I really felt like I made a good impression on the interviewers. The greatest thing I learned though was that it was not my own efforts that would determine my future but rather God's will and by the end of the interview I no longer cared if I was successful or not because God had a plan for me. I feel that it was because of God answering my prayers immediately during the mission trip that I was able to totally surrender myself to him when I was faced with the horrible results of my own efforts. I think that serving on a mission would also bring you to Jesus in the same way it did for me and will probably help you both far more than it helped me because as a man, I still attempted to restrain my emotion when God revealed his love through the Muslims I was sharing the gospel with and when I was faced with the social and economic suffering, and most of all the Spiritual oppression, they struggled with on a regular basis.

 

[dleerl]

Gashin, I think it was wonderful that you had the time to go on your mission trip. I had read your thread on it. It is true that God has a plan for all of us. However, it is not the same one for each of us. For myself, I can not take off to travel to another place. I have an 87 year old mother that I have to be here for. That is not to say that I don't fulfill Jesus' Great Commission right where I am. Everyone has that opportunity with the people that are around them. You may feel drawn to witness to the Muslim's and God may be calling you in that direction but that does not mean that those are the ones He is most interested in. He has no special groups as far as I know when it comes to the lost. He does give his people a heart for certain groups of people when He is calling them to be a witness to them. You may be being called to be a witness to the Muslim's. Time will tell. I know of two missionaries on an island in the Indian Ocean that belongs to Africa who have been called since childhood to witness to Muslim's.

I am supporting the beginning phases of a new ministry that is going to be starting in a church in my town. It is called Celebrate Recovery. Perhaps you have heard of it. It's an established program that has been used at a number of Christian churches for all types of addictive behaviors. It's in it's formative stages. I am part of it, but I don't know what role I will play. That is entirely up to the Lord. Right now I am just coming together with the pastor of the church and other members of the body that feel lead to be part of it. Since it is an established program, the process is laid out for us. We just began this past week by meeting for prayer. We do that for another 3 weeks. The entire process before startup last three months. At some point the leaders will be chosen. The Lord has called me to work with addicts and with women who have been sexually abused. My calling is different than yours but nonetheless, I will fulfill the Great Commission too. Right now some of my numbness may have to do with the work that is approaching, the vulnerability that I feel and an old safety mechanism that I have had for a long time that kicks in at times. Healing can take a very long time. I have come a longgggg way but I don't think He's finished His work yet.

_________________________________________________________________________

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will direct your paths.
Pro 3:4,5

 

[gashin]

I understand the great need for social work and I tend to focus on the Muslim world because it is the second to last stronghold (the last of course being the Jews) before Christ will come.

"And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come." Matthew 24:14

I also feel that God does feel a special love for the Muslims because before the Islamic conquests, Christianity was the dominant religion in the Middle East. Thus they are the lost sheep we are called to rescue from the depths of hell since the great majority of Muslims have never heard the true gospel. I recommend going to these unreached nations not only to fulfill the great commission but because of the miracles that occur on the mission field that will strengthen your relationship with Jesus. I literally had my prayers answered within minutes and there were a couple of healings by the other missionaries - these things occur so that people may believe in the power of Jesus' name and the truth of his Salvation. In addition, taking the above verse literally, by going on a mission trip to the unreached nations, we are accelerating the return of Christ. There are now only around 2,000 unreached ethnic/regional groups unreached throughout the world with 90% of them located in the Middle East and Asia.

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 28:19-20

Social work as you are going to do is serving the Kingdom, but unfortunately I feel that at times it detracts from Jesus' desire, as stated in the Great Commission, which is the spread the Gospel to all nations and save the souls of the lost. The majority of Church budgets are dedicated to the comfort of their congregations and to providing social services to their communities, while a far smaller portion is spent on Missionary work. Of the total amount dedicated to missions, the majority of funds are spent on social work in other countries rather than on spreading the Gospel. In addition, 90% of missionaries evangelize in countries that already have decades, even centuries of being preached the Gospel or that are already Christian. Thus with only a small amount of Church funds dedicated to missionary work, the majority of mission funding being diverted towards social work, and the majority of missionaries travelling to nations that have already been reached or are already Christian, the precarious position of the hundreds of millions of souls in the Middle East and Asia becomes more daunting. Billions of dollars of Church funds and tens of millions of Christians are working in providing social services within our own country and abroad in nations that have already heard the Gospel - while only 10% of missionaries and a far smaller budget are being used to spread the Gospel to the hundreds of millions in the Middle East and Asia that haven't even heard the name of Jesus Christ. Thus there is a far greater need for Shepherds to answer Jesus' call to save these lost souls who, while suffering much in this world, are doomed to eternal torture unless you and I share with them the promise of Salvation.

Gashin, I think it was wonderful that you had the time to go on your mission trip. I had read your thread on it. It is true that God has a plan for all of us. However, it is not the same one for each of us. For myself, I can not take off to travel to another place. I have an 87 year old mother that I have to be here for. That is not to say that I don't fulfill Jesus' Great Commission right where I am. Everyone has that opportunity with the people that are around them. You may feel drawn to witness to the Muslim's and God may be calling you in that direction but that does not mean that those are the ones He is most interested in. He has no special groups as far as I know when it comes to the lost. He does give his people a heart for certain groups of people when He is calling them to be a witness to them. You may be being called to be a witness to the Muslim's. Time will tell. I know of two missionaries on an island in the Indian Ocean that belongs to Africa who have been called since childhood to witness to Muslim's.

I am supporting the beginning phases of a new ministry that is going to be starting in a church in my town. It is called Celebrate Recovery. Perhaps you have heard of it. It's an established program that has been used at a number of Christian churches for all types of addictive behaviors. It's in it's formative stages. I am part of it, but I don't know what role I will play. That is entirely up to the Lord. Right now I am just coming together with the pastor of the church and other members of the body that feel lead to be part of it. Since it is an established program, the process is laid out for us. We just began this past week by meeting for prayer. We do that for another 3 weeks. The entire process before startup last three months. At some point the leaders will be chosen. The Lord has called me to work with addicts and with women who have been sexually abused. My calling is different than yours but nonetheless, I will fulfill the Great Commission too. Right now some of my numbness may have to do with the work that is approaching, the vulnerability that I feel and an old safety mechanism that I have had for a long time that kicks in at times. Healing can take a very long time. I have come a longgggg way but I don't think He's finished His work yet.

_________________________________________________________________________

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will direct your paths.
Pro 3:4,5

 

[dleerl]

Well, I understand your desire to share the Gospel with lost souls in the Muslim nation. Please understand that the Lord has a plan for everyone's life. I must follow Him. This is the direction He is leading me, Gashin. You have tremendous enthusiasm. I applaud that. God prepares people for their mission. Believe me He has prepared me since I was a little child. I'm a specialist in this area. I've been molded, put through the refiner's fire, especially for this job. You call it Social Work. I call it the Lord's work. I will serve Him doing whatever He calls me to do. If it doesn't live up to your level of expectation then you need to discuss it with Him. I take my orders from Him. Somehow he feels that lost drug addicts & alcoholics and sexually abused women are worth saving too. There are other forms of addiction that will also be addressed in the Celebrate Recoery Program. God seems to care a lot about humans who suffer. There happens to be quite a few of them in my area. Many of the Psalms talk about God reaching down to people in affliction and suffering. Those are the people that know they need Him.

I do, however, have every opportunity to witness to Muslims right here in the US. You see, my daughter married a Muslim and converted. My life is a witness. I share with her daily on the phone and when I get to visit in California. So it isn't that I don't care about the Muslim's. I care very deeply about that. I have met many of their Muslim friends. This hits home for me and I don't have to go to the Middle East to be a witness. My daughter is well aware of what do with my life. We are in constant contact and I do go out to see her. I just spent 4 weeks helping her out in November when she had the H1N1 and had been hospitalized. I have a 4 year old granddaughter that is tube fed and disabled. I was there to help her. She and her father also got sick with the H1N1. I did too but was well enough to keep helping out through it all. Words are not the only witness, actions are too. She has been able to see the changes that the Lord has made in my life.

__________________________________________________________________________

"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jer 29:11

 

[gashin]

I'm not judging you and I do feel that you are doing great work. You are serving the physical health of the community by counseling addicts. But let me ask you this question - which is more important, alieving the suffering of humanity during our short time on earth or saving souls from eternal suffering in hell? Drug addicts and sexually abused women who accept Christ are saved - even if their physical bodies are destroyed because of their addiction and the abuse, the blood of Christ guarantees them Salvation. In contrast, people who have never heard of Christ are already condemned to hell.

It is great that you are witnessing to your daughter - but she has already made the choice with the knowledge of Christ's sacrifice for her sins to become a Muslim. On the other hand, there are hundreds of millions of Muslims, Hindus, and animists in the Middle East and Asia who have never even heard the Gospel or Jesus' name. These people will never have the chance to accept or reject Jesus' promise of Salvation unless we answer Jesus' call in the Great Commission to spread the Gospel to all nations.

I'm not trying to be mean or criticize you for focusing on the social aspect of building God's kingdom, but rather I'm trying to inform you about the hundreds of millions of lost souls who will suffer eternally unless we act. If you feel that God is truly calling you to social work then you must obey this feeling - but you can't ignore the dire need for missionaries in the unreached nations. There are tens of thousands of souls in the unreached nations that are dying every day without any chance of Salvation and only around 5,000 missionaries serving these regions. Compare this with the total number of missionaries at 400,000 and you can see how great the need is for all Christians to fulfill the Great Commission to preach to ALL nations - not just those nations that are safe and have already heard the Gospel.

Well, I understand your desire to share the Gospel with lost souls in the Muslim nation. Please understand that the Lord has a plan for everyone's life. I must follow Him. This is the direction He is leading me, Gashin. You have tremendous enthusiasm. I applaud that. God prepares people for their mission. Believe me He has prepared me since I was a little child. I'm a specialist in this area. I've been molded, put through the refiner's fire, especially for this job. You call it Social Work. I call it the Lord's work. I will serve Him doing whatever He calls me to do. If it doesn't live up to your level of expectation then you need to discuss it with Him. I take my orders from Him. Somehow he feels that lost drug addicts & alcoholics and sexually abused women are worth saving too. There are other forms of addiction that will also be addressed in the Celebrate Recoery Program. God seems to care a lot about humans who suffer. There happens to be quite a few of them in my area. Many of the Psalms talk about God reaching down to people in affliction and suffering. Those are the people that know they need Him.

I do, however, have every opportunity to witness to Muslims right here in the US. You see, my daughter married a Muslim and converted. My life is a witness. I share with her daily on the phone and when I get to visit in California. So it isn't that I don't care about the Muslim's. I care very deeply about that. I have met many of their Muslim friends. This hits home for me and I don't have to go to the Middle East to be a witness. My daughter is well aware of what do with my life. We are in constant contact and I do go out to see her. I just spent 4 weeks helping her out in November when she had the H1N1 and had been hospitalized. I have a 4 year old granddaughter that is tube fed and disabled. I was there to help her. She and her father also got sick with the H1N1. I did too but was well enough to keep helping out through it all. Words are not the only witness, actions are too. She has been able to see the changes that the Lord has made in my life.

__________________________________________________________________________

"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jer 29:11

 

[gashin]

Double post!

 

[dleerl]

Not everyone in the US is saved and actually has heard the gospel. How old are you? You just came to the Lord this August. Some of the people that I will be witnessing to do not know the Lord and have never heard the gospel. I never heard the gospel until I was 29 years old. Just because someone lives in the US don't be fooled into thinking they have heard the gospel.

What is the most important thing as a follower of Christ for me is that I obey Him. I plan on doing just that. If I follow Him as I believe He is calling me to do, and it isn't what He is calling me to do, it is I alone that will answer to Him. You certainly have done your best to try to persuade me otherwise.

__________________________________________________________________________

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and lean not on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will direct your paths.
Pro 3:4,5

 

[gashin]

I'm sorry if I seem condescending. especially coming from a measly 23 years of experience on this Earth. I know that there are Muslims within the U.S. that have not heard the Gospel. But I still feel that there is a far greater need in the unreached nations than within our nation. From my experiences in the Muslim world, I encountered people that never even heard of the name of Jesus Christ - rather they know Jesus only through the name "Isa" which the Quran uses to describe their false concept of Christ. In Islam Isa is a harsh judger, who though sinless and born of the Virgin Mariam as in the Gospel, is nonetheless a judge who will return at the end of time to judge the sins of Muslims and condemn Christians for believing in him as the Son of God. It is from this understanding of the Islamic perspective of Jesus, as well as from the huge inequality in social, economic, and spiritual resources dedicated to this region that causes me to feel a bit of resentment towards the American Church that seems to be mostly focused on maintaining and building a Church in attendance numbers rather than on saving the hundreds of millions of souls throughout the Middle East and Asia that have never even heard the Good News. I'm sorry if I seem condescending, and I admittedly do feel a bit of frustration with Western Christians, but I just can't forget that tens of thousands of unreached peoples are dying condemned to eternal suffering in hell just because no one has ever preached to them Christ's promise of Salvation.

Not everyone in the US is saved and actually has heard the gospel. How old are you? You just came to the Lord this August. Some of the people that I will be witnessing to do not know the Lord and have never heard the gospel. I never heard the gospel until I was 29 years old. Just because someone lives in the US don't be fooled into thinking they have heard the gospel.

What is the most important thing as a follower of Christ for me is that I obey Him. I plan on doing just that. If I follow Him as I believe He is calling me to do, and it isn't what He is calling me to do, it is I alone that will answer to Him. You certainly have done your best to try to persuade me otherwise.

__________________________________________________________________________

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and lean not on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will direct your paths.
Pro 3:4,5

 

[dleerl]

I do understand your frustration and you need to do what God has called you to do. I don't know what His plans are for you . We just all need to be faithful to our calling. In the meantime just keep praying for the Muslims and for God to reveal the plans He has for you. You can always find a responsible Christian organization that sends missionaries to the Middle East and Asia and help support them. If that organization is a member of the ECFA that's a good start. You can look that up online and read about it. It's the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

From speaking with others who know about the missionaries who do go to Muslim countries, there are many obstacles that they encounter. They can not enter as missionaries. They have to enter the countries as workers who provide a service. Sharing the gospel is not that easily done, since the government and religion are intertwined. That may be why there are not as many missionaries in those countries as they have a limited amount of VISA's available. They are always under close observation.

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"For we know that all things work together for the good, for those that love God and are the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

 

[LisaLisa]

I believe that God is always working in all of our lives even tho we may not know it. Right now, my challenge is to learn patience.