Welcome to Weekly Topic Saturdays!
Hello all, I pray that your week was filled with joy and love. Welcome back to those who have been with me here at A Golden Dream. For my first-timers, a great big hello there, if you haven't already please check out my previous posts when you get a chance.
Please don't hesitate to join the conversation, there are no right or wrong answers or questions. I'm not proclaiming to know everything, I am simply just discussing and picking topics on things that I personally have gone through and that I know would help someone.
“Yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”
2 Corinthians 7:9-10
The struggle yall is all the way real. There have been so many times in my life where I have followed the crowd and did what everyone else did. In the past couple of months the closer that I have grown in my walk with God the more I begin to feel guilty for giving in to sin. My mom has always told me “once you know better, you have to do better.” This statement is so true. We all grow up with an innate sense of what is right and wrong and we all know what rules and laws we have to follow when it comes to society. It is the same within the bible.
Just like we discussed in Weekly Topic Saturday #6: Mindfulness: Your Choices Have Power post, it is the choices that you make that determine where you end up, what you have, and how they impact other people. No one is forcing us to break the law, commit a crime, or break the rules; it is in the decisions and choices we make. Within the bible, God has given us a roadmap and clear guidelines that he suggests that we follow. Our God is not going to force us to come to him, he wants us to willingly make the effort to seek him out and connect. In the bible, we know the consequences of sin.
One thing that I am beginning to realize as I am becoming closer in my walk with God is the power of conviction. For those who do not know conviction is that strong sense of error that compels a person to either admit the truth or do the right thing. For example, if you have a toddler and you are walking out in public and they start to head away from you in the wrong direction you grab their hand and lead them the way that you want them to go.
God does the same with us. Once you have given your life to Christ and you are committed to making the change to be what God has called you to be he will do the same for you. Conviction is the invisible leash that God puts on that keeps us from doing wrong, heading in the wrong direction, or tarrying too long in the same place.
“Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the LORD.”
Romans 12:19
I don't know about yall but people do and have done me so dirty over the course of my life and when I was younger and even now sometimes depending on what it is, I struggle with my response and my reaction. The old Sherronda would have tried to get even and would not have cared how it left you feeling. What I have learned along the way on this journey with God, is that he hears the conversations that I do not and he will remove those people from my life if they are detrimental to the plans that he has for me.
The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”
Psalm 110:1
When I started listening and operating under the will of God, I realized that I do not need to go after my enemies. I just need to trust him and he will humble my enemies and make them a footstool under my feet. I have seen and experienced first hand when someone has hurt me and done me wrong and God avenged me and repaid them because only God knows what truly happened. When God punished them and I witnessed just how rough their punishment was I immediately prayed to God for mercy for them because of my empathetic heart because I do not like to see other people suffer. No matter what they have done to me. I am the type of person that I will still help you and be there for you as long as it does not jeopardize my inner peace and joy.
“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.”
Psalm 23:5
When you follow the plan and the path that God has set forth in front of you for your life, you are allowing conviction (that invisible leash) to be part of the driving force in your conscience to keep you on track, heading in the right direction, and keep you from tarrying too long. God will make your enemies watch as he anoints you and your blessing continually overflow within your life.
“A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.”
Psalm 91:7
One thing that I just recently learned was that when you are anointed the enemy takes it as an open invitation to try and test your faith. The devil will take it upon himself to hit you with so many issues and problems that it can be discouraging and can even make you feel overwhelmed and defeated. But let me give you the good news, God steps in and when you think about turning to the things that are not in his will he will use conviction (that invisible leash) as a way to protect you. No matter what issues or problems that may befall you, remember what we talked about in the Weekly Topic Saturday #9: Don’t Get Stuck in Temporary Situations these problems are temporary and no harm shall come upon you.
Questions To Consider:
Have you ever felt convicted?
Have you ever wanted to get even with someone who did you wrong?
What is something that you are struggling with?
How does it make you feel when you break a biblical rule or law?
With Love, remember that it is up to you to decide whether you are going to follow the rules and laws that God has set into place. If you decide to give your life to Christ be prepared for the conviction because once you are saved and anointed the Devil is ready to attack to test that faith. Thieves don't break into empty houses, there is something valuable in you that the Devil wants to steal. The Devil’s main mission is to kill, steal, and destroy; so watch out for the adversary because he is always lurking just a few steps behind. There is a song called Endow Me by Twinkie Clark and the Clark Sisters that ministers this point so well. Yes, the struggle may be real, but so is God for he sees and hears all.
~Just Breathe...A Golden Dream~
Amen.