a different way to look at Conviction

I always thought 

conviction 

was this huge word that meant "oh my gosh, huge moment where I feel terribly wrong about

everything bad I've done and now I know what I need to change."

But I never felt that.

So I've always been confused about the word.

What does it mean?

Well, I've noticed recently during conversations and real-life experiences that I have conviction

when it comes to how I live.

I am convicted every day that I should be about my heavenly Fathers' work, and not worry about the human response.

I am convicted often that I'm looking in the wrong places for my answers when I should be listening to the Holy Spirit. 

It shouldn't matter what I share with people or tell people, as long as I'm following the path that God has laid out for me. (This means living like Jesus did/would and respecting and loving, yes, that means with judgment and grace. They are both valid and necessary.)

Conviction isn't always this big moment where you realize everything you ever needed to change,

which your response is to fall on your face and then go upheave your whole life.

Conviction is a daily thing.

As it should be.

 

I'm sorry .. what? Christian atheism.. *scratches head.

Christian Atheism? What fresh hell is this? 

Christian atheism

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Christian atheism is a form of Christianity that rejects theistic claims of Christianity, but draws its beliefs and practices from Jesus' life and/or teachings as recorded in the New Testament Gospels and other sources.

Christian atheism takes many forms:

• Some include an ethics system.
• Some are types of cultural Christianity.
• Some Christian atheists take a theological position in which the belief in the transcendent or interventionist God is rejected or absent in favor of finding God totally in the world (Thomas J. J. Altizer).
• Others follow Jesus in a godless world (William Hamilton).
• Hamilton's Christian atheism is similar to Jesuism.

I'm sorry, what kind of Christianity rejects the idea of it being theistic? 

It is based on the single divinity of God. 

That's what Christianity.. is. 

The fundamentals of it are based on the happening in the New Testament Gospels (NOT other sources).. But Jesus was one of the Godhead.. the Son of the Three in One. 

this makes absolutely no sense to me. 

You can't have an ethics system without something to build it on, you can't base a Christian belief system without Christ (therefore "culture" doesn't matter), you can't have a solid belief in one God if you believe he's not transcendent or interventionist, you can't find God in the world because the world doesn't fulfill who He is, He created the world and everything in it.. You can't follow Jesus if you believe He is who He says He is. 

There is no basis for atheism in Christianity.. 

Again.. this makes absolutely no sense.

Anxiety - dealing with it

 It’s lying to me

Telling me that what I’m doing isn’t enough, so why bother

Telling me that people are tolerating me

But i know better

So I’m pushing back

I’m talking to those people

And seeing for myself that i matter

It’s telling me that my mission field is stupid

And nobody wants to hear about what i believe in

That my faith is stupid

But i know better

So i try harder

And i remind myself that fear is a liar

And that Satan is the Father of it

I disconnect from “expectations” and “requirements”

Give my mind a break from what i feel like I have to do

And literally let myself just feel

And do what i know I’m good at

I’m becoming capable of disconnecting from my anxiety

Instead of letting it overwhelm me

So thankful for the strength that I’ve gained

And the peace that I’m finding

And coping skills I’m adapting to

And the people in my life that show me and tell me not just i can do it.. but I’m doing it.. I’m living it

I’m thriving through it

Dear God, I’m so thankful

And grateful for my journey

Even in the middle of what wants to drag me down

I’m seeing victory

And accomplishment

Through Christ

I’m diving in

1 Peter 1:8-9 a relationship without a visual

 Faith without sight

And acknowledging the inner change that happens when you believe with no visual

The peace, the change of mind and heart

The true feeling that is greater than happiness, namely joy

escatology and metaphors

what is eschatology? 

a part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind. 

so the theology of the end times, where we go when we die.

studying revelation, .... 

the gates of hell and heaven, etc

what is a metaphor? 

a figure of speech where a word or phrase is applied to an object or action that is not a literal application. 

symbolic, abstract. 

thinking about how to read something as we research and hear different information. 

do we read it as literal or do we not? 

how to understand things. 

(I'm starting to see how these two things effect each other and how we attempt to reason things into the way we want them to be.)

about prayer

How do you view prayer? 

What is a prayer life? 

If we confess our sings, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

1 John 1:9

For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. 

Hebrews 8:12

From my Bible study on Bible.com

"You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

John 14:14

Dear Jesus, can you keep all of my family healthy, safe, and rich forever? In YOUR NAME, amen.

We've all asked some doozies in His name, and we've seen requests for short of....

what God means. ;) 

Ephesians 3:16 + 17

When we pray, God wants us to ask for things we want. But ultimately, we should want what He wants for us.

Like when a child wants a toy and we have to say no, because we know the big picture of needs, not because we don't want them to have their wants, but we know better.

Like when you get older and you want a relationship or you want a job, but sometimes a moment of heartbreak (not getting the job or losing the person) can be a set up for something so much better. This is a way to remember there is possible purpose in our pain.

Being dependent on God makes our relationship with Him deeper, and then we learn to trust and love Him more. 

Prayer doesn't have to look a certain way. He just wants us to talk to Him.

Whether we feel the need to fall at His feet and spill our guts about our wrong doings, or to say hi and wave to Him during the day, or to spend an hour immersing ourselves in silence, meditating on His promises. There doesn't have to be a perfect schedule, it can be after the kids get on the bus in the morning, sitting in your car before you go into work, or folding your hands at every meal. Talk to Him like you would the most important person in your life. Text Him or "call" Him about anything and everything.

David, in the Psalms, holds nothing back. He's completely open and raw with God.

Matthew 6 - practicing your beliefs

MATTHEW 6

Giving to the Needy

1  “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2  “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Prayer

5  “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9  “This, then, is how you should pray:

“ ‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10  your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

11  Give us today our daily bread.

12  And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13  And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.  ’

14  For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.15But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Fasting

16  “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,18so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Treasures in Heaven

19  “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22  “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,your whole body will be full of light.23But if your eyes are unhealthy,  your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24  “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Do Not Worry

25  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?27Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

28  “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.