Think on What They Said

Lose Your Mind!

2012-01-26T08:49:00.000-06:00

"As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motion of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection." --Wendell Berry, American farmer

Quoted in Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne et al. Zondervan (Grand Rapids, Michigan) 2010.

God Meets Our Needs in Two Ways...

2012-01-26T08:41:00.001-06:00

"God can meet our needs in two ways,
1. He can give us what we need; or
2. He can set us free from what we consider a need." --Hristo Kulichev, former persecuted Christian from Bulgaria

Hristo Kulichev shares how, in prison, God didn't give him more bread, though what they were given wasn't nearly enough. "But he set me free from the feeling of hunger. I always felt satisfied. I never felt hungry--and bread and salt turned out to be a delicious meal for me."

from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church Compiled by Jan Pit for Open Doors International. Sovereign World Ltd.(Lancaster, England) 2009.

Compassion and Justice

2009-08-20T09:54:00.002-05:00

"Mr. al-Megrahi did not show his victims any comfort or compassion … but that alone is not a reason for us to deny compassion to him and his family in his final days." —Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill

Al-Megrahi, former Libyan secret service agent who has prostrate cancer and only three months left to live, "is the only person ever convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on Dec. 21, 1988." —CBC News

Happiness and Goodness

2009-08-19T02:51:00.000-05:00

The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy - I mean that if you are happy you will be good.
- Bertrand Russell

Dead People Live

2009-07-29T11:08:00.001-05:00

Jesus did not come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live.

--Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola

Honesty vs. Abandonment

2009-05-03T13:01:00.001-05:00

"When we are honest with God, when our souls have been laid bare, and we experience his acceptance, the fear of abandonment subsides."

James Bryan Smith. Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life. HarperSanFransico: New York (1995). p.38

Weakness and Strength

2009-05-02T13:17:00.000-05:00

The paradox here is that God's strength is realized upon the admission of weakness. In other words, the homosexual tendency becomes the channel of God's strength once submitted to him.

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 95.

Simple Acceptance

2009-04-26T12:57:00.001-05:00

"Grace heals our shame not by trying to find something good and lovely within us that is worth loving but by looking at us as we are, the good and the bad, the lovely and the unlovely, and simply accepting us."

James Bryan Smith. Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life. HarperSanFransico: New York (1995). p.38

Power and Battle

2009-04-25T13:15:00.001-05:00

One does not become empowered solely in isolation; that power becomes fully realized in battle.

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 93

Don't Try to Fix Yourself

2009-04-19T13:06:00.001-05:00

"Trying to improve our existing selves is precisely our problem.... We may fear that God will draw away from us if we are honest, but in fact the opposite movement occurs.... 'Here I am, God. You know I am broken and wayward and foolish.' These words dismantle our pride and allow God to penetrate our hearts."

James Bryan Smith. Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life. HarperSanFransico: New York (1995). p.36, 37

Focus and Access

2009-04-18T13:12:00.000-05:00

One whose focus on Jesus is undivided has more ready access to Him.

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 90

Community and Truth

2009-04-11T22:47:00.002-05:00

"We lack community in many churches precisely because we have been ashamed to admit that we are sick. Admitting the truth of who we really are is the first step to building real community."

James Bryan Smith. Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life. HarperSanFransico: New York (1995). p.35

Yielding and Trust

2009-04-11T13:11:00.002-05:00

With each experience of yielding to Jesus, trust developed.

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 84

If God Abandoned Me

2009-04-05T12:44:00.000-05:00

"...if my God would abandon me I would commit more misdeeds than any other man."

St. Francis of Assisi as quoted by James Bryan Smith. Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life. HarperSanFransico: New York (1995). p.34

One's True Self

2009-04-04T13:09:00.000-05:00

To find one's true self, one must forsake all falsehood and follow Jesus.

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 85.

Let It Go!

2009-03-29T12:42:00.000-05:00

"...the answer to our struggle is to let go of the need to feel important."

James Bryan Smith. Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life. HarperSanFransico: New York (1995). p.33

Struggles after Repentance

2009-03-28T13:01:00.000-05:00

...homosexual relationships and addictive behavior don't cease to be a struggle simply because they're named as sin and repented of.

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 84.

Resign Yourself To It

2009-03-22T12:38:00.000-05:00

" 'It will do you no harm to find yourself ridiculous.... Resign yourself to be the fool you are.' "

A psychiatrist in The Cocktail Party by T. S. Eliot, quoted by James Bryan Smith. Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life. HarperSanFransico: New York (1995). p.32

Healing--The Pain has just Begun

2009-03-21T12:56:00.000-05:00

When we will to be free and submit the brokenness at hand to Jesus and His people, the pain has just begun. The wearisome pain of deception eases, but in its place is the pain that lies at the core of the homosexual struggle. The pain of rejection and deprivation, of abuse, of loneliness, of the anxiety built by years of feeling alienated within and without--that which we have tried to ease again and again through homosexual pursuits--this is the pain Jesus wants to get at in order to heal the heart.

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 81.

We don't Want to See It

2009-03-15T12:37:00.000-05:00

"The reason we have such trouble accepting ourselves as God accepts us is that we do not want to see ourselves as God sees us...a sinner capable of great sin."

James Bryan Smith. Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life. HarperSanFransico: New York (1995). p.31

Willing to be Vulnerable

2009-03-14T12:52:00.001-05:00

The first work of repentance is a willingness to be vulnerable, to confess that "this is a real problem that is really mine and that I cannot resolve on my own."

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 80.

There Is No Escape

2009-03-08T12:30:00.000-05:00

"The anguish of shame cannot be escaped. We can be drenched with praise and applause and it still remains. We can be morally perfect, flawless in our actions, and it is still with us. We can take a pill and wait for the pain to subside, but it returns when the drug wears off. The agony cannot be escaped, but it can be healed."

James Bryan Smith. Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life. HarperSanFransico: New York (1995). p.29

Become Rooted in Jesus First

2009-03-07T12:49:00.000-06:00

"...most people with homosexual tendencies need first simply to become rooted in Jesus and His community. It would be premature to insist that they immediately face squarely the specifics of sexual brokenness."

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 75.

I Can't Believe It!

2009-03-01T12:26:00.000-06:00

"Why do we find it easy to believe God accepts everyone else and hard to believe he accepts us? The answer is that we are filled with too much shame."

James Bryan Smith. Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life. HarperSanFransico: New York (1995). p.27

Seek First...

2009-02-28T12:47:00.000-06:00

"That fundamental willingness to seek first the kingdom rather than illicit pursuits is a key to healing."

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 74.

No More Resolutions

2009-02-22T10:46:00.000-06:00

“God’s love for me has radically reshaped my identity. I no longer need to defend myself, make resolutions to do better, or show God that I have atoned for my sins.”

James Bryan Smith. Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life. HarperSanFransico: New York (1995). p.20

Will I Seek Him Even Then?

2009-02-21T12:44:00.000-06:00

"The struggler must count the cost of commitment. He must ask himself, Will I continue to seek Him when I don't feel like it? When I feel more like entering into a gay relationship or some compulsive habit? When the going gets rough and neither God nor His people seem readily available? When God isn't meeting my expectations of how and when healing should occur in my life? Will I see Him even then?

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 73

What's Your Focus?

2009-02-15T10:44:00.000-06:00

“By shifting the focus away from myself and onto Christ and his love for me, I have noticed that everything comes into view.”

James Bryan Smith. Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life. HarperSanFransico: New York (1995). p.19

Accomplishments and Snares

2009-02-14T12:40:00.001-06:00

"As I grew in the early years of my Christian walk, each new accomplishment was matched by a new snare."

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 71.

Torrid Passion

2009-02-08T10:42:00.000-06:00

“The torrid passion sometimes felt between two human beings is a pale reflection of the burning desire God has for us. It was love, not a theory of redemption, that made the martyrs sing praise while being tortured.”

James Bryan Smith. Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life. HarperSanFransico: New York (1995). p.16

God is More

2009-02-01T10:40:00.001-06:00

“Whatever we are allowed to discover about God, he is more.”

James Bryan Smith. Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life. HarperSanFransico: New York (1995). p.16

Core of Christian Faith

2009-01-25T10:35:00.001-06:00

“...the core concept of the Christian faith [is] the message that God loves us, searches after us, and longs for us to be whole.”

James Bryan Smith. Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life. HarperSanFransico: New York (1995). p.11

Stop Expecting Rejection!

2008-12-28T20:17:00.000-06:00

" 'You've allowed a spirit of rejection to color everything you've heard each other say,' our marriage counselor told us. 'Every time one of you said or did something, a spirit of rejection interpreted it for the other. You both have to learn to relate to one another, not expecting rejection, but expecting acceptance and receiving it.' "

Stormie Omartian. Lord, I Want to Be Whole: The Power of Prayer and Scripture in Emotional Healing. Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville (2000). Page 187.

Worship--By Force of Will

2008-12-27T10:43:00.000-06:00

One night she was at home alone, feeling her aloneness with a poignancy and depth that she had never experienced until the breakup with Susan. By sheer force of her will, Karen began to worship [Jesus].

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 69.

Day-to-day Overflowing

2008-12-25T09:08:00.001-06:00

"[Jesus] pointed beyond an initial experience in the Holy Spirit--beyond being baptized in the Spirit--to a lifestyle bathed in Spirit fullness to the point of day-to-day overflowing. --Jack Hayford

Living the Spirit Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship. Regal: Ventura, California (2001) page 120.

Feeling Rejection

2008-12-21T20:10:00.000-06:00

"The lie we believe when we feel rejection is, I'm not worth anything, so it's completely understandable that people will reject me. A spirit of rejection convinces you that you will be rejected, and then every word and action of other people is interpreted through the eyes of rejection."

Stormie Omartian. Lord, I Want to Be Whole: The Power of Prayer and Scripture in Emotional Healing. Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville (2000). Page 187.

What is Your Primary Desire?

2008-12-20T10:40:00.000-06:00

Karen wasn't ready at first to pray for the authority to break off her relationship with Susan.... She was unsure because Susan had become everything to her, so the loss of her was overwhelming. But God was faithful. He revealed to her the truth about their relationship--how it was inspired by need and brokenness and even emotional manipulation. Karen began to realize that Susan had overtaken God as the primary desire of her heart.

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 69.

Extravagant Excess

2008-12-18T09:03:00.001-06:00

Living Water is provided for us in our desert wastelands, "splashed and cascaded down" in extravagant excess.

This is not a quote but a thought prompted by Jack Hayford from his book Living the Spirit Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship. Regal: Ventura, California (2001) page119, 120.

Centre of God's Will

2008-12-14T20:06:00.000-06:00

"The key to finding God's will, in this case, was to constantly give the situation entirely to the Lord, pray about it, praise Him for His perfect will in my life, and then wait on Him for the answer. Being in the center of God's will brings great security and confidence because there is something uniquely wonderful about knowing that you are exactly where you're supposed to be. It is a guaranteed place of safety and peace."

Stormie Omartian. Lord, I Want to Be Whole: The Power of Prayer and Scripture in Emotional Healing. Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville (2000). Page 185.

Admission of Utter Reliance

2008-12-13T10:36:00.000-06:00

Confession to Jesus...involves a lot more than admitting wrongdoing. It's an admission of one's utter reliance on Jesus for every aspect of the struggle: the disorder and brokenness that require His healing, the deep needs that require His guidance, the sin that requires His cleansing and release.

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 67.

Dangerous Respectability

2008-12-11T09:00:00.001-06:00

"Are you tempted to keep your cool, to maintain control even while asking to be made 'full of God'? I'm inclined to believe the temptation to maintain respectability is more dangerous than we might think." --Jack Hayford

Living the Spirit Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship. Regal: Ventura, California (2001) page 118.

The Most Essential

2008-12-11T08:58:00.001-06:00

"Nothing in the believer's life is more essential to his or her becoming a daily, fully empowered replication and representative of Jesus Christ than being and keeping filled with the Holy Spirit." --Jack Hayford

Living the Spirit Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship. Regal: Ventura, California (2001) page 116

Letting Things Slide

2008-12-07T19:59:00.000-06:00

"The danger once we know the Lord and have been walking His way is thinking that we have learned the lessons. We've read the Bible. We're receiving the blessings. And now we believe we can let things slide...while the enemy sneaks up on our blind side."

Stormie Omartian. Lord, I Want to Be Whole: The Power of Prayer and Scripture in Emotional Healing. Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville (2000). Page 182.

Submit the Yearning to God

2008-12-06T10:31:00.000-06:00

Jesus...invites the needy one who craves same-sex bonding to submit the yearning to Him out of the realization that he doesn't blame the struggler for possessing the tendency....

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 67.

I Found You, O My God

2008-12-05T08:15:00.000-06:00

In losing all the gifts, with all their supports, I found the Giver. In losing the sense and perception of You in myself, I found You, O my God.... Oh, poor creatures who pass all your time in feeding upon the gifts of God, and think in that to be the most favored and happy, how I pity you if you stop here, short of the true rest, and cease to go forward to God Himself, through the loss of those cherished gifts in which you now delight! ...[You] never enjoy God in all His fullness, which is a loss that cannot be perfectly known in this life.

Jeanne Guyon: An Autobiography. Witaker House, New Kensington, PA (1997). Page 120.
(Madame Guyon lived from 1647 to 1717)

Enthusiasm

2008-12-04T08:53:00.001-06:00

"'Enthusiasm' is derived from the Greek word entheos, meaning 'God is in them.' The idea of enthusiasm, historically and etymologically, has to do with a person being so full of God (or, in the pagan world, the gods or the muses) that behavior is dominated by Him in a holy sense (or by them in a pagan or even demonic sense)." --Jack Hayford

Living the Spirit Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship. Regal: Ventura, California (2001) page 117.

Too Busy for Guidance

2008-11-30T19:56:00.000-06:00

"When my convalescence finally ended, I slowly made efforts to get back into my normal routine. But things were different. I didn't read the Bible as much, and I was too busy for the prayer closet, opting rather to pray and run. Soon I was running on my own steam instead of being sustained and guided by the Lord.

"Slowly I began to make decisions for my life without asking God. I didn't think I was doing that, but the fruit of those decisions proved that I was. I began walking in rebellion by serving my own needs."

Stormie Omartian. Lord, I Want to Be Whole: The Power of Prayer and Scripture in Emotional Healing. Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville (2000). Page 181.

Admit it to Others

2008-11-29T10:24:00.000-06:00

...unbelief may be the result of a number of factors, but the primary one I see with [homosexually-oriented] Christians is that their long-standing struggle with homosexual tendencies is never submitted to anyone but God. Shame and fear compel them into their prayer closets; the release in prayer alone is found to be inadequate; and eventually they burst out of their "closeted" struggle and engage homosexually, certain God cannot change them.

What has been entirely bypassed is God's healing as mediated through His body, the church, where the many gifts of the Spirit and aptitudes of various personalities can converge to provide the help God has for the strugglers. Submission to Jesus needs to occur not only in personal prayer, but also in prayer, support and counsel as mediated through His body.

Rage of the Wolf is Changed

2008-11-28T08:09:00.000-06:00

Before [purification, the soul] is full of its own judgment and its own will, but now it obeys like a child and finds no other will in itself. Before, it would have contested for a trifle; now it yields at once, not with reluctance and pain by way of practicing virtue, but as it were, naturally. Its own vices are vanished. This creature, so vain before, now loves nothing but poverty, littleness, and humiliation. Before, it preferred itself above everybody; now everybody above itself, having a boundless charity for its neighbor, to bear with his faults and weaknesses, in order to win him by love, which before it could not do but with very great constraint. The rage of the wolf is changed to the meekness of the lamb.

Jeanne Guyon: An Autobiography. Witaker House, New Kensington, PA (1997). Page 115.
(Madame Guyon lived from 1647 to 1717)

Association Yields Dissociation

2008-11-27T08:50:00.001-06:00

"Association--a constant link--with [Jesus] will produce dissociation--a consuming break--with everything in us that isn't of Him." --Jack Hayford

Living the Spirit Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship. Regal: Ventura, California (2001) page

Heart of Religion?

2008-11-26T11:16:00.001-06:00

"I realized that the heart of religion was setting up an honest dialogue with the uniqueness of one's soul and finding a deeply personal relationship with God, the inner Voice, the inner Music that plays in you as it does in no one else." --Sue Monk Kidd (She admits that there's more to it than that.)

When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions. HarperSanFrancisco (1992). Page 49.

Deception vs. Denial

2008-11-23T19:52:00.000-06:00

"Deception is believing a lie and not realizing you have done so. Denial, on the other hand, is knowing the truth but choosing to live as if you don't. Denial is deceiving yourself."

Stormie Omartian. Lord, I Want to Be Whole: The Power of Prayer and Scripture in Emotional Healing. Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville (2000). Page 142.

Sin is Lack of Faith

2008-11-22T10:19:00.000-06:00

The need and brokenness at hand cease to be submitted to God or others who could be healing agents.... That attempt at self-covering, at meeting one's needs according to the creature's wisdom, not the Creator's, constitutes sin and rebellion.... Thus,...sin fundamentally arises out of strugglers' lack of faith in the Creator's capacity to meet their needs.

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 65.

Run after the Giver

2008-11-21T08:05:00.000-06:00

...leave the gifts to run after the Giver.

Jeanne Guyon: An Autobiography. Witaker House, New Kensington, PA (1997). Page 111.
(Madame Guyon lived from 1647 to 1717)

True Spirituality

2008-11-20T08:46:00.001-06:00

"True spirituality, however, somehow just happens. Like fruit on a tree. Like flowers on a plant. Like grapes on a vine...that's it. Grapes on a vine. [see John 15:4, 5] --Jack Hayford

Living the Spirit Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship. Regal: Ventura, California (2001) page 114

Let Life Happen!

2008-11-19T11:12:00.000-06:00

"Slowly I began to trust the solitary voice in me that said that standing still meant forward progress, that letting life happen rather than striving to make it happen allowed life to unfold with even more beauty and potential, that facing pain wasn't nearly so terrible as avoiding it." --Sue Monk Kid

When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions. HarperSanFrancisco (1992). Page 41

It is the Work

2008-11-18T10:22:00.003-06:00

We take for granted that prayer is preparation for work, whereas prayer is the work....

Oswald Chambers in "Christian Discipline, Volume 2" in The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers, page 317

Withholding Blessing

2008-11-17T10:16:00.002-06:00

Intercessory prayer is part of the sovereign purpose of God. If there were no saints praying for us, our lives would be infinitely balder than they are, consequently the responsibility of those who never intercede and who are withholding blessing from other lives is truly appalling.

Oswald Chambers in "Christian Disciplines, Volume 2" in The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers, page 317.

What you Don't Know, CAN Hurt You

2008-11-16T19:50:00.000-06:00

"The devil will use everything you don't know about God against you."

Stormie Omartian. Lord, I Want to Be Whole: The Power of Prayer and Scripture in Emotional Healing. Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville (2000). Page 129

True Nature of Sexuality

2008-11-15T10:16:00.000-06:00

...the true nature of sexuality [is] the inspired longing for communion, for completion, for a point of genuine wholeness through union with another. That need must be taken seriously and treated compassionately if we're to get free from the domination of homosexual impulses.

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 64.

Seasons of Internal Anguish

2008-11-14T07:59:00.000-06:00

Sometimes the soul flies to others and opens her state so that she may find consolation. Thereby she frustrates God's designs toward her. It is of the utmost consequence to know what use to make of the distress. The whole of one's spiritual advancement depends on it. We should, at these seasons of internal anguish, obscurity and mourning, cooperate with God and endure this consuming torture in its utmost extent, while it continues, without attempting to lessen or increase it. Bear it passively, and do not seek to satisfy God by anything you can do of yourselves. To continue to be passive at such a time is extremely difficult, and requires great firmness and courage. I knew some who never advanced further in the spiritual process because they grew impatient and sought means of consolation.

Jeanne Guyon: An Autobiography. Witaker House, New Kensington, PA (1997). Page 54.
(Madame Guyon lived from 1647 to 1717)

Spiritual Change and Emotions

2008-11-13T08:43:00.000-06:00

"I am bold in saying this, but I believe that no one is ever changed, either by doctrine, by hearing the Word, or by the preaching or teaching of another, unless the affections [emotions] are moved by these things." --Jonathan Edwards quoted by Jack Hayford

Living the Spirit Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship. Regal: Ventura, California (2001) page 105.

Waiting for Transformation

2008-11-12T11:10:00.000-06:00

"The point of waiting [was]...to offer her a way for transformation of her own self, a way to give birth to something new and beautiful in her soul." --Sue Monk Kidd

When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions. HarperSanFrancisco (1992). Page 41.

Resting and Trust

2008-11-09T19:41:00.000-06:00

"Resting is 'casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you' (1 Peter 5:7) and learning to be content no matter what the circumstances (Phil. 4:11)--not necessarily being delighted with the circumstances but being able to say, 'God is in charge, I have prayed about it, He knows my need, I am obeying to the best of my knowledge. I can rest.'"

Stormie Omartian. Lord, I Want to Be Whole: The Power of Prayer and Scripture in Emotional Healing. Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville (2000). Page 122.

Homosexual Tendencies

2008-11-08T10:13:00.000-06:00

The presence of homosexual tendencies doesn't necessarily imply willful sin.

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 64.

Exhausted with Needless Vexation

2008-11-07T07:56:00.000-06:00

O you poor souls, who exhaust yourselves with needless vexation, if you would but seek God in your hearts, there would be a speedy end to all your troubles. The increase of crosses would proportionately increase your delight.

Jeanne Guyon: An Autobiography. Witaker House, New Kensington, PA (1997). Page 53
(Madame Guyon lived from 1647 to 1717)

Integrity

2008-11-06T08:40:00.001-06:00

"[Integrity] describes uncompromised character, an unjaded soul, an unsullied heart and an undivided mind. It requires the maintenance of one's heart in entirety before the Lord." --Jack Hayford

Living the Spirit Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship. Regal: Ventura, California (2001) page 103.

Pain, then Pleasure

2008-11-05T11:07:00.001-06:00

"Psychiatrist Scott Peck writes, 'Delaying gratification is a process of scheduling the pain and pleasure of life in such way as to enhance the pleasure by meeting and experiencing the pain first and getting it over with. It is the only decent way to live.'" --Sue Monk Kidd

When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions. HarperSanFrancisco (1992). Page 40.

Mercy and Healing

2008-11-02T19:39:00.000-06:00

"If we are merciless on ourselves, we have a harder time receiving mercy and showing mercy to someone else. And one of the stipulations for receiving emotional healing is showing mercy to others."

Stormie Omartian. Lord, I Want to Be Whole: The Power of Prayer and Scripture in Emotional Healing. Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville (2000). Page 115.

Look to Jesus

2008-11-01T10:09:00.000-05:00

Jesus spoke to him gently, "I've been tempted in all ways as you have, including your struggle with improper sexual feelings. Don't hate yourself. Look to Me. Let My love and compassion uphold you there. It's because of your vulnerability that I too became vulnerable to sin and death. And it is in your vulnerability that you will learn to trust Me. Look to Me, submit your desires to Me, and you'll share in My victory over sin."

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 61, 62.

Power of the Senses

2008-10-31T07:51:00.000-05:00

To destroy [the power of the senses], the most effectual means is, in general, is to deny them firmly what will please, and to persevere in this until they are reduced to being without desire or repugnance.

Jeanne Guyon: An Autobiography. Witaker House, New Kensington, PA (1997). Page 52.
(Madame Guyon lived from 1647 to 1717)

Discipline, Integrity, Protection

2008-10-30T08:37:00.001-05:00

"Through the simple but demanding discipline of our constant walk in integrity of heart, God reveals He will protect and defend us from devices of evil or detours of self-confusion." --Jack Hayford

Living the Spirit Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship. Regal: Ventura, California (2001) page 101.

Progress by Standing Still

2008-10-29T11:04:00.000-05:00

"Counselor Helen Luke cautions that without significant times to be still, we 'extinguish the possibility of growth and walk backwards.' Here's the paradox: we achieve our deepest progress standing still." --Sue Monk Kidd

When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions. HarperSanFrancisco (1992). Page 34.

"Don't Have it, Can't Get It"

2008-10-26T19:36:00.000-05:00

"When the humble say, 'I don't have it and I can't get it on my own,' God says, 'I've got it and I'm going to give it to you.' That's God's grace."

Stormie Omartian. Lord, I Want to Be Whole: The Power of Prayer and Scripture in Emotional Healing. Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville (2000). Page 114.

Tempted Nonstop

2008-10-25T10:06:00.000-05:00

The battle with temptation ceases temporarily when one gives in to the object of desire. Jesus, in His obedience, had no fleshly escape clause. He held fast to the Father's will to the end. We can assume in turn that He was tempted nonstop with an intensity that neither the homosexual struggler nor any other person has ever faced.

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 61.

Union of the Will

2008-10-24T07:49:00.000-05:00

The union of the will subjects the soul to God, conforms it to all His pleasure, and causes self-will gradually to die.

Jeanne Guyon: An Autobiography. Witaker House, New Kensington, PA (1997). Page 51.
(Madame Guyon lived from 1647 to 1717)

We're All Vulnerable

2008-10-23T08:33:00.003-05:00

"...all of us are vulnerable to confusion and mistakes, to being misled or to becoming the victim of someone else's manipulations. Like Abimelech [see Genesis 20], without our awareness and completely outside our intent or cooperation, we may become trapped." --Jack Hayford

Living the Spirit Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship. Regal: Ventura, California (2001) page 100.

Consenting to Be Where we Are

2008-10-22T11:01:00.000-05:00

"'Contemplative waiting is consenting to be where we really are.'" --Sue Monk Kidd quoting Brother Anthony of the Abbey of Gethsemani.

When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions. HarperSanFrancisco (1992). Page 32.

Need for Approval

2008-10-19T19:33:00.000-05:00

"Receiving the gift of God's love means that we don't have to do desperate things for approval. Nor do we have to be depressed when we don't receive love from other people exactly the way we feel we need it. When we sense God's love, it takes the pressure off relationships and frees us to be who we were made to be."

Stormie Omartian. Lord, I Want to Be Whole: The Power of Prayer and Scripture in Emotional Healing. Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville (2000). Page 111.

How Could Satan Tempt Him?

2008-10-18T10:02:00.000-05:00

In His humanity Jesus faced the temptation to find security and pleasure apart from the Father's will. How else could Satan truly tempt Him unless he had access to something Jesus had the capacity to desire?

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 60.

Faith's Own Pure Light

2008-10-17T07:45:00.000-05:00

Faith...makes the soul lose every distinct light, in order to place it in its own pure light.

Jeanne Guyon: An Autobiography. Witaker House, New Kensington, PA (1997). Page 51.
(Madame Guyon lived from 1647 to 1717)

The Law of First Usage

2008-10-16T08:18:00.000-05:00

"There's a simple principle of Bible study usually called the law of first usage. It's impressively consistent, in that it simply notes that the first time you encounter an idea or principle in the Bible, you will generally find its first usage defines the idea's usage throughout God's Word--the concept will be consistent in intent and meaning throughout the Scriptures, as it is found in its first occurrence." --Jack Hayford

Living the Spirit Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship. Regal: Ventura, California (2001) page 100

Stopping Inner Pain

2008-10-15T10:14:00.001-05:00

"...[we can be] hooked on a specific series of actions in order to avoid inner pain or inner growth.... Whatever we use repeatedly and compulsively to stop that growth is our particular addiction." --Sue Monk Kidd

When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions. HarperSanFrancisco (1992). Page 30

Giving Control to the Devil

2008-10-12T19:30:00.000-05:00

"If I become unrepentant and repeat the offense until I am uncontrollably drawn to it, then I have given control to the devil and the bondage is satanic."

Stormie Omartian. Lord, I Want to Be Whole: The Power of Prayer and Scripture in Emotional Healing. Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville (2000). Page 83.

What Necessitates Jesus?

2008-10-11T09:57:00.000-05:00

...[Our] heart's cry for wholeness is precisely what necessitates Him [Jesus].

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 59.

Destroyed by the Operations of Love

2008-10-10T07:41:00.000-05:00

When the will of the created entirely submits to that of the Creator, suffering freely and voluntarily and yielding only a consent to the divine will, which is its absolute submission, allowing itself to be totally surmounted and destroyed by the operations of love, this absorbs the will into self, consummates it in that of God, and purifies it from all narrowness, dissimilitude, and selfishness.

Jeanne Guyon: An Autobiography. Witaker House, New Kensington, PA (1997). Page 48
(Madame Guyon lived from 1647 to 1717)

Spirit Nourishment

2008-10-09T08:13:00.000-05:00

"Some time ago a friend of my mother said to her, 'Dolores, I feel so stupid when I study the Word of God. I just don't seem to remember anything at all.'

"Quite wisely, my mother responded, 'Lou, do you remember what you ate for breakfast on Tuesday, three weeks ago?'

"Her friend looked at her, rather stunned, and replied, 'Well, no, I don't.'

"Mama explained, 'It still supported and nourished you, didn't it?'

"Get the point? Just keep reading the Bible. You may not remember everything, but the Word is flowing into your spirit. And as it does, it's giving you abiding strength and sustenance as you simply obey and read."

Living the Spirit Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship. Regal: Ventura, California (2001) page 91.

Sacred Pain

2008-10-08T10:08:00.000-05:00

"I was startled by the realization that it's only in gathering [up our wounds, scars and torn places] and embracing them, placing them on the altar, that we can begin the process of transforming them. Pain can be sacred too." --Sue Monk Kidd

When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions. HarperSanFrancisco (1992). Page 25.

What Brings Bondage?

2008-10-05T19:28:00.000-05:00

"Yielding to a wrong action until it becomes a habit one can't break brings bondage."

Stormie Omartian. Lord, I Want to Be Whole: The Power of Prayer and Scripture in Emotional Healing. Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville (2000). Page 80.

Sin and Brokenness Intact

2008-10-04T09:47:00.000-05:00

"You...have been blinded by religious tradition and no longer recognize how profoundly you need to be freed by M. That's why you continue in heady unbelief. You ask me tricky questions in the hope of discounting Me, so you can remain unchanged. She submits herself to Me, sin and brokenness intact, and is changed for ever. She goes in peace, alive to Me, forgiven" (Luke 7:36-50, [Comiskey's] paraphrase). [My emphasis]

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 58, 59.

When the Soul is Docile

2008-10-03T07:37:00.000-05:00

When the soul is docile, and leaves itself to be purified and emptied of all that which it has of its own, opposite to the will of God, it finds itself by little and little detached from every emotion of its own, and placed in a holy indifference, wishing nothing but what God does and wills.

Jeanne Guyon: An Autobiography. Witaker House, New Kensington, PA (1997). Page 51.
(Madame Guyon lived from 1647 to 1717)

Unforgiveness and Human Ills

2008-10-02T08:09:00.000-05:00

"Doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists all have noted that the vast majority of human ills are related to repressed attitudes of bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, hate, anger, self-pity and self-centeredness." --Jack Hayford

Living the Spirit Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship. Regal: Ventura, California (2001) page 80.

Incubating Pain

2008-10-01T09:56:00.000-05:00

"Where is our willingness to incubate pain and let it birth something new?" --Sue Monk Kidd

When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions. HarperSanFrancisco (1992). Page 25.

Throw off the Bondage!

2008-09-28T19:23:00.000-05:00

"Through confession we are forgiven of our sins immediately, but we still have to throw off the bondage that came with them. The best way to do this is to give no place to the devil. Each morning say, 'Lord, fill me afresh with Your Holy Spirit this day and crowd out anything that is not of You."

Stormie Omartian. Lord, I Want to Be Whole: The Power of Prayer and Scripture in Emotional Healing. Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville (2000). Page 80.

Trust and Groaning

2008-09-27T09:45:00.000-05:00

Without first establishing trust in the Father, people are usually unable to share the deep groanings of their hearts.

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 51.

Pains Annexed to Sin

2008-09-26T07:31:00.000-05:00

I was penetrated with so lively a dart of pure love, that I could not resolve to abridge, by indulgences, the pain due to my sins. "O my Love," I cried, "I am willing to suffer for You. I find no other pleasure but in suffering for You. Indulgences may be good for those who do not know the value of sufferings, who do not choose that Your divine justice should be satisfied, who, having mercenary souls, are not so much afraid of displeasing You, as of the pains annexed to sin."

Jeanne Guyon: An Autobiography. Witaker House, New Kensington, PA (1997). Page 50.
(Madame Guyon lived from 1647 to 1717)

Spirit of Forgiveness

2008-09-25T08:07:00.000-05:00

"A spirit of forgiveness is a fundamental requirement for every disciple's life and learning." --Jack Hayford

Living the Spirit Formed Life: Growing in the 10 Principles of Spirit-Filled Discipleship. Regal: Ventura, California (2001) page 75.

Aim of Prayer

2008-09-24T09:42:00.001-05:00

"...the aim of prayer is nothing less than a 'deep change in the whole of our personality.'" ---Sue Monk Kidd, quoting in part from Anthony Bloom.

When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions. HarperSanFrancisco (1992). Page 24.

Tainted, but not by Choice

2008-09-21T19:20:00.000-05:00

"If you feel tainted by sexual impurity because of acts that were not your choice, God wants you to be released from the burden of them. Speak to the Lord about all that has happened. Every incident of your memory needs to be spoken out to Him so that it loses its power to torment you. Then ask Him to cleanse you from every effect of it."

Stormie Omartian. Lord, I Want to Be Whole: The Power of Prayer and Scripture in Emotional Healing. Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville (2000). Page 47.

Constrained but Not Free

2008-09-20T09:39:00.000-05:00

He felt constrained by the truth, not set free. The reason was simple. Jim knew the truth about sexual ethics. But he didn't know the Father and His profound grace on Jim's behalf.

Andrew Comiskey. Pursuing Sexual Wholeness: How Jesus Heals the Homosexual. Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida (1989) page 48.