Amen and thank you Sis Jenni!

I want to pray for Sis. Ali, as Ali take this trip Lord please put a shield of protection around her and keep her safe Lord on her travel. Lord you know that Ali trusts in you and we praise you now as being Ali's shield and her refuge. Let her find rest in you Lord as she meet with her fellow Lawyers in Jesus name Amen.

Hi Beautiful Ladies:

First, I would like to say how grateful I am to be part of this amazing group of women of God. Each unique, gifted, humble and loving individuals who desires to seek the word of God's truth in their life. We are different but we share the same love for God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit...a true refection of the Body of Christ's church...His Bride. We can not all be the same parts of the body but together we make one whole body, united. A vessel where God can dwell and His love abide and flow out to enrich others He brings into our life. "Remember me"...one of the last versed where Jesus addressed the disciples...not because He would ever forget us...but that we would remember He has gone before us in this battle and overcame so that we can be more than conquerors in Christ Jesus our Lord! Remind me Lord Jesus...I have said this all week! Remind me, again...and again, Lord!

I will be praying for each of you daily...remember don't look at the obvious answer...look up to the only answer...Jesus...and there you will find the Truth, the Way and the Life! Stay strong in Faith!

Love to all of you...Z:flowerforyou:

Hello lovelies! I am on board. I am catching up with my chapters and reading responses. This chapter 2,. though short, was a major one for me. Several things came to me while reading the chapter and working in the workbook. Really in depth conversation between my husband and I. It led us to conversation (learning), that sometimes was really not about what the chapter was about, but that is OK. Obviously, it was the Holy Spirit working in us to show us what he wanted us to know and learn.

I have read several responses in this posting and several have used the word GUILT. Feelings about guilt about one thing or another. That is a major NEGATIVE word in my daily thought process. I have always had it, since a young girl, feel it, and worry about it daily. It is a ugly, depressing word and thought and really does no one any good. Someone usually feels guilt if they BELIEVE they have been responsible for doing someone wrong, or did not do something good enough, or a situation did not turn out the way we wanted it too. Think about it, it is a word that is used in court when jurors or the judge condemn a person for committing horrific crimes. It is a demon of a word. :mad: Today, it hit me in the face- GOD DOES NOT WANT US TO FEEL GUILT! Why would he? He is a loving God. We have, over the years, learned how to "feel" guilty for what ever reasons, by "fleshly, worldly reasons". This is another word from God that has been coming to me lately, "FORGIVE THEM FATHER, FOR THEY DO NOT KNOW". He forgives us. We are his children and are in a learning process. There is no reason to feel guilty forever for doing something that we think is wrong. Yes, we can acknowledge it, ask for forgiveness if we need too, and learn from it, not to do it again and live the way God wants us to.

That now takes me to this: Some things and people are too hard to forgive, BUT, our loving Father forgives us. And the same statement comes to me, "Forgive them Father, for they do not know". People may know who our Father is by hearing stories, or by what others tell them, they may know that Jesus is His son, by what they hear or read. BUT, do they really know Him, do they really know the Holy Spirit? If they are someone that has a bad fruit bearing tree, most likely they do not know the Holy Spirit. I would think, that if someone knew the Holy Spirit, they would not cause harm to others. Yes, they may stray and live in the flesh, but I do not think they would cause great harm to others- at least not intentionally. I do not believe any of us, here in this group fit that category. We do not deny the Father, Jesus or the Holy Spirit, we are all in a learning process and will continue to be as we are here in the flesh. We should not feel guilt for not living a pristine life - though we could strive for it, devote our time to having a personal relationship with Him and live in His word, that is all He wants from us. He knows we are weak, he knows we are not perfection. When we strive to be like Him, others will take notice, will learn, and hopefully by our example, will catch on and do the same.

Now with that being stated, I believe we are all here in this group for a reason. I know someone on MFP may have invited us, but it was not by chance. It was a calling. He used that person to call us to His word. Jenni, I am not calling you out here embarrass you, I just feel I need to share it, so that others can learn too. You mentioned in one of your postings that you can not express yourself as one of the other members. HOW WRONG YOU ARE HERE! :flowerforyou: I read your posts, your words, your thoughts, your insight and know that God is using you to speak is loving words. I was feeling the same way you were feeling about that very thing when I read your posts and some others posts! "Why does He not use me in that way?", was my thoughts (another negative thought process) That was another slap in the face this morning. :noway: WE ARE ALL UNIQUE, right? HE CREATED US AS UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS. Well of course!!! He is going to use us each individually different! He knows what each of us understands, and how we understand it. He knows what each of us needs in our course of learning. He knows what to put in our hearts to share with others. He is so awesome like this! Thank you Jesus for doing all of these wonderful things so that each of us can learn and understand you more. Thank you for teaching us by using your children you have called.

I have more inside of me that I may want to share later, I have to ponder in it for awhile. I believe what I wrote here today was to share with others.

I apologize that I have been absent, but there are reasons, and I am working through them as I see things more clearly. My mind has been in a fog for a very long time and the fog is starting to clear. My negative thought processes- my bad fruit is falling from the tree and waiting for new fresh fruit to arrive!

Hugs!

So this is the third time I've written on Chapter 2. (A side note, I also wrote on the introduction a couple times before I got it posted) It’s very interesting that since I started reading this book, “The Battlefield of the Mind,” how my life really did become a battlefield. I stopped doing this study because of it. The first time I wrote about this chapter was a few months ago. I spent a couple hours writing and responding, and when I was finishing up, I somehow lost all that I had written. I cried, got mad, felt defeated, and walked away from it. Today, I spent another two hours writing, and as I was writing a prayer at the end, it somehow went to another screen and I lost it again. Yes, I threw another fit! I screamed for my husband to come help me and try to find it, but as I've learned many times on this sight, once it’s gone, it’s gone. I began to sob and right away started to feel that I must not have anything to share anyway. My negativity became overwhelming to me. The defeated, negative, unhealthy thoughts were flooding my head. If God wanted me to share, it wouldn't keep getting deleted. I decided that I was done and I wasn't going to do this study. My husband then said, “Are you serious?! Can’t you see that God had nothing to do with this? The enemy does not want you to share because of power and strength your words give.” I told him that I had spent enough time on it and I was done. I have way too much to do today to take another hour and try to retype anything I just said. He then told me, “If you stop now, you are letting the enemy win. You are believing the lies that your words don’t matter. You need to rise up and show the enemy that you will not be defeated. That you will continue to speak truth and will continue to achieve what God has set in motion. There is nothing that can separate you from the love of God!”
So I say again… interesting. First of all, interesting that for whatever reason my words keep disappearing, but also interesting that I had just written out a page on, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…” Proverbs 23:7 I was put to the test, and I failed. My mind turned straight to my flesh, my mind became flooded with negative thoughts, my mind did not ask the Spirit what to do. My mind flailed, and I believed every thought that entered it. It took my husband’s words to calm me and point out truth. I then realized how irrational I was being and was able to get control over my thoughts again. So all the things I wrote about earlier were good, but I have lived out an example that I have not mastered this thing called, “The mind of the flesh vs. the mind of the Spirit,” or “As you think, so you are.”
My thoughts are the foundation of what I do in my life. My thoughts have dictated how I live for Christ. Good and bad. My thoughts have challenged me, knocked me down, lifted me up, renewed me, defeated me, had me make good decisions, bad decisions, ripped others apart, loved on others, made me depressed, made me happy… and the list goes on and on. This proves that my thoughts are a witness to how I act and the choices I make. If my mind is filled with negativity, then I do and say negative things. If my mind is filled with God’s Word and His truth, then I say and do God’s will.
My mind is a battlefield, and through my own strength I can do nothing. Only by the Lord and His Holy Spirit can I achieve anything! “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit… says the Lord.” Zechariah 4:6
So, this is and may always be something that I have to work at. It is so simple, and yet for me, so hard. I cannot have a positive life and a negative mind. My life has been in a state of chaos because of years of wrong thinking. This includes my food. How I think about it, how I dwell on it, how I feel deprived if I don’t have it. How is my thinking affecting my food intake? That’s huge! I must not only change how I think about other things, but my way of thinking about food MUST change if I want victory in this area!!! As you think, so you are? Well, I've thought about food for way to long now. Because even though I've lost a lot of weight, my thinking is still working for my flesh and for staying fat.

Lord,
Help me to draw closer to You! Call my name each day Lord to seek You out and to worship You and rely on You for all things, including checking all thoughts that come into my mind. Help me Lord to take every thought captive, that I may produce Your fruits and grow victorious in all I do for YOU. Show me Lord when my flesh starts to take over and show me how to produce thoughts and behaviors that are pleasing to You. Lord, help me with my food!!! Show me when I have thoughts that lead me to turn to food and not turn to You. I plead the blood of Jesus over my mind and also over the women that are doing this study. I pray for your hedge of protection around us and help us all to stay in your Word and learn Your truth.
Thank you Lord for your mercies, your grace, and your love.
In Jesus name, Amen