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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 9/29/2008 2:53:44 PM
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rcjames
Posts: 5660
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From: Oklahoma
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To yeild to Chris we must die to self (Ths flesh), we must accept the Word of God as Truth and the Guide to Heaven and a relationshop with God. AND LAY DOWN OUR FLESHLY DESIRES.
Thanks
RC
_____________________________
Just a country Preacher's humble opinion
Read the first chapter of my latest book here;
http://www.deliveranceofsara.com
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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 9/29/2008 2:57:29 PM
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rcjames
Posts: 5660
Joined: 7/15/2005
From: Oklahoma
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To yielf to Christ we must die to self (Ths flesh), we must accept the Word of God as Truth and the Guide to Heaven and a relationshop with God. AND LAY DOWN OUR FLESHLY DESIRES.
God said a long time ago;
(Deu 30:19) I call Heaven and earth to record today against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live,
Whether we want to or not is not he question; obedience is;
(Luk 6:46) And why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?
Thanks
RC
_____________________________
Just a country Preacher's humble opinion
Read the first chapter of my latest book here;
http://www.deliveranceofsara.com
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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 9/29/2008 3:16:36 PM
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DuckTalk
Posts: 228
Joined: 9/16/2008
From: A Duck Hole in Tennessee
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quote:
ORIGINAL: coconut_princess
For example, I want to be a more submissive and loving wife, I read scriptures, I pray, but when push comes to shove, I find myself once again not being the loving and submissive wife I want to be.
Do you mind if I ask, "Does your husband love you as he loves himself? Does he act toward you as Christ does His church?
_____________________________
Sufferin' sassafrass. The nerve of some people, profitting from other people's miseries.
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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 9/29/2008 5:00:44 PM
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frankman
Posts: 213
Joined: 4/12/2005
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 Praise God, your desire is in the right place. Your reading the scriptures and praying, yet like all of us, finding it impossible to live up to God`s standards. So here is one more thing we must do. We must ask God to impower us with His Spirit as He promised to do in Luke 11:13 to all those who ask Him. "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
Others have already mentioned that we must die to self, lay down our fleshly desires and we are to submit in obedience to the teaching of God`s Word. However this is all impossible to do in our own strength. That is why we all need to rely on the strength that God has promised to provide for us through the impowerment of His Holy Spirit. This is done by asking and by having greater faith and trust in His Word. Then according to Gal.5:18+25 we will be led by the Spirit to do right as we live and keep in step with the Spirit. "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. --- Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
_____________________________
"Is not My word like fire,` declares the LORD, `and like a hammer that breaks a rock in peaces?" Jeremiah 23:29
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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 9/29/2008 5:55:59 PM
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Liveloved
Posts: 1884
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quote:
When you want godly changes in your life, how do you allow God to change you?
For example, I want to be a more submissive and loving wife, I read scriptures, I pray, but when push comes to shove, I find myself once again not being the loving and submissive wife I want to be.
It seems that change never comes, so I wonder, how does change come? Is there something more I should be doing?
Coconutprincess,
Believe. It is God's work to do in you, for you, through you and inspite of you. YEAH!!!
Work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Phil 2:12-13
And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. IThess 2:13
Christ has promised to sanctify us entirely, spirit, soul and body, without blame at His coming. (See IThess 5:23)
Have faith, dear one. It is not your work to do. It is His. And He is faithful and His promise is that He will (and already has) accomplish ALL for you. Just believe what He says.
Faithful is He who calls you and He also will bring it to pass. Grace, LL
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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 9/29/2008 8:46:09 PM
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small_creation
Posts: 341
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From: midwest
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quote:
ORIGINAL: coconut_princess
Not always, but that doesn't mean I'm to not be submissive. I should be even if he isn't loving me as he should.
quote:
ORIGINAL: norak
quote:
ORIGINAL: coconut_princess
For example, I want to be a more submissive and loving wife, I read scriptures, I pray, but when push comes to shove, I find myself once again not being the loving and submissive wife I want to be.
Do you mind if I ask, "Does your husband love you as he loves himself? Does he act toward you as Christ does His church?
At what point do you find yourself submitting? If your hubby says, "I think that we should do A," do you automatically say, "yes, dear," and go along with A. Or do you put your own ideas forward, i.e., A, B, and C, and discuss the pros and cons of each decision?
Are you part of your collective decision-making process, or do you give your hubby a blank check?
I personally debate and put forward my own ideas and push my point of view. In the end, I don't think that I've ever really not submitted to his wishes when he's made clear his decision.
But then, my husband is THE BEST!
What I'm saying here is there're many pathways to obedience.
j
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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 9/30/2008 1:24:21 PM
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DuckTalk
Posts: 228
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From: A Duck Hole in Tennessee
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quote:
ORIGINAL: coconut_princess
Not always, but that doesn't mean I'm to not be submissive. I should be even if he isn't loving me as he should.
I apprehensively withdraw.
_____________________________
Sufferin' sassafrass. The nerve of some people, profitting from other people's miseries.
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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 9/30/2008 3:18:35 PM
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galadriel2
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I think we are all forgetting an important component - 'being renewed in the spirit of your mind' (Eph. 4:23)...'and be renewed in the spirit of your mind' - to quote the verse exactly. Notice how this comes in between the 'put off' and the 'put on'. In Rom. 12:2 it says to not be conformed to the world but to be 'transformed by the renewing of your mind' and again in James 1:5 - 'If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him'. Wisdom is 'living God's way in God's world'. It begins with seeing things from eternity's and heaven's perspective...'but the wisdom that is from above' - James says in chapter 3. It is heaven's perspective on things, which is the only true perspective. We need to realize as best we can the ugliness of our sin, the greatness of His love, the shortness of life, that we will have to give an account of every thought, word, and motive, that we will be judged by the 'perfect law of liberty', that despite all our repetitive failings God continues to give more grace to His children who yield to Him and draw near to Him (and to those who don't He draws them back to Himself), and that in the end God will work everything out right. He's the Judge, not us, and He is working out His plan for history which is to redeem a people 'unto Himself...zealous for good works' and as His chosen and saved children - we are included in this eternal plan. When we really think on these great truths and grow in understanding them it helps us to obey better and be more loving and merciful. 'Mercy triumphs over judgement.' Scripture and prayer are good too as that is what the Lord used to resist the devil and so what we should use and rely on as well.
These are just a few suggestions of heaven's perspective on things.
God bless,
Galadriel2
< Message edited by galadriel2 -- 9/30/2008 3:25:00 PM >
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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 9/30/2008 3:51:16 PM
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galadriel2
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I think also keeping an intuitive sense of the Spirit's leading is important. I once read by the Puritan Thomas Manton that a good deed consists of five things: (1) the word is its rule, (2) the Spirit is its guide, (3) it is an act of faith [dependence on the Lord], (4) it is an act of love, and (5) it is done for the glory of God in Christ. Good deeds naturally come out of the 'good character' that we are developing as a result of being renewed in the spirit of our minds - in how we think - not just what we think. They are the result, also, of wanting to be close to the Lord and walk with Him.
God bless,
Galadriel2
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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 9/30/2008 4:58:39 PM
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frankman
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quote:
ORIGINAL: coconut_princess
How? Can you give me an example of how someone dies to self? How do I do this day to day? Sometimes my automatic reaction is sinful and I haven't had time to think first.
Romans Chapters 6+7 tells us that we must die to sin, self and the law in order to have a healthy, victorious Christian life. You can read these chapters for yourself, so I`ll quote only one verse so we get the general drift of this topic. Rom.6:2= "By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"
Being "dead to sin" means we as believers now have a new relationship to sin. An example may be that of a drunk who dies and as a result his body is dead to any physical senses. Therefore the drunk can no longer be tempted by alcohol. He can no longer see the alcohol nor smell or taste it, thus he will have no more desire for it. So we who are in Christ have killed our desire to sin and as a result we no longer want to continue to live in sin. # We therefore call ourselves dead to sin.
There is more. We are now not only dead to sin but also alive in Christ. We now walk in the power of His resurrection. As we now have His Holy Spirit in us, (Christ in us, the hope of glory), we have obtained a newness of life "because we are now co-shares with the life of Christ". Paul describes it best what I`m trying to say in Gal.2:20. Note how Paul tells us in this verse how all this is appropreated. "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." # As a result we die to the desire to serve sin and we yield to the desire to serve Christ only as Rom.12:1 tells us. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God`s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship."
_____________________________
"Is not My word like fire,` declares the LORD, `and like a hammer that breaks a rock in peaces?" Jeremiah 23:29
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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 10/1/2008 3:49:16 AM
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tracydolls
Posts: 1839
Joined: 3/30/2008
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quote:
When you want godly changes in your life, how do you allow God to change you?
For example, I want to be a more submissive and loving wife, I read scriptures, I pray, but when push comes to shove, I find myself once again not being the loving and submissive wife I want to be.
It seems that change never comes, so I wonder, how does change come? Is there something more I should be doing?
Keep seeking, knocking on the door. We all have sins that are deeply rooted. sins that we love.
It will come. Ask yourself why do you want to be a submissive wife? Start there.
_____________________________
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 10/1/2008 7:14:03 AM
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RJR_fan
Posts: 716
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: RTP, in sunny NC USA
Status: online
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A: assume that God will change you -- no matter how long it takes, no matter how painful it gets. He's God, you're not, so be of good cheer.
B: Ask God to give you a strategy -- some small, token, symbolic thing you can do as a step forward.
C: Grin and bear it. Serve God with joy.
_____________________________
The future has never been shaped by majorities but rather by dedicated minorities. And free men do not wait for the future; they create it. RJR
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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 10/1/2008 11:54:37 AM
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galadriel2
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I wasn't going to say anything about the 'dying to self' - but I think Scripture teaches that we already are dead to self and sin. We died at the cross when Christ died and we rose with Him too. In the same way that when Adam sinned, in God's eyes, I sinned too (that is why I come into this world already punished for that sin - dead in trespasses and sin and needing to be born again); in the same way, as someone who has entrusted herself to Christ/Messiah, I am now 'in Christ'. I have died to sin and risen from the punishment of sin (death) never to die again. Death, in the Bible, means 'separation'. I will never be separated from the love of God again.
I think the points about praying and memorizing applicable Scriptures are good. We should also think about our sin and how ugly it truly is and how beautiful holiness/Christ is. I think this helps us want to be more like Christ and to enjoy being more like Christ, because you can't persevere in something that you don't enjoy. We also need to be clear on exactly what God requires of us. He doesn't give us the strength and joy to obey men's rules or man's faulty interpretation of God's rules. A. W. Tozer would talk about how God is so easy to live with. Its man that is so hard to get along with.
God bless,
Galadriel2
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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 10/1/2008 1:12:20 PM
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theredhog
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Joined: 9/23/2008
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coconut-princess,
The only way I've ever had real change is to be blatantly honest with God, tell Him it is impossible to do on my own. Because HE is a God of the impossible, He can do it 
Practice, submitting when it's not "push comes to shove" time. Anticipate the emotions associated with the moment so it is not a surprise. If it's a matter you need to be submitting to in the first place. Some guys "hide" behind insisting that their wives submit. Personally, it's better if both parties pray about a matter and agree on it before a decision is made. I believe this can happen with a man and wife who are both submitted to God.
redhog
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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 10/1/2008 1:24:02 PM
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URForgiven
Posts: 1120
Joined: 3/22/2008
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quote:
ORIGINAL: coconut_princess
When you want godly changes in your life, how do you allow God to change you?
For example, I want to be a more submissive and loving wife, I read scriptures, I pray, but when push comes to shove, I find myself once again not being the loving and submissive wife I want to be.
It seems that change never comes, so I wonder, how does change come? Is there something more I should be doing?
Your experience sounds very similar to the Apostle Paul's experience...
Romans 7:19-20
For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
Sounds like a cop-out doesn't it? But is isn't, it is just the way we truly are. Paul reaches this conclusion about himself...
Romans 7:24
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
And then quickly supplies the answer to his and also your question...
Romans 7:25
Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Jesus Christ is the answer to your question. If you are a Christian, you are indwelt by the living resurrected Christ. Rest in Him, submit yourself to Him, depend upon Him, and He will then guide you in His ways. And His ways are the ways you truly desire anyway...it is a win win situation for you. Bless you.
Peace
_____________________________
"Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit,
are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" Galatians 3:3
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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 10/1/2008 5:28:58 PM
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drussell52
Posts: 207
Joined: 4/24/2008
From: Michigan
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What does dying to self, laying down our fleshly desires and looking to Christ for truth look like in practical realms, enough of the Christian---eees, makes me ill.
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RE: How do you allow God to change you? - 10/1/2008 5:42:25 PM
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DuckTalk
Posts: 228
Joined: 9/16/2008
From: A Duck Hole in Tennessee
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: drussell52
What does dying to self, laying down our fleshly desires and looking to Christ for truth look like in practical realms, enough of the Christian---eees, makes me ill.
I see you like simple----eees, like I do at times.
To me, it means to allow God to work in me rather than my human nature. How's that for basics?
_____________________________
Sufferin' sassafrass. The nerve of some people, profitting from other people's miseries.
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How do you allow God to change you? - 
1 John 2:4
and generally being a big baby about it 
. It's rather silly because I do want to be changed, but it's done in such humbling way...and it's not instantaneous either. The process is rather painful because I have so much pride, but the end result is simply maaaarvelous...it's to die for. 
