A question of the mind (Full Version)

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Beck34 -> A question of the mind (4/16/2008 10:12:25 AM)

I have a question that has been bothering me for the last few days. How do you work on trust issues in your relationship with God?
I have always been a do-it-yourself person, and I am having a hard time letting go of things in my life, especially my finances. Any advise or scripture referance would be very helpful as this is something that deserves my attention.
I respect our Father and I have a great love for Him. I just don't know what to do to work through this.



mvic -> RE: A question of the mind (4/16/2008 11:15:15 AM)

First of all, it is important that you do not feel guilty regarding your lack of trust, or shaky trust, in God. We've all been there. There have been times when we've all doubted a little. Perhaps it's the devil putting thoughts in our mind - I don't know. But God knows and He forgives. Just as He forgave Peter when He denied Him three times, and the disciples when they were afraid and doubted (i.e. Thomas). Once forgiven they all went on to greater things as witnesses for our Lord.

There's nothing wrong in being a "do it yourself" person. In fact it is good and right that you use your talents as best you can - finances, business or whatever. I believe that's what God wants us to do - to use the gifts and talents He gave us to the best of our abilities. Remember Jesus talking about hiding one's light under a bushell; or the parable of the 3 servants given money by their master and 2 of them managed to make more money for their master whilst the 3rd didn't bother.

When our trust is a bit shaky, let's be honest with God and tell Him so. Pray in your own words and ask Him for the strength and guidance to restore your trust in Him. He won't let you down.

He is with you always, to the end of time.



Ignited-Faith -> RE: A question of the mind (4/16/2008 11:17:28 AM)

This is a simple illustration of what I have found.
It takes trials in life, that strengthen our faith and TRUST in the Lord.(It is also a daily walk.) This is one way the Lord caused me to check up on myself. I was shopping at Walmart with my Husband. He was worrying about something, that I was telling him to trust God with... The next thing I know, I find a Penny on the ground. (I don't always pick up pennies. This one I did.) I happen to look at the Penny and read;
"In God We Trust."
I thought to myself, "Oh this is perfect for my Husband..."
But no... I read it again... "In God We Trust." Then I thought to myself;
"Do we trust God?... DO I?" Then I remembered something I was worrying about. And at that moment I released it to the Lord. I knew I could Trust God with this. And suddenly I felt lighter and free!



sparkleingsnow -> RE: A question of the mind (4/16/2008 4:40:42 PM)

quote:

Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.


quote:

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.


quote:

Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.



Walker311 -> RE: A question of the mind (4/16/2008 5:54:27 PM)

John 15:7: If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Our relationship with Jesus is enhanced by eating the word. The more that you ingest, the more trust you will have in your belly.



Ignited-Faith -> RE: A question of the mind (4/16/2008 5:55:27 PM)

"I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive."
Acts 20:35



SonInMe1 -> RE: A question of the mind (4/16/2008 9:26:06 PM)

quote:

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.


Malachi 3:10. It addresses the tithe issue. It addresses the trust issue.



cynthia -> RE: A question of the mind (4/17/2008 1:02:11 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Beck34

I have a question that has been bothering me for the last few days. How do you work on trust issues in your relationship with God?
I have always been a do-it-yourself person, and I am having a hard time letting go of things in my life, especially my finances. Any advise or scripture referance would be very helpful as this is something that deserves my attention.
I respect our Father and I have a great love for Him. I just don't know what to do to work through this.

How I work through anything is to give it over to the Lord. I tell Him what the problem is, tell Him it's now His. Second I reject the sin and renounce it. Finally I thank the Lord for His freedom and ask Him to replace it with something better. For example, if I were not trusting Him with finances, I would tell Him that and give it over to Him. I would say something to the effect of, "I reject not trusting the Lord with my finances and I repent of that, in Jesus name." Then I would thank the Lord that He knows all the answers about how money works and thank Him for His provision in my life, then ask Him to fill me with faith in Him and to be able to walk in wisdom regarding finances.

My husband and I have had many very difficult financial times. Through this, we have learned to tithe no matter what. We have learned that our provision comes from God and that when we are walking in His ways He takes care of the details. There is a lot in scripture about finances. One thing is that we are to pay our debts. When we get paid, we pay our tithe, rent and debts first. By debts, I mean what we owe. We do not have loans or credit cards. You would probably be shocked on what we lived on up until last year, but you would probably be even more shocked to find out how the Lord had met all of our needs and even provided some special things for us as well.

I have seen amazing things when I have laid it all into the hands of Jesus. Looking back, I wish we had followed those principles much earlier in our marriage.



Beck34 -> RE: A question of the mind (4/17/2008 9:22:23 AM)

Is it really as simple as that? I am so worried about being behind! I guess the reason I got behind in the first place is taking out loans to fix the mess that I made only to wind up even further behind.
I want to place this mess in His hands, but is it wrong of me to want Him to fix what I did in the first place?



sparkleingsnow -> RE: A question of the mind (4/17/2008 10:10:13 AM)

Simple yes, yet hard to do. It means giving up our control, and trusting in the Lord.

I don't want to mislead you. That doesn't mean you'll wake up tomorrow with $5000.00 in the bank and all your bills paid. But day by day He will take care of you and help you work it all out.

quote:

Original: beck34

I want to place this mess in His hands, but is it wrong of me to want Him to fix what I did in the first place?


His word says to cast all your cares on Him for He cares you.



cynthia -> RE: A question of the mind (4/17/2008 10:13:32 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Beck34

Is it really as simple as that? I am so worried about being behind! I guess the reason I got behind in the first place is taking out loans to fix the mess that I made only to wind up even further behind.
I want to place this mess in His hands, but is it wrong of me to want Him to fix what I did in the first place?

It is absolutely not wrong to ask the Lord to fix what you did. That is why Jesus came to die. He came to set us free from the wages of sin. This is not only for eternity, but to help us recover from the consequences of our sin here on earth. This doesn’t mean that once you repent He is going to wave a magic wand and all will be great. It does mean that once you get on the right track, with the Lord in control, that you will be moving towards healing and health rather than continuing down a path of destruction. That road may be long, but it is much better than the alternative.

Now that I understand you have extreme financial problems, I would suggest that you immediately take it to the Lord in prayer. Pray the prayer of repentance where you give it over to the Lord and reject taking matters into your own hands. You have to stop what you have been doing and the attitude behind it so that that Lord is in control. The whole idea of sin is that we have rejected God’s Lordship and authority and gone our own way. If you continue to try to correct the mess on your own, you are continuing to do it apart from the Lord and are in sin.

When you posted the op, I did not realize that you were in financial trouble. I thought you were not wanting to follow biblical principles in managing your money. I did post that we have been tithing for years, even through the hard times, but I hesitate to tell anyone that they must do this, because while I know it is a godly principle, I’m not convinced that it is a requirement.

In your case, what I would suggest that you do is to repent of what you have done, as outlined above. Make sure you opening admit and reject the sin of not trusting the Lord with your money. The Bible tells us to flee from evil and to resist it.

After you have prayed repentance over the situation, you will need to daily seek the Lord for knowledge, understanding and wisdom on what to do. Seek out wise counsel on financial matters and do some reading from Christian sources. Crown Financial (someone correct me if that name has changed) and Dave Ramsey are both good sources of solid, biblical information. I think Dave Ramsey, in particular, has materials for how to solve a financial crisis.

Solving financial disaster can take a long time and a ton of patience, but it is way better to slog it out according to godly principles rather than trying to solve it our own way. Acting on fear, rather than acting on solid principles of financial management will only make matters worse. If you continue to try to solve it your own way, you will continue to have the same results that you are having now. The Lord wants to be in charge. When He is in charge, things have a way of changing for the better.



kmangel -> RE: A question of the mind (4/18/2008 8:19:54 AM)

One thing that would help you is to get Godly counsel in resolving your financial problems. Have you sought any outside help? There are lots of people such as you that have turned their lives around and it would be good to learn from their example. Perhaps your church can guide you to someone who can walk you through what you need to do to get yourself on firm ground again--and stay there.



Beck34 -> RE: A question of the mind (4/18/2008 11:26:01 PM)

You know, I never thought of seeking couseling on this. I had such a bad experience with ministers that it is hard for me to open up, and with the change in leadership at my church....well, I am at a loss.
I am trying as you suggest to give it over daily to God, but this is so hard. I know it is worth doing, but I am scared out of my mind. I know this fear comes from the Devil. Please continue to pray for me.



cynthia -> RE: A question of the mind (4/18/2008 11:49:13 PM)

You are right that fear is not of the Lord. If you don't have anyone in your church who can help you, try looking up Dave Ramsey's books at the library. Here's a link to his web-site. Actually, even if you can find in person counsel, it is still wise to start doing some reading and investigating right away. Fear will keep you from acting wisely, if you let it. Do not let it. Do not run from the situation at hand. Face it head on. Arm yourself with information and truth. The Lord stands with you in your battle against fear.



Ezra -> RE: A question of the mind (4/19/2008 12:20:32 AM)

quote:

I am having a hard time letting go of things in my life, especially my finances


Do you mean by "letting go of things" that deep down you are a covetous person? In that case it is not a "trust issue" but a sin issue. And sin is to be confessed and repented of.

The way to look at possessions (including money) is that they are a stewardship from God -- they belong to Him and are loaned to you so that you may live on earth and also bring blessings to others through sharing.

quote:

I want to place this mess in His hands, but is it wrong of me to want Him to fix what I did in the first place?


Not at all. Every human life is a mess in one way or another, that is why Scripture says that we are to cast our burdens on the Lord, and He will sustain us and deliver us from our messes. Just do it.

quote:

I am trying as you suggest to give it over daily to God, but this is so hard. I know it is worth doing, but I am scared out of my mind. I know this fear comes from the Devil. Please continue to pray for me.


Why should it be "so hard" to hand over your problems and difficulties to your Father in Heaven? If you were a little child, you would do that with your earthly father. And God has not given us the spirit of fear. When you hand things over to God, there should be peace.



Beck34 -> RE: A question of the mind (4/19/2008 6:42:03 AM)

It is not about coveting things. It is about letting God have control instead of doing it myself. Do you think that is coveting?
I am working hard at this. I don't want to contiually sin, as you suggest. I am digging deep, and I am trying to learn the lesson that God wants me to learn in all of this.
I will try the resources suggested, and maybe I can learn more about all of this.



kmangel -> RE: A question of the mind (4/19/2008 5:58:15 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Beck34

You know, I never thought of seeking couseling on this. I had such a bad experience with ministers that it is hard for me to open up, and with the change in leadership at my church....well, I am at a loss.


It's important that you look to others to help you. We can not go through life without seeking Godly counsel from time to time. You're in the middle of such a time now. There's a verse in Proverbs (12:5) that says essentially "Stupid people always think they are right. Wise people listen to advice." If you don't trust your pastors to guide you then that's a red flag in and of itself!

If you join a financial group like Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University or a group through Crown Ministries, you'll be one of several people seeking to handle money God's way. A great step in the right direction.



Beck34 -> RE: A question of the mind (4/20/2008 1:52:47 AM)

Thanks! I am going to check into all of that first thing Monday.



indigoblue2008 -> RE: A question of the mind (5/16/2008 11:26:14 AM)

All such wonderful advice.

Like you, I too have struggled with faith/trust issues until one day our Pastor asked us to read the book "The Practice of Godliness" by Jerry Bridges with the Navigators.

Without a doubt dear Brothers/Sisters in the Lord and of the Faith, If you take the time to read/assimilate the contents of this book, many of your questions regarding the "How" of our Faith wll be revealed.

Thank you Holy Spirit for leading me to this book which led me to your Word, which led me to my Jesus.



Beck34 -> RE: A question of the mind (5/23/2008 2:28:06 AM)

I have been working on my issues in my relationship with God, and the Billy Graham ministry has helped alot. I am going to check and see if my library has the book you mentioned. It sounds like it may help.



Liveloved -> RE: A question of the mind (5/23/2008 10:11:01 AM)

I heartily concur with indigoblue. Jerry Bridge's book, The Practice of Godliness, is an excellent study tool to help you.

It sounds like you've made a mess, Beck. We all have at different times and in different ways in our lives. But God is the best UNMESSER! He helps us get rid of the messes we have made. And others have pointed out that you probably have some sin issues that need to be dealt with that are at the heart of the mess that you are in. So let Him deal with you deep down at the root of the problem. He'll do the 'dirty work' for you. But you must cooperate. Bridge's book could be just the tool He uses. Bless you![:)]



Beck34 -> RE: A question of the mind (5/25/2008 2:06:26 AM)

It is so hard to deal with those issue because it brings up times that I want to forget. I am working through the Bible and opening myself up to what God wants to say to me, But I find myself putting up a wall when He begins to minister to me about my past. I am a mess! I have so much going on, and it is hard to take time to deal with all of this because I want to shut down mentally and physically. With 6 kids, I can't do that so I try to shut it off. My counselor say I need to work through this, but what if I become this person that I hate on the inside? I don't want to be weak, but I know that I am not to deal with this and move on. Please pray for me.



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