Applied Science

“For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” 1 John 3:20, 21

Some years ago, my soul grew very agitated. Without a doubt I knew I was saved but I never experienced peace. Our consciences have a self-condemning and a self-absolving power. God designed us that way and there are specific solvents that mask the truth and eventually cause perpetual denial.

There IS moral accountability and there ARE demands from the Word of God.

We are so influenced by the spirit of this age that many have learned to flee moral responsibility at any cost! Women live in perpetual denial, blaming their spouse, their siblings, and their friends for their own sins and never facing the fact of a personal guilt before a Holy God.

Yes, our sins are under the blood however, we ARE accountable for fruitlessness. When Christ returns we will all be exposed for how we lived and how we harvested! As Christian women, this should cultivate circumspect standards. Are you careful and prudent in all your ways or would you describe your dreams and decisions as reckless?

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10

A most alarming fact as I counsel Christian women is their consciences hardening as they drift away from the only path to peace and freedom.

Sadly, those who heed the accusations of an awakened conscience often hear an “easy” gospel from today’s evangelical pulpits. The “Jesus” they meet in many churches is little more than a well-mannered sage or life-coach – someone who will help!

Until we reach a plain in our Christianity of consistent righteous and holy living we will rarely or never take spiritual inventory.

Our lives as Christian women ought to consist of specific, traceable growth patterns. Unfortunately, the further we wonder away from the Lord the greater mess we find ourselves in. This confusion we eventually address is precisely the pile of rubble our Father finds most useful. Our character is carved with the wood of our lives that has matured through weathering the storms. Our trials are carefully designed and orchestrated for multiple reasons; foremost - the Father’s glory; a classroom for developing trust.

Has it ever occurred to you that the bad in our life (personal, people, or problems), is ALL ‘Father-Filtered?’

Without a doubt, I have reached a sweet place in my walk with God that has come with great heartache and loss. With a heart full of gratitude I truly do thank Him for all that it took to get me to where I am now – and He’s not finished with me yet! Praise God that our past does not equal our future!

If your children are breaking your heart through horrible decision-making that has consequential effects – persevere in prayer! God has not finished with them yet. Their life isn’t over and His plan is far greater than the chaos you perceive their lives to be in. Wet your prayer closet with tears of faithful anticipation. The hurt does not have to go away; focus on the Word of God not the words of other women who live with empty regrets. God doesn’t work with doubts, He works with do’s.

I DO pray for my children in their journey of living life. I DO pray for my family who are fractured through their proud hearts and unforgiving spirits. I DO pray for loved family members that without Salvation are headed for hell. I DO pray for the uncertainty of many areas of my life. I’m a doer not a doubter! So much of our lives is wasted with fear and regret.

There are several factors that build confidence and give incredible assurance.

• Our Salvation - God is in me “of a truth” Corinthians 14:25 When I go to church, it is still often the case that I think our preacher knows my life and is laying it bare during the preaching, when it is my own conscience that is stirred up. Face to face God knows our life and pricks our hearts to confession.
• Our Assurance - He is well acquainted with my sins; “Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.” Psalm 19:12 As we become acquainted with the Bible and the more we compare our hearts and lives with its requirements; the greater our conviction of the number and aggravations of our sins and our desperate need of grace, mercy, and strength.
• Our Prayers – Knock on the mercy door with a bold, believing, unrestrained knocking. Wait on Him as you pray without ceasing. We don’t like waiting for anything. There’s plenty of whining but little is our willingness to tough it out. “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” Psalm 27:14

I waited almost five years before God brought the opportunity and the means for me to have a vehicle. We arrived in America in March 2005. The Queen of Quintessential; living in Hillbilly-ville (it really is beautiful here), miles from anything of remote interest to me and without a car. There is no public transport and the Amish live too far away for me to hire a buggy. Not one time did I throw my arms up or grumble about my circumstances. Well aware of my pride-nature I simple rolled up my sleeves and embraced the hardship as my school of obedience and discipline.

How foolish of me if I’d missed the opportunity God gave for me to grow in grace and wisdom. How narrow minded would I have been to brush it off as a miserable existence or a nightmare. The toughness of being isolated and unable to fix it any time soon was God’s dream of me becoming everything He designed me to be. Praise God I waited! He is my perfecter and I am intimately closer to Him now than I was five years ago.

I learned to love the trial I was in; as I embraced it entirely and held it close to my heart each day, what could have been my demise became my crown of glory.

The tears flowed daily. As I laid my head on my pillow each night, I would whisper, "Thank you God that today is over." I would then go to sleep and forget for a night what I had to face in the morning - myself!

Five years of what seemed to be hard work and survival became my sweet song of the mercy and love of a Saviour. He has faithfully led me through the most difficult valley of my life and I have come through victoriously. With so many invisible threads that I am yet to understand, are woven the lessons of extreme living. There are too many miracles to mention but I am living proof of a God who is bigger than my problems, greater than my misery, and higher than my hardships. He is all I need!

• Our Bible Reading – the Bible teaches us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
  
  “And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” Job 28:28

There is a two-fold wisdom; one hid in God, which is secret and belongs not to us; the other made known by Him and revealed to man. The treasures of wisdom are hid in Christ, revealed by His Word, and received by faith through the Holy Ghost. Wisdom teaches and encourages us to fear the Lord and to depart from evil through the exercise of repentance and faith. Our focus changes when our perspective is aligned with Gods.

Moving forward in our Christian life is a no brainer and is a step we can all take today. God’s principles work – if you use them! You can have peace and joy without desiring to solve all difficulties about the events of your life.

• Our Power-Packed Position - He who is in me is far greater than he who is in the world.

The sin that I loved the most has now become the sin that I hate the most. Because of grace, the strength of the sin no longer has power. As my hatred for sin grows stronger and stronger, sin becomes weaker and weaker.

Mr. Godly fear is never satisfied till every street, lane, and alley, yes, and every house and every corner of the town of man’s soul is clean rid of the diablo Ionians who lurk within.

To know God, so as to walk the correct way before Him, is the greatest of all the applied sciences. Obedience to God proves that our judgment is sound. Why should He not be obeyed? Does not reason itself claim obedience for the Lord of all? Only a man void of understanding will ever justify rebellion against Holy God. Practical godliness is the test of wisdom. We may know and be very Christian-like, we may talk and be very eloquent, we may speculate and be very profound; but the best proof of our intelligence must be found in us actually doing the will of the Lord.

I now live my life as a student of the Book. Peace filters through my mind and penetrates my heart every day. You won't have peace when you step away from God and handle the hurts on your own.

Not getting along with others equates to not getting along with God. Unfortunately, we are the ones most hurt. Moving closer to God when we hurt the most means moving closer to perfect love. He hurt the most and He loves the most. It is in this light that we are able to love others despite the hurt and the conflicts in our life can be handled with grace and mercy.

I love you and I believe in you - Deborah