I missed the first part, also.
Thanks much.
Many Blessings,
Pat Ferguson
"I can Do all Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me." Phillippians 4:13.
At 09:38 PM 3/18/2014, you wrote:
>Oh did I miss the next part?
>
>Man. With Dad's passing and my brother-in-law suddenly critically
>ill and in ICU, and I could name a host of other things that don't
>make sense, I feel like abandoned forsaken and a whole lot of other
>words of similar demize. Oh, and I'm just being honest here. I know
>what the promises of the Scriptures are and I believe them. But my
>feelings don't. So I believe God has in his still small voice
>indicated for me to praise my way through this. Well praise usually
>has a happier tone to it. Nevertheless, I will do that as best I
>can. I'm also asking God what he wants to show me through all of
>this. If I missed the next part, please re-send for this slow learner.
>
>Vicki
>
>
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Phil Scovell <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 3:37 pm
>Subject: Empty of God As A Christian
>
> >
> >
> > When I was in Bible college, my roommate told me one day that he
> had a fish tank at home but it was empty. I told him to bring it
> back to school, we'd fill it, and I'd pay for the fish. He set it
> up one day, filling it with water, putting the brightly colored
> rocks in along with open geode rocks, pronounced ge odes, which the
> dictionary defines as a small, hollow, usually spherical rock with
> > crystals lining the inside wall,
> > They sparkle like diamonds and are beautiful, and he had castles
> so the fish could swim in and out of the little houses and a soft
> light over head along with the water pump to keep the tank water
> oxygenated. The only problem was, we never bought any fish. I
> begged my roommate time and time again and that I'd would buy the
> fish but I guess he didn't want to take care of them so we just
> never bought any fish for this nice fish tank.
> >
> > Our part of the 4-plex we lived in had the washer and drier so
> every weekend, guys from the other three parts of the 4-plex came
> right through our front bedroom, which was in the living room, and
> three guy bunked upstairs in two different bedrooms, and after
> loading their clothing into the washer, they'd come out and talk,
> or read, in our living area as they waited for their laundry. The
> fish tank always came up in conversation like this.
> >
> > I might be stretched out on my bed, my roommate working at his
> desk at something, and after moments of long silence, the guy would
> say, "Hey, you guys. Where are the fish in this tank." My
> roommate or I, would look up and say, "Oh, there in there. Just
> keep looking." Minutes passed. "I don't see any fish." One of us
> would reply and say, "Oh, they like to hide among the rocks and
> castles. Just keep looking." Sometimes this ruse, or deliberate
> deception, would last for 15 or 20 minutes until they'd realize,
> there really were not any fish in the tank. Then they'd wonder,
> "Why do you have water in this fish tank and no fish living in it?"
> >
> > I compare this to the average Christian life and relationship
> with God. I wonder if you agree. Most of us, even as born again
> Christians, try our best, even when things are going poorly, to act
> the part of a Christian. Some people refer to it as performance
> based Christianity. Oh, we would never admit to such behavior in
> our relationship with God but in all my ministry years, pastoring,
> and before that, traveling to churches around the country as a
> guest speaker, it's common in the Body of Christ, and lest you
> think I boast, I identify such thought behavior in my own life all
> the time. Why? Because the truth is the only thing worth
> believing. Many times the Lord will call it to my attention by
> saying in my mind/thoughts, "What are you doing that for? I'll
> tell him why but then He will say, "But I've already done that for
> you so stop it."
> >
> > For example, a few years ago, I was praying two hours every
> day. I had a list of 60 people, or more, for whom I prayed but
> when I broke it down one day, that meant only 2 minutes for each
> person. I thought that was a puny amount of time to be praying so
> I switched to praying in tongues for the same amount of time in
> order to allow the Lord to sort it all out. One day, after walking
> from our deck into our living room, going to get a drink before I
> returned to our deck swing and my praying, I heard a voice in my
> head say, "What are you doing?" Well, Lord," I began, "I'm
> praying, you know, for these 60 people and for everything else you
> want me to pray about. You know, I'm an intercessor so I'm doing
> what intercessors should be doing." He said, "I never told you to
> pray 2 hours a day." I took the hint and stopped the 2 hour per day ritual.
> >
> > This all reminds me of Elijah running from Jezebel. After the
> greatest victory of his ministry, calling down fire from Heaven and
> slaying 850 evil prophets single handedly with a sword, a woman
> threatens to kill him and he literally headed for the hills and
> finding a cave, he hid. depression set in. You know the rest of
> the story. God asked him, "What are you doing here, Elijah." The
> old prophet figured God hadn't heard so he explained it to Him in
> detail and even said he was the only prophet left in Israel to
> preach to the people His Word. He didn't know God had 7000 other's
> throughout the country doing exactly what Elijah was already
> doing. God invited him out to the opening of the cave to give him
> an object lesson. The wind blew so hard, it split
> boulders. That's a pretty stiff breeze if you ask me. Then there
> was a mighty earthquake. Take my word for it; you don't want to be
> cooped up in a mountainous cave during an earthquake but that's
> where Elijah was; exactly in the wrong place and thinking the wrong
> way about God. Then we also learn there was a fire. What burned
> in this mountainous fire? It appears Elijah was above tree line so
> was it just the air, or rocks, or ground that caught on fire? Then
> God asked him again what he was doing in this little cave. Elijah
> didn't change his mind set and answered in the exact same
> way." Why? Because he felt God had let him down following his
> greatest sermon ever. Of course, Elijah found out God was far from
> done using him. How did Elijah know? Because each event, the
> wind, the fire, and the earthquake, the Bible says, "but God was
> not in the wind, or earthquake, or fire." Then where was God if
> that wasn't Him in each of those amazing miraculous events? God
> was in His quiet still voice where Elijah, due to his
> discouragement, fear, and depression, had forgotten just to listen
> for the Lord's voice.
> >
> > So, what does an empty fish tank have to do with any of
> this? Have you ever felt, as a born again Christian, that you have
> everything but what you truly need from the Lord? I mean, we have
> the Bible, a source of great doctrine, theology, and peaceful
> comfort. We have prayer so we can commune personally with the God
> of the universe even if He is busy, you can leave a message and
> he'll eventually get around to calling you back. Jesus is our
> friend now even if we have no personal friends with whom we can
> fellowship. We have Christian broadcasting to listen to when we
> just can't take it any longer. We know, or at least are pretty
> certain, what little money we put in the offering plate is going to
> multiply and pay all our bills. Right? Sure, the Bible says so,
> at least that's what the preacher says in his sermons. We have the
> promise that nothing is impossible with God yet we have physical
> issues that are right down monotonous and at other times so
> painful, we spend most of our time crying. If that isn't bad
> enough, it feels like we might just die from it all. Look it
> up. Elijah was suicidal. Read it for yourself in 1 Kings chapters
> 18 and 19. Yet, with all these pretty things to brighten up our
> tank, even fresh air pumped into the cool water and a light
> overhead to show us the way, we are flat out empty inside of real
> life. So how do we get it. I'll talk about that next time.
> >
> > Phil.
> > Living His Name
> > WWW.SafePlaceFellowship.COM
>
>As Always, Vicki
>To get information on how to purchase my CD write me at:
>[log in to unmask]
Thanks much.
Many Blessings,
Pat Ferguson
"I can Do all Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me." Phillippians 4:13.
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