It seems like we all love crosses.Their on the Church Steeples, on our Bibles, made into jewelery. But there are two crosses that we do not like.The the cross that we are to bear, and the one that we are to be crucified upon.
When one is crucified their hands and feet are bond or nailed to the cross.The body of flesh becomes totally subjected to the will of the cross.When we continually find ourselves sinning the same sins over and over again it is because we are not submitting to the will of the cross.We might say that we are just to weak, satan provides us with many excuses today for the evil that he wants us to dwell in.But the truth is we have no excuses."The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations..2 Peter 2:9a.Many will tell you today that we cannot earn our salvation, and they are right.Salvation is free to us because Jesus paid the price for it.But it will cost you everything to keep it, Luke 18:22.You will always find Christians among the crosses
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" Mathew 16:24.
"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" Romans 6:6.
"And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” Galatians 5:24.
UNSILENCED LAMB, my heart aches for you, I know what it is like to have to un-in-doctrinate yourself.But each day will be a new and better one, I can promise you that.Keep going, there is nothing back there to go to.God be with you.
About admin
Same as any relationship. Constant communication.
Yours in Christ,
Miss Mona
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I make sure to make time for Him. Every evening I have my "quiet time" where I read some scriptures, or maybe listen to some Christian songs, etc, and then I pray. I find that when I make time for Him, I feel my relationship with Him gets stronger. Good luck, and God bless.
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My guess would be by a constant dose of self-deception.
-S-
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It seems like we all love crosses.Their on the Church Steeples, on our Bibles, made into jewelery. But there are two crosses that we do not like.The the cross that we are to bear, and the one that we are to be crucified upon.
When one is crucified their hands and feet are bond or nailed to the cross.The body of flesh becomes totally subjected to the will of the cross.When we continually find ourselves sinning the same sins over and over again it is because we are not submitting to the will of the cross.We might say that we are just to weak, satan provides us with many excuses today for the evil that he wants us to dwell in.But the truth is we have no excuses."The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations..2 Peter 2:9a.Many will tell you today that we cannot earn our salvation, and they are right.Salvation is free to us because Jesus paid the price for it.But it will cost you everything to keep it, Luke 18:22.You will always find Christians among the crosses
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" Mathew 16:24.
"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" Romans 6:6.
"And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” Galatians 5:24.
UNSILENCED LAMB, my heart aches for you, I know what it is like to have to un-in-doctrinate yourself.But each day will be a new and better one, I can promise you that.Keep going, there is nothing back there to go to.God be with you.
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Jesus
Unless you know how to speak directly to him, the best you can do is probably talk to him in your head, or out loud….I’ve yet to hear him reply, though. I really don’t know how you’d maintain a personal relationship with a dead person.
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he’s dead so u rly can’t. that’d be maintaing a relationship with my dead kitty. its impossible
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Talk to him…just like he’s your best friend cause he is and read his word everyday also go to church.
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We talk all the time.
And when He answers… better believe I stop and listen.
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You should not, that would be an act of Idol worship.Jesus was a human being and is not to be worshiped.It’s in the ten commandments thou shall have no other gods before me.
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By receiving the Eucharist which is the ultimate personal relationship with Christ.
In Christ
Fr. Joseph
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Christ’s words that unless one eats His Body and drinks His Blood they have no life in them.
That is personally been very hard for me since leaving the Witnesses. I never had a relationship with god as a witness, and I had a very abusive father, so it is very hard for me to understand God’s fatherly love
God has saved me and nurtured me and kept me well, in spite of my inability to love him in the way that I want to…I do have joy and guilt free worship, the rest is coming slowly.
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I talk to Him all the time.
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My greatest help in maintaining my personal relationship with Jesus, is the thought that He would have hung on that cross just for me if I had been the only sinner in the world. He still loved me enough that He would have done that just for me.
Also, you can grow closer through prayer, through constantly thanking Him for all He has done for us, and asking Him to guide you in the direction you need to go. He will put opportunities out there for you if you trust in Him.
Also, through the study of God’s Word, and by having fellowship with other Christians.
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I think of my father almost every day. I think of Jesus most days. I often silently pray to them and ask for them to continue looking after us and thank them for the things I have.
I don’t go to church but I don’t think that really matters. Father and Jesus know us going to church will not change that. I also believe that religon is no longer a thing to follow. Each faith has been created by man to meet the need of someone. Look at the Anglican church for example they are looking at separating from each other over female priest. Look at the Church of Enland and why they were created. Think of the Muslim community and read who the authors of the Karan were. Look at the Buddit monks and where there faith came from. Each as good as those faithful to it think it is fights within, with other religons etc.
So I maintain my personal relationship with Father and Jesus by talking to them where ever I am.
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To maintain a relationship with Christ you must pray. He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. You must also, to the best of your abilities, follow His commands, which He summed up into these. #1"Love the Lord God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul."
#2 "Love your neighbor as yourself." In these 2 commandments hangs all the Law and the Prophets. Read the Word of God.
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you pray constantly, you love him, you talk to him like your talking to your best friend, you trust him, you put him in all you decisions, and when you do these things, then you can truly feel him, and you know he’s there, watching over you and loving you.
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Prayer by all means would have to be the strongest I would say, and of course living for Him. Letting the Holy Spirit mold you into what God would have you be. Even though we are still sinners we can still strive to be a good testimony for the lost, and even for the saved. God is our role model and no human should be, because there is only one that is perfect. Also by reading how the apostles lived, and what pleased Jesus, and how He wanted them to live like.
To maintain a personal relationship you must have one first, and in order to obtain one you must be saved.
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he watches everything I do
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Hey sister.. I really do love questions like these because they have a way of taking us away from everything else in this world that does not matter and brings us back into the central lane of what is crucial in our lives as believers. The top matter to me as a christian is to maintain a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.
The key here is in the word maintain. Anything that we feed and care for will grow. From a plant to a child. Our relationship with the Lord is the same. He said that He is the Vine.. we are the branches. We are attached to Him in such an organic way. Its not in a religious outward way that we are part of Christ and of His body.
2 Corinthians 1:21
"But the One who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God"
So the problem sister is not in the attachment to Christ as the Vine… but the problem lies in our maintaining that flow and abiding in the Lord as a healthy branch in the Vine.
Just last night I was taking care of a plant in the living room. It was a vine with many leaves on it. Some were healthy and green.. some were brown and crispy. Both were still attached to the vine but whereas some were maintaining a healthy flow and abiding relationship with the vine .. others cut off the flow of norishment and supply from the vine and started gradually drying up.
While cutting them off to discard them I was again reminded that the Life that I need to have in the Lord is an abiding Life.. that the Lord has such a strong desire to abide in me but according to this verse in John 15:4.. I need to abide IN Him so that He can have a way to abide IN me!
" Abide IN Me and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me"
Vs 6 has a strong warning to us
" If one does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is dried up, and they gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned"
We do not want to come to this point in our christian walk so I just really want to emphasize sister that to abide in the Lord and take care of this most crucial relationship that affects all of our other relationships we need to….
Keep our being under the Lord’s blood.
*This blood keeps us in the fellowship with the Lord by taking care of our sins that will come up to cut off the fellowship and flow between us and God.
1 John 1:19
If we confess our sins He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness:)
*Spend time in the morning especially.. even for five to ten minutes to open our being up to the Lord. Let Him rise in us as the New Dawn. Shining His light upon us, because sweet sister Nina.. we know that light does many things… It exposes things that are hidden.. hidden sins that are like rocks in our being.. In Mark 4 these rocks will cause the Lord as the seed of Life in us to be stunted, His roots cannot go deep into the soil of our hearts..If our "root life" is poor…our growth will be poor. The Lord as Light also causes us to grow in Him. Nothing like sunshine to make things grow in a healthy way:).. and as Light the Lord shows us a way to move on. He is the Living Word and He is the Lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.
In the mornings too we can gather the manna. Wow.. Each morning sweet sister..He comes to us as manna… fresh with each new day.. its all made ready.. we just need to ‘ gather" and enjoy Him by coming to Him and saying " Oh Lord Jesus.. I love You.. thank You for this new day.. Be my supply this morning.. I do not want to face this wilderness without You as my nourishment and life supply..I open my being to take You in as the Living Word"
He also causes the Manna to fall with the Dew. oh sister.. such dew is symbolic of Grace to us. Each day we need to receive Christ as our All sufficient Grace. All that God affords us as His believer is found in Christ as the Dew of Grace. We take Him as Grace to run in the Race set before us each day..halleluljah!
Feed me Lord Jesus/
Give me to drink/
Fill all my hunger/
Quench all my thirst/
Flood me with Joy/
Be the strength of my Life/
We feed by reading and enjoying the word.. and we drink by praying in the spirit and In the Holy Spirit…
Whatever we feed will grow. The Lord in us will grow when we take care of our spirits by feeding and nourishing it.. drinking in the Spirit and enjoying calling upon His life giving Name.
* Taking care of not just a vertical fellowship with the Lord one on one but also maintaining horizontal fellowship with other believers and branches in the Vine.
1 John 1:7
If we walk in the Light as He is in the Light we have fellowship with one another and the Blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin"
Out from our fellowship with the Lord we are lead into fellowship with one another..
One thing I have truly appreciated over the years sister, is that we are not individual believers, but we are part of the Wondeful Body of Christ. My spirituality is not for me… its for the benefit and building up of the Body of Christ. When God looks on the earth.. He does not see many little men and women.. He sees the ONE NEW MAN… the Church… the Body of Christ.. the Bride….He sees One work… One ministry.. One Purpose.. One Goal…. and you and I are a part of this:)
The world does not behold it nor can it.. but God gives us eyes to see and ears to hear what He is doing.
This sister is the controlling vision… That regulates us as believes..It encourages us to realize that we need to maintain our life relationship with the Lord… to not do so does not just affect us… but it affects the Body.
In our human body a simple virus can affect the entire body… My sin is not just mine.. I am attached. I need to see this and open my being to avail myself of the Lord’s blood more and more.
May the Body build itself up in Love…
Sister..I need your portion.. you need mine.. I maintain my christian life for YOU… and you for me. I may never see you in person.. but our Lord is working and moving in the realm of the Spirit to build His church..He is joining and fitting together each part. Every joint.. every part and function and operation is needed.
Ephesians 4:16
Out from whom all the Body being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in Love!
I love you sis..
Lets press on for the Lord and for one another….
Your sister,fellow branch and member in Christ..
sandy
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http://www.lsm.org
Recovery Version Bible
Primarily, by following Christ and Christ’s example.
The bible itself most closely associates being "Christian" with preaching about Christ and Christ’s teachings. Review all three times the bible uses the term "Christian" and note that the context connects the term with:
"declaring the good news"
‘teaching quite a crowd’
‘open eyes, turn from dark to light’
"uttering sayings of truth"
"persuade"
"keep on glorifying"
(Acts 11:20-26) [The early disciples of Jesus] began talking to the Greek-speaking people, declaring the good news of the Lord Jesus… and taught quite a crowd, and it was first in Antioch that the disciples were by divine providence called Christians.
(Acts 26:17-28) [Jesus said to Paul] I am sending you, to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God… Paul said: “I am not going mad, Your Excellency Festus, but I am uttering sayings of truth and of soundness of mind. …Do you, King Agrippa, believe the Prophets? I know you believe.” But Agrippa said to Paul: “In a short time you would persuade me to become a Christian.”
(1 Peter 4:14-16) If you are being reproached for the name of Christ, you are happy… But if he suffers as a Christian, let him not feel shame, but let him keep on glorifying God in this name
So why do anti-Witnesses try to hijack the term "Christian" and hide its Scriptural implications? Because anti-Witnesses recognize that it is the preaching work that makes it clear that the relatively small religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses are by far the most prominent followers of Christ:
(Matthew 28:19,20) Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded
Learn more!
http://watchtower.co.uk/e/ti/index.htm?article=article_04.htm
http://watchtower.co.uk/e/20050422/article_02.htm
http://jw-media.org/people/ministry.htm
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