Keys to my life

[GerWat]

Eaglesway said, on another topic, speaking to a gay man, I told him "how much power there was available to him if he would give Jesus the keys to his life". 

How much power IS available and how much more giving the keys do I have to do?

Perhaps I just don't know what giving the keys entails.  Can someone define that?

I've been trying to find out what's missing for 10 years.  Searching for the power that the Bible speaks of and that we sing about in church.

So far the best help for my mood has been 5000 IU. Vit. D every day.  Now I'm nowhere near the curmudgeon I was, except when my wife gets on my case, but I'm still hungry, still digging and my wife is getting sick of it.

Is it possible that God's will for some of us is to just be an unremarkable working stiff for 60 years and then die in obscurity?

Jerry

[eaglesway]

I think sometimes so Jerry :o). Describes my life anyway LOL. But an obscure working stiff who has seen some beautiful things in God :o)

You know Jerry, sometimes I walk down the street with a little war in my head. Condemnation, a sense of insufficiency, the list of my shortcomings and sins weighing down my consciousness into chaos LOL.

Lately, the Holy Spirit has been arresting me whenever that happens, "Dont think, just pray".

I think the first and greatest key is the cry for mercy and grace. "All those who call upon the name of the Lord will be delivered".

Its like the first of the twelve steps, I am powerless to save myself from myself, I need a higher power than me :) (And that power must be Someone who loves me, not someone who condemns me into a corner and leaves me there broken in failure)

Also, we have to remember that "we bear this treasure in earthen vessels(clay pots) so that the sufficiency is seen to be of God"(2 Cor  4).

We are frail in our humanity, but in weakness His strength is made perfect because we have hope and "hope maketh not ashamed" because the treasure is "Christ in you the hope of glory". It is Him growing in me by grace through faith, not me fixing me to please Him.

As I fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith, the vessel, cracked as it may be, will fill up until His love flows out of the cracks as humility and honesty and dependence on Him.

I don't like to be dependent. I want to be strong, but I am not. I thank God that as I realize this more and more His sufficiency fills that new low place He has dug out in me, the clay, on the Potter's wheel of daily life.

Going back to these recent threads, we have to remember that we will nowhere hear Christ rebuking the sins of those who are in bondage. He saves His reproof for those who keep people in bondage. I catch a lot of heat for saying this, but I challenge anyone to search the scriptures and prove me wrong.

Look at how He spoke with the woman at the well. He was opening her to the light by showing her hungry heart who He was, AND SHE GOT IT IMMEDIATELY, because He spoke into her with love and respect, even tho he was exposing her works. She became the first evangelist among the Samaritans, going back into her town and saying, "Could this be the Messiah"? and bringing them out to Him.

[Shev]

Hello Jerry,

I don't have any standard, trite answers to your quest, but at least we all know who the answer is (Christ Himself).

I think that it actually is God's will for most of us to die in obscurity, to be honest. The church system equates fame with success, but fame only applies to humans knowing humans - we are all known to God equally, so I don't believe our lives are assessed by how many we made stand up and notice us. Jesus Himself could be said to have died in obscurity, except on a very local level.

What matters in this life is that we are formed into the image of Jesus Christ, and this is the great purpose of God for everyone who shall ever live. This metamorphosis comes about through the various purgings, trials, and refinements of our bumpy ride in the flesh. It is more important for the character of God and nature of Christ to be worked into us, than for us ever to achieve anything in the eyes of men.

The church system reaffirms the world's message that we must shout louder than others, build a bigger career than others, and have our names celebrated more than others. Thus, posterity will reward us with a great name. But Jesus uttered blessings on the meek, on the lowly, and on the humble.

Personally, I have never felt so purposeful than in the time since I realized that God's purpose is bringing us into the image of Christ, and refining us like gold. Everything now has purpose, right down to how I conduct myself in the car on the roads and freeways. Everything has spiritual implications, instead of Sunday mornings only. The beauty of this is that you can progress in the kingdom from behind your desk, or under the car hood, or wherever you are, instead of signing up for endless programs and teachings and sermons and ministries.

I like to think that we are all like stained glass windows. The pattern in each of us is different, but we are only given relevance and beauty if we have the light shining through us, which is Christ. If we have that light, we are beautiful wherever we are. The ultimate ministry of each person is to have the light of Jesus Christ shining through their unique, specific personality.

It is easy to talk blithely about the purpose of God for a person, but I strongly and solemnly believe that - to put it in a human sense - God created each individual and looked into our face while saying "I have an individual, specific purpose for this beautiful work of my hands".

[eaglesway]

 :iagree:

[rosered]

 



             Amen   brothers !!!    :icon_flower:   

[Tom]

I think we're all unique, and we all serve a purpose in life according to God's will. The "power" you seek is the power of love that's not about having a better "mood." It's not about emotion, but it does provide joy and peace.

"The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22,23)

We need to learn to be thankful and content with God's blessings.

"I learned to be content in that in which I am." (Philippians 4:11)

When I was a kid and got to feeling down sometimes, my mom would tell me to count my blessings. Then a couple of years ago, when she was very depressed from Alzheimer's before she died, I told her to count her blessings.

You may not realize the blessing you are to somebody else just by sharing God's love with them, but God is causing you to perform the specific purpose for which he created you. So don't be thinking you're "unremarkable" as you say.

I think, by reading the inspired written word of God, we're edified by the spirit of God, and then we're compelled to share that "power" of the spirit with others. If you're feeling down, the best way to get a dose of that power you're seeking is to get inspired through the word of God.

"Put on the panoply of God, to enable you to stand up to the stratagems of the Adversary, for it is not ours to wrestle with blood and flesh, but with the sovereignties, with the authorities, with the world-mights of this darkness, with the spiritual forces of wickedness among the celestials. Therefore take up the panoply of God that you may be enabled to withstand in the wicked day, and having effected all, to stand. Stand, then, girded about your loins with truth, with the cuirass of righteousness put on, and your feet sandaled with the readiness of the evangel of peace; with all taking up the large shield of faith, by which you will be able to extinguish all the fiery arrows of the wicked one. And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is a declaration of God." (Ephesians 6:11-17)

[Lazarus Short]

Jerry, I know just how you feel, having worked 30+ years, mostly in the non-profit world, with its so-so wages and high demands on time and effort.  One day I was feeling down on myself and my life situation, and I asked God why He had made me like I was, and why I had to live like I did in the world.  Then I saw in my mind's eye a vast plain, strewn with potsherds.  Some were plain, some were decorated, some had beautiful glazes.  I saw a rather plain one, and knew it was me.  However, I also saw that all the other potsherds were equally broken.  I took (and take) comfort in that.

[micah7:9]

Well Jerry I don't know about you but the brethren sure steadied and lifted me!  :HeartThrob:
I, off and on think your thoughts and then I am reminded of a word by L. Ray Smith on why does God the Father love me[any of us] and brother Smith said because each one of us is unique in the way He we are. And that word has helped me to know that I have a purpose, and if that purpose is just to give back the breath He gave, then I understand better that it is better to give than receive. I want to do this for Him, I want to be that for Him, well His thoughts are not my thoughts. I am over joyed when He gets me settled enough in my mind to Listen....." My son, you are ON the Potter's wheel."

Yes HE is GOOD :dsunny:

[marie glen]

Eaglesway said, on another topic, speaking to a gay man, I told him "how much power there was available to him if he would give Jesus the keys to his life". 

How much power IS available and how much more giving the keys do I have to do?

Perhaps I just don't know what giving the keys entails.  Can someone define that?

I've been trying to find out what's missing for 10 years.  Searching for the power that the Bible speaks of and that we sing about in church.

So far the best help for my mood has been 5000 IU. Vit. D every day.  Now I'm nowhere near the curmudgeon I was, except when my wife gets on my case, but I'm still hungry, still digging and my wife is getting sick of it.

Is it possible that God's will for some of us is to just be an unremarkable working stiff for 60 years and then die in obscurity?

Jerry

Amen, Jerry, I think we have all been there.. felt that way! From my own experience and :2c: worth, or for what it's worth, in my case, at one time I battled greatly w/ deep dark depression(s).. even as a christian, until the Lord showed me what it was I was mourning -  and ministered to my heart "blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted"..

Then began a time of His instruction for me, learning how to avoid the pit of well, anything less than peace and joy. Peace and joy, I learned, cannot depend upon circumstances. Even though I still have annoyances, and troubles, that can cause negativity or past pain to flare up, I have learned to turn off and X out any negative thought.. yep, I can spot the pattern of well burned neuron paths which lead to the shine coming off my peace and joy of the Lord.. And I learned to replace any negative thoughts and patterns with thanks giving and praise.. If I think a negative, I replace it with a praise and, or a thanks giving.. Because all those other things put up (for me) a shield of clouds which block out the sun of His peace and joy. Since those days and lessons I am better able to be faithful to my daily doses of His bread and (new) wine, which i believe is the much needed formula for our success.. the continual renewing of my mind and keeping my eye single upon Him..

I have things I want to do for the Lord.. but the thing I think of as the measure of success, is the amount of, or lack of, love I feel toward others.. Not my love, but His love.. Then, though I am just a housewife and a grand mother.. I sometimes feel like I can leap tall buildings and that I run leaping from mountain top to mountain top with His Wind beneath my wings.. Even though to this day, i don't pray enough, I don't read enough, praise enough.. etc, etc!

[marie glen]

.... I also saw that all the other potsherds were equally broken.  I took (and take) comfort in that.

...I am over joyed when He gets me settled enough in my mind to Listen....." My son, you are ON the Potter's wheel."

Yes HE is GOOD :dsunny:

What great posts guys! (Likely too all the posts, but I haven't read them yet.. and gotta run!.. :dsunny: :cloud9:

[GerWat]

 :laugh: God has such a sense of humor.  Here I sit so dissatisfied, in the dark, sure in my unworthiness and out of the blue I get smacked with reality.

2 days ago I was picking up parts from a metal shop in town and noticed a sign, "now hiring".  My son has been out of work for a couple years so I went by home on the way back to my job and told him about it.  He had my daughter drive him to town that afternoon to apply and back the next day for an interview and he was hired.  Yes they're both living in my basement well past time they left.

I don't have a lot of interaction with this shop because my employer has cheaper sources.  I use them mainly for prototyping.  What's remarkable is their response when they found out who he was.  "Oh!  You're Jerry's son?  If you inherited half his genes you'll be great!  Your dad's one of the smartest people we know."

:doh: I'm dumbfounded and so humbled.  Had no idea my work was well respected.  Maybe I should concentrate on what I'm best at and quit trying to be a man of God. :cloud9:

You guys are great.  Thanks for all the encouragement!
Jerry

[sheila]

Pr 22;29  Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings and HE WILL NOT SERVE BEFORE OBSCURE MEN!


                                                       :laugh:  there ya go...

[lastpost]

Is it possible that God's will for some of us is to just be an unremarkable working stiff for 60 years and then die in obscurity?

Friend, I have an opinion so can I just type out one little thing and hope that it means something to you.

You are more blessed than most people who are apparently remarkable. This sounds a strange thing to say to people of the world but as a follower of Christ you will already know -  earth values and spiritual values are very different things.

We know that Jesus didn't idly take the Way of poverty and hardship - the simple path that He laid down - unremarkable from the world's viewpoint. He knew how short this life is and how long eternity is. The one who is obscure but humble as Christ was humble, that one will be wanted by Christ and that one will thank Him over and over again when he sees the gifts and responsibility his non-earthly glory - his obscurity - has brought him. He will be overjoyed and thank God that he was allowed to suffer and undergo strife, even perhaps against his prayers, but now he finds the river of forgetfulness has wiped away all the pain that he took on for the sake of the Master Christ.

That humble one is left with a big heart which has grown to be like the scarlet raw tender Heart of the Saviour, which He has made available in all its vulnerability for all to see and feel. And then the apparently humdrum or unremarkable life in Christ on earth of the follower of Jesus, will enable him to act with that heart in a manner he perhaps never dreamt possible.

The Life that God gives to those who do His Will, is simply un-thought of, but it is Life in the very real sense. If this life on this earth is considered life, then in comparison to the Life that God has in store for those who love Him, this life on earth is as death. I put it like that to try to emphasise what real Life is like for one snatched from the world by the Saviour and who has tried to follow Him in his heart, mind and actions - again, in my opinion.

One thing though, His children are full of His Love and that means that they become more and more sensitive to things, and Love takes on burdens, real Love can only give, and one with his heart in Christ can be fully employed to his exceeding joy. Can you imagine not having the power to do what your heart aches to do because you chose the way of earthly glory, when such a privilege has fallen on the humble, obscure and unremarkable? The more His children understand and feel of the true sensitiveness of the Saviour's Heart, the more they want to serve Him.

To think, friend, that the Heart of the Saviour is always tender, always...of course it is, He may have been a human like us, but He was Love Incarnate - and now He is still Divine Love, as He always has been. This is what humanity needs to know - the Saviour feels the pain of His children and He takes on their burdens with them - only Love could do that, only Love could have no choice but to do that. That is why we love Him with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, and all our strength - because He is Love and He is worthy of everything we are, everything we can give - truly, this cannot be emphasised enough.

So, the Christ and the wondrous Life that He shares with us is what this unremarkable life brings to us. That is my opinion. So, onwards and upwards!