Emily~Anne

Pa-lease! it is all over this thread, I have even copied it for you...so I guess it's up to you to figure it out now...I've said enough... God bless Did anyone else see what kind of specific 'silly little rules'? I missed it. One silly little rule would be women MUST wear skirts/dresses. We all agree that is a silly little rule. Are there any 'silly little rules' we disagree on?

that is what dying to one's self is Emily~Anne, it is laying down our lives for one another. And you and Bibs and Vickilynn and Suzanne, myself, Richard, Unred....we've all been talking about it. but I tell you all that being legalistic about foolish little rules is not dying to self in fact it is being as selfish as anything that was ever created to be selfish...and that is living for self, it is pride...and it is ugly. I myself have been talking about dying to self for GOD, not for man. As I die to myself, a void is created within me, I immediately fill that with Jesus Christ. Each day as I grow, there is less of me, and more of Jesus. The way to grow in Christ is to die to self. That is not legalism. Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Can you please specify what kind of 'silly little rules'? Otherwise, we dont know exactly what you are talking about. Also, let's say for example, Vickilynn teaches me some ways to be a better keeper at home, in a non critical spirit. Is she being legalistic? Would she be 'imposing silly little rules' on me?

I posted this on my blog about a week ago:

Biblicist said 'Faith in action'. Amen!

28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Do you feel that dying to self conflicts with the above verse you quoted? And to Jackie D: Self flagellation means self punishment. Do you feel dying to self is punishing oneself? no and God has no conflict with me, nor do I have any with myself regarding the subjects touched on in this thread. But I'm sure not required to hang Christ on the cross for what I or others perceive my sins to be...that is between Him and me and we get along just fine. Repentance is not the same as giving ourselves a daily beating. And do you see dying to self as beating ourselves daily? Do you think true peace comes from ourselves, or from God? Do you think apart from Christ you can do anything good? Romans 7:18 (New International Version) I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

Good thread Vickilynn. If my entire family were to die, that would be tragic. If my house burned down and I were homeless, that would be sad. If I were inflicted with horrible disease and physical agony, that would be awful. But nothing would be worse than to lose what I have through Jesus Christ.

what is SAHW's and would you mind interpreting what you just quoted please? SAHW's is Stay At Home Wives. And what she means, is it is actually more fulfilling to serve God than to serve ourselves. Whatever we do, we are to do unto the Lord and not for man. God comes first in our lives. As I care for my family, I am serving the Lord. Everything I do, I do unto the Lord. *sigh* This is not a board of encouragement is it? If a person truly desires to grow in Christ, one can't hang around here. See ya.

Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Hey, Emily~Anne... Do you know what it means to "take up your cross"? Jesus gave up his life for us on the cross, we are to surrender our lives to God. We must be willing to give up ANYTHING for God. We must die to self daily, and find life through Jesus.

Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

If that were true, then Jesus died in vain. Why go the extra mile in living for God? Refer to my signature, the lines from the song 'Amazing Love' Actually, HoneyBun, Legalism is defined as the doctrine that salvation is gained through good works. PERIOD! And you are right, strict adherance to God's law is not legalism. Unless you believe it's going to get you to Heaven. This article, is directly addressing the legalism some cults are pushing. It is sad but a very real problem. These people are being lead astray by false prophets. They need our prayer and love, not judgement. I do not believe they are Christians. Goodness, when I think of the dear Amish people who believe that all their outward trappings are getting them "points" with God. It just saddens my heart. I actually didn't even read the article. I saw the word 'legalism' and didn't bother. We are not worthy of heaven, no matter what we do. It is only by faith in the blood Jesus Christ shed for us that we are reconciled to God. However, just because a person for example quits smoking because they feel God wanted them to, doesnt mean that person thinks quitting smoking is the way to heaven, but many people would be quick to label that person as a 'legalist'.

Legalism seems to be acquiring a broader and broader definition, and seems to be heading towards doing anything at all out of a reverent spirit to God = legalism. If you don't HAVE to do it, and you do it anyways, then you must be a legalist. I am very tired of the word legalism. It is VASTLY over used and abused and has lost credibility. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unred Typo said:

I started to post this earlier, decided not to and saved it instead. I then prayed over this. After much prayer I realize this simply needs to be said. So here goes... I have children, I am not fooled by temper tantrums and emotional outbursts. I look at the actual situation and do not let the person's emotional display define the situation. Anybody can play the victim card, but it doesnt make them a victim. It is starting to seem like some people are too eager to be a 'victim' and want to point fingers, and as a result, they judge very wrongly the other person's intentions.

I don't have any photos of her yet, but when I do, I'll definitely add them She has a large area where she is kept at the back of the house. My brothers reckon I ought to leave her there so that she will get to know the difference between strangers and us. Otherwise she will befriend everyone and wont bark at strangers. I like this idea of bonding. The only thing that concerns me is that I'll be back to work next week and I really don't want her crying all day for me - will my going back to work affect her badly? she's a very timid dog. Will she become dependent on me or am I humanising her too much? Thank you for this. It is a really helpful piece of information. Bib, your post has been really helpful. When do you think she should be taken for walks? Bolts, dogs who have been deprived of love (I am guessing she was not loved in her previous home) in their first months/years are prone to seperation anxiety. You want to teach her that it is ok to be alone, and that you will always be back. You should practice for very short periods, leaving her alone now, before you have to be gone all day. Each time lengthen the time away from her a bit longer. When you leave, do not put on a production. Be as subtle as you can and just casually leave. You can give her a simple at on the head, but no more. And when you come back. Ignore her the first ten minutes or so, giving her nothing more than a pat on the head. Has she shown any sign of destruction yet when you are away? Sometimes seperation anxiety show up right away. How long have you had her?

Exactly, because otherwise scripture that is clear on men and women's roles, would make no sense.

OK, since this is obviously one of the more difficult passages to understand, then I really think it is important to look at what the rest of scripture says about God's design for man and woman. There is plenty of clear scripture on the issue. I wish I had more time to post, but as it is I am busy with my family at the moment. I will be back.....

I agree that the tone of one's post can be easily misunderstood in cyberspace. Unlike a face to face conversation, you can't see a person's facial expressions or tone of voice. You can only go by what the person actually writes. Yes, it is entirely possible the person could be posting out of genuine concern. Unfortunately facial expressions are hidden in cyberspace.

I also want to say, if a person is too easily offended, it can hinder their walk with the Lord and the effectiveness of being admonished and exhorted with God's word. Satan WANTS us to be easily offended. Hebrews 4:12 (New International Version) 12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Shucks, I am multi tasking over here. I'll come back and share more thoughts in a bit about when I was cohabitating with a man and a sister in Christ admonished me and etc.,

I just want to say that I think we all need to make a conscious effort not to be easily offended, make sure we assume the best of other's intentions, and remember that the tone of one's post can be easily misunderstood in cyberspace. It can be hard to say something the right way, yet clearly.

Submission goes with authority. You submit to authority.

And what about our children, if our children accept our authority as parents, does that mean they are not accepting God's authority? Would that be putting our children in rebellion to God?

And we can take this a step further and remember that those of a younger or weaker faith in Christ may be intimidated or scared into thinking that if they aren't where we are they are not on the right path with Him. The biggest trick in the enemies bag is to make a believer think that they are not where they should be with God...the enemy feeds these lies to us by any means possible including through the "good intentioned" Christian. I believe that we all must walk very carefully in this area and make sure that there is no undue pressure or demands on each other...for as Traveller so eloquently stated ".... our walk (sanctification) is different - that during that walk God draws and mends and helps and does things differently for each individual. That that walk is unique between oneself and God." A perfect example of this is when I am told that I am being rebellious against God because I won't place an individual in an authority position over me. It has nothing to do with rebellion and everything to do with the fact that God is THE authority and my personal conviction is that if I am putting a human being in authority over me I am rebelling against God...and if I am asked to rebel against man/people or against God...I will choose man/people everytime. This is not to say that I won't listen and glean the things that are of God and take them with me...but what people say is not 100% gospel and I can't bend in that area, not ever. Can you be more specific? What person? Your husband? Your neighbor? Your boss? Who? any and all of the above.... Ok, so then you are including your husband and saying that you refuse to be in submission to your husband. Then you are going against the word of God. Let me guess..... you feel the Holy Spirit leads you to defy the word of God?

And we can take this a step further and remember that those of a younger or weaker faith in Christ may be intimidated or scared into thinking that if they aren't where we are they are not on the right path with Him. The biggest trick in the enemies bag is to make a believer think that they are not where they should be with God...the enemy feeds these lies to us by any means possible including through the "good intentioned" Christian. I believe that we all must walk very carefully in this area and make sure that there is no undue pressure or demands on each other...for as Traveller so eloquently stated ".... our walk (sanctification) is different - that during that walk God draws and mends and helps and does things differently for each individual. That that walk is unique between oneself and God." A perfect example of this is when I am told that I am being rebellious against God because I won't place an individual in an authority position over me. It has nothing to do with rebellion and everything to do with the fact that God is THE authority and my personal conviction is that if I am putting a human being in authority over me I am rebelling against God...and if I am asked to rebel against man/people or against God...I will choose man/people everytime. This is not to say that I won't listen and glean the things that are of God and take them with me...but what people say is not 100% gospel and I can't bend in that area, not ever. Can you be more specific? What person? Your husband? Your neighbor? Your boss? Who?

Yes, well you are leaving your point very open ended and not being willing to elaborate and give examples. Do you expect us to agree wthout us knowing what we are agreeing to?

I have meant more than just hardships...but that's okay....as I quoted from Matthew 21 ""If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me." Jesus was telling Peter to mind his own business as to how ones narrow path is walked compared to another. *scratches head* indeed. Do you mean John 21? And what does that have to do with Job?

I dont take the narrow path to mean an easy life. I take it to mean a righteous life. So what you are saying, is we should never assume that when one experiences hardships such as illness, death of loved ones, house burning down or etc., that we should not judge them for it? Well of course not! *scratches head*