OVERCOMING PERSONAL STAGNATION – PART 1
I have two cups of water; one I just poured from the faucet, the other I filled up from the stagnant water from a pond outside. Which one would you like to take a drink from? Water stagnates when it’s not flowing. When water stands still for a period of time, it becomes contaminated with bacteria and loses all of its freshness. But water that flows through a mountain stream is pure, fresh and inviting. Our lives can be like water; depending upon certain choices we make, we can live fresh, inviting and full-flowing lives or we can live lives that have been overcome by personal stagnation. And personal stagnation leads to boredom, a lack of purpose and for those of us who are Moshiach followers, it can make our faith itself seem downright dull. Maybe you have been a believer for long, you are either suffering from stagnation now, have in the past or are going to in the future. Let us take a look how to overcome stagnation:
7 Keys to Growth:
I could probably come up with 30 keys if I had to, because there are many ways to stimulate your life and get back your excitement in the believers life but let me give you what I think are the top and for now.
1 – Key to Motivation:
The biggest problem that most of us have is not that we have quit believing, not that we are caught up in some terrible sin, but we are just not motivated anymore.
Live Daily With The End in View:
I cannot hit the bullseye if I am not aiming for it. And so many of us have no target to aim for, we are just stumbling along through life, hoping that by chance we will get it right. [But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.] -- Matthews 5:48. Now, how does perfection sound as something to aim for? It sounds unreachable. But the word translated [perfect] literally means [fully grown] or [ripe.] Yeshua is speaking of a process here, of aiming for something, of having a goal and taking the steps necessary to reach it. He uses the Heavenly Father as the example; YHVH is the target we need to aim for, and we do that by living a life in imitation of Yeshua Moshiach. Now I know that in this life I am never going to be as fully grown or perfect as YHVH is, but I do know that if I have this as my goal, I will continue to grow closer to it with each passing day. It causes me to live each day with the end in view, to be focused, not just on the moment, but on the big picture of my life and it motivates me to grow.
2 – Key to Overcome Apathy:
In 2004, the Boston Public Library opened a new exhibit to commemorate the 85th anniversary of a strange event. Boston's [Great Molasses Flood] killed 21 people and injured 150. On January 15, 1919, an enormous steel vat, containing 2.3 million gallons of molten molasses, burst. Hot, sticky waves of syrup thirty feet tall, destroyed buildings, crushed freight cars, wagons, automobiles, and drowned people. The enormous tank, 50 feet high and 240 feet around had been poorly designed. Company officials reacted to the constant leaks by repainting the tank to match the leaking molasses. [Out of sight, out of mind!] They knew the molasses vat was dangerous but didn't do anything about it. We do something very similar in our faith lives; it is so easy to become apathetic about different problems that we have that need fixing and just ignore them or paint them over with a thin veneer of religious activity. And over time, as our problems grow and as they remain unresolved, we find ourselves swimming in the pool of spiritual stagnation.
Make a Personal Commitment to Grow:
There is a decision involved here: One that doesn’t just talk, but acts. And it is a decision that will lead us away from apathy, into victory. [If any of you wants to be My follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow Me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for Me, you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose or forfeit your own soul in the process?] -- Luke 9:23-25. Yeshua is asking for a personal commitment here, and it is a big one; [put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow Me.] And He gives us the consequences of that commitment; keep your life and lose it or give up your life for Him and find true life. The negative here is this: If you want to live for yourself and be committed only to yourself, you will live a life of personal stagnation. The positive is: Live for Yeshua and live a life filled with meaning, purpose, celebration, victory, security and assurance. Can you remember an old game show, [Let’s Make a Deal?] The host would give the contestants an option between doors number one, two or three. The contestant had no idea what was behind the doors; it might be a new bedroom suite, a vacation or a bag of dog food. The contestant committed to one of the doors but had no idea what he would get. Following Yeshua is not [Let us make a deal.] Yeshua says if you choose Me, you will experience true life, but if you choose yourself, your life will be lost. [Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness.] -- 1 Timothy 4:7b. There is a decision to be made here, a commitment to go into training for growth. Have you driven a stake in the ground and said: [I am going to grow; I am going to commit myself to this process.] Until you do, growth will not occur.
3 – Key to Progress:
So many of us think that we would leave personal stagnation behind if we could just find the right seminar, the right book or the right event. And so we go to an event, get a book or something similar and for a couple of weeks we’re all pumped up and then stagnation returns. While many of these events and books are helpful, they really are not the key. Here is what we need to do:
Value Process More Than Event:
It is not a onetime fix that is going to solve the problem, it is a series of things that we purposely do and get involved in that eventually leads to growth. It is the process of growth that needs to be experienced and honoured, rather than each individual event that is a part of the process. The writer to the Hebrews was talking about the need for spiritual maturity and he makes this analogy: [A person who is living on milk isn't very far along in the believer’s life and doesn't know much about doing what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who have trained themselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do what is right.] -- Hebrews 5:13-14. Notice this phrase: [Who have trained themselves…] He is speaking of a process of training for growth that is initiated by the one being trained. The process is not a seminar, a quiet time or reading a book, it is the cumulative value of those things over a period of time. The secret to your future is not found in the events you attend, but in what you do in your daily routine. Day by day, if you are in YHVH’s Word, if you are praying, if you are being stretched by others and if you are in fellowship, over time those things add up to a great amount of progress in the believer’s life. Too many of us ignore the daily routine and look instead for the one-shot spiritual wonders or events to propel our lives into spiritual success. But true success comes in the way we fill our daily lives.
The Bible uses rain as a metaphor for a spectrum of good and evil. A #merism in a single word. At one extreme is drought. At the other is hail and fire. Righteousness and life are right in the middle. Moses prays that his speech will fall like light rain, the perfect good for Israel.
The Song of Moses begins and ends with praise for the God of Heaven. Much like the Lord's Prayer as taught by Yeshua.
Deuteronomy 32 #haazinu #biblepatterns
https://www.paypal.me/coremajo And Update on my circumstances been having trouble with my phone got an eviction slip for my campsite that lasted a good while gotta move that today I try to refrain from asking for financial support ever thas my PayPal though I meditate on this scripture and other profound wisdom found in the book of Ecclesiasticus Prayers Appreciated ?~Sirach 40:28 My son, lead not a beggar's life; for better it is to die than to beg.
29 The life of him that dependeth on another man's table is not to be counted for a life; for he polluteth himself with other men's meat: but a wise man well nurtured will beware thereof.
30 Begging is sweet in the mouth of the shameless: but in his belly there shall burn a fire.
God speaks first to the leaders of the people. If they don't listen, he speaks to the people. If the people won't listen, God speaks to the whole of Creation, and it will always respond to His Voice. #yeshua
https://www.americantorah.com/....2007/09/11/heaven-an
I think the comic says it all. Something of this nature comes to mind every time I hear someone say "Jesus is my rest" or "Jesus is my Sabbath". Just like we know we need sleep, we also need rest from our work. All of our work. Not just the stuff we do for our jobs. This isn't a free day so you can go mow the lawn or whatever. Rest.
I've mentioned that we have been keeping the Sabbath since the end of 2016. I can't imagine not doing it now. I would be exhausted and stressed out. Which pretty much describes who I was before we started keeping Sabbath. God knows our bodies. He made them. If the Creator of all things even took the time to rest during Creation to show us the example, shouldn't we do the same?
https://thestraightandnarrow.cfw.me/comics/523
#bible #biblestudy #torahobservant #hebrewroots #messianic #christian #comic #webcomic #wwjd
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Hosea 6;1, “Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.” After we repent and return to His ways, the Creator promises to heal us.
Thought for Today: Monday October 03:
May your prayers be filled with power today. May your words be full of grace and truth. May your Elohiym inspired dreams surprise and inspire you. May your kindness and generosity change the world. Be blessed today in all you do.
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