felix

Brothers and sisters, Thanks for writing. I will continue to come back to this thread for encouragement. I'm so thankful for how many people are understanding. It was a struggle for me two years ago when I realized that I had ADD. I read the testimony of other ADD people and it was exactly parrallel to my life. I couldn't believe it...I thought it was just me. It was one of the biggest revelations of my life. Prior to this I had been praying to God as to why it was so difficult for me get started on my studies and other responsibilities (this is still a problem). The Lord foreknew my life before time and all I have to do is seek first His kingdom. I know everything else will be taken care of. The limitations (ADD) I've been facing all my life I now understand is something God is using for His perfect purpose.

I cannot express how encouraged I am from these other testimonies. I'm limited on time right now but I have much to say. Really quick...Hr. Jr, I've noticed that in multi-tasking I can do a lot better. It seems when I just do one thing I get bored very easily and distracted. I definetely can relate to that and there are other things mentioned here that I relate to very strongly. God bless. I will be writing more.

Any suggestions on how I could cope with it? I discovered I had ADD about 2 years ago after I my sophmore year in college. I've been diagnosed now but I stopped seeing a psychiriatrist and stopped taking medication. Even if i'm on adderall...i still dont have the motivation to do things. I play games all day and dont do any of my studies or hw. I'm always behind in class.

brother Josh, I hope the Lord continues to lead through the desert like the Israelites and finally into the good land! I read your testimony and I think the Lord has been performing a lot of powerful things in your life just like with the Israelites when the Lord led them out of Egypt. The Lord led you out of Pharoah's kingdom (Satan's Kingdom; this world), the parting of the Red Sea that swallowed up all of Pharioh's army who tried to chase after you, manna from the heaven, and water from the rock. Our experience is similar to this. Eventually we go up to Mount Sinai where we get the Lord's speaking. It is then the Lord powerfully transform us. The interpretation I provided is just one interpretation in this time's context. I'm delighted that you received this vision, amen. I hope it is easy to read and not too wordy. I'm glad it makes a lot of sense to you. When I read over it again I wasn't sure how many people would get it. My thoughts get very disorganized all the time so sometimes my writing isn't so coherent. I guess they call it ADD.

Hi, In my opinion, I believe this vision could apply to us personally and christians everywhere as a whole. Part 1: The lion is likened to Christ or the Christians. The lion walking in darkness is a Christian walking in darkness. When it steps into the light before it, it becomes an aligator. In the light, the light exposes what we truly are. Though we may think we are as Christ (ie. walking as a lion) we are truly aligators. Another lion attacked the aligator. This other Lion is the true Lion, it is Christ. Many may walk as a lion so that their outward life may seem to be full of Christ. They may appear to have a noble and righteous character. They may appear honorable before men. However, they are walking in darkness...they are not living in Christ at all. For instance, we may seem righteous but inwardly in our hearts we condemn others. Or some may gossip and spread rumours about another person all the while making themselves look holy. The light of Jesus Christ and the Word, if we step into it, will expose the our true self...an aligator. This is not an elegant creature at all...rather it is quite hideous and lives in the darkness and muddy waters of the swamp. This is our hearts. This is how we truly are. We are nothing like Christ in ourselves when we are walking in darkness. Instead, we are aligators. When we step into the light and allow God to expose us...our sins become clear. And the Lion, the true Lion, can attack this "aligator" in us. This is what happens when we realize.."Hey, we were judging that brother/sister. I am wrong to condemn him/her." Or "I thought I was better than this person...but it's pride and arrogance to think of myself more highly than others." I believe we sense this "attacking by the other Lion" whenever we are not "Christ-like" (walking as an aligator). Part 2: In the second vision, you see a scale with a cannonball on one side and a pebble in the other. However, the pebble weighs more than the cannonball. The cannonball appears to be of extremely heavy weight and a pebble seems to be of miniscule weight. Yet the pebble outweighs the cannonball. This is similar to the first part as there is a deception in appearance but this second vision still follows the first vision. Whenever we step into the light, our "self" is exposed for what it truly is. The Lion then attacks this nature of the aligator in us. We then have to make a choice to allow Christ to work His way into this part of us (or we may choose to refuse Christ and stay in darkness). In choosing Christ, we must deny ourselves whereby we are reduced to nothing. This is like Job in scripture where at the end (though he was a righteous man in everyway) repents in dust and ashes after hearing from God (exposure to light). You see, on the outside we want to appear as a "cannonball" full of weight and glory. We do not want to appear as weak, as sinners, as full of folly, as full of flaws. We never want to appear as a nothing, we rather want to appear as a something. We boast to others about what we can do, we never want to say what we can't do. In other words, we do not want to appear as a pebble! However, when we deny ourselves...our "self" becomes nothing and Christ becomes everything, we become like a "pebble" in appearance! In this manner, on the outside we become like a pebble but we truly outweigh the cannonball. When we become a nothing so that Christ becomes our everything...we have a weight of glory that exceeds that of a "heavy" cannonball. Conclusion: In our Christian walk, we may think or appear to others as walking in Christ. But we should be clear about the truth and step into the circle of light before us: the light of God and His Word. Only in the light can we see our sin and our shortcoming before God. The Lord will attack this part of us and we must choose to accept this in denying ourself or refuse it by blocking it out (and justifying ourselves). If we deny ourself and accept this attacking of our "aligator" nature...we should not distress that we become as nothing and appear as a "pebble" to others. Sometimes we may have to confess before other people our faults; don't be distressed of how you appear. For in reality, you outweigh the ones who choose to have themselves appear as a "cannonball".

brother reconditioned, I'll be praying for you. I know how important it is for us to be filled with God before ministering to others. Therefore I must first confess that I'm a sinner and I need to wash myself yet again in the blood of Christ. I also need to be washed away with worldliness. So, "Lord Jesus, thank you for your blood that washes away sin. Thank you that you died and resurrected and became the life-giving Spirit to dwell within us. Wash us with this Spirit as well Lord." -The first thing you should do is call verbally on the Name of the Lord whenever you feel yourself getting confused or when you hear these voices. Call out loud, "Lord Jesus". Just keep doing that until those voices go away. When we call on the Lord we get the Lord Himself. Nothing can stand against the Lord and His Name. Keep calling until the voices, confusion and negative feelings are subdued. -You do not need to ask God for the Holy Spirit; you already have the Holy Spirit in you. God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all the one and the same God (the Triune God). When you believe in Jesus Christ, your spirit gets regenerated and the Holy Spirit (God) dwells with your spirit. You have been born of God in your spirit. Therefore, the Holy Spirit already dwells in you! -Have you been baptised yet? If not you should get baptised as soon as possible. A lot of things may happen to prevent this (ie voices, situations) but don't take heed of these things. Baptism is what seperates you completely from the world, Satan's kingdom. -Stand on the promises of God and proclaim them everyday. Try just taking one verse from the bible each day and whenever problems arise, turn to this verse. Or turn to the promises in the bible. Such as Phillipians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Don't listen to any other lies that conflict with what the scriptures say. -Reconditioned, we were created by God and we were meant to be with God. Our afterlife is meant to be with God and to be one with Him. In the New Jerusulam and for all eternity we will have a contentment that outweighs all the possible contentment we can find now. In the Name of the Lord Jesus may the power of God operate in your life NOW!

There are earthly consequences for sin that differ. 1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. It is not coincidence that many of the incurable diseases are STD (Sexual Transmitted Diseases). A big one is AIDS. What sin has done altogether is seperate us from God...it has given us a spiritual death. This is the consequence of Sin. To get rid of this consequence requires the washing of the Blood of Jesus Christ. This brings us back to God. Seperation from God was Sin's consequence; a spiritual death. I want to make clear that it is not because we have sinned that we became sinners but because we were born sinners and thus we sin. "A dog barks not because it barks...but because it is a dog"; we sin not because we sinned...but because we are sinners. The law has shown that we are unable to keep the law and also that God has a just and righteous statute. In the end, those who are not washed in the Blood of Jesus Christ will run when they are in God's presence and throw themselves into hell on their own. They would not be able to bear the holiness of God and their sins would be exposed. No matter how much they thought and other people thought they were good on earth...they were not. God's righteousness and holiness was something that could not be reached by any man but Jesus Christ. We should not think God turns a blind eye to our sin. But because of God's love for us and our hopeless-ness in sin, God died for us fulfilling his own righteous requirement by the law. Therefore, everyone born needs to come to Christ because we are born law-breakers. For those who have taken the blood of Christ, you have been redeemed. But if you continue to live in sin you will face the consequences...we are accountable for what we do...God is righteous and just. If we sin we need to turn to Christ and take the Blood. A person who does not know Christ may live in sin and face earthly consequences but it is worse for a person who knows Christ yet lives in sin. We've been given the spirit to dwell in God's presence and to fellowship with Him. I know that sin stains the window to this place. We need to turn to Christ in the midst of our sin and acknowledge it. Then we need to take the blood and repent from the sin. As priest we must go before the altar of burnt offering before we can go to the altar of incense.

Thanks for the post. Keep sharing in your spirit! I grew up in a christian home but it was not until much later that I had a true turning of my heart to the Lord. I have to do this everyday still. I am reminded to die to myself and have the Christ in me live instead. Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me

The greatest thing you desire and all of us desire as well is getting to the bottom of this. How did it get there; who did it; what did they put in the half and half; why? What How Who Why... These are the questions we want answered. I'll pray that the Lord can get to this speedily. Since this lacing could have endangered your life, I cannot doubt the fear and anxiety you are having from this situation. Your mind must be running a lot because of this. What I would do now is stop all the thinking & worrying and simply rely on God. Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Just rely on the Lord and read from the book of Psalms. In Psalms, David was pursued by enemies who wished to cause harm to him. Yet God sustained and protected him. From these trials and stressful events, David wrote much found in the book of Psalms. For instance just 5 minutes ago I believe I downloaded a file with a potential virus. I guess there are some similarities with your situation (people with mal intent 'lacing' files with malware). All of my music and video files got deleted. But I soon realized that this was from the Lord. Not saying that someone lacing your half and half with some chemical is from the Lord...but we can trust that "all things work for the good". For me, I know I spent very unwise time with these files that got deleted. Just from my experience I know fully that the Lord is watching over us. I believe if you can completely give this matter over to the Lord, you will have peace and you will not need to do any struggling. The Lord's hand is covering us and He deals with those who want to harm His children. Count on the Lord. Have no fear! This is faith.

I've been thinking about entertainment. Especially along the lines of partying, clubing, drinking, "going out for a night"...I know for certain that these things are high enjoyments for many people. Sex is another but we are clear on the spiritual and physical consequences of this. How should we treat partying, clubing and drinking?

The reality of the Body of Christ, the Church, comes from all the gatherings of the brothers and sisters in Christ. So "where two or three are gathered in my Name, there I will be in their midst." Ephesians 2:22 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. From a meeting of 100+, 10-30, and then 2-4, Jesus Christ is building up the Body. We have such a structure in my local church...we have the large meeting (100+), the home meetings, and then the vital groups respectively. The meetings are all of the Lord's plan to obtain his Church. If you're faithful in following the Lord's call then you will build upon the foundation with gold, silver, and costly stones. That is what matters the most, not the number of people in the meeting. The Lord leads the people to the meeting. In my experience I know I have lost a lot of spiritual growth in meetings I miss. This semester in college I'll cooperate with the Lord and have Him lead me to the necessary meetings I must go to...both to feed others and be feed myself by the portion of Christ. Everytime I meet with brothers and sisters I have to remember to turn to my spirit. I just turn myself to the Lord. When the people start calling on the name of the Lord, then I know that Jesus Christ is in our midst. If we have a meeting without Christ, even if it is to study the Word, it can be full of the worldly mind and outward appearances. But if everyone is focused on Christ, then His Spirit truly reveals things and true building goes on. This is most important.

Amen, Last night I had commited myself earlier that when I came home I would give my time to the Lord. I usually play some computer game or watch something entertaining that I could find on television. Jesus Christ was going to replace these things as my enjoyment. It started in my heart, then moved to my emotion and will, then to my mind, and then finally I had to have the mental and physical strength to actively seek the presence of the Lord. I am begining to see how we are to love God with our heart, soul, mind and strength. I want to see more of this. This led me to start this thread. This following day I want to love the Lord even more. This morning I meditated on Ephesians 3:17 "that Christ may make home in your hearts through faith". The verse preceding that (ephesians 3:16) speaks of being strengthened into the inner man. The Lord wants to take over our inward parts...yes, we are to give the Lord everything and we are to hold onto nothing! That the Lord Jesus Christ may make home in our hearts. We hold back nothing, we are willing, we die to ourselves, we do not give Satan any strongholds to keep us from what Christ wants to do in us. We give the Lord Jesus Christ more ground. Jesus as the seed in our hearts needs good soil to grow in. This is the kingdom of God, and we are to seek the kingdom of God first.

I was wondering...do I truly love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength? Do you truly love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Are we willing to give up something of the world for God? Are we willing to let go of something we enjoy on this earth for the sake of God? A relationship, money, music, game, a career, a sport? Are we willing to go forth into an unfamiliar and uncomfortable environment for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of God? Are we willing to give God the first thing in the morning when we wake? How much of ourselves do we give to the Lord because we love Him? How much are we willing to sacrifice to the Lord? How much of your time are you willing to set aside to talk to the Lord throughout your day?

Stafy, What you're saying is what I meant. The Words the Lord Jesus spoke to us are spirit and life; spiritual manna for us today. Those who are in the Recovery should surely know this. I hope that those who have never heard of the Lord's Recovery or read Watchman Nee's books would consider it. John 6:63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.

Cajun, "Truths" or revelations is what I have gained abundantly from the footnotes in the Recovery Version. The footnotes, or commentaries, comes from the ministry set out in Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. The translation in the Recovery Version is also key to understanding many verses. For instance, I believe it corrects the captalizations of the word "Spirit" and "spirit" which the KJV erroneously translates. I cannot say that there is a better translation of the bible. The debates over which translation is the absolute literal word of God is silly. People forget that there are different languages where you simply cannot translate the exact conotation and denotation of words. For example, the NIV in english and chinese is totally different. So even within one translation of the bible (ie NIV)...translating it into different languages makes it yet another translation. So then...is there a better language? In all simplicity, if you want the best translation of the bible then learn to read Hebrew and Greek, the original old and new testament language. For me as a teenager, I read from the NIV, ASB, NKJV and KJV. The NIV translation of the old testament I believe is very good. For in depth study the KJV I have is useful because it has a hebrew and greek concordance. Yet in all these things it is not the translation of the Word itself that gives us the revelation of God in His Word...it is through the Holy Spirit that we can understand these spiritual truths. For the Scribes and Pharisees in Jesus's time on earth did not see the Son of God. Let us not be like the Scribes and Pharisees today. I find that the Recovery Version is the present truth in this age, under the guiding of the Holy Spirit...just as the times of KJV and Darby were. Jesus Christ is living today, He is not stagnant and dead like the gods of other religions. The Lord is moving and we need to see it. Without a vision the people perish (prov 29:18). This is the function of the apostles and prophets today. Praise the Lord and may He fulfill the work started in us.