Greetings

[Dora]

Welcome Back to the path brother.

It's a battle. A constant battle pulling people away from here. At least it is for me. The enemy knows the good we can do here. Touching souls all over the world that are so far down they don't remember how to stand up.

God is good. He keeps calling us.

God bless and keep you.

[vahn]

Hey Skrubbs

Glad to see you posting here again .

Some of the things you wrote reminded me of a time when I thought being a Christian was a downright curse , a sort of a punishment from God Himself . And I think you know know what I'm talking about .

Is it selfish to want to serve Him ? Yes it is ! And , in fact a necessity , it is a paradox , how else we are to carry His Word and serve it to others unless first we feel good about it ourselves ? It's like eating a certain food , how am I to tell another of that food unless I eat it and see the results for myself first ? And then and only then I'll be able to show the result rather than just moving my lips .
One cannot transmit what they haven't got . So , when one gets "hungry" they can't blame the Cook now can they ? The food is right there , He cooked it, relished it and even served it to our table , and we cant get nourished or get our stomachs filled by just looking at it , analyse it , asking for the recipe and telling everyone about how Great The Cook is without first we have our fill .
And you know , where it hurts most ? (at least it did me) is when we realize how that selfishness turned Spiritual Pride and everyone else started calling us Midas , is when we get the total opposite treatment and results .

In Brotherhood of Christ , our Lord

[deetu]

Welcome back Skrubby
Ahhh, I remember that hunger...wanting more and more...then finally becoming so full that I became a conduit for God so He could give to others what He had given to me. Your motives and hunger are good if He gets the glory.
People will know you by your fruit.

One thing I am going to question, if you don't mind. You said:
"I know that I should not seek encouragement from anyone but God, but I really miss the days where I was being tutored and counceled and helped along in my spiritual growth."
Why would you not seek encouragement from others? Even Jesus sent his disciples out in twos. And Hebrews says to encourage each other daily.
We all need encouragement at some time or another.

You are a Spiritual Warrior*knight*

[Dora]

Praying for you both through this skrubby.
Keep taking your thoughts to him and focus on his love and acceptance of you.

[deetu]

hi Skrubby,
I just feel like I'm suppose to tell you to stop beating yourself up. Believe it or not, the enemy can use that to keep you from moving forward. God knows you and your heart, He's been waiting for you to come back and once you let go of that regret, He can help you move on to something better.
Don't worry that it will happen again because you are aware of it.
And just think of how you can use it to help others.
Mighty Warrior

I know what you are saying about not knowing if I am doing it for Him or myself. When I was first born again, I was becoming very prideful... "see what God is doing thru me and I'm only born again a few months..." Let me tell you, He fixed that in my first year. so I often pray for Him to keep me humble, not to let pride come in.

[vahn]

Well Skrubbs , one thing for sure , that I am glad that you're sticking for the "second time" around deal . But however , I'm afraid I have to second Deetu's statement as to "stop beating yourself up " ! Last I heard , you were still human right ? Well , what else do you expect from humans Skrubbs ?

I'm hearing a lot of "reflections" and the "used to be's " in your last "report" and all the , though not written , but I'm sensing all the infamous "What if's " underneath all that .

I remember , I think it was in my first or second year of recovery , my sponsor suggesting I go through the steps once over again and I just simply went "wha .. who .. why ... " I mean talk about ego deflation !!!
(yes , you may be asking , what does this have to do with "recovery" )
Well , the experience was exactly the same with my spiritual health as well . See , you said it yourself , and I was saying and treating others as such as well , "I didn't care ! " for I knew I was right !! . And with that attitude , and unbeknownst to me , I was bulldozing my way of thinking upon others , and they in turn were feeling very "uncomfortable" . So you see , it wasn't me that they wanted to "cut-off" so to speak , but rather , they were trying to cut the legs off the spiritual high-chair I was talking to them from , to make the chair a bit shorter in order for me to see eye to eye .

My dear Skrubby , my brother , please don't take this personal , I am only relating my own experience , and I see myself in what you just wrote .

See , by me going over through the steps the second time , with the help of my sponsor , I found out the things I had left out in the first round because of all the excitement in the new-found freedom , I just wanted to run and tell the world whether they wanted to hear it or not !
After that , I found it very beneficial to go through them once again every two years or so , just to keep myself in check .

The only thing I can suggest (though not asked of me) is that keep your focus on today , work on who you are today , and what Skrubby needs to do today , did I by any chance mention today ?

Our Lord wants you today Skrubbs , He sees you as you are today .

Luv ya

[mlg]

Hi skrubby,

I'm sorry I haven't been here from the beginning of your walk. I was having issues logging onto the site since Saturday...but anywhooo...I'm catching up

So you've gone through 3 steps already in 3 days...something I want to say is that it's wonderful to see you regrouping and setting yourself back on the path to be all that God wants you to be in His calling. He has a purpose for you, and He has a path and He knows what it needs to be....He just needs you to be the willing vessel. If you find yourself ever getting sidetracked....look me up and send me a PM...I'll be glad to be your accountability partner and "shake" ya up a bit to get ya to follow the path He has laid out for ya...I consider you a friend, and I love seeing God work through you.

So...here we've gone from who am I to seeds and weeds. All the things you've heard before but needed to refresh...going back through the fire is not a bad thing at all...in fact it will get off those little pieces of gold that are splintered off from the past year....

Just remember one step at a time with Jesus.

luv ya lots

[mlg]

Faith...this is something we definitely need to be strong in, in order to be able to answer God's call. If we go through our relationship with God doubting every step of the way...rutroh are we ever gonna struggle trying to answer His call.

As far as the law goes...Jesus came to fulfill the law...Jesus didn't take the law away...but He came to give us a way to be free of the falls we take trying to abide by the laws....as you should skrubby...it's all about heart...and that's what God sees.

luv ya

[Dora]

Hi Skrubba-bud

God's doing some more scrubbin on you hu?
Washing out all the junk...replacing it with his good and perfect will.
It's a never ending journey to get to where he wants us. Which brings peace because we can know, the tomorrows will have more understanding than todays. Sure we'll fall down and fall out of his will and even loose faith at times. It's not who we are or what we do but who God is and what he has done and is doing.

Skrubby Gods got a good plan for you. You are in for a ride! An awesome ride as you and him walk through this life together. Hang on brother and enjoy every twist and turn and even the loop-dee-loops. Watch as he works everything out to His glory.

Skrubby above all make sure when speaking to this person that there is nothing in you attached to the conversation. If you have anything personal in it..feelings, emotions, anger, ect then step back and reevaluate if it's Gods will or you own. If it's Gods, then go ahead. You may receive a lashing. But if you are in Gods will and delivering the message in love then it's all good. You can let it down at the cross as suffering for His sake. Ask the Lord to go before you and prepare the way for when you bring this message. Before hand read Ephesians 4 and 5

luv ya brother
GB and keep you.

I continue to pray for you.

[mlg]

Ya know skrubby...I believe anyone can be Holy Ghosted...and when someone comes around that maybe we are unsure of the Bible does say to sound the horn...but sounding the horn doesn't always mean that what we see is a threat...so that's when we use discernment and patience to see through to the heart...and here's another thing sometimes people do come in with evil intents...but when the Spirit gets a hold of them...woohoo the Light often seeps through to their heart and they fall in Love and the evil intents they had disappear all together God is good like that for sure.

I also think it's definitely up to us to show grace and mercy to those who have made mistakes in their life. If Jesus gave us a second chance...and a third and a fourth and on and on...who are we to not extend the same? I would have had to vote no as well.

luv ya

[mlg]

skrubby...you know it's interesting how you don't understand why God has chosen you to do this or that...and I can relate to this at times myself...but the reality is who are we to question Him about what He chooses for us? He just wants us to gladly serve Him and when He takes us Home He will reveal all...but til then be His good and faithful servant.

Something else you said is how God uses you here and there...that is because God knows which souls He can reach through you...and when they cross your path...God's opening your mouth and saying Skrubby be my voice here...so maybe if there is a specific group of souls you feel more called to than others...spend some more time reaching for them...and maybe He will use you more...

I luv you skrubby...and I'm just delighted your sharing your walk through this study...My heart is blessed.

*hug8

[deetu]

I can relate to that Skrubby. I think that God needs some of us to be quiet so people can feel comfortable around us. That way when God says something profound (with us being the open conduit) they are more readily able to accept it.

Super Warrior Skrubby