 Where do you want
Jesus' help?
|
|
| Recent Entries |
 |
Anxiety: How has Jesus helped
you?
I can tell you all about anxiety – I’m the poster child. But I’ve found some things that made a big different for me. I went through some Christian counseling sessions that helped me find some keys to my anxiety. When I was younger my parents struggled in their finances. I came to realize that after seeing my parents hit some really hard times that I decided that I had to take care of myself because I didn’t want to hit bottom like my parent did. I discovered that I had violated one of Jesus’ principles about not worrying. I learned that difficulties cause us to decide whether we can really trust in God’s goodness or if we are going to trust in our own abilities to get us out of it. If we trust that God really loves us, we will pray for God’s help and then wait on Him to come through for us. But, if we become anxious and fearful when facing difficult circumstances, we decide that we can’t trust in God to save us and so we take matters into our own hands. When we do that, we often react out of fear that only makes matters worse. So, what I do now is whenever I am facing something that makes me scared, I remind myself what God said. God said He is good. That He loves me. That He cares for my needs (Jesus said that God meets all of the needs of the little birds and that I matter to him much more than birds). And that he will answer my prayers if I only trust in Him and wait for Him to show us and take care of things. So, I’ve been practicing this and it’s made a huge difference in my life. I still get scared when something unexpected happens in my life but I now have tools for dealing with it and turning it all over to God and waiting on Him to help me.
contributed by: Rob Marsden
from: United States of America |
|
Health-Injury: How has Jesus
helped you
I can tell you about my experiences. I love to golf as often as I can. But, my back goes out on me at times without notice. Some years ago I went out for 18 holes and didn’t warm up first. It was cool out and when I got up to the a par 5 hole, I hit it really hard and threw out my back. I was in bed for days and had to miss my classes. For months afterwards, I didn’t play at all. I was scared that it was going to happen again. I thought about giving up the sport and yet I get so much of my enjoyment of nature when I’m out playing. I talked it out with a friend and mentor who has a lot of wisdom. After answering some of his questions I realized that I was feeling accusation that maybe golfing was a waste of time and something that God didn’t want me to do. I realized that I believed that God didn’t really want me to enjoy doing something that didn’t produce anything meaningful. I felt guilty for enjoying something other than God. I realized that deep inside I thought my back went out because God was punishing me for enjoying golfing. But, my mentor helped me realize that God created me in His image with likes and tastes because He wants me to be a unique expression of Him. I am being myself and God enjoys that. When I’m enjoying golfing, God is enjoying me enjoying golfing. In those times I am expressing a part of Him and worshipping Him in that experience. I finally decided that I didn’t want my fears of getting hurt again to interfere with my enjoyment of a sport I love. It’s like having to get back on the horse when you’ve fallen off. Now, I take the time to warm up plenty before I play and I haven’t thrown out my back since. Instead, when I’m out on a course playing, I stop sometime at each hole and take in a slow deep breath and worship God right there in the beauty of nature. I enjoy being enjoyed by God just being myself. I don’t let my fears of my back going out again keep me from doing what I enjoyed. Well, just some thoughts, for whatever they are worth.
contributed by: Rob Marsden
from: United States of America |
 |
Relational Conflict: How has
Jesus helped you
An important thing I have discovered about good relationships is that honor and dignity are very important. My father taught me this growing up and when I read the teachings of Jesus, I see the same ideas. He taught to honor everyone. Jesus even honored women and this was unusual in his time and nation. If you treat everyone with great honor, it changes their responses to you. I have even seen this change the way people feel about themselves. Many people speak with little honor to people as if they were nothing. Our world would be much better if all people would treat others like themselves. Jesus had great wisdom. I has much to learn from him.
contributed by: Will Chu
from: United States of America |
 |
Anxiety: How has Jesus helped
you?
Throw all your worry To be humble, and subject to our reconciled God, will bring greater comfort to the soul than the gratification of pride and ambition. on him, because he cares for you. (1 Pe.5:7)To be humble, and subject to our reconciled God, will bring greater comfort to the soul than the gratification of pride and ambition. Refer all to God's disposal. The golden mines of all spiritual comfort and good are wholly his, and the Spirit itself. Then, will he not furnish what is fit for us, if we humbly attend on him, and lay the care of providing for us, upon his wisdom and love? The whole design of Satan is to devour and destroy souls. He always is contriving whom he may insnare to eternal ruin. Our duty plainly is, to be sober; to govern both the outward and the inward man by the rules of temperance. To be vigilant; suspicious of constant danger from this spiritual enemy, watchful and diligent to prevent his designs. Be stedfast, or solid, by faith. A man cannot fight upon a quagmire, there is no standing without firm ground to tread upon; this faith alone furnishes. It lifts the soul to the firm advanced ground of the promises, and fixes it there. The consideration of what others suffer, is proper to encourage us to bear our share in any affliction; and in whatever form Satan assaults us, or by whatever means, we may know that our brethren experience the same.
contributed by: martua tobing
from: Indonesia |
|
Relational Conflict: How has
Jesus helped you
Although I’m a single college student, I can tell you that I’ve had my fair share of relationship problems. Last year I discovered that one of my best friends had said something really bad about me to some of my friends behind my back. I found out about it through one of my other friends. I’m someone who tends to avoid conflict. At first, I just didn’t want to ever see him again. For days, I went out of my way to avoid seeing him or even talking to him. I was so mad that I thought I was going to punch him or at least say something that I would regret. So, I just avoided him for days. I kept playing out scenarios in my head about what I would say to him when I saw him again. I couldn’t concentrate on much and was distracted by my feeling of being betrayed. I even skipped some classes he and I had together to avoid seeing him. I kept praying about it and asking God for wisdom about how to handle the situation. I talked to one of my friends and mentors who often helps me find the right path in such times. He taught me that I have to begin with forgiveness. No matter what happens, I always have to forgive because if I don’t forgive someone, I empower what they did to me to control me. Unforgiveness always robs us of peace and joy no matter what someone did to us and no matter whether they ask for forgiveness or not. Second, he taught me that real love is unconditional and confrontational love. First, it means that I am committed to loving my friend even when he does something wrong to me. My relationship with them is more important to me than protecting myself from getting hurt again. Naturally if someone continues a pattern of hurting me without change, I have to reevaluate whether I can continue to invest in that friendship or not. He also taught me that love is confrontational. In other words, if I love someone, I am not going to let me get away with some behavior that is negative. I at least have to confront them about it and the rest is up to them. If they don’t respond with repentance and change, at least I’ve loved them as much as I can. If they aren’t teachable, then I need to reconsider the long-term viability of that friendship. Confrontation is really hard for me but I did it anyway. I discovered that what I was told he had said wasn’t really correct. He had said some things that weren’t positive but my other friend had misunderstood him some too. After I confronted my friend, he apologized and we hugged and cried and it really brought us closer together. He and I now talk about things at a level we never did before. He also went back to the other people he had said those things to and apologized to them and corrected some misunderstandings. It really increased my confidence in him and my appreciation for our friendship.
contributed by: Rob Marsden
from: United States of America |
|
|
