Pernell:
Welcome back! I have sorely missed you and your guidance.
I must confess that I do not have a strong background in the Old Testament. I am familiar with the favorite parables, psalms, and proverbs but I haven't spent all that much time studying those scriptures, so I welcome the opportunity to learn more from the teachings there. Thank you for sharing that.
I just read the scripture in Job 10:1-17. It's about how Job was so bitter that he painted this false picture of God. He thought God was angry with him and that God took delight in punishing the wicked. My study bible says, "In times of severe suffering, people may say things that require a response of love and understanding. Job will eventually repent, and God will forgive."
... all of which made my start thinking about my recent work on Step 2 ...
Clancy:
First, congratulations on your 5 days of freedom. Praise God.
I want to share with you something that I learned in walking through my Step 2. I came to the part of the study that ask me to identify the attributes my Higher Power did and did not have. I thought that was going to be an easy one until I started writing. I found that I had never really identified who God was. I had many definitions and descriptions of God given to me by others over the course of my life, but I had never clearly defined who He was to me. It's no wonder I've been struggling with surrendering to Him. How can I surrender to someone I don't even know or understand? God was a stranger to me even though I called myself a Christian and sat on a pew inside a building called a "church" every Sunday. I had not sought to have a personal relationship with God. He was just my "go to guy" when I got myself in trouble. I had no faith because I had no relationship with God.
If you want to find God and develop a relationship with Him, first you must identify whom it is you're looking for. If you had to describe Him for a missing person's report, what kind of information what you give? (Remember: Physical attributes are not the only identifiable features.)
Second, you must seek Him where He dwells. God does not dwell inside buildings. He dwells inside people. Your body is His temple. Look inside.
Acts 17:24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands."
1Corinthians 6:19-20 "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."
Romans 8:9 "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirt, if the Spirt of God lives in you."
Third, I want to leave you with this link. It's an outline of a Pastor's sermon regarding Blind Faith.
http://www.calvarychapel.com/library...k-005-001c.htm
Please give me some feedback on your take of that information. I use that site a lot for my own study. If you like the style, I'll include more of the teachings from there.
Peace & Prayers,
EyesWideOpen
[This message has been edited by EyesWideOpen33 (edited March 29, 2002).]