Sharon Sharing God: "FAN THE FLAME" FRIDAY

Friday, October 12, 2012

"FAN THE FLAME" FRIDAY - Guilty

Welcome to "Fan the Flame" Friday.

This is a weekly post that will be "short and sweet" (kinda like me...)

Just a word and a phrase, a sentence or a question...just a little something to "fan the flame" of your creativity!

Today's word: guilty

What are some typical ways we deal with guilty feelings?

Why is it tempting to ignore a guilty conscience?

What is the difference between productive guilty feelings and harmful guilty feelings?

What does it mean to you to be declared, "NOT GUILTY"?

(These questions were prompted by my Bible Study this week in the book of Ezra)

Let me know what you think!!

"This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you…For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:6-7)

BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"

3 comments:

AudreyOctober 12, 2012 at 12:50 PM
"Not guilty" are two of the most precious words to me. Those are the words that Jesus declared about me to the Father when I accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. What a burden was lifted from that moment! I could never have paid for the penalty of my own sinful nature, but thank God Jesus did it for me...and then declared me "not guilty"!
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CharlotteOctober 17, 2012 at 9:38 AM
Guilty is a word no one wants to hear and no one wants to believe they are (even when they are.) Not guilty is a wonderful proclamation.
Blessings,
Charlotte
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SharonOctober 19, 2012 at 11:39 AM
What are some typical ways we deal with guilty feelings?

We avoid them, rationalize them, deny them, ignore them. Sometimes we cover them up with more sin. For instance, we might be feeling guilty about something, and then we add lying to cover it up.

Why is it tempting to ignore a guilty conscience?

Because a guilty conscience is uncomfortable. Another reason why we tend to ignore a guilty conscience is because we don't want to deal with our sin. It is much easier to ignore the guilt than to face what's making us guilty. Sometimes the truth is, we just don't want to STOP the sin.

What is the difference between productive guilty feelings and harmful guilty feelings?

I believe that harmful guilty feelings come from our enemy. Guilt mires us and paralyzes us. It actually takes us away from God, because it makes us focus on our own feelings. If we continue to beat ourselves up over our wounded and guilty hearts, we can't release our guilt to the Wound-Healer.

I would prefer to call *productive* guilty feelings - conviction. Conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is pressing upon our hearts the need to do something - which is to return to God and repent of our sins. Only when we confess our guilt, and repent of it, and TURN AWAY from it can we restore the relationship with God (and others if necessary).

What does it mean to you to be declared, "NOT GUILTY"?

Besides the fact that God says "I love you" to me - "NOT GUILTY" are two of the sweetest words in the entire world. Imagine escaping a death penalty. Imagine the bars of a prison opening wide and walking out into the sunshine of freedom. Imagine a pardon from what you deserve. THAT is not guilty.

Praise God for His unspeakable gift of salvation.

GOD BLESS!
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"So [I] have been greatly encouraged in the midst of [my] troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives [me] new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord. How [I] thank God for you!" (1 Thessalonians 3:7-9)

Thanks for your comments - it is such a joy to be sharing my journey with friends like YOU!

(NOTE: Anonymous comments will be removed. Thank you for understanding.)

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MY WORD FOR 2016

GRATEFUL

Grateful: feeling or showing thanks to someone for some helpful act; appreciative of benefits received; warmly or deeply thankful; indebted; beholden.

Word origin: 1550's, "pleasing to the mind," also "full of gratitude," from obsolete adj. grate "agreeable, thankful," from Latin gratus "pleasing" – derived from the same word origin as the word "grace."

The trick to changing your behavior is to become more thankful.

The practice of gratitude involves a focus on the present moment, on appreciating your life as it is today and what has made it so.

Let us begin an eternal quest to express in new and creative ways our thanks to God.

So I'm breathing in Your grace,

And I'm breathing out Your praise.

Let our prayers be the overflow of a grateful heart to God.

Three steps in prayer:

PRAISE – praise, reverence, worship, adoration, and awe for who God is and what He does

ASK – honest, earnest, and intense requests

THANK YOU – always end with thanksgiving for everything

Pulpit commentary:

In everything give thanks.

In every circumstance – in joy and in sorrow; for everything – for prosperity and for adversity; in every place – in the house of God and on the bed of sickness.

Christians should not only be engaged in constant prayer, but in constant thanksgiving.

For this – this thankful spirit – is the will of God, His desire.

God by the gift of his Son has laid us under the obligation of perpetual thanksgiving. Our whole lives ought to be one continued thank-offering for all the blessings of redemption.

Gill's Exposition:

Thanks are to be given to him for all things…

For all temporal good things;

for our beings, the preservation of them;

for food and raiment, and all the mercies of life;

for the means of grace, the word and ordinances, and the ministers of the Gospel;

for spiritual blessings, for electing, redeeming, regenerating, adopting, pardoning, justifying, and persevering grace:

for a meetness for heaven, a right unto it, and a good hope of it;

and especially for Jesus Christ, for such a…Saviour, and advocate with the Father, as he is; and for life, peace, joy, comfort, righteousness, and salvation in him.

Thanks should be given to God in every circumstance of life; in adversity, as Job did; when not in so comfortable and agreeable a frame of soul as to be wished for…even under the temptations of Satan…since the grace of God is sufficient to bear up under them, and deliver out of them.

[Give thanks] in afflictions of every kind, since they are all for good – temporal, or spiritual, or eternal.

WHAT IS LOVE?

Love is when you are missing some of your teeth but you're not afraid to smile because you know your friends will still love you even though some of you is missing.

By Emma K. - Age 6

"Out of the mouth of babes..."

A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.

Anonymous

When you are uncertain, it helps to have someone remind you what is true – someone who knows you well, who sees you, and keeps track of you – not just your body but your soul.

Emily Freeman

Sharon Sharing God

Friday, October 12, 2012

"FAN THE FLAME" FRIDAY - Guilty

3 comments:

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