Memoirs of Abiding

What is self-forgiveness? Do we have the power to forgive ourselves?  How then do we move past the shame we have for the things we previously did without self-forgiveness? Romans 6:20-23 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving  from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your  benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

Forgiveness of other people in our lives. Forgiveness is not about what WE GET from it.  How do we walk in forgiveness when it is aimed at others? OR when we have wronged others? Colossians 3:13 - Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Ephesians 4:32 - Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. What does forgiveness look like when lived day to day from another’s offense? Matthew 18:22-35 Forgiveness means taking what we think should be their penance or punishment, and turning that over for God’s judgment or control. This can be in each instance that the thought of their wrong comes up.  Forgiveness does not look like forgetting the trespass. Instead it looks like forgiving their sin against us, then if there is hope for reconciliation trust but be rebuild. Forgiveness does not mean no accountability. oooo Forgive and get on with life attitude, how this can be toxic? James 3 Titus There is no reason in this world to forgive someone for these awful things, but there is a reason outside of this world. 

What is sin that we need forgiveness? It isn’t necessarily the ugly evil in the world. God sees us in our horrendous circumstances, and wants to desperately rescue us from this horror. Forgiveness covers everything that is mankind’s separation from God. Old 2 Samuel 13 Psalm 103 - Bless the Lord, O my soul,And all that is within me, bless His holy name. 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,And forget none of His benefits;3 Who pardons all your iniquities,Who heals all your diseases;4 Who redeems your life from the pit,Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;5 Who satisfies your [a]years with good things,So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. 6 The Lord performs [b]righteous deedsAnd judgments for all who are oppressed.  7 He made known His ways to Moses,His acts to the sons of Israel.  8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.  9 He will not always strive with us,Nor will He keep His anger forever. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,So great is His lovingkindness toward those who [c]fear Him.12 As far as the east is from the west,So far has He removed our transgressions from us.   New Testament Matthew 11:28-30 Romans 5/6 Questions or would like to engage with us, contact chris@memoirsofabiding.com

How should John 14 and 15 pave the way for our prayer life to look?  Similar to what was said in John 14. The Fruit of John 15 is looking more like Jesus and abiding closer to him.  The example of a healthy prayer life is if it is aligned in the will of God. Our prayers look like Jesus’ prayers. We want God’s will to be done. How should a healthy prayer life look for an abiding believer in Christ? Let’s look at some of the prayers of the saints in the New Testament: Lord’s Prayer Matthew 6:9-13 Philippians 1:9-11 Paul’s Prayer Ephesians 3:17-19 2 Corinthians 12 Supplemental scripture to look at: 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 High Priestly Prayer John 17

How do Christians normally expect God to answer a prayer?   I asked this of one of my groups the other night.  Answers: with exactly what I prayed, signs, an audible voice, opening/closing doors, in music, symbology, through others. Wisdom previous illumination or word of God, standard mind of Christ Evaluating prayer life in terms of what the Bible shows What does John 14:13-14 truly mean? Luke 22 Abiding in the Father, abiding in the son, our prayers

What does it mean to persevere through a trial? How do we know we have done it? Luke 22 Jesus deeply troubled in garden of Gethsemane. Perseverance through a trial should look like Jesus did, translate my pain into your glory. That I grow more into the image of Jesus. That we trust him, and grow in our faith, that we can handle the next trial more comfortably.  2 Corinthians 12: What does the outcome and end result look like after a trial? Romans 8  What does this perseverance do for the life of an abiding believer in Christ? James 1: Reminiscing through the last 100 episodes: What’s been your favorite episode and why?

Part 2. The pain and trial: Many times we experience tremendous pain and grief at the loss in our lives.  Why do we want to avoid the pain? Avoid sorrow, experiencing discomfort, stuck point to stay away from hurt Luke 22- discipleship sleeping in the garden to avoid the sorrow. Why doesn’t He always remove the pain from the loss or trials? The Exodus 1 Peter 1:5-9 Romans 7 How can we experience the pain, but give it to the Lord? Jeremiah-Lamentations 3:19

Part 1. The initial outlook: Looking at loss in life can be difficult. There are many types of loss we may experience: Loss of significant other, friends, jobs, clout, ability, financial stability, control, or even loss of self identity. All these cause a varying level of grief in the life of the individual who is going through this. We understand this grief and can see it manifest in many different ways. It may come out through isolation, emotional outbursts, or in how we conduct ourselves each day.  Any time we are in the thick of the situation it is hard to stop and see the potential for God’s work through it. He is there. What are some ways to see God’s work in difficult situations? Remembering who God is and what he has done; both in history and in our own lives. What are some tools or activities we can do to make sure we don’t miss Him in it all? What does this begin to look like in the life of an abiding believer? Keeping the eyes and heart fixed on the things above and not on our situation or problems.  We fill our life with the Word of God and life of God. Our new method of thinking becomes the mind of Christ. We start to look, speak, and act more like Jesus.  Elisha and the servant (2 Kings 6:8-19) King David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17:4-37)

Genesis 1:26 Many different descriptions for made in Our likeness. Many aren’t correct in their interpretation. THere are rules to understanding the Word of God, it isn’t a ragtag series of verses. We need to understand the context of the writings of that book, what would have been understood by the original hearers and readers.  We don’t see God telling us what the image of God is. We do see Him give us a mission to do what he does. He Created, We procreate (creating in the world). We are his vice-regents. We are to rule in His Creation.  Romans 8:29 We have been called to be predestined to this likeness in Christ. In seeing the perfect representation of the Father, Jesus walked this world, as the express image of the Father. When we see this illustration through the life and works of Jesus, living in everything to glorify God, in works and words, and so we become the illustration of Jesus in this world. As we abide in Him and in His Word, we show Christ through our actions and words.  1 Corinthians 15:49 Earthly man is where we started, heavenly man is what we are becoming, since salvation.  John passages: 8:28-29- Jesus doesn’t do things on his own initiative.  12:49-50- I don’t speak on my own initiative 14:10- I don’t speak my words on my own initiative, but the Father in me. 2 Corinthians 3:18 We are truly being transformed into the image and likeness of Christ. Maybe your life doesn’t reflect that yet, just like the Corinthians weren’t. But stop and think about it. God’s glory is unveiling in us. The same truth applies to us as it did in Moses’ case, where he reflected the glory of God on his face. And as you understand this more, may your mouth drop at the illumination of it all. As Jesus abided in the Father’s Words and Works, we can in some aspect, see the same things in Him.  Supplemental Scripture 1 Thessalonians 1:6-8 The questions: What does it mean likeness or image of God? Why is this an important identity for the abiding brother or sister in Christ? What do we need to do in order to look more like Jesus, become more and more the image bearers?  Go deeper and deeper into the Word of God. You don’t have to know everything, to display the wonders and beauty of the Lord. The Thessalonians didn’t have much knowledge due to Paul being pushed out of Thessalonika after just about 3 weeks. But it was enough to shine and unveil the glory of God in their lives, and spread throughout the lands.

As a citizen of heaven we have been left here by God to represent the kingdom of heaven. As people then see us, then they see Jesus.  Hebrews 11:13 If our hope is in our nation or government, in our citizenship here on this place we have very little hope. The world is falling apart, cultures are being destroyed and governments are being corrupted. If that’s truly our hope, we won’t find any strength. If our citizenship in heaven is our primary focus, then we can take strength and know our future is bright. When one closely identifies with the conservative movement or progressive movement you will find they are likely not identifying with Jesus.  Our attitude needs to be measured by how we are ambassadors for our savior. Are we tender hearted? Do we bash on the leaders?  Many of us just want to live comfortably and not in the pain and heartache. Our desire for comfort is oftentimes greater than our desire for abiding in the Lord and his sufferings. 2 Corinthians 5:1-20 Philippians 3:20 1 Peter 2:11

There is a lot in a name, identity. It can give us a purpose, and meaning in life. We see that in the Bible in Cephas (peter), Abraham (Abram). In pop culture we see it in Lord of the Rings characters Aragorn, and in the Gladiator movie for Maximus.  Everyone is in search for meaning and purpose. Identity is the struggle our culture is facing these days. What everyone is looking for is the ultimate purpose and meaning, which is found in Christ.  1 John 3:9-10 But wait, what if I do sin? Does that make me a child of God or am I not? Romans 7:14-25 Romans 6:15-23 We are not just sinners, liars, or cheats. We are saints. We are holy through what Christ did The more that we can stand on the identity that we have as a child of God, the less the hauntings of the past and old habits drive us.  Galatians 4:1-7 1 John 5:1-4 1 John 5:20 It doesn’t take much to become a child of God. Through Faith in Christ we are ushered in through adoption into the royal family, to become children of the Most High. Have you trusted in Him?

Why is knowing our identity so important? How does actually knowing our identity affect our life on this planet? I’m a lot of things, isn’t Christian just another label? The Contrast, before and after: Romans 3:10-20-> Romans 8:14-17 Are we really children of the Most High? 1 John 3:1-2 Romans 8:15-16 John 1:12-13 Galatians 3:26

God uses us to comfort others, we are the hands and feet, eyes and ears. This is seen in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, 14.  2 Corinthians 1:3-7 Walking with Jesus will nearly always bring us to a point of suffering.  Many times we hear the idea that the best person to comfort you is someone who has gone through the same thing. That may not always be the wisest position. While this may not be wrong, but we know that person’s circumstances and surroundings were not our circumstances and surroundings. What we can be comforted in is any believer who has followed Christ and has gone through comfort through affliction. So those who have found rest in the Trinity through afflictions can now provide comfort. They’ve learned rest and can now help with comfort. This happens when they share their testimony and the word of God through what they found comfort. So then through this they are sharing not just their own experiences, but sharing those things of above or the things of God.  When we share our testimony of God’s comfort in our time of need, the scriptures He brought to us, or the realization of God’s promises in it, it can help others to see God in the process.  How do we comfort others? When you abide in Christ, you become more like him. The more we become like him, we talk like him, think life him, act like him. This then empowers us to reach out to others.  John 15 Jesus talks about fruit of the vine. The fruit Jesus is talking about is looking like him. The way he bears fruit for the Father. So this then applies to us as we abide and bear the fruit of becoming more like Jesus. And all of this is because of our love for him. We don’t just comfort others because it looks good in their eyes, they need it, or that’s the things we are supposed to do, but it is because we love Jesus. Those 3 things may be true, but the real point is our abiding with the Lord.  This is all a picture of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Even with this picture of comforting those with the comfort we are comforted with from others who have been comforted with the comfort of God through the middle of affliction and adversity.  What did Jesus do in the Garden of Gethsemane, he brought prayer and received comfort. What is Paul asking to the church in Corinth: to pray.  What will we do when we comfort others? We will pray. This is seen in the gospels with how Jesus performed his ministry.  People need rest, and God has the solution. We see an example of this 2 Corinthians 7:5-7

Resting in God’s work 5 miracles of salvation bring us into a spiritual new life on earth.  Adoption Justification Redemption Reconciliation Regeneration Conclusions we can come to based on the word of God IF there is sin, we can know trouble will haunt us.  This is because of the consequences of sin. This can either be due to ignorance or willful disobedience to God Praying for relief of weakness, doesn’t always bring a healing. There are physical weaknesses, injuries, sickness, or cancer that isn’t promised to be healed in the Word of God. This isn’t a promise. Yet God will sometimes answer this. There are spiritual weaknesses, addictions, sin patterns, that CAN be healed. This is promised in the Word of God.  We can understand this when we are abiding in the Lord and in His Word.  We can begin to see why we are not getting the victory, because I am not depending on God in the right areas and I’m claiming promises of God that are never made.  Once we are able to think abstractly and reasonably about the things of our past, we can begin to take the steps to healing.  Looking at the right and wrong understanding of God’s works. Many times we believe the removal of obstacles will help us to rest. But when we are looking at the situation it isn’t the obstacles bringing the conflict or lack of rest. We then find that our relationship with the Lord brings the peace, which allows us to find rest. The best representation is continuing to hide the Lord’s word in our hearts, then we would delight in Him, and as a result we see the child of God who looks like the image in Psalm 1.

-Barrier to resting 1 John 4:13-18 love can drive out fears You can deal with your fears through abiding in His love.  -How Fear can prevent resting in the peace of the Lord People Pleasing Worried that others could be offended People always vying for their attention and time. Eventually no time for devotion, relax, allowing the brain to settle.  perfectionism to find acceptance Luke 22 -How can we stand on the promises of the Lord 1 Cor. 3:10-15 -Finding the promises of God Through his word, by hiding it in our hearts.

-finding peace in the battles Psalm 37:7 Psalm 23 Matthew 11:28-30 Sometimes we feel like we need to rest from our vacation. Rest with the Lord is about restoration. This doesn’t always require time away, but with our relationship with the Lord we can find rest in Him. This comes out with peace in our lives.  As we continually come to Jesus, he continually gives us rest. The Lord produces it in us.  -what does rest look like Mountain top vs. Valley Mountain tops are the spiritual highs of life. Valley living is the spiritual depression or conflicted times.  The abundant life in God is not just heaven, but is now.  When we go through difficulty or conflict, we can rest assured we have the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit working in our lives.  John 16 We will go through conflict, because we live in a troubled world.  James 1 Pain does not have to be absent in our lives in order to experience rest and peace. We can experience both at the same time. Until we understand that then we can’t understand the premise that only then can we experience rest and contentment. Peace and pain walk hand in hand.  Take it easy, and restored Sometimes the greatest moments of rest are just sitting with the Lord and talking about the day or current events in our lives. Just to feel listened to can be refreshing.  We want to make sure the word of God is resonant in our soul. Then God will take the Word stored up in our lives, illuminate his word in our lives.  Many think this is extra-biblical stuff.

We have to look at and start with the physiological or biological position first. An individual who is addicted needs to know there are different options to help them to get back to a position where they can think straight again. Rehabilitation, medical aversive therapy, or other similar organizations can be options, though rehabs usually have a very low efficacy. In other words, many people return multiple times throughout their lives.  Start with getting everyone together, those who are important in their lives and make sure everyone is on the same page. Ultimately, for those who are addicted, or those who want their loved ones to break free of addiction, when we look at how to set them up for success. If the person can’t think rationally, they can’t get clean. Locations that are similar to Honeylake.clinic or missionhouseministry.org. We need to look at the social positions for a person; Mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, relational.  How does the addict begin to experience the love of God to such an extent it overcomes the desire for the addictive substance? Start to see if there is an attachment to the addictive behaviors with a trauma or thought? Sharing these thoughts with a safe person who is a part of your accountability.  We need to have the body of Christ there for accountability, but walk in a loving manner towards them. They can help remind them of the darkness and bringing the light. You will want to be able to invite your family to partner with you. A good book that shares this idea is Get Your Loved One Sober: Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading, and Threatening by Brenda L. Wolfe and Robert J. Meyers    Having family and friend support for the loved one. Support can be in multiple ways, helping with chores, giving resources. Finding the root of the addictive behaviors. Confessing to the Lord (meaning to agree with the Lord and truth about who you are) The living with dependence on the Lord, to allow him to sustain through Ask the Lord then to rewrite our triggers, horrid thoughts, allowing us to live as called for by the Lord. When we know we are identifying with the Lord and not with the trauma and the addiction, we can truly start to see a massive change. 

Abiding in the Word of God can bring us through in a situation where we have interaction with an addict. We can see this through the reading of John 12-18. Even through all of this we may find anxiety and angst each day when it comes to dealing with this person. And for the co-parent it can be worse because children are involved. How then can we abide through this? What are some areas we can see this. Pray to the Lord throughout the day. Don’t just hold it to morning devotions. Pour the passages of scripture that are pertinent to abiding to God’s Word and God’s Love. (Psalm 119, John 14,15, ) Remember then that the scripture you find can even be memorized so you always have it available. This can lead to wisdom and knowledge coming to you in times of difficulty.  Many times we see platitudes used, but we as christians haven’t done a great job of teaching how. “Just depend on the Holy Spirit,” one leader might say. But when it comes down to the how, it isn’t described. This is where we can open the word of God and see this described by Jesus.  The more we pour the Word of God into our heart, the more we set ourselves to have the Father/Son/Spirit to recall to our memory. This isn’t just our mind recalling this information. This is in our spirit illuminated by God Himself. This builds a true relationship with God.  Now as we encounter someone with an addictive problem, we don’t come to it with our own strength, but with the strength of God in our life. With the joy of God in our life. It transforms us to become more like Jesus. Now we can be assured, calm, and know everything will be ok because we are walking side by side with God and the Holy Spirit.  Our emotions can sometimes also drive us to unhealthy habits in dealing with those addicted individuals. This can drive us to enable. This can also lead to letting down boundaries. A good example of this is forgiveness. Forgiveness is about forgiving the other person’s debt, not about how I feel. This has nothing to do with enabling. It doesn’t mean we act like they’ve never done anything. It isn’t forgive and forget. Forgetting leads to more harm and hurt. We need to draw boundaries around the behaviors. They no longer get to lay the roadmap of our lives.

Start with Genesis 3. Our search for meaning and purpose drives us to need something to identify with in this world. Outside of God it comes from what we experience or our family/friends. This comes from a combination of our personality or temperament, and the environment they grow up in.  James 1 No one wants to be an addict. They become a slave to whatever the addiction is. Their will is subordinated or lost, and given to someone or something else.  Examples of fear taking supremacy over faith: Abrahm and Sarai with the pharoah and king was to create a lie to protect himself. His desire for safety drove his fear to lie. Instead of trusting in God’s words.  Jonah’s anger was so great his desire was to avoid preaching repentance to Ninevah. This desire was so great it overrode the obedience to the Lord. 

In this episode we review the use of a concordance and a bible dictionary. For this we use the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, keyed to the KJV. For the dictionary we use Vine's Concise Dictionary of the Bible. These are just 2 of the resources available to a Christian nowadays to dive in and study the Word of God in Depth.