Tag: Weight

Acting on & According to the Truth

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that faith and obedience must go hand in hand to secure victory over adversity, and especially, over evil.

Acting on and according to the truth as ;it is revealed to us is obedience.  An example would be going on a diet/changing eating habits and exercising more when I step on the scale and see that I’m overweight.  Unfortunately, we often do what I did in that Western Wear store when the size I previously wore no longer fit.  I insisted to my then husband that some idiot must have put the wrong tags in those pants.  LOL  I can laugh now, like he did then-to himself, of course.  He knew better than to laugh out loud and have to tell me why. No, I’m kidding.  LOL  I had gained three pants sizes-from a 28 to a 34 inch waist.  This is how obedience to the truth works in every day life.

When we are dealing with evil, we really must obey the truth.  First of all,  I am a child of the living God.  Secondly,  it is written that I am the head and not the tail, and that at the name of Jesus, every knee must bow-every knee.   Thirdly, the blood of Jesus does stand against Satan, he cannot pass or prevail-because he no longer has any authority or power here in the earth that we do not give him.  These are truths that we must know without a shadow of a doubt-never wavering in; always standing firmly upon them.  That’s one aspect of truth (what it is).  The other aspect is what to do with it.  Those truths we find in the sermon on the mount, and in Jesus’ teachings and example.  They all add up to His one commandment to us to love one another like He loves us.  There’s a revelation in that commandment.  “Evil” isn’t one of us!!!!!  Remember how He dealt with the money changers in the temple, with the Pharisees and Scribes, and with Satan.

One last thing to remember is that Jesus dealt just as truthfully with Simon Peter, saying, “Get behind me, Satan.”  That means we have an obligation not to sugar coat stuff with one another.  That doesn’t mean we have to be mean, or rude, snide, etc., about things.  But we are to lovingly admonish one another in the truth and help each other.  And, we must always remember there’s a difference between judging and admonishing one in truth.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu                                                                                                        Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, March 26, 2019, 2:41 p.m.

 

Don’t Just Go to the Cross-Go Through It

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that it is the self that needs to be crucified.  All those things we find within that hinder our progress and deter us from reaching our goals and gaining the victories.

Something i realized some time ago, is that it isn’t enough for me to go to the cross.  You see, there is a resurrection that has to take place, in order for the salvation to be complete.  Jesus rose from the grave; the tomb was empty.  I find it interesting that the grave clothes (linen strips) were left in the tomb, and the cloth that covered His head, was neatly folded up and left there also.  That’s a significant revelation about what we have on us-or on our hearts and minds – be it in adverse circumstances, or in victory.  I did a study on the cross once, and the significance of that crown of thorns became very clear to me.  You see, if your mind is hedged in, your hands and feet do you no good; they can be bound, and you’ll get nowhere, and accomplish nothing.  Hence, the resurrection has to be part of the equation.

Jesus arose in a glorified body; a glorified state.  When we seek what’s after the crucifixion – risen and glorified life, we discover that there is a better way.  That’s what’s on the other side of that cross.  The resurrection is one to newness of attitudes, thoughts/beliefs, ways and means, and language.  “I am the resurrection and the life.” -to be exact.  Think about the power of that statement when you apply it to yourself.  “I am living higher, I am higher minded, I am aiming higher for myself.” -in effect, that’s what that statement says to your soul.  Instead of death and deadly or harmful thinking and ways of living, doing things, etc., you now bring life and power into play.  Instead of failure, success-one step at a time, success.  Remember, you’re in this for the long haul-eternity.  So it isn’t a sprint race, it’s a long one that requires endurance.

Crucify all of the self that hinders and impedes.  But, resurrect your soul with the higher things that truly do give you the victory over the power of death in your life.  Education, nutrition, stress-management, routine, etc., are all higher things, depending on your battle and/or the hurdles in your race.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu                                                                                                        Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, March 14, 2019, 12:31 p.m.

Crutches

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that God is our supply; and His supply is sufficient to meet all our needs.  The message addresses crutches that we use that keep us from fully understanding God’s promises and power to take care of us.

There’s a statement in the message: “I cannot teach a man to walk who is trusting to a crutch.  Away with your crutch, and my power will so invigorate you that you will indeed walk on to victory.”  That crutch is a hard truth to face when you realize you’re using one.  I think of the man at the pool of Bethesda whenever I read this message.  He had the perfect excuse.  He was crippled, and every time the waters were troubled, everybody rushed right past him and got there first.  Nobody even thought to stop and help him; poor guy.  Jesus asked, “Do you want to be healed?”  That was a powerful question then, and still is today.  Do you want what you want?  Really, do you want it?

Let me tell you how fast that crutch dropped away when I realized that truth.  I turned to the Lord, and said, “Lord, you know me!  You’re going to have to make them (cigarettes) smell and taste so nasty that I can’t smoke them.”  I realized that my weak will was actually my crutch.  Your will is yours; it’s as weak or as strong as you choose to allow it to be.  The Lord complied; I had two cigarettes left.  One I smoked right after we got out of church.  It did taste yucky, but I smoked it.  The last cigarette I smoked tasted so nasty that I put it out after two puffs.  I haven’t had a cigarette since.  But there were a few times I had to choose to be strong willed and say, “no, I’m a non-smoker.”  Let me tell you about an incident a couple of years after I quit smoking, that will give you an idea of how sneaky that ‘little voice” is.  I’d had an argument with my husband, and was fuming.  Out of the clear blue came the thought, “I should just start smoking again!  That would serve them all right!”  I’m laughing now, but seriously, I thought, “WHATTT?!!!”  That didn’t even make sense, did it?  See how quick the devil will hand you a noose-also known as a crutch at times.  See the sneaky little crutch?  “It’s somebody else’s fault, so I don’t have to be strong; I can be as weak as I want to.”  And, who would that have hurt, really?  Me.

Material crutches are things like Mom and Dad’s willingness to pay our rent when we mess up and blow the money-time and time again.  No, it isn’t food stamps, unless you’ve made a career of relying on the public assistance system to support you, and you’re not making any efforts to become self-sufficient.  That system is actually one of the ways God does get help to us.  Notice, I said, “help.”  We were not created to be chronically helpless. That’s the crutch the man at the pool was stuck on.  If he’d really wanted to be healed, he could have rolled down to the pool and stayed there until the next time the waters were troubled.  He was so used to his weakness, that he forgot he had any strength even to choose.  We can turn to God, thankfully, for help.  But we also have to drop the crutches when He tells us to.  We have to determine to walk it out all the way to the victory.  There’s a saying, “God helps those who help themselves.”  I think a better way to put that would be that God helps us to help ourselves.  He gave us freewill for a reason.  He gave us authority and power over adversity.  He gave us creativity, ingenuity, determination, and perseverance.  We need to use them.

Love you from Cafe du Mondieu                                                                                                        Copyright by Marina Morrison (aka) Eden Stillwater, February 3, 2019, 3:08 p.m.