Wednesday Word Study - Faith - Episode 2

Faith and Belief - Two Completely Different Things

Faith and Belief - Two Completely Different Things Monday Meditation – Episode 2 Originally written August 15 2011 posted here: https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/15/monday-meditations-hebrews-111/ [https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/08/monday-meditations-2-timothy-316/] Today’s Meditation Verse: Hebrews 11:1 KJ I Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. This verse is the definition of faith! What is faith? Well if you will picture this with me… You want to build a patio so you get some boards and you begin to build a form with those boards the size of the patio you want to build. You could say that the form is the hope of a patio. Then you get your concrete and it begins to pour into the form and takes the shape of the form. The concrete is the substance of the patio. You could take that little analogy and read it into the verse this way: Now concrete is the substance of the patio hoped for, and the evidence of the patio before it was seen. What is it today that you hope for? Begin to see what it is and what it will be. That is hope. Then as you walk with God allow Him to ‘fill-in’ your form of hope until you have what you were seeing as you hoped! Wednesday Word Study – Episode 2 Originally written August 17, 2011 posted here: https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/17/wednesday-word-study-faith-2/ [https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/08/monday-meditations-2-timothy-316/] Hebrews 11:1 AMP 1NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, [a [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%252011&version=AMP#fen-AMP-30172a]]the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. This is the Strong’s Greek Concordance Number 4102 Transliteration: pistis Phonetic Spelling: (pis'-tis) Definition: faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness. I love the way this verse reads in the Amplified version. Faith is the assurance, the title deed of the things we hope for. Once you hold the title deed to something, it is yours! No one can take it away unless you give it to them and sign it over to them. So, if we hope for our children to come to the Lord, or if we hope for the finances to get out of debt, or if we hope for healing for our bodies, do we also have the faith to fill the hope? Do we have divine assurance that this will happen? You cannot generate hope by yourself. It must come from God. It is a God given gift; a divine gift. Romans 12:3 Amplified Bible 3) For by the grace [of God] given to me I say to everyone of you not to think more highly of himself [and of his importance and ability] than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has apportioned to each a degree of faith [and a purpose designed for service]. There is a difference between belief and faith. You may say you believe something, but the devil himself believes. Belief is something you choose on your own usually based on previous experience. Faith is a gift. Human belief is merely confidence. Faith is a God given assurance in something. Something that probably hasn’t even happened yet. Belief is based in the past. Faith is based in the future. Ephesians 2:8-9 Amplified Bible 8) For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; 9) not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation]. When the world says they have faith that their car won’t break down, that is simply belief that their car won’t break down. From repeated past experiences they believe it will function properly on that day too, and that it won’t break down. Faith is a gift of the Spirit and is divine assurance. So when a believer says they have faith that their car won’t break down, it could very well be that they have divine assurance that their car will not break down. They believe because they have read about and know firsthand about God’s divine care and protection over His children. They have received the faith for the promise ahead. Evaluate your faith today. Do you use the word faith when you really mean you believe? Is your belief based on repeat experience and knowledge, or do you really have faith based on divine assurance? Receive faith from the Holy Spirit today. The faith that can move mountains. Friday Finale – Episode 2 Originally written August 19, 2011 posted here: https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/19/are-confusing-faith-with-belief/ [https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/12/led-or-driven/] Are You Confusing Faith With Belief? Have you ever encountered someone who made a comment similar to: “Their faith was shattered”? Or maybe they said it of themselves, “After that situation, my faith was just shattered”. The problem with these comments is that they are confusing Faith with Belief. As we learned on Wednesday Word Study – Faith, there is a difference between the two. Faith is a divine gift from God. It is a DIVINE certainty that something will or will not happen. It is a knowing that cannot be described or touched, but resides deep in our soul, our inner most being. A divine gift from God that cannot be shattered, damaged or destroyed. Belief is a confidence that something is a certain way, will or will not happen. It resides in the mind of an individual. It is usually based on previous experiences or training. I used to ponder this scripture a lot: Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life. Having lived a life of faith and faith teaching for almost 40 years this used to stump me. How can hope be deferred if our hope is in Christ and our faith is in Him? Well while studying faith this week I have come to realize something very important that I believe will help all of us, me included. There isn’t a one of us out there who have hoped, prayed and believed for something that didn’t happen. I would say that most of the time we were quick to just say that it must not have been God’s will for us. But we know even when we are saying it that it just doesn’t ring true in our hearts. But it is the only explanation we have. We many times are referring to this very scripture below when we come to that conclusion. 1 John 5:14-15 AMP 14And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. 15And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him. But we as His children seek to be in His will. I know there are times when a certain job or move is not of Him and when we don’t get the job or we make the move and then it doesn’t feel right or work out, we know that it was not His will. But there are so many things in our lives that we can have certainty are His will and when we hope towards them and then they don’t happened we are shaken. We know that on the trip to Calvary Jesus took 39 stripes for our healing. He bought and paid for it there so we would never have to be sick again. Yet here we are struggling with this very thing. He also became poor and weak so we did not have to be poor and weak. He became sin and took the penalty once and for all for our sin so we would never have to suffer the punishment of sin. There are certainties in the bible that we know are God’s will and yet when we pray, hope and believe, they do not come to pass. We believe that because we did not receive our healing that God did not mean for us to be healed. Or maybe that our healing was not bought and paid for by Christ and that healing is not for everyone, but for God to choose on a case by case basis. But we must know that is not true. God is no respecter of persons. He loves us equally and would never withhold one universal gift from one of His children while giving it to another. We have often chalked it up to ‘not enough faith’. We’ve come up with a multitude of reasons and excuses because we refuse to believe that the scriptures we read and studied about faith are wrong. So where is the disconnect? I have come to believe that the disconnect is in our concept of faith. I have come to believe that what we many times refer to as faith is really just a belief that something will happen. Remember as we talked about on Wednesday, faith is a divine gift from God. It is not something we can generate or create on our own. It resides in our inner most being and is just something we know without any definitions or explanations, we just know! I think what we do so many times is that we build a form of hope for something we want or need to happen, but instead of pouring faith into the form, we pour our own belief into the form. Hebrews 11:1 KJV Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen We must pour the supernatural gift of faith into our hope to manifest or materialize what we hope for. If we pour our own mental belief into our hope mistaking it for faith, our hope will be deferred! Our heart will be made sick! So what must we do then? We must spend time with the Holy Spirit, requesting and receiving His gifts from Him. We must read the Word and allow the Spirit to teach us and bring revelation knowledge to us. We must listen to faith based teaching by credible pastors and teachers. We must share testimonies of faith with our friends, family and co-workers. This is how we grow that seed of divine faith given to us! And even past experiences can produce faith when you tell them to yourself and to others again and again! When you recite to yourself all that God has done and you 'hear' it again, it builds your faith. Faith comes from the Holy Spirit BY hearing! Our faith will arise in our spirit man in the pit of our soul and that faith will not be denied! Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Once again we need to rethink what we know about this word, this concept. Are you filling your form of hope today with true Holy Spirit faith or are you filling it with your own mental belief? God has given His only son not only for our spiritual salvation, but for all the gifts a child of God is entitled to. He has even provided the gift of faith to pour into our hope to materialize those gifts here on this earth. But YOU must be the one to engage in a relationship with the Holy Spirit to receive those gifts. Luke 11:13 AMP 13If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts [gifts [a]that are to their advantage] to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and [b]continue to ask Him! Invite the Holy Spirit into your life today to teach you, comfort you and grant you His gifts. This is the full teaching on this subject in one place. You will flow from the Monday Meditation to the Wednesday Word Study and then the Friday Finale where I bring the teaching home with in depth teaching. Shop all versions of my novels here: Shop Here [https://nancyjacksonauthor.com/collections/novels] My Media Website: NancyJacksonPodcast.com [https://nancyjacksonpodcast.com/] Check out my website: NancyJacksonAuthor.com [https://www.nancyjacksonauthor.com/] Follow me here: Substack: https://nancyjackson.substack.com/ [https://nancyjackson.substack.com/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyJacksonAuthor [https://www.facebook.com/NancyJacksonAuthor] Twitter: https://twitter.com/NAJackson [https://twitter.com/NAJackson] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/najackson/ [https://www.instagram.com/najackson/] Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nancyannjackson [https://www.pinterest.com/nancyannjackson] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NancyJackson [https://www.youtube.com/@NancyJacksonAuthor] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nancyajackson?lang=en [https://www.tiktok.com/@nancyajackson?lang=en]

Friday Finale - The Destruction of Pride - Episode 3

Friday Finale Episode 3 Friday Finale – Episode 3 Originally written August 26, 2011 posted here: https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/26/the-destruction-of-pride/ [https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/12/led-or-driven/] This week the Monday Meditation and Wednesday Word Study focused on the word pride. I myself have been meditating on what I would write for this blog for some time. There are so many things I could talk about in regards to pride and all would be good, but space is limited and I sincerely want to write about what I believe is on the heart of God for the moment. As I was re-reading through various scriptures pertaining to the subject, this one stood out to me and in a moment brought into focus what I was to write about today. Romans 12:33) For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Pride is arrogance and when we are prideful we are puffed up and exalt ourselves over others and God. Upon hearing the word we all immediately have thoughts of pride where someone is bragging about something they have done, have consistently arrogant behavior and in general, someone who looks down at others with disdain. We all have someone, maybe more than one person, come to mind when we hear the word. Prideful people are people we do not like to be around. We would all generally agree that pride is NOT a Godly attribute and one that those following after Christ should guard against fervently. But… I've seen more arrogance and pride in the so called body of Christ than in most other places. And it not only shames me, but sincerely grieves me. When we become born again and become a true child of God inheriting not only His love but all that the inheritance provides emotionally, physically and materially, we develop a new found sense of status. We ALL know, or should know that it is not from our works or from what we have done, but simply from the merciful and graciously loving heart of Father God. Yet just like a child born into a wealthy family, bloated with status and influence, they are born with a sense of position that was not obtained from anything they themselves had done. But it does not stop the arrogance and sense of pride. Now let me write a brief disclaimer here. I know that not all wealthy people are prideful and arrogant. There are many who are humbled by the very knowledge of their good fortune. But my point is to paint a picture here. There is something about becoming a new Christian that makes all the dark clouds roll away and we feel as though we can suddenly see clearly. There is hope and joy and for a moment it all seems so very simple, life that is. I can look back as a baby Christian and see all the damage I unknowingly did. I had all the answers. It was simple, you just did not sin, you just tithed, you just did what you knew was right to do. It was just that simple. And I was arrogant about it. It all just seemed so easy to me and I could not understand what the struggle was all about. I loved the Lord with my whole heart and couldn't spend enough time with Him, praying and reading the Word and couldn't understand why others didn't. Well, I soon found out. The Lord allowed my life to take a dastardly turn. He did not cause it, but I believe he allowed the pride I was dwelling in to have its way with me. Remember our verse this week? Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Remember that when read in the Lexicon it says the word .before' means faces? Well the pride I was exuding caused me to face destruction. A friend of mine and I call those the dark days. It was actually more like a few years. I never stopped seeking the Lord through that time. In fact in some ways I genuinely sought Him more out of desperation and panic. But He delayed delivering me from the consequences of my own making. I did things during that period of time that I had adamantly spoken against doing just a short time before. I finally understood life from the other side. And I was humbled. It was during that time that I developed the mantra, 'you can only do what you can do when you can do it.' It seemed no matter what I tried I just could not break free from where I was at. But by God's grace I finally did and once on the other side I was broken, but alive. Gone was the arrogance of, 'you just don't sin'. Gone was the non-understanding of why people didn't just stop doing what they were doing and 'turn to God'. I've been on the watch for that demon pride ever since. If I fail, and I often do in many areas, the one that I know I cannot afford to ever fail at again is in the area of pride. As a people we do so many things well. We are a well educated and an aggressive society that goes after what we want. If we want to achieve a goal, we have the knowledge, the means and ability to go after it until we achieve it. If we are Christians then we have even more in our favor because we are joined with Christ who never fails. We work so hard to achieve what we want and when we get there, we are glad. We are so glad that we brag. Then when others become enamored with our results they begin to ask us, what was it we did to achieve success in that area. And we are oh so happy to tell them. We believe that if they will do just what we did, the way we did it, they too will succeed. So with exuberance we tell them, we coach them and then when there are too many people to tell, we write a book about it. Then we go on talk shows and tell the world what we did. This last year God has taken me on a new journey. It is one of rest. He has been teaching me to rest in Him. To rest in God is to give Him full and complete control over everything and just, rest. But we have to work, you say. We work too hard. We do too much. God genuinely wants to lead us. He wants to make our efforts efficient. When our work is targeted to achieve the maximum impact then we will have to work much less while achieving greater results. But this cannot be done without Christ and resting in Him. The more we do the more credit we can rightfully take for the results. God wants us to rest in Him and let Him do the work so we have no right to take the credit for the results. When we follow a plan because the plan has been tried and proven to have worked for at least one person, then we are not following God, but man. And when you have a plan that has worked and you become arrogant and prideful that your plan worked, you are certainly not following God's leading. Nothing makes me more nauseous than to hear a self appointed expert talk condescendingly to a group of people who have not mastered his plan. It is so simple. You just do it. Awe… reminds me of me in years gone by. Even as Christians who have inherited the entire world, we have no right to pride! It was not of our own doing, but from the love of the Father. All that we have and all that we ever hope to be is all because of His divine love. And don't mask your pride with an insincere, 'I couldn't have done it without God' comment. It is like trying to spray sweet perfume to mask the odor of rotten eggs. It just increases the stench. So, if you are someone who is pushing others to just work harder, try harder, achieve more. You are pushing with guilt and your own pride. If you genuinely care about them, develop a sympathetic ear and love them with the love of Christ. Take their hand and walk the journey together with them on the path that God leads them, the way that He leads them. Even if it defies your own knowledge, experience and understanding. His way is always the best way. This study is a culmination of this week's Monday Meditation and the Wednesday Word Study. By drilling down on specific scriptures and then specific words, we can begin to gain a better understanding of the Word of God and therefore apply it to our lives more accurately. The Friday Finally episodes take both the Monday Meditation and Wednesday Word Study and pull them together for an overall teaching to equip and train us for a more Godly and beneficial life. Shop all versions of my novels here: Shop Here [https://nancyjacksonauthor.com/collections/novels] My Media Website: NancyJacksonPodcast.com [https://nancyjacksonpodcast.com/] Check out my website: NancyJacksonAuthor.com [https://www.nancyjacksonauthor.com/] Follow me here: Substack: https://nancyjackson.substack.com/ [https://nancyjackson.substack.com/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyJacksonAuthor [https://www.facebook.com/NancyJacksonAuthor] Twitter: https://twitter.com/NAJackson [https://twitter.com/NAJackson] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/najackson/ [https://www.instagram.com/najackson/] Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nancyannjackson [https://www.pinterest.com/nancyannjackson] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NancyJackson [https://www.youtube.com/@NancyJacksonAuthor] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nancyajackson?lang=en [https://www.tiktok.com/@nancyajackson?lang=en]

Are You Driven by Guilt or… Led by Conviction?

Are You Driven by Guilt or… Led by Conviction? Monday Meditations – Episode 1 Originally written August 8, 2011 posted here: https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/08/monday-meditations-2-timothy-316/ [https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/08/monday-meditations-2-timothy-316/] Today's Meditation Verse: 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; This scripture seems like an obvious statement. But there are aspects to this verse that many people disregard. One item is the very first word. It says ALL scripture is inspired by God and profitable… I know that there are many people in many walks of life, in many different churches, who say that only parts of the scriptures are relevant to us today. They disregard the history of the Old Testament. The genealogies of Christ and others. They can't understand the book of Revelation so they push it off for later. Of course Numbers and Leviticus is difficult. But this scripture says ALL scriptures are profitable for teaching, reproof and correction, for training in righteousness. Even the most difficult to read hold nuggets that will help transform your life. As you meditate on this scripture this week, contemplate what scriptures you have neglected, avoided or ignored and ask the Father to help you read them with understanding and to learn from them. Wednesday Word Study – Episode 1 Originally written August 10, 2011 posted here: https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/10/wednesday-word-study-conviction/ [https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/08/monday-meditations-2-timothy-316/] Conviction There are two Greeks words for conviction. The first meaning is 'full assurance' and the other is 'correction'. The use as correction is only used once when Paul was talking to Timothy in: 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; This is the Strong's Greek Concordance Number 1882 Transliteration: epanorthósis Phonetic Spelling: (ep-an-or'-tho-sis) Definition: correction, reformation, setting straight (right) again. 1882 – used only once in 2 Timothy 3:16 Another usage, full assurance is used in scriptures such as Listen to my professionally narrated audio books and other podcasts here: AUDIO BOOKS & ALL PODCASTS [https://www.nancyjacksonpodcast.com/]. I Thessalonians 1:5 NASfor our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. Hebrews 10:22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. This is the Strong's Greek Concordance Number 4136 Transliteration: plérophoria Phonetic Spelling: (play-rof-or-ee'-ah) Definition: full assurance, conviction, confidence. But the one thing it is not used for is when thinking or talking about guilt. Many times we have interchanged the word conviction for guilt. Maybe you have not done this knowingly, but I'm sure you have in your mind. When we have failed in some way, maybe slipped into an old habit or sin and we feel guilty, we interpret that as conviction from the Holy Spirit. It is not! The word conviction is only used as instruct, only one time and that is when Paul is telling Timothy to use the Word as instruction/conviction to stay on the right path. And it does not mention that the Holy Spirit will convict us in this way, but the Word. The other times conviction is used is when talking about the full assurance we have of faith. That is how the Holy Spirit will convict us! It is to encourage us that we can draw near to the Father because we are fully assured (convicted) that our hearts are sprinkled and clean from evil. Today when you use the word convicted, stop and think, are you really referring to feeling guilty? If so, be fully assured (convicted) that you are free from guilt and can draw near to the Father because you are cleansed by the blood and have received the grace provided by Jesus Christ! Friday Finale – Episode 1 Originally written August 12, 2011 posted here: https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/12/led-or-driven/ [https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/12/led-or-driven/] RU Being Driven or Led? Why do you do what you do? Is it a thought or a feeling? Is it a rule or a law? I've been trying to stress home the idea of living a life of being led by the prompting of the Holy Spirit and not by any other thought, feeling or idea. When I was much younger attending church, one of the first theological words I heard was conviction. Is the Holy Spirit convicting you of something? When you did that wrong thing, did you feel conviction? But not until the last several years has the Lord begun to specifically define and show me what that word conviction really feels like. And how the Holy Spirit truly leads us in our lives. One definition of the word conviction is referring to when Paul is preaching and it states that he preached with conviction, or forcefulness. There are actually two Greeks words for conviction in the context that I am referring to and not what I expected to find. You may find a full word study on the word conviction on Monday Meditation - Conviction. The first meaning is 'full assurance' and the other is 'correction'. The use correction is only used once when Paul was talking to Timothy in: 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; Hmmm, the scripture, not the Holy Spirit, is for correction. Just like a textbook not the teacher. I don't think I would get any argument if I made the statement that this is a harsh world. A world where we are introduced to pain and suffering at a very young age. There are mean people in this world doing mean things. Even our own parents, as much as they loved us, didn't always discipline and correct us in the way that was appropriate. I know as a parent myself, I can look back and see that sometimes I did whatever it took to get them to do what I wanted or needed them to do. If I had to spank them, I would. If I had to ground them, I would. If I had to yell and scream, I would. If I had to place guilt on them, I would. But I'll be the first to admit, I was not a perfect parent. In fact, I was far from it. But our Father God is a perfect parent and doesn't parent at all the way we do. And the Holy Spirit is our teacher and guide here on this earth and a perfect and gentle teacher, always leading us, not pushing us. But since all that we know is the parenting we have experienced here on this earth we automatically associate it to our Father God. So when we hear from the pulpit that the Holy Spirit will convict us, our minds go to something difficult and highly unpleasant. We usually associate it with feeling guilty. As we grow older in the Lord we don't sever that feeling of guilt from true conviction. Let me give you some examples: You go to church every Sunday because you feel convicted if you don't, or is it guilt? You give offerings because you feel convicted if you don't, or is it guilt? You try to 'be good' because you feel convicted if you don't, or is it guilt? Are you starting to think now? Look back at the feelings that you have and the thoughts that you have had in these instances. As I began to ponder this myself, I really wanted to know what it was that was motivating me to do the things I did. I wanted a clean heart and a clear conscience and I wanted to do things from the leading of the Holy Spirit and for no other reason. Then the Lord began to teach me about conviction versus guilt. Guilt and condemnation come from the enemy. So Father God would never use the emotion of guilt to correct us or to move us. So the very first thing I had to do was to learn to resist guilt. The moment a thought or feeling of guilt would enter my mind, I would take it captive and reject it. 2 Corinthians 10:5 AMP We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ, So then what and how does the Holy Spirit lead? Picture these two examples: In one you are held at knife point and are poked and prodded to move forward against your will while feeling dread and remorse. But you move because the sharp point of the guilt-knife hurts! In the second, you are a sweet young puppy and you have a safe and comfortable harness on. You have a leash attached to the chest portion of the harness. You feel a slight tug from the leash, just below the center of your chest. It is a gentle tug, one that could easily be missed if you weren't paying attention and there is a gentle loving voice urging you to come. But when you do recognize it, you get up and move forward, at your own pace being led in the correct direction. We must practice to learn to silence guilt from the enemy and listen with a slightly turned ear to the voice of Holy Spirit, to learn to feel that tug in the center of our being. Psalms 46:10 AMP "Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth." You have also read the version where it says, Be still and know that I am God. I love this because sometimes we are striving to obey the voice of guilt in our lives so much that we cannot hear God and know His true heart for us. How does the enemy feed guilt into our lives? By thoughts and words. They may enter our minds through the words of other people telling us that we have not done enough or are not good enough or are failing in some way. In an another post I wrote called Christian Clones, I spoke about self-help books that take the plan God gave individuals for their life, and decided it was the plan for everyone. That is another way that guilt enters our minds. We try to follow a diet or weight loss plan and it doesn't work for us. We try to manage our money the way the book says to do and we can't do it that way. So we feel guilty that we were not able to be successful at this and are then overridden with guilt and condemnation. If we do something we perceive as wrong we feel guilt. That is not from the Holy Spirit. We as a people are conditioned to respond to guilt, especially when we've been taught that it is conviction from the Holy Spirit. Also, when we do read the Word for true instruction, if we read about things we have done wrong in the past or are still struggling with, the enemy is quick to bring guilt! He will tell you what a bad person or Christian you are and that God will abandon you and not love you anymore because you've not done what He asked of you in the Word. And we interpret this as conviction from the Holy Spirit! But we must, absolutely must read the Word as much as we can. It is the Word that convicts us while we are reading it. When we see something in there that corrects us, we should then make a point of changing our behavior to make that correction. If we do not spend time in the Word, we will not be able to know what Holy Spirit wants us to change. Therefore when we are going through our daily lives the Word isn't abiding in us and it is more difficult to discern the Holy Spirt leading us. The Word is the plan, the road map that Holy Spirit uses to lead and guide us. It is imperative that we have read it and have it in us. Remember, that feeling of guilt is of the enemy! The Holy Spirit is a loving and leading entity not a pushing and prodding entity. Immediately reject the guilt, be still and listen for the soothing loving voice of the Father to lead you forward in the right direction. Even if you feel guilt after doing something wrong, it is still not of the Lord. He wants to lead you into doing right, not pressure you at the knife point of guilt after you have done wrong. You will move forward much quicker and go much farther with the gentle leading of the Holy Spirit. You can be assured that by following the leading of Holy Spirit you are going in the right direction, much more so than if you moved forward reluctantly at the sharp knife point of guilt. There will be less ground gained and you can be almost certain that you won't be on the path that the Holy Spirit would be leading you on no matter how 'good' it may seem. But if we can put aside the feeling of guilt and allow ourselves to hear the gentle leading of the Holy Spirit, He will lead us to the very best goals, good deeds and a peaceful lifestyle, gently and easily, but on a path that makes sense for your individual life, not someone else's path. It takes much practice and it is something that I am still learning to do every moment of every day. But I routinely stop, lean my ear to the Spirit and sense His quiet leading in the midst of the chaos and noise. And then that is the way I choose where to go. I know that this will become an unconscious habit for me and not something that I have to remember to do. Don't let guilt speak louder in your life than the Holy Spirit. Learn to silence it once and for all. This is the full teaching on this subject in one place. You will flow from the Monday Meditation to the Wednesday Word Study and then the Friday Finale where I bring the teaching home with in depth teaching. Shop all versions of my novels here: Shop Here [https://nancyjacksonauthor.com/collections/novels] My Media Website: NancyJacksonPodcast.com [https://nancyjacksonpodcast.com/] Check out my website: NancyJacksonAuthor.com [https://www.nancyjacksonauthor.com/] Follow me here: Substack: https://nancyjackson.substack.com/ [https://nancyjackson.substack.com/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyJacksonAuthor [https://www.facebook.com/NancyJacksonAuthor] Twitter: https://twitter.com/NAJackson [https://twitter.com/NAJackson] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/najackson/ [https://www.instagram.com/najackson/] Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nancyannjackson [https://www.pinterest.com/nancyannjackson] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NancyJackson [https://www.youtube.com/@NancyJacksonAuthor] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nancyajackson?lang=en [https://www.tiktok.com/@nancyajackson?lang=en]

Wednesday Word Study - Pride - Episode 3

Wednesday Word Study Episode 3 Wednesday Word Study – Episode 3 Originally written August 24, 2011 posted here: https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/24/wednesday-word-study-pride/ [https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/08/monday-meditations-2-timothy-316/] Pride Proverbs 16:18 [http://bible.cc/proverbs/16-18.htm]Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. This is the Strong's Greek Concordance Number 1347a [http://strongsnumbers.com/hebrew/1347b.htm] Transliteration: ga'own Phonetic Spelling: (gaw'-ohn) Definition: arrogancy When I was studying this word I noticed that there were several Greek variations of this word. I've selected the one used here in this verse. I was not surprised by the definition. It is a word we all know well, and use often. But one thing I did learn when reading all the different words in the definition is the word – exaltation. I had to stop on that one and think about it. Isn't exaltation something that should be reserved for God? You bet it is! That is exactly why when we are prideful we are exalting ourselves and God will not, cannot stand for that. Pride – self exaltation is what got Satan ejected immediately from heaven. Go directly to earth, do not pass go, do not collect $200!!! I've added a bit of humor to this critically serious topic, but we do tend to snicker when we think about how quickly, with no debate, Satan was ejected from Heaven. But we must see that this scripture is warning us that should pride, in any form, enter our behavior or attitude, we are certain to face destruction as well. If that thought makes you shudder the way it did me, then evaluate your life and your attitudes towards others today to see if even the slightest morsel of pride has crept in. If it has, immediately eradicate it before you too are facing certain destruction. Each Wednesday I will be posting a Wednesday Word Study to further elaborate on a significant word from the previous Monday's Meditation episode. On Mondays I focus on one verse to meditate on for the week. On the Wednesday after I drill down to look at one specific word to gain further information and knowledge. Then on the following Friday I will post a teaching pulling it all together. Each week will provide a thorough study into a verse, a word, and then the overall concept. Shop all versions of my novels here: Shop Here [https://nancyjacksonauthor.com/collections/novels] My Media Website: NancyJacksonPodcast.com [https://nancyjacksonpodcast.com/] Check out my website: NancyJacksonAuthor.com [https://www.nancyjacksonauthor.com/] Follow me here: Substack: https://nancyjackson.substack.com/ [https://nancyjackson.substack.com/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyJacksonAuthor [https://www.facebook.com/NancyJacksonAuthor] Twitter: https://twitter.com/NAJackson [https://twitter.com/NAJackson] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/najackson/ [https://www.instagram.com/najackson/] Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nancyannjackson [https://www.pinterest.com/nancyannjackson] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NancyJackson [https://www.youtube.com/@NancyJacksonAuthor] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nancyajackson?lang=en [https://www.tiktok.com/@nancyajackson?lang=en]

Monday Meditations - Proverbs 16:18 - Episode 3

Monday Meditations Episode 3 Monday Meditations – Episode 3 Originally written August 22, 2011 posted here: https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/22/1962/ [https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/08/08/monday-meditations-2-timothy-316/] Today's Meditation Verse: Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. I love reading the Lexicon version of a scripture. To me it reveals so much. For instance there is little variation in this scripture from translation to translation. It pretty much says it like it is and in any language or culture it is pretty much the same. But just now as I was reading this verse in the Lexcon [http://biblelexicon.org/proverbs/16-18.htm] (the original Greek translation) I saw something that I had to meditate on for a bit. Then I saw how obvious the original word was to our own modern terminology. That word is before. In the Lexicon that word means faces. We use that word often now. She is facing an uphill battle. He is facing termination at work. They are facing the playoffs. We know this word so well. Let's look at this week's scripture again using the original word, facing. Pride causes you to face destruction, and a haughty spirit will cause you to face a fall. We know when we face something that it is coming, for sure. Something that we face is something we know we will have to deal with. So this week when you meditate on this scripture know that the pride in your life will cause you to face with certainty, destruction and that a haughty spirit will cause you to face a fall. Each Monday I am going to be having 'Monday Meditations'. I hope to bring to you each Monday a verse to mediate on for the week. This is not for memorization, but to think about and to dwell on. The word meditate, in the bible, means to mutter. So this week as you go about your life, think about and mutter to yourself the verse for the week and think about how it applies to your life. Meditating on a verse will bind it to your spirit and it will become part of you! The more of the Word you meditate on, the more it will transform you into the image of Christ! Shop all versions of my novels here: Shop Here [https://nancyjacksonauthor.com/collections/novels] My Media Website: NancyJacksonPodcast.com [https://nancyjacksonpodcast.com/] Check out my website: NancyJacksonAuthor.com [https://www.nancyjacksonauthor.com/] Follow me here: Substack: https://nancyjackson.substack.com/ [https://nancyjackson.substack.com/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyJacksonAuthor [https://www.facebook.com/NancyJacksonAuthor] Twitter: https://twitter.com/NAJackson [https://twitter.com/NAJackson] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/najackson/ [https://www.instagram.com/najackson/] Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nancyannjackson [https://www.pinterest.com/nancyannjackson] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NancyJackson [https://www.youtube.com/@NancyJacksonAuthor] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nancyajackson?lang=en [https://www.tiktok.com/@nancyajackson?lang=en]