My goodness

[toad]

“Daily strength comes from above, and lateral strength comes from the sources provided from above.” (James W. Dake)

“I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God’s law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith……I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be.” (Philippians 3:9 and 12 NLT)

Some days I feel like I just can’t do it. I feel like being a Christian is just too much to take on, with everything else going on in my life. And then as I sit down, open my Bible to the place where I left off, and read, God seems to have just the right words to bring encouragement and peace in my life. Actually these feeling I get at times that want me to give up are rooted in self-pity. Here I sit on a gloomy day, one week before Christmas. I’ve got a pulled muscle in my leg, which is like having a blown motor to a bicyclist, and with today’s scheduled meetings of caring the message of hope to the alcoholic who is still suffering, I just feel drained, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I just don’t feel like I can be good. I know that I can stay sober. I put my sobriety way up front in my daily priorities. I know that with out sobriety I loose everything that I have worked for. It’s just that on top of staying sober, I don’t know if I can be a good Christian. I really don’t think about giving up my love and devotion for God, it’s just that sometimes my self-pity tells me that I am not a good Christian. And then as I sit down out of habit to read my Bible (Praise God For Good Habits), The words of the apostle Paul are like an arrow shot straight from God to the heart of the problem, my goodness. When I think of the idea of human goodness, I realize that there are those in this life whose goodness far exceeds my own. And then I think that in some, my goodness may exceeds theirs. Man, were all in this life together and we’re all different. This just happens to be one of those days when I feel that my goodness won’t amount to much. That old self-centered, self-pity trying to raise its ugly head above my heart, is stirring around in my soul. And then the apostle Paul in God’s Word makes it perfectly clear, that my goodness has nothing to do with my standing with God. Right now I have a satisfied smile on my face knowing that I can’t do it by what I do. It seems ironic to have satisfaction in knowing that I can never be good enough to satisfy God. When I come to the point where I know that God does not want my goodness, oh God wants me to be good, but what God wants from me goes deeper than my goodness that I may or may not have. God wants me to believe in God. God wants my faith. God wants my heart. That’s the starting point. If I give my heart to God, then the rest is a process of growing, of successes and failures, of times of goodness and times other than goodness. I am so thankful that I have not arrived spiritually. Otherwise I would have arrived short of how God wants me to be. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…………………….JRE

“No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.” (Philippians 3:13-14 NLT)

“This is another way of saying that we are going to do our best to work toward a lifelong goal that no one ever reaches until eternity.” (The Life Recovery Bible, page 1437)

[cmc]

Thanks toad,
Sorry you were feeling crummy and that you have a pulled muscle. I can identify with that. About 2 years ago I finally became serious about taking better care of myself physically. I had many starts and stops over the years and had finally got into a good routine of walking- I was so happy. Then I hurt my foot, which turned out to be a chronic problem that can flare up for no known reason. My orthopedic dr said maybe I should switch my program to swimming and/or biking. I was 'down' twice over the past 2 years and am now walking again. That setback taught me some lessons in patience and faith. I am now back at it again and doing fine.
My very first thought when I read your post was that in all my years of knowing the Lord (since 1967) I have failed to meet a 'good Christian' and when I did think that about someone, I soon learned that we are all the same. Sinners. Yes, we are instructed to do good, but imo we can never 'be' good and those times we are 'good' are more a testimony of what He can do than my efforts. I do try hard though...and that is enough for Him.
Maybe He allows us to be sidelined so we will be forced to rely on Him even more. That's how I see it. So, I hope you will keep the leg raised and iced up, so it will heal well and soon. Soon you'll be back out spinning!
take care!
cmc

[toad]

Originally Posted by cmc

Thanks toad,
Sorry you were feeling crummy and that you have a pulled muscle. I can identify with that. About 2 years ago I finally became serious about taking better care of myself physically. I had many starts and stops over the years and had finally got into a good routine of walking- I was so happy. Then I hurt my foot, which turned out to be a chronic problem that can flare up for no known reason. My orthopedic dr said maybe I should switch my program to swimming and/or biking. I was 'down' twice over the past 2 years and am now walking again. That setback taught me some lessons in patience and faith. I am now back at it again and doing fine.
My very first thought when I read your post was that in all my years of knowing the Lord (since 1967) I have failed to meet a 'good Christian' and when I did think that about someone, I soon learned that we are all the same. Sinners. Yes, we are instructed to do good, but imo we can never 'be' good and those times we are 'good' are more a testimony of what He can do than my efforts. I do try hard though...and that is enough for Him.
Maybe He allows us to be sidelined so we will be forced to rely on Him even more. That's how I see it. So, I hope you will keep the leg raised and iced up, so it will heal well and soon. Soon you'll be back out spinning!
take care!
cmc

Thanks for the encouragement cmc, I still went for a bike ride and got some wind in my face so I'm doing better........I'm sort of bummed because my county is dragging their feet on giving me back my drivers license. The judge was working on a case in another county the past two weeks.....One day at a time seems to be my motto........thanks for sharing........toad

[cmc]

patience is a virtue!!! arghhhh!!!
Try to hang in there... after waiting 10 years it seems so hard to me that you have to wait some more. The Serenity Prayer applies to this one!
This too will pass and you will be:

[best]

I soon learned that we are all the same. Sinners. Yes, we are instructed to do good, but imo we can never 'be' good and those times we are 'good' are more a testimony of what He can do than my efforts.

I know the old me and I see the new me show up every so often where people may say...he is nice.
I fully know that any goodness others see in me is not me...It is the Lord shining out of me. The old me...I didn't even like him. The new me is Jesus inside, not me.


As to the lic. thing... seems that no matter how old we get, we all have that little child inside. Being told as a child...one more sleep and it will be Christmas.
But they keep moving the day... One more sleep and you are one day closer to getting the lic. back. Prayers for you brother.

[toad]

Originally Posted by best

As to the lic. thing... seems that no matter how old we get, we all have that little child inside. Being told as a child...one more sleep and it will be Christmas.
But they keep moving the day... One more sleep and you are one day closer to getting the lic. back. Prayers for you brother.

Thanks best,

Yesterday I found myself on the pity-pot all day. I went to two meetings last night (prison and home group) and my sponsor finally told me to get off the pot and flush, then to spray deordorizer because I was starting to stink!

Today by the grace of God I claim spiritual progress.......thanks for letting me share........toad

[best]

“Daily strength comes from above, and lateral strength comes from the sources provided from above.” (James W. Dake)

Just caught this with reading it again... and lateral strength...

The importance of reaching out to others with help and for help are gifts from God. Gifts we can give others and gifts we get from God through others.

Lord thank You for the people You place on my path.
Help me to better be Your gift to them and be accepting of Your gift through them for me. A humble heart and a giving heart...Thank You Lord.

[sugarssweetpea]

You guys are such an inspiration to me. I have been really struggling lately & wallowing in the self pity. I am the queen of it I believe. I also am the queen of instant gratification (hence why I am 100 lbs overweight). I am lazy and I believe EVERY lie about myself that Satan has ever told me over the years. I get very upset with the fact that I cannot make everyone here on this earth happy, let alone God. I get very upset that I constantly make mistakes & fail "tests", so yes, thank you Toad once again for a very useful post to me.

[toad]

Originally Posted by sugarssweetpea

You guys are such an inspiration to me. I have been really struggling lately & wallowing in the self pity. I am the queen of it I believe. I also am the queen of instant gratification (hence why I am 100 lbs overweight). I am lazy and I believe EVERY lie about myself that Satan has ever told me over the years. I get very upset with the fact that I cannot make everyone here on this earth happy, let alone God. I get very upset that I constantly make mistakes & fail "tests", so yes, thank you Toad once again for a very useful post to me.

Thank you sugarssweetpea, I also am encouraged by your response. I like your name. I knew a medic in vietnam who was in a horrific battle in 1966 and came out alive to return to the states. He referred to himself a The Sweetpea to Jesus. If you remember in the cartoons how Popeye unconditionally loved Sweetpea (Olive's baby), you can realize how we all are the sweetpeas to Jesus.......toad

[sugarssweetpea]

Wow thank you. It is my name b/c I call one of my children sweetpea & one of them sugars. It brings on a whole new meaning now. Thank you.