Jeremiah chapter 23
24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord?
Broken Hearted.
This is just an introduction which I hope will be the beginning of a conversation. This blog is hopefully going to be interactive. I am hoping that you, the reader, will respond. Many people have stepped away from God. Many blame him for something that happened in their lives. Others have been hurt by church rules, church people and leaders. They have become broken hearted. The reason for this blog is to help those people, and people who may be interested in God but are afraid, to come forward and have a dialogue with me. No judgement, just acceptance and discussion. Are you trying to hide from God? Do you blame his for something that happened in your life. Read the scripture above.
We are going to start with Worship :
Please remember that I hope that these blogs will become a healing journey for you. Please know that Christ is your Peace, he is your salvation. Don't keep running away, instead come running to him.
We are going to start with Worship :
Please remember that I hope that these blogs will become a healing journey for you. Please know that Christ is your Peace, he is your salvation. Don't keep running away, instead come running to him.
Whatever you are telling yourself about God - the truth is he is all around us. What I have found over the years is that it is people who have driven other people, maybe you, from church. You may think you have sinned once too many times and cannot believe that God still loves you, which he does. You may have been horribly hurt by someone, or some church, or some group - but please remember that when people hurt you it is not your fault.
Hurting people hurt people. You may have done something against church rules, but remember those rules are man made. God forgives everything, he sees everything. He loves everyone. He does not want you without him. He has a plan for your life. It is never too late to come to him, it is never too late to return to him. Usually people who are themselves hurting tend to hurt others either by their words, actions or both.
Hurting people hurt people. You may have done something against church rules, but remember those rules are man made. God forgives everything, he sees everything. He loves everyone. He does not want you without him. He has a plan for your life. It is never too late to come to him, it is never too late to return to him. Usually people who are themselves hurting tend to hurt others either by their words, actions or both.
I am not asking you to come back to church, no, I am asking you to open a conversation with me about your experience. I am asking you not to walk away from God permanently. You cannot put God into a you-sized compartment in your life. You are a you-sized person in his life, because he made you to be his. I am asking you to consider where God is in your life - not where you think he is, but where he actually is.
When people are hurt by other christians or the church these are some of what happens to them:
They feel unwanted.
They feel misunderstood.
They think they are the blame fo whatever happened.
They begin to isolate themselves from the people they fellowshipped with.
They will avoid people they used to have fellowship with.
Eventually they move into new circles of friendships, usually not church.
Also what happened can cause the following:
They blame God.
They feel angry.
They can no longer enjoy silence.
They need to busy themselves.
They don't want to talk about things.
They feel they have been judged.
They think they have been accused of something.
Notice how I have used the words 'they feel' quite often. When someone upsets us we feel something don't we? We can feel angry, sad, bereft, scared, embarrassed and we can lose confidence is what we thought we knew. You can end up thinking you are not worthy and that God is an angry God all the time. You can also end up categorising all christians into the same box - which is not right to do. When we are away from God we tell ourselves things like - He won't want anything to do with me because of what I did, said or didn't do. I am here to tell you that you are worthy to be loved because he made you his child.
I know about this because I was hurt by church too. So please don't think I am just preaching to you, I am actually talking from personal experience.
What I would like you to do is comment under where I post this blog, or email me. I am on Messenger, Facebook and Twitter. I am sure if you look for me you will find me.
When we do things that seem 'not right' to other christians and they retaliate in some way we must understand that they are probably feeling insecure and are governed by their churches guidelines.
Here is what Jesus says: Luke 9 verses 49 & 50: 49 And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. 50 And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us. You see here that John said he the other disciples saw someone casting out devils in Jesus's name; and they stopped him, in fact they forbad him, because he was not a follower of Jesus. Well, Jesus answered him saying: Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is for us. Just because someone does something differently in church it does not mean it is being done wrongly or out of turn, Jesus understood the heart of the person casting out the demons, and he also knew that no-one could use his name in unbelief. So the person using Jesus's name believed but just did not follow the Jesus and the group.
I have fellowship at home, and Jesus is right there in the middle of it all. He knows my every thought, good and bad, and yet he chooses to love me anyway. When we are in a church that is governed by man's traditions or laws it is a recipe for disaster. When people who love Jesus get together for the sole purpose of getting closer to God, in one mind there is growth. Some people like guidelines whilst other find them constraining. We know that God has order to everything, and it is his ways that are to be obeyed. We have guidelines in the word of God, but we cannot pick and choose which ones we will adhere to and which ones will not matter. They all matter. God did not give us the Word of God to ignore. He gave us his Word to help us.
No matter how you feel, God still loves you and HE HAS A PLAN FOR YOU! You see, it does not matter what you have or have not done. God had a plan for you from when you were formed in your mother's womb, and that plan will stand until the day you leave this earth. It is up to you to continue your relationship with God and you will then understand what that plan looks like for you. You are never too far away for God to reach down and pick you up. He is still walking alongside you even if you are ignoring him, even if you are denying him and he will carry on walking alongside you until the day you die. Don't walk in silence, speak to him. Shout at him if you want. He can take it. He knows what you are going through and all he is doing is waiting for you to take a step toward him.
I know that I did wrong things, many wrong things at times in my life. I blamed others for my behaviour. I drank too much, had too many romantic relationships that were disasters. In the end it is my behaviour - not anyone else's, so it was up to me to turn back to God and tell him I am nothing without him and I can do nothing worth anything on my own. It all goes wrong. I cannot live like this anymore. I have said to him these things and much more. I asked him why he did not intervene in my troubles. It was not because he did not want to, I just didn't ask him for his help. You see whatever we are going through it is up to us to take that first step and ask for help. Not tell him what help you think you need. God is a gentle God and gives us free will to choose how we live for ourselves. I demanded that he dealt with the situation, but I did not ask for his help. That was ME trying to control God. Is that that is you being in control? No, asking him for the help he knows I need is what he is waiting for. When I ask he knows that I am willing for him to guide me through whatever it is.
I am going to give you links to teachings, which you can watch at your leisure. They are about hurt families, and I make no excuse for that as we are all in God's family. Here is the first one with Pastor Jimmy Evans:
Please, please watch this teaching as it will help you.
This one is from Pastor Robert Morris
I am hoping and praying that you will contact me, with a view to having healing conversations. We all need God's peace in our lives and I know when you are hurting there is no peace in your life.
Let us end with worship:
Until next time, God bless and keep you. xxx
You can contact me via messenger, Facebook (Anne Sutherland), and email.
When people are hurt by other christians or the church these are some of what happens to them:
They feel unwanted.
They feel misunderstood.
They think they are the blame fo whatever happened.
They begin to isolate themselves from the people they fellowshipped with.
They will avoid people they used to have fellowship with.
Eventually they move into new circles of friendships, usually not church.
Also what happened can cause the following:
They blame God.
They feel angry.
They can no longer enjoy silence.
They need to busy themselves.
They don't want to talk about things.
They feel they have been judged.
They think they have been accused of something.
Notice how I have used the words 'they feel' quite often. When someone upsets us we feel something don't we? We can feel angry, sad, bereft, scared, embarrassed and we can lose confidence is what we thought we knew. You can end up thinking you are not worthy and that God is an angry God all the time. You can also end up categorising all christians into the same box - which is not right to do. When we are away from God we tell ourselves things like - He won't want anything to do with me because of what I did, said or didn't do. I am here to tell you that you are worthy to be loved because he made you his child.
I know about this because I was hurt by church too. So please don't think I am just preaching to you, I am actually talking from personal experience.
When we do things that seem 'not right' to other christians and they retaliate in some way we must understand that they are probably feeling insecure and are governed by their churches guidelines.
Here is what Jesus says: Luke 9 verses 49 & 50: 49 And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. 50 And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us. You see here that John said he the other disciples saw someone casting out devils in Jesus's name; and they stopped him, in fact they forbad him, because he was not a follower of Jesus. Well, Jesus answered him saying: Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is for us. Just because someone does something differently in church it does not mean it is being done wrongly or out of turn, Jesus understood the heart of the person casting out the demons, and he also knew that no-one could use his name in unbelief. So the person using Jesus's name believed but just did not follow the Jesus and the group.
I have fellowship at home, and Jesus is right there in the middle of it all. He knows my every thought, good and bad, and yet he chooses to love me anyway. When we are in a church that is governed by man's traditions or laws it is a recipe for disaster. When people who love Jesus get together for the sole purpose of getting closer to God, in one mind there is growth. Some people like guidelines whilst other find them constraining. We know that God has order to everything, and it is his ways that are to be obeyed. We have guidelines in the word of God, but we cannot pick and choose which ones we will adhere to and which ones will not matter. They all matter. God did not give us the Word of God to ignore. He gave us his Word to help us.
No matter how you feel, God still loves you and HE HAS A PLAN FOR YOU! You see, it does not matter what you have or have not done. God had a plan for you from when you were formed in your mother's womb, and that plan will stand until the day you leave this earth. It is up to you to continue your relationship with God and you will then understand what that plan looks like for you. You are never too far away for God to reach down and pick you up. He is still walking alongside you even if you are ignoring him, even if you are denying him and he will carry on walking alongside you until the day you die. Don't walk in silence, speak to him. Shout at him if you want. He can take it. He knows what you are going through and all he is doing is waiting for you to take a step toward him.
I know that I did wrong things, many wrong things at times in my life. I blamed others for my behaviour. I drank too much, had too many romantic relationships that were disasters. In the end it is my behaviour - not anyone else's, so it was up to me to turn back to God and tell him I am nothing without him and I can do nothing worth anything on my own. It all goes wrong. I cannot live like this anymore. I have said to him these things and much more. I asked him why he did not intervene in my troubles. It was not because he did not want to, I just didn't ask him for his help. You see whatever we are going through it is up to us to take that first step and ask for help. Not tell him what help you think you need. God is a gentle God and gives us free will to choose how we live for ourselves. I demanded that he dealt with the situation, but I did not ask for his help. That was ME trying to control God. Is that that is you being in control? No, asking him for the help he knows I need is what he is waiting for. When I ask he knows that I am willing for him to guide me through whatever it is.
I am going to give you links to teachings, which you can watch at your leisure. They are about hurt families, and I make no excuse for that as we are all in God's family. Here is the first one with Pastor Jimmy Evans:
Please, please watch this teaching as it will help you.
This one is from Pastor Robert Morris
I am hoping and praying that you will contact me, with a view to having healing conversations. We all need God's peace in our lives and I know when you are hurting there is no peace in your life.
Let us end with worship:
Until next time, God bless and keep you. xxx
You can contact me via messenger, Facebook (Anne Sutherland), and email.
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