Title: 'When Another Makes You Suffer'

Visual Prayer Art -  From Crystal Light Collection by Rev.Bola A

Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tender hearted,  forgiving one another, even as God for  Christ's sake hath forgiven you. When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment, he needs help.  ~ Thich Naht Hanh --  Do You have someone in your life who is making life miserable for you? Do you have someone who is making things more difficult than they need to be? How do you react to hurtful words and actions by others? What are some practical and Godly things you can to:  1.Protect yourself     2. Set healthy boundaries     3.Diffuse the situation?

One of the things I have found to work in these kind of situations is prayer and meditation. I always acknowledge and never suppress my natural inclination to retaliate. I acknowledge that I am human, that I have emotions like anger, indignation, grief, sadness, fear...etc... When someone violates my boundaries, I acknowledge that as a human-being it's natural for me to feel these things. What is important to me and to God, is that I don't act out of these feelings in retaliation. So how do I process them? I use my journal. CIR membership provides a great journalling tool. I write about my feelings. I may write a letter to the person, a poem, or even a vent. But I don't post it. Usually when I acknowledge my feelings in this way I calm down. Once in that calm state, I am able to pray, and focus on what is right. I pray both for myself and for the other person. I ask God to deliver our relationship from the negative grip of Satan. Notice, I said I am not just praying for myself. I am praying for OUR relationship in the spiritual and also in the physical realm. I am asking for Jesus to intercede and remove Satan's influence from my relationship with the other person. I then pray for myself, and ask God to help me grow stronger and more loving in Him. I ask for an anointing from The Holy Spirit, to intercede on my behalf in this and all my relationships. Next I pray for that person, and ask God to heal them from all unrighteousness, and be restored to their true nature in Christ. I then close with thanks giving for all those relationships in my life that are working well. (I often find that many are, which I might be taking for granted.) Usually by this time, something has shifted in the Spiritual realm for the better. I often notice also that in the material realm, the next time I am in touch with that person, things are better. But even if that person has not changed, I have. Thank God. Peace Rev.Bola Member of Christians in Recovery Check out Christians in Recovery for more resources. **************************************

Title: 'Discerning My Direction From God'

Title: 'SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT'/Mx - Visual Prayer Art from Collection by Rev.Bola A.

HOW I MAKE ALL MY IMPORTANT LIFE DECISIONS.

'Four Questions on Discerning My Direction from God'

Introduction:
Being led of the Spirit and knowing the will of God requires discernment and a submissive heart.
It is important that I get my heart in the place where I am willing to do whatever the Lord may ask me to do.
Or to refrain from doing whatever the Lord, does not need, want or require me to do.

I must not be like the lady that I read about who….
went from home to home across the countryside selling thread, buttons, and shoestrings. When she came to an unmarked crossroad, she would toss a stick into the air and go in the direction the stick pointed when it landed.
One day, however, she was seen tossing the stick up several times. "Why do you toss the stick more than once?" someone asked. "Because," replied the woman, "it keeps pointing to the left, and I want to take the road on the right." She then dutifully kept throwing the stick into the air until it pointed the way she wanted to go!

MY BIBLE TEXT:
Proverbs 3: says 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;'
v6.' In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct[a] your paths.'

God's Word in The Bible assures me that there is a way I can position my heart to know I will be directed by the Lord. This verse says so in addition to many others. Let me share four questions I ask during times when I am attempting to discern direction from God.

1. Does What I am Sensing Square with Scripture?

-Since the Scripture reveals us to me the will of God, I should never follow a path contrary to the truth of Scripture.
-I am to be led by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:14) and the Holy Spirit will never lead me contrary to Scripture. Why? Because the Scripture was given to men through the Holy Spirit.

2. Does What I am Sensing Bear Witness with Peace?

-Paul wrote we are to let the peace of God rule in our hearts. If what I think I hear being said causes me to lose my peace, then something is amiss.
-The ministry of reconciliation that believers carries is awesome. I must not violate that ministry by doing things that I do not have an inner peace about doing,
-Something may be right to do, but it may not be the right time to do it.
-Something may be right for someone else to do, but yet, I am not to do it,
-Something may right in my own human eyes and the eyes of my friends, but if there is no peace, then the Holy Spirit is saying "No!"

3. Does What I am Sensing Connect or Conflict with Other Confirmed Direction?

-If I am having to knock down a door that God has not opened, then I realize I am going the wrong way. Sometimes we want something we will try to bend everything toward it.

ILLUS-When God bolts the door, don't try to get in through the window. The will of God never will lead me where the grace of God cannot keep me.
-In the mouth of two or three witnesses a thing is established. What does the counsel of Godly Christian people around me say?
-What prophetic words have I been encouraged with through the Scripture or through the Spirit speaking through someone else, or even my dreams. God still speaks through dreams but I must be discerning and use His Word as a standard to judge them.

ILLUS-Do not hastily ascribe things to God. Do not easily suppose dreams, voices, impressions, visions or revelations to be from God. They may be from Him. They may be from nature. They may be from the Devil.
J.K. Johnston, John Wesley Why Christians Sin, Discovery House, 1992, p. 102.
-Do not go against the last thing you KNOW God spoke to you about by changing directions on a word you are not fully assurred of.

4. Does What I am Sensing Contain the Fruit of the Spirit?

-I do not do what Jesus who was full of the Spirit would not do.
-This is a behavior oriented test. The Lord leads me to do things that will result in the fruit of the Spirit being demonstrated in my life.
-For example, He will not lead me into situations where I lose my patience with my partner. He will not lead me to respond to someone in a harmful way.

CONCLUSION: Am I willing to do His will above all others?

I only wrestle with God for one of two reasons:
1. I don't know God's will and I am trying to find it. /OR
2. I know God's will and I am trying to decide whether or not to do it.

I must always ask my Spirit, which of these might I be wrestling with at any given time?

Incidentally, sharing this article brings me a lot of PEACE.
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PEACE And LOVE
Rev.Bola A.

*With Special Thanks To  Eddie Lawrence for his Divinely Inspired Teachings.
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'God Wants You To Know'

Title: 'YOU ARE LOVED'/Mx - Visual Prayer Art from Collection by Rev.Bola A

God wants you to know that....

1. You are loved and very precious to God.
2. You have the right to be treated many times better than the current world system is treating you.
3. You have the right to be completely free of any and all forms of negativity.
4. You have the right to be happy and joyful all the time.
5. You have the right to live a life of peace, tranquility, beauty and harmony.
6. You have the right to all your basic needs for survival being met without struggle.
7. You have the right to enjoy and share all your natural gifts and talents with other human-beings..
8. You have the right to live in abundance, without lack or competition for resources.
9. You have the right to a healthy and fit physical body that does not age.
10. You have the right to direct knowing without being programmed.
11. You have the right to feel safe and secure around other humans.
12. You have the right to only buy, own and use what you actually need.
13. You have the right to be stress, pressure, addiction and compulsion free.
14. You have the right to make your own choices in life, and be accountable for them.
15. You have the right to go anywhere you want, providing you go in love.
16. You have the right to balance in all areas of life.
17. You have the right to know what the rules governing life are, and how to apply them.
18. You have the right to clarity at all times.
19. You have the right to a guilt free, shame free life.
20. You have the right to loving connections with others.
21. You have the right to spend your time with people who care for you and away from people who don't, no matter who they are.
22. You have the right to a pain free passage into and out of the material world.
23. You have the right to unconditional love and acceptance.
24. You have the right to a life of beauty, comfort, luxury and aesthetic appreciation.
25. You have the right to choose not to have any of these things for yourself.