still in the same place—without any solid answers. Don’t get me wrong, I knew there Vol. 15, No. 1
January, 2011
were things in my life needing change, and I was willing to correct them. That being said, I didn’t want to just stop doing things because someone
G
I Never Felt Whole
said, “The Bible tells me so.”
Arriving there, my mind was completely open, ready to receive all God had for me. I came to understand that there was not going to be an “ah-ha!” moment for me. And that turned out to be a wonderful thing! I can’t express how amazing it was
In other words, I didn’t want to
to sit and talk to a spiritually mature
cease participating in some sort of
adult and go through my issues with-
sinful behavior, only to fail down the
out any judgment or condemnation!
iven how great life had been,
to get me back to “normal.” I was frus-
road trying not to do it. I didn’t want
I still found myself frustrated and
trated, irritated, and felt lost, for which
that—I wanted “real” change.
unfulfilled. I guess I assumed that by
I tended to blame God.
I believed that could only come
I finally understood that God wanted me at my wit’s end, to realize that nothing I ever do will be enough
my late twenties, I’d experience some
I knew I wanted more, and He
version of what I always thought my
was the only way I was going to get
life would be. This didn’t happen, and
the “more” I needed. The problem
At this point I was pretty convinced
just my heavenly Father breaking me
it really made me think.
was I didn’t feel like He was giving
that Satan was blocking me from find-
down to a point where I could see that
it to me.
ing true freedom in Christ.
in no way, given all that I have or am
I mean, from the outside looking
from God. That change wasn’t happening, so I started giving up.
to deliver what I was seeking. I think my frustration was really
in, I had it pretty good. Friends, job,
So, for several years I begged
I sat down with my pastor, think-
able to do, can I ever be sufficient in
fun, etc. Still, for years, I just didn’t
the Lord to take away whatever He
ing he’d easily identify my problem,
myself. I can’t be my own god ... He
feel whole.
wanted so I could experience Him
pray with me, and I’d be off on a
wanted me to allow Him to be God
more fully.
bondage free life with God!
in my life.
I wasn’t living as I was intended which, of course, meant I was not growing spiritually. My happiness was moment driv-
I asked Him to show me where there was bondage so I could get rid of it and be free to live for Him.
Well, that did not happen, and I started to feel really frustrated again. He recommended I go to FFM,
My salvation was already paid for by Christ’s blood, and nothing could change that!
en—coming mainly from experiences.
I prayed, “Everything I have came
since they were very good at helping
However, He wasn’t going to knock
In other words, on weekend adven-
from You, and if You need to take any
Christians work through their struggles
me to the ground and from that point
tures, trips and business successes, I
of it away so I can experience You more
and find freedom from bondage.
on I’d be Mr. Awesome Christian.
felt awesome ... but in between, life
fully, take it. It’s Yours!”
was just empty. Almost like a drug, I got my fix from being with friends, events, successes—it was all very temporal.
I was willing to try anything, so I
While here on this earth, I have to
All I needed was for Him to show
booked a flight and reserved my time
trust Christ day by day to live His life
me what I was holding onto, and I’d
at their ministry. The only opening
through me, and to meet my needs.
give it up gladly.
they had was two months away, so I
Like I said, this went on for several
took it.
Everything I need, and I mean everything, He offers in a more amaz-
When I was alone or not “having
years, and no matter how many times
Though I wasn’t exactly sure what
ing way than I can imagine. I just
fun,” I felt down or lonely and found
I asked God to show me what He
was going to happen, I figured it
have to receive it from Him—my new
myself waiting for the next “fun” thing
wanted me to give up, I felt like I was
couldn’t hurt.
“normal!”
Living Above Your Feelings
T
his life can be full of unexpected events which God uses to help us grow in our relationship to Him. His design is to conform us to the image of His Son, who put His feelings aside to do His Father’s will. Several years ago, God brought this home to us through an interesting experience ... Someone gave us a gift of $1000 to purchase a treadmill. After doing some shopping, we found a nice one for about that price on Ebay. We placed the order in July, but grew concerned when two weeks later, we hadn’t received any word on the delivery. Several more weeks passed, putting us beyond the one month time frame when PayPal releases payment for a purchased item. As you probably know, there is no refund after this point. Following a number of failed attempts to communicate with the seller, we realized we had a potential problem. Then, we found that the seller’s phone number was sud-
denly out of service, which sent us another red flag! We were tempted to become anxious, but with some self-talk, we were able to give the anxiety to the Lord. We reminded each other that we’d been through this kind of thing before and God had taken care of us. Our thinking was, Well, we might’ve lost our money, but hey, let’s at least get “something” out of it! We forgave the man, but we weren’t going to lose the treadmill without a fight! So, we started praying for him throughout the day—figuring if he was that dishonest, he surely needed prayer. Once we committed to intercede for him, it was a ‘piece of cake’ to get the whole thing in perspective ... What’s a treadmill compared to a man’s soul!? So, with grateful hearts to be used for God’s purposes, we diligently prayed. During this time, we continued trying to make contact with the seller, but still weren’t able to reach him.
We may never know the whole story—but our brand new treadmill was delivered at the end of September! Why did it take two & a half months to receive? That’s not really all that important, but this we do know ... God used the delay for His purposes. We don’t know if the man benefitted from the situation or not, but we surely did! It wasn’t our preference to be inconvenienced like that. BU T, we didn’t let our flesh get the upper hand ... whatever the Lord allows in our life is for His purpose ... and He doesn’t always share that purpose with us. The whole experience strengthened our faith. And, who knows, maybe the Holy Spirit changed the heart of the ‘treadmill man’ as well! Life is not about “things!”
Nor is life in God, stagnant. Eternal life, or Christ’s life (same thing), is always effervescent, bubbling up and spilling over onto others!!! His plans are far more important than any ”thing” we think we need! Building our faith and teaching us that our feelings are to be set aside when He calls us to a different focus, is what “life in Christ” is all about. This walk can be an exciting adventure! However, it can also be difficult as well. The way to handle our time on this planet is to allow the love of Christ to flow through us into everyone we meet and every event we encounter. When our emotions don’t agree with His truth, yet we yield ourselves to Him, He gives us the wisdom, strength and desire to live above our feelings! IMAGINE! He lets us partner with Him to accomplish His goals. That is awesome!
Abiding In Christ W
hat is God’s goal for your life? Have you ever thought about that? For many years, I thought the Lord had a particular goal in mind for my life and was directing me along that path. But I found that His plan is more that I live life giving glory to Him “in the moment” than a destination or goal I am to reach. However, if He has a certain path for me, I will better “hear” it as I am consciously abiding in His presence. This concept of giving God glory with each breath is a truth I’ve had to grow into. Maybe for others, it hasn’t been so gradual, but for me it has taken a lot of hard knocks, trying to do life on my own before finding out that “my” way just doesn’t work very well! Recently we had a young man here who had sown a few wild oats and was now ready to settle down to a life of serving the Lord. The only problem was that he strongly felt that God wanted him to give up something in
order to be used by Him. It was neat for us to see the “light bulb” come on in this man as he realized what the Lord was actually looking for! God’s will is that we allow His love and power to flow through our personalities, plus our talents and abilities in order to bear fruit for the kingdom. The Lord does have a plan for each of us. He wants to use us for His purposes every moment out of every hour, which is His idea of true success! Oswald Chambers in his devotional book My Utmost For His Highest states, “We are apt to imagine that if Jesus Christ constrains us, and we obey Him, He will lead us to great success. We must never put our dreams of success as God’s purpose for us; His purpose may be exactly the opposite. “What is my dream of God’s
purpose? His purpose is that I depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm and unperplexed in the middle of the turmoil, that is the end of the purpose of God. “God is not working towards a particular finish; His end is the process—that I see Him walking on the waves, no shore in sight, no success, no goal, just the absolute certainty that it is all right because I see Him walking on the sea. It is the process, not the end, which is glorifying to God.” Oswald Chambers’ writings encourage believers to trust Christ to live each moment to its fullest. His devotional has been a great source of encouragement in my life for many years. Another book from which I have drawn a lot of insight is Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. This little volume describes the life of a monk who deter-
mined to live each moment in the presence of God. Every task he performed was an opportunity to worship the Lord, whether washing dishes or spending time in prayer. This is where we find God’s peace ... consciously abiding in the Lord’s presence. It takes some discipline at first to stay focused as our thoughts are apt to stray. Not only does abiding in God bring peace, but there is another purpose for abiding, and that is to bear fruit. In John 15, we learn that Christ is the Vine and we are the branches. What we may not realize though, is that we can be connected to the Vine, but at the same time block Him from flowing into us. Many things can contribute to this, but we don’t have the space here to explore them. Suffice it to say that His plan is that we abide in Him. If there are blocks in your life, let the Lord help you remove them so you can begin to live life as He intended, bearing much fruit!
Crush Your Cravings
HealthPoint
A
lmost everywhere you turn,
depressive effects.
you see folks downing cans of diet
It also metabolizes into methanol
soft drinks. However, there have
(wood alcohol), which causes blind-
been numerous warnings of their
ness.
negative effects. Minutes” did an exposé. A senior
worsening Alzheimer’s, MS, diabetes, Saccharin is another artificial
Congress that aspartame caused
sweetener and was one of the
brain tumors.
pioneers. It is also two hundred times in
their
own
inter-office reports, the manufacturer
admitted
The
manufacturers
somehow
was
rescued themselves from the stigma of this coal tar derivative that causes
(diketopiperazine, a brain tumor
cancer in rats. You buy it today as
agent).
Sweet ‘N Low or SugarTwin.
original
studies
confirmed this occurs in animals.
Faith Family Ministries
on the market, but they all have one
times sweeter than table sugar,
thing in common. They are extremely
recognized by brand names like
harmful to the body!
803.554.HOPE (4673) Locations in SC & GA
8
Faith Family Ministries
If you want to save the calories,
I would like to receive The InnKeeper
but have a sweet tooth, try stevia in
formaldehyde, and as you probably
your beverages. It has zero calories
Name
know, this is used for embalming
and is completely natural.
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Furthermore, in some people it is addictive and lowers the
Pure water with a twist of lemon can also be very satisfying once you
City
Both sweetening with stevia and
like dopamine and serotonin,
water are great alternatives to the fake
as part of its brain-damaging
stuff—and healthy to boot!
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become accustomed to it.
neurotransmitters of happy moods,
fffm@faithfamily.net - www.faithfamily.net
The InnKeeper is a publication of Faith Family Ministries - All Rights Reserved
The body metabolizes it into
purposes.
4011 Fenworth Court Fort Mill, SC 29715
There are many different brands
Aspartame is two hundred
Equal or NutraSweet.
We pray the IK is a blessing to you! If so, please consider sharing a financial gift, as it takes everyone doing something to keep this ministry going—your part is vital! Warm Blessings,
sweeter than table sugar.
“complete conversion to DKP” Their
there
See Please help us be good stewards of God’s resources by what’s taking a minute to fill out the enclosed green card and mail it included to us, or if you prefer, you can email your response. just for you ...
seizures and migraines.
FDA toxicologist testified before
even
Founders & Directors
Aspartame has been linked with
As far back as 1996, “60
And
Dr. Bill & Toni Morgan
Dear Treasured Friend, Our story features a young man who was desperately seeking release from bondage. He came to us completely “open” to receive, and the Lord mightily set him free! The HealthPoint article outlines the dangers of fake sugar. Learn about a healthy alternative—that’s tasty, too! Abiding in Christ makes all the difference between peace and chaos in your life. Be blessed as you abide in Him! Living Above Your Feelings shares what you can do when strong emotions demand your attention.
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