God's Mail Box

We have a lovely lady in our church that is a wonderful painter and writer. She sends me thoughts that God gives her. She says that God sometimes wakes her up with the thoughts. I will be sharing some with you in the future. The one today is titled "God's Mailbox" and I think we can all relate. Enjoy

GOD’S MAIL BOX A STORY BY IDA M.

Every day except Sunday we usually check our mailbox. We are usually disappointed when we find it empty. We feel even worse when all that we receive are requests for donations or ads wanting us to buy things that we do not need. We are always happy to see a letter from someone that we love.

God has a “Mailbox” also. It is large enough for all the requests from his own children. Praise is always welcome. He always likes to receive envelopes marked with a stamp of faith. He does not need a computer like man does to get e-mail from his children. He is able to receive knee-mail 24 hours a day. Knee-mails are especially welcome from one of his children who have not knee-mailed anything to him for a long time. Knee-mails of love and praise are his favorites. You will never receive a knee-mail marked “return to sender, address unknown”.

We usually expect an answer soon. Sometimes the Lord answers our “knee-mail” soon, or it can take years of waiting for the answer. He opens all of his mail as it arrives and knows what we say in our prayers no matter what language we use. He prefers letters that are written from the heart, not form letters found in a book. In his word, he teaches us how to start and end our prayers in his Lord’s Prayer that is found in the book of Luke, chapter 11 verses 2, 3 and 4, also found in Matthew 6, verses 9-13. We should never forget the love letters of praise and the thank you ones for blessings and answered prayers.

We should never send him letters bragging about our good deeds or sacrifices we think that we have made, nor catalogs with pages marked with what we want him to give us. He has already given us the greatest gift that we could ever receive, forgiveness and eternal life with him.

The mailbox of your heart will be filled with such blessings as peace, long-suffering, comfort at times of grief and loss, not just sympathy. There is also strength in times of weakness and healing when that is what is needed. In return he wants and expects us to share his love and comfort with others in need. Not like earthly treasure, the more we give to others in things like encouragement, friendship and love, the more we will still have left.

So don’t wait to use God’s mailbox, he gets his “mail” every day 24/7 delivery is the same moment it is sent, and there is no day when he is not able to receive his mail. So don’t forget to put on that stamp of faith. You don’t even have to sign your name; He knows who you are already.

Battle Signs, Part 1
by Rick Warren

“I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I can’t. I do what I don’t want to – what I hate.” Romans 7:15 (LB)

I love how gut-level honest the Apostle Paul is in Romans 7. Here he was, a mature believer, one of the greatest Christians who ever lived, sharing his struggles with his fellow believers.

And I’m so glad he did! He shared the emotional battle that is going on inside me and you and everyone who is a Christian when we try to do the right thing on our own effort.

Paul highlighted six emotional costs. Today I want to cover the first three you will experience when there is a battle going on inside you between the old and new nature.

1. You will experience confusion. Paul said, “I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I can’t …” (Romans 7:15 LB). Notice that Paul said “I”. He didn’t lay the blame on another person or an enemy. He recognized the confusion came from within himself.
2. You will experience guilt and shame. “I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience proves that I agree with these laws I’m breaking” (Romans 7:16 LB). The word “conscience” means “with knowledge.” So if your conscience is bothering you, it means you did something with the full knowledge it was wrong. The outcome of a bothered conscience is guilt and shame. God doesn’t want you to carry that around.
3. The outcome is compulsions and addictions. If you don’t learn how to fight the battle inside you, it will lead to compulsions and addictions. As Paul said, “I can’t help myself because I am no longer doing it. It is sin inside me that is stronger than I am …” (Romans 7:17 LB). We have a natural human nature with a built-in resistance to doing the right thing. We want to do what is easy and fun, but we don’t naturally want to do what is right and good. Sin is fun, and it can easily become habitual.

Are any of these sounding familiar in your life? Talk to God about your concerns, but then listen for his guidance about what you should do. Tomorrow I’ll show you three more.

Are You in a Battle?

Ok, it's time to reactivate the blog and start postings. Over the next few days we will follow Rick Warren as he answers some pretty important questions. Enjoy.

Are You in a Battle?
by Rick Warren

“So you see how it is: my new life tells me to do right, but the old nature that is still inside me loves to sin. Oh, what a terrible predicament I’m in!” Romans 7:24a (LB)

Do you ever question whether you are really a Christian? You accept Christ and everything is going so well, but then you begin to feel like there is always a struggle to do the right thing, and you are not always successful. What happened?

The Apostle Paul struggled too. In Romans 7:15-23 he shared his personal struggles. He explained they were the struggles of his old nature, before he became a believer, conflicting with his new nature, received through the grace of Jesus Christ.

You will have similar struggles and temptations right up until the day you enter heaven. Paul says you will continue to lose the battle between the two natures if you rely only on your willpower. You can’t just say, “I’m going to stop sinning.” It won’t work. It will only lead to frustration.

Over the next several days, I want to explain to you some of the frustrations the Bible says you will face if you continue to try to win this battle on your own. And then I want to show you the three things Paul says will help you get the victory. So stick with me!