Christ-Likeness and The Word of God

 

  Christ-Likeness

 

The caterpillar of a moth, we are told, becomes like the color of the leaf upon which it feeds. The color in this way indicates the character of the food it eats.  If we would be like Christ we must feed on Him.  Our moral character will always manifest the color of our mental food.  Christ lived upon the Word of God His Father, and so maintained a life like Him.  If we would be His disciples we must come after Him in this matter.  Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3)  (Psalm 119:11; Psalm 119: 105.) 

Quote taken from- Handfuls on Purpose – Smith and Lee

I will bow down toward Your holy temple and will praise Your name for Your love and Your faithfulness, for You have exalted above all things Your Name and Your Word (Psalm 138:2).

Just as in the desert God provided manna for the people to feed on each day, in these last days He has provided the Word of God (Jesus) made flesh, for us to feed on.  Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God  (Mt.4:4; Lk.4:4; Deut.8:3).

As we feed on and digest His word, we will become spiritually nourished by it.  We are told in Psalm 119:11, to hide His word in our hearts so that we might not sin against Him.  When Satan tested Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus quoted the word of God to him in answer to each test.  (You may have noticed that Satan, true to his nature, will twist, add to, or omit parts of Scripture. If you compare Matthew 4:4 to Psalm 91:11, you will notice that when Satan quoted this particular Scripture, he omitted "in all your ways").

God wants us to store up His word in our hearts so that we are always prepared for temptations, tests, and trials.  He also wants us to be able to use His word for encouraging, correcting, rebuking, training in righteousness, and for discernment of what is correct teaching, and what is not.  Most importantly, He wants us to know Him better, and that comes through knowing the word of God, and practicing living it out more and more in our life under the Spirit's guidance and enablement.  It is through His word that we come to faith, and through His word that we grow spiritually.  However, we must never separate the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  The Holy Spirit opens our understanding of the word of God and takes the word of God which we have digested, and brings it to our mind at the appropriate time as we need it - in any circumstance.  He also empowers us through it as we submit to being vessels prepared for His use.

 Peter tells us to grow in grace and knowledge of God our Father  and our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1). We have everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him - so that we can escape the corruption in this world through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and prayerful communion with our Father.  We are to be diligent in adding to our faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. To grow in grace and knowledge and to be putting off known sinful ways and putting on Christ-like character.  As we let the fruit of the Spirit grow in us and practice living it out in our lives, we will progressively take on more and more of the character and love of Christ Jesus. 

Some Christians try to live by the Spirit alone, while neglecting the Bible. This can be dangerous, because if you don’t know what the Bible teaches and are not rooted in biblical doctrines, you may inadvertently spread false teaching, or be carried away by it because you lack discernment.  We are accountable to God for every careless word we speak. We must be very careful with His Word. We should not get our Bible knowledge from others,who may also have gotten it second hand from someone else. but we should be like the Berean's and check out if what we are being taught lines up with God's Word. See Acts 17:11.  Many people just take a verse out of context as a proof Scripture.  This can also be dangerous, as they get a wrong understanding because they have not checked out the context surrounding it, or looked up other biblical references to it to find out how it is used in other contexts as well.

Some Christians may be in the Bible much, but neglect the Spirit of God.  This can lead to legalism, and possibly becoming judgmental of others.  We must be respectful, graceful, and loving in all we do and say.

We must always keep these three together, prayer, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit, as they always work together.  Let us not separate them.

Do you separate the Holy Spirit from the Word of God or do you keep them together always, along with prayer to our Father?

The Word of God is the mind of Christ. See Rev.19:11-13.  The entire Bible, both O.T. and N.T. testifies of Christ. (Luke 24:25-27)  The Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance what we have digested of God’s Word.  This is so important because we don’t usually have a Bible in our hand at times of temptation, and often not when in many difficult circumstances, especially unexpected ones. But if we have His word stored up in our heart or at least digested, if not remembered, the Holy Spirit will be able to bring it to our mind when we most need to hear it.  Is this not a good enough reason for being daily in the Word digesting a passage a day, at least? I say a passage rather than just a verse, as a verse alone could be taken out of context.  We need to read the Scripture in context with surrounding Scripture.

James says, "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. (James 3:1). This makes me nervous... but also much more careful, and prayerful regarding what I write.  I know I will be judged more strictly if I get it wrong.  Therefore, I appreciate input from anyone out there who has any questions on anything I have written, to please comment and let me know, and I will certainly have it checked out.  It is important to have a teachable spirit, because only God is infallible. I am not a theologian or a seminary student, just a senior who loves to study God's Word and share with others.  My prayer is that everyone become a good Berean! In these days especially, and the days ahead, you will need to be.(Acts 17:11)


Meaning of digest here... 
 
Chew one's cud -

Fig. to think deeply; to be deeply involved in private thought. (Alludes to the cow's habit of bringing food back from the first stomach into the mouth to chew it, called chewing the cud.)

 

Ask all kinds of questions while reading and ask also, how does this relate to me or my circumstances? How does it relate to my spiritual growth? What have I learned from this passage? Why was this message given? What was the reason for this particular message? Why should I know this and how do I apply this to my life?

~Annie~

What Has Love and Attitudes Got To Do With It?

The Love Chapter

1Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.

 

Love is patient - When am I not?  In what type of situations do I have less patients?  When am I most patient?      
                                                       

Love does not envy - Do I envy at times?   If so, what or who, do I likely envy?                                         

Love does not boast - Do I boast at times?  If so, in what ways?                                         

Love is not proud -  Do I have a prideful attitude rather than a humble one?  In what ways?                                            

Love is not rude - Have I been carelessly, unintentionally, or unknowingly rude at times? In what ways?

Love is not self-seeking - In what ways am I more self-seeking? 

Love is not easily angered - What type of things, attitudes/behaviors, or situations easily anger you?  How do you deal with this? How quickly do you deal with it? Do you hold on to it for a period of time because you feel justified in it? How long before you cry out to God and fill Him in on your feelings, surrender the situation and feelings to Him, and listen to what He will impress on your heart?

Love keeps no record of wrongs - Do I bring up past history (things forgiven) when in a heated discussion? Do I attack the issue at hand, or the persons character? Am I able to still keep a forgiving spirit even though I may not feel it strongly until things have settled. How would Jesus want me to handle this? Is Jesus pleased with the way I am handling it?

Love does not delight in evil -  Do I delight in anything that I know will not please God?

Love rejoices with the truth - The truth always leaves one with a clear conscience and pleases Jesus.

Love always protects - In what ways does a parent protect their children? How does God similarly protect us?  In what ways does a parent discipline children?  How are God's ways similar when He disciplines us?  Why do you discipline and protect your children? Why does God discipline or protect His children?
 

Love always trusts -  We should always trust God, but especially with those we don't know well, even if we have casually known them for many years, use wisdom, and trust in increments as you learn to know them better.  People are fallible, God is infallible. 

Love always hopes - The only hope that is anchored and sure, is in Christ Jesus and His Word.

Love always perseveres - God provides tests and trials for His children to build their Christ-like character and to strengthen their faith as they look to Him, and rely on Him to bring them through. He also uses them to reveal to us what is really deep in our hearts so that we can surrender those things to Him. No matter how great the test or trial we must continue trusting and relying on God. Even though we don't have the answers we want and cannot understand the why's, when we know God's character and love, we know we can trust He knows what is best from an eternal perspective, and He will work all things out for good from His perfect perspective. He is the only One who knows the end from the beginning and all the details in between, and how to bring things together at the proper times.

Love never fails -  We may experience different types of failure in life, but God's love never fails. There is nothing or anyone who can take His love from us.  It is unconditional.  He wants us to practice unconditional love for others. This doesn't mean we condone wrongdoing, only that we will not stop caring for the person even though we may hate their behavior. We are to pray for those who wrong or hurt us, that God will work in their hearts to desire after Him.

 

At different times in our lives, and under different circumstances, and experiences, we will be tested in different areas of our life.  We know that God doesn’t need to test us, or allow us to be tested so that He will know how we will handle each situation.  God allows it so that we can see ourselves, as we really are, in our inner being.   He knows that we cannot see our faults as clearly as another can see them, just as we are able to see faults in others that they probably aren’t aware of.  Often we are not aware of some behaviors or attitudes until someone, usually a loved one, enlighten us.  This can be painful, but we can use the knowledge to ask God to help us change this attitude.   I say attitude, not behavior, because the behavior stems from the attitude.  This will take time, and lots of practice, probably with some slips, before you own the new attitude.
 

I have had some bad experiences over the past few years that were planned out by another to cause me a lot of stress, but it caused more anger than anything.   I found out I had been lied to and deceived when I was most vulnerable, at the time my husband died and I was deep in grief and my mind in a fog.  I had been trusting the manager of my building to be giving me correct information and believing she was telling me the truth.  She had been purposely giving me wrong information and withholding information I needed.I found out eleven months later that I had been set up to lose my rent subsidy and not being able to pay market rent, I would have been evicted. I had no choice but to report the situation to Housing as the manager of my building had another person who worked in the applications department helping her. Therefore, I did not lose my subsidy.  I thought I had forgiven the people involved and had even been praying for their salvation.  Because the harassment has been ongoing in intervals, I have found myself feeling angry again.  In between episodes, I would be rehashing why I was feeling angry and what would God want me to do?   I could have made it a legal matter, and still could, but is that what God wants?  I do not know.  Since I don’t know, I will keep praying for them, but also for myself concerning my attitudes. 

I have been examining my heart and realized that I have been too focused on them and the pain they have been causing, instead of focusing more on God and leaving them in His hands.   I need to let go of the record of wrongs and start seeing them as if they were my sisters and brothers that I love.  I need to see them through the eyes and heart of Christ Jesus.  I need to realize I cannot change their attitudes but I can have mine renewed.  Only God can change a heart.  I need to pray that way for them.   I want to keep my focus on Jesus by being rooted in His Word and reliant on His Spirit to direct and enable me to honor Christ Jesus in my attitudes, words, and behavior.  I need to keep uppermost in my mind that I represent Christ Jesus to all I meet, just as every Christian does.  How would my attitude compare to Jesus' attitude?

As life would have it, even when we think we have things under control and we are doing alright in our own minds, in rolls another test or trial to keep us in the transformation stage as we both grow in faith… and have another attitude or two renewed.

We could really dig into each of these attitudes above and get a lot out of them as we discover they pop up in our lives when we least expect them.  It is when we discover them in ourselves that we seriously need God’s help to root them out and replace them with a new Christ like attitude.  If the old attitude is just removed, and not replaced, it will slip back pretty fast.
 

Do you think there are a couple or even a few attitudes you would like to turn over to God and replace them with a Christ like one?  

Which ones do you find popping up the most in your life at this time?

What is the trigger most of the time?   Which people or situations in your life seem to trigger unwanted attitudes?  Why?   

Sometimes we may think we have dealt with anger or another negative emotion when it is still lurking in the deepness of our soul.  We may need to take it to God on more than one occasion to deal with it.   Psalms 62 tells us to pour out our hearts to God… when we are in a deep emotional state, whether anger, confusion, or grief, or other emotion, and are totally honest with God about our feelings, the good, the bad, and the ugly, He hears us.    Pause and listen and you will find His thoughts coming into mind (His thoughts will always agree with His Word and will never contradict any biblical principles). and you will know what He wants you to do in order to heal, and in order to forgive others so that you will be able  to begin letting go of the anger.  When the anger resurfaces, take it back to Him, reminding Him that you have chosen to forgive so you need Him to help you feel it.  It has been at these pouring out times that I have felt closest to God. 
 

Do others feel like they are always in one struggle or another in the attitude department?  Do you feel like even when you are practicing a new attitude that things happen that will challenge you on it?  Well, I guess God just wants us to practice using the new attitude,  and the only way that is going to happen is if it is tested enough times until it gets deeply rooted in. ;)

I hope I will hear from some of you, even if you want to remain anonymous, that's ok.  I would like to hear how others are dealing with attitudes, and maybe they can encourage others with the way they  handle their particular situations. 

  There is always an attitude to work on and sometimes it may be one we were previously working on. The important thing is that we recognize wrong attitudes and desire to replace them with godly ones.  The only way to do that is to surrender that area to God and practice another godly attitude in its place.  This is how the Holy Spirit takes the Word of God and transforms our heart attitudes so that we will progressively become more and more Christ-like in both character, love, and be living out what God has already put in, through Christ Jesus.  He supplies the power through His Word and the Holy Spirit.  That way, we are doing it because of the right motive and out of love for Christ. He puts the desire to honor Him in all we do and say, so it is a joy to work this out in our lives. We must remember we are not under the law; we are under grace, and He has given us more than enough to do everything we need to do with joy for His honor.

~Annie`

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Ps.90:12).

Meditations, Reflections, Insights

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Ps.90:12).

The length of our days is seventy years - or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. (Ps.90:10)

Have you noticed that during the phase of a lifetime our experience of time starts of very slow and continues in slow mode for at least one or two decades.  Remember when you were a kid how it seemed an eternity between one Christmas to the next, from one birthday to the next, or waiting until the end of June when School got out each year?  We wanted to grow up fast, maybe like an older brother or sister.  Those were the days before we were loaded with other cares and responsibilities of life.

During those earlier years, hopefully, we were progressively prepared in many of the age appropriate ways for entering into the adult world in the future... where we would be responsible not only for ourselves, but for, and to others as well.  In fact, others would be relying on us to fulfill our part.  The parents' job is to train up their child so that they will be prepared one day to graduate into the adult life and responsibilities, and do so successfully.  Unfortunately, many parents fail in this area, although not purposely. Many parents didn't have an example to follow because their parents didn't have parents who knew how to train up their children to be prepared for the adult world and its responsibilities.  I fell into this category myself, both as a child and as a young parent. 

Beginning around the third decade time begins moving faster and each decade following seems to pick up more speed than the decade before.  Before we know it, our children have grown and they now have children.  Where did life go?  What did I achieve?  It is better to learn late, than not at all. But I can't help wondering if we had learned how to adapt to life and its many changes and unexpected circumstances in healthier ways earlier in life, how much difference would that have made?  I believe it would have made a significant difference in many ways.  We cannot teach or model what we have not learned, so we model our dysfunctional ways in front of our children without realizing how much we are harming their outlook on life as they too pick up on negative attitudes, hopelessness, and other negative behaviors.  We want them to learn better ways than we have learned, because we love them, but we don't know how to model a better way.

Somewhere along the line, hopefully, we do learn how to be better parents and grandparents. It is usually after a point of recognition of how we are not the parent we want to be, and don't know how to be, that we begin seeking how to go about making changes in our own lives.  It has to begin with us because our lives affect others, especially our children, and spouses, not to mention, everyone we meet.  As we change progressively, we will find others seem to be changing their attitudes toward us as well. 

  

I'm sure I am not the only person who has wished they could start over with the knowledge they now have.  How many things about our past self we would change if we could.  Our lives would be so different, and maybe our children's lives would have been different too.  We know we cannot go back, only forward.  As long as we are still breathing we can grow and change, and model  healthier, life inspiring attitudes that build up, not tear down, that encourage, not discourage, that focus on love for Christ, and others, rather than only on ourselves. We can change our future by changing our attitudes toward life's circumstances, and toward others.  I thank God that He left us His Word, the Bible, for us to learn of Him, and through His Holy Spirit be able to have our attitudes transformed to become more like His.  We will not get it perfect in our lifetime, but we know we are His children who are ever learning, and are to practice modeling our new attitudes, love, and behavior so the world will recognize us as belonging to Christ.  It is only because of Christ Jesus' personal deep love and concern for us, that He shed His blood to give us a new life, in Him. It cost Him everything; it only costs us heart submission to Him, which will enable Him to change us through His Spirit and His Word.

 A scripture God laid on my heart many years ago was this:  Romans 12:1-2

1)Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy (Christ dying for our sins so we could have a new spirit-empowered life through Him), offer your bodies as "living" sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.

2)Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will.

What are your thoughts on this?

Maybe you had parents who knew how to train up their children to become responsible caring adults who love God and others, and have Christ like attitudes.  Maybe you didn't.  Either way, I would love to hear your responses or maybe how you came to recognize a need to change.

~Annie~

Preview

Why Do You Say God's Ways Are Unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

Why Do You Say God's Ways Are Unjust? 

Is it not your ways that are unjust? 

Ezekiel 18:21-23,25,30,31 

 

Today, even as in other generations, those who do not know God think He is unjust. What does God say to this? God said, "If a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed (repents) and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live... None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live. Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their wicked ways and live?  Yet you say,'The way of the LORD is not just.' Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?  (Consider your offenses you have committed and turn away from them.) ... Repent!  Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.  Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live! 

Today, we repent (turn from sinful ways) and turn to God through faith in Jesus Christ who paid the ultimate price for our sins on the cross and proved He was Sovereign God by rising from the dead. Just as He died for our sins, we are to now die to sin, and just as He rose to life, we are to rise to a new life lived from Him, to Him, and for Him. He has freed us from the bondage of sin so that with the help of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, we may do so. He has given us the promised new heart and new spirit within us to desire after Him. 

We need to occasionally examine our hearts to see if we have any hidden sin in us that we need to take to God in prayer and give it to Him. Why? so He can enable us to be free from it and progressively replace it with the character and attitude of Christ.   We need to remember that all behaviors first stem from an attitude.  We must bring the attitude to God and with the attitude changed, the behavior will gradually follow suit.

God sees our hearts and examines our motives, and knows all we think and do. It isn't difficult for us to see the faults or sins of others, but we are often blind to our own faults...at least, until someone points them out to us. We all need to examine our own heart attitudes and even those things that may be pointed out to us, to see how, when, or why we exhibit a particular behavior, and to bring it to God. We are to pour out our heart to Him to help us change our attitude in that area and replace it with a more humble, gentle, patient, sensitive attitude in order that we would honor Christ in all our ways. 

It doesn't feel good when someone (often a family member) points out a fault, but if we want to grow in both grace and knowledge and honor Christ in all our attitudes and ways, we need to examine our own heart attitudes and how our words may sound to others... even if they weren't meant to sound that way. Do we come off as a know-it-all? Do we talk twice as much as we listen, when it should be the other way around? Who is our focus on, ourselves, or others when we are speaking? Do we speak to them as we would like to be spoken to, or do we talk in a way one would to a child or someone with a dementia? Do we have a control problem? Do we have a pride problem or lack of humbleness? We should examine our heart attitudes not to feel guilty, but to grow spiritually to emulate the character of Christ Jesus more and more. We must first recognize our faulty areas before we can practice new biblical attitudes to replace the old ones.  Sometimes God may show us a fault at a time while listening to another person who has that same type of fault.  They probably do not realize how they sound to another either.  We cannot change another’s behavior or attitude, but we can certainly ask God’s help for working on ours. This will be a witness to others that with the Holy Spirit and the Word of God and prayer, we can have our attitudes transformed, and grow more and more in grace.

Do you find you have learned behaviors and attitudes passed on by parents? Many of us do and we aren't always aware of this either, until someone points it out to us. I have three sisters, and a friend of mine has two sisters. In both of our families there is a spirit of competitiveness, a stubbornness, a need to be in control of our environment, a need to rescue others, as well as a need to watch our backs. When you get two or three sisters (or brothers) who hang out together who carry same or similar family traits it can become a real challenge in the patience department, and for your relationship to survive, forgiveness is a necessity to learn and practice.

We are not responsible for our parent's faults, or sins, and neither are they responsible for ours. We are each responsible for our own, and are responsible to look to Christ Jesus as the answer for salvation for the penalty of our sins, and through faith in Him by the grace God gives, we find out that Jesus also released us from the power of sin in our lives, when we are focused on Him rather than ourselves. He has also given us the Holy Spirit as our Counselor, Director, and Enabler. The Holy Spirit teaches us through the Word of God how to live our lives to glorify God (Hebrews 12:1-3) and honor Christ in both attitude and action.(Romans 2:1-2) He has given us everything we need to live a godly life. (1 Peter 1:1-9)

God is so just that He took the penalty for our sin upon Himself and gave us the freedom to choose life or death.  Eternal life comes through Jesus Christ, who is the only Way, Truth, and life (John 14:6). Life is in and through His Son, Jesus Christ and if we reject Him, we reject God, and therefore eternal life.  Why does anyone want to stay in their sin and die in it?  All who will come to Jesus, He will not cast out. It is our choice.  Faith comes through the Word of God (Romans 10:17) and we are nourished by the Word of God on a daily basis. (Matthew 4:4); The Word is our food and the Holy Spirit is our refreshment.  We need both, as they always work together.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on anything in this post in the comment section below.  Thank you.

~Annie~

Spiritually Flourishing

Meditations, Reflections, Insights

 Psalm 92: 1-2 and vv.12-15 

                                                          

Spiritually Flourishing

 

1.  It is good to give thanks to the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High.

      a) How often do I give thanks and give praise? 

      b) When is the most likely time I do? 

      c) When do I most likely forget to give thanks and praise His name? 

2.  To declare Your loving-kindness in the morning and Your faithfulness every night.

      a) What are the first thoughts and the first words out of my heart and my mouth in the morning?

      b) In what way(s) did God show His faithfulness yesterday and through the night?

12. The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree (symbol of being victorious), he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. (Cedars grow in forests and therefore help each other withstand the storms). Another way to look at a Palm tree is as a symbol of a single victorious witness and the cedar as a collective witness/testimonial as a church.

13. Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.  When we are firmly rooted in the Word of God and seeking to live our lives in His presence and for His glory, desiring His will rather than our own, we will flourish in our spiritual life and become a light in this dark world.  As a moth is attracted to the light, seekers will be attracted to those who are letting their light shine brightly and are always prepared to give an answer for the reason for the hope that is in them. And they will do so with gentleness and respect.  (1 Peter 3:15)

14. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing.   Even though as we age our bodies begin their wearing out and we often have to adjust to aches and pains, our hearing and/or vision depreciates, and we have difficulties in other areas, the one area that is not wearing out is our spiritual life.  Our spiritual life will still flourish as we feed on the manna and drink of the Spirit and look to the Son.  This reminds me of 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at things that are seen, but at the things which are not seen.  For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.  (The "Therefore" at the beginning of this passage refers to vv. 7-15)  2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

15. To declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.  He is the Rock of our salvation, and He is full of grace and truth. (John 1). He is the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14).

What are your thoughts on God's faithfulness and on spiritually flourishing?  Please share your thoughts or experience so others may be encouraged...if you are comfortable doing so.

~Annie~