author=Certain Hope link=topic=5290.msg82886#msg82886 date=1186017407]
Ami,I can tell you my own experience with some of this and that may help you to form some opinions...
As long as I can remember, I have felt inept, clumsy, incompetent, and just generally like an oddball.
The lesson I received from my mother was that she is the only person in my life worthy of trust.
In my attempts to prove her wrong, I married some extremely un-trust-worthy men and only succeeded in confirming that she was absolutely right.
From that context, I can relate to what you say about doubting your reality... because I created a false reality
for myself, out of my determination to NOT accept what I saw as my mother's graceless, loveless existence.
Then I met NPD-ex-husband and thought surely he was a gift from God. Oh, he was so emotional.

He was a gift alright... he gave me an object lesson, in living color, of the meaning of the words -
the devil often appears as an angel of light!
Then I met Jesus.
HE said that I could be born again and made new.
HE said that I didn't need to lean on my own understanding, but only trust Him and follow in His steps.
HE said that He would give me a new spirit and a new life, that I would be a new creation in Him,
that all I had to do was give up on my own efforts to make myself right and receive His gift.
That's what I did.
I received Jesus and He gave me the Holy Spirit.. the Comforter, you know? Our Paraclete, Advocate, Teacher...
So here is the model on which my new life is based, first out of Colossians 3:
1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above,
where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.I hope you can see... that was the best news I'd ever heard, Ami... that I have died and my life is hidden with Christ in God.
And this, from Romans 8:
1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.And then, you know, in John 8 we read about that truth which makes people free... well, I saw that's Jesus - He is The Truth.
The new spirit which is received by those who call on His name is His Spirit.
That's why we read further along in John 8 and see that "
So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."
And in 1Corinthians 2:
"
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,
but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God..."
So, as you've said here... it's walking in that Spirit which allows us to overcome the flesh... the will and emotions... and to renew our minds to the truth of Christ. It's about identifying with Him and not with our earthly families or with our own flesh.
As new spiritual creations, we have a new spiritual family... we've been adopted

But I have lots of feelings float through, Ami... especially now that I'm consciously trying to be aware of them.
Maybe you've heard this old quote from Martin Luther... I'll paraphrase:
You can't stop the birds from flying over your head,
but you can sure keep them from building a nest in your hair!So yes, I see that it's my responsibility to pay attention to which feelings I allow to hang around and get nurtured, developing into thoughts. When I start nursing the wrong feelings into thoughts and maybe even into actions... then pretty soon I have alot of nasty, bitter roots taking ahold. Thank God He is eager to receive our repentance and strengthen us by His grace!
So you're right - for a person who is born from above, made a new creation in Christ, feeling and thinking bad things does not make them a bad person.
Look at all the letters the apostle Paul wrote to people he called "saints". He writes plenty of correction of wrong things in those letters, but he doesn't address the letters to "the sinners at Corinth" or "the sinners at Ephesus".
The main thing is... God would never cause you to feel worthless, Ami.
That sort of condemnation is from the father of lies.
The value of something is often determined by the cost someone is willing to pay for it, right?
Take a look at the cost God paid to buy you back, to redeem you... then you will know your true value.
Once you see what really happened on the cross, no one will be able to convince you that you're worthless.
Love,
Hope
P.S. I don't trust myself, Ami... I trust God in me. I trust Him to guide me and protect me... including from myself.
You see, I recognized that I had been my own worst enemy.
For me, I had to come to the point where I knew I couldn't trust myself in order to look up and see the One I can trust, always.
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... it's walking in that Spirit which allows us to overcome the flesh... the will and emotions... and to renew our minds to the truth of Christ. It's about identifying with Him and not with our earthly families or with our own flesh. WOW! Amen! Carolyn and Ami
Walking each day in His Spirit and in His Truth.
Leah