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Love to Jesus will be manifested in a desire to work as He worked for the blessing and uplifting of humanity. It will lead to love, tenderness, and sympathy toward all the creatures of our heavenly Father's care.

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We have been talking about our attitude and care for the unfortunate people in this world. What do you think of this quote? This brings all of God's creatures into our care -- including the animals and birds. When we think of the absolute cruelty involved in the commercial slaughter of animals and chickens that is one more reason to be vegetarian.

Worth thinking about.

God bless,

Beryl

I can't measure my serotonin levels obviously but I can definitely say I feel incredibly blessed when I merely witness a genuine act of kindness or care, and even more when I get to participate in one!

Quote:

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If you will go to work as Christ designs that His disciples shall, and win souls for Him, you will feel the need of a deeper experience and a greater knowledge in divine things, and will hunger and thirst after righteousness. You will plead with God, and your faith will be strengthened, and your soul will drink deeper drafts at the well of salvation. Encountering opposition and trials will drive you to the Bible and prayer. You will grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ, and will develop a rich experience.

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So often we hear people say that they don't know enough of the Bible to go and share the good news of salvation with others, but somehow this quote seems to be saying to me that sharing is the very thing that will bring us to our knees for help, and in so doing our own lives will be blessed. I know that is how I have found it to be.

Anyone like to share their thoughts on this?

God bless,

Beryl

Beryl,

Quote:

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sharing is the very thing that will bring us to our knees for help, and in so doing our own lives will be blessed.

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Agreed, if we do not witness for whatever reason, we loose may potential blessings.

There is an old saying that something like this, "the students teach the teacher."

In anything when you are preparing to teach you must pray, study and prepare yourself. The Holy Spirit will give us the words to say if we ask, listen and believe.

In this light we are not only doing our fellow humans a disservice by not sharing, but we are the big loosers.

I wonder whether the main problem in your illustration, Beapeacemaker, is the way in which people were asked to share. I can understand how a person may feel scared that when they stand up they will forget what they want to say, or it will come out all wrong, or ------.

In contrast, what do you think that the reaction would be if those same people were asked to just turn to one other person (preferably not in their own family) and just share what Jesus has done for them? Somehow I feel that everyone would find something for which to praise God, and this could be the first step in training them to share their blessings.

Next time make it groups of 3 or 4, and so on.

Just a thought,

God bless,

Beryl

I am not sure what the response would be to share in groups of 3 or 4.

It seems to me that people are afraid to tell of how God has helped them to overcome. I believe the reason for this is because they would have to admit their faults and weaknesses. Church, even though it is for sinners, is sometimes not very welcoming to those of us who are struggling with life, relationships etc.

I don’t know what it is like in you church, but mine seems to be filled with people who are “doing it right”. They don’t appear to have any problems. And when they do admit to having a problem it is often too late. The family has broken down or they leave the church. I have known of such incidences in my church. Why do they not seek help when things first begin to go wrong? Why do they leave it until it is too late?

When I asked for help from the church, I did not get it. I ended up going outside of the church for help. Others who did receive help from the church have been judged and ostracized and ended up leaving the church. In a current relational situation one person was told that the problem was theirs and they had to change. End of story, just change and everything will be ok. No offer of how to do it. Another issue is confidentiality. It seems, when a problem is disclosed the whole church soon learns about it.

The following are some of the statements that I have heard, regarding mine and other people’s attempts to obtain help:
*You must have some unconfessed sin in your life or things would be different.
*What do you expect if you eat meat? You are sinning.
*He/she is demon possessed
*This would not be happening if you spent more time with Jesus

As you can see from the above information, some churches are not exactly safe places for sharing. I believe, somewhere along the line we have been conditioned to believe that it is not okay to not have it all together. That being the case, people do not seek help or share their burdens with each other and things pile up.

Your church may not be like this at all, and all of this may sound very judgemental. However, this has been my experience in two different churches that I have attended.

In answer to your question regarding small groups, I think spontaneous sharing would probably be a non event. However, if people knew each other and felt safe, they may be willing to share.