Friday night’s FAM Chat revealed just what a stronghold self-condemnation is and how difficult it is to overcome, because overcoming attitudes of self-condemnation was the topic, but it ended up feeling a lot more like a spiritual wrestling match. And by the time it concluded, I have to admit to not being sure who won; even to the point of questioning the wisdom of choosing such a topic and whether that decision was led by the Lord or me. But God was ever so faithful to help overcome that concern on my part, because He so faithfully confirmed just about every point that was made in an effort to help those who are struggling to overcome issues of self-condemnation and the post I wrote about that last Friday, Overcoming Self-condemnation.

First, the following are just a few of the awesome Bible verses as they were shared by some of the members during Friday night’s FAM Chat:

John 3:16-18 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned.”

Exodus 4:14 when Moses was only looking at his weakness; “I’ve known about your weaknesses all along. I saw your lack of confidence, your proneness to put yourself down, the way you measure yourself against others. You think you’re nothing. But there’s no use trying to run away. I’ll never let you change the plans I made for you before you were even born. I’m not asking much of you. All you have to do is believe what I’ve promised, and act on it. Trust that Almighty Jehovah God is with you. Keep your eyes on me, not on your weaknesses.”

1John 3:18-20 I do not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth, This then is how I know that I belong to the truth and how I set my heart at rest in His presence whenever my heart condemns me. For God is greater than my heart and He knows everything.

Luke 8:11-15 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by PERSEVERING produce a crop.

Hebrews 6:18 By two unchangeable things His promise and His oath in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive me, I who have fled to Him for refuge have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for me and set before me.

Psalm 37:4, Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

1Samuel 12:22 The Lord will not forsake me for His great name’s sake, for it pleases Him to make me one of His people.

“Give thanks in all circumstances,” says the apostle Paul, “for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Some of the conclusions we reached were that we have to put ALL of our trust and faith in God and rely on His great and never failing love for us; that we had to find our own self worth and identity in who we are in Christ. And we concluded that this was something we could not help someone else do; that they would have to make the decision to do for themselves. And it was suggested that we need to be a lot less self focused and more mindful of praise and thanksgiving, even in our prayers. And we agreed that our relationship with the Lord has to be about seeking first His righteousness and His kingdom, and NOT just about having our marriages restored, and that we couldn’t get hung up on works, because that’s what leads to self-condemnation and discouragement.

Despite concerns that Satan might have won that round, the Lord went to great lengths to prove otherwise! First, the message from Charles Stanly yesterday was a perfect follow-up to Friday’s FAM Chat, because it was a study of Psalm 37, which he titled The Desires of Your Heart, and that just happened to get several honorable mentions in our chat! And since there’s SO much very important and wise counsel for everyone standing for marriage restoration in this message; I recommend sitting down with a notepad to take notes when watching it, and if you’re like me, you’ll watch it more than once! I always have to watch Dr. Stanley’s messages several times to get everything out of them! And it’s very important to watch this all the way to the end, because he makes some important closing remarks too. I was so excited about this message, that I already sent email messages to the members who were struggling to overcome self-condemnation yesterday and encouraged them to watch it! And one of them pointed out that the sermon outline provided for the message was very helpful for taking notes too.

And then I couldn’t believe Joyce Meyer’s TV broadcast message this morning, which was I Belong To God And He Loves Me – Part I! And this is an absolute MUST for anyone dealing with issues of self-condemnation and having a difficult time trusting God! There are some “ouches” in it, but sometimes we need a few ouches to get our attention and help us see the truth. And it’s another one well worth taking notes on when watching!

Then just to drive the point home a little stronger, today’s AWESOME Spirit of Prophecy Bulletin messages from Bill and Marsha Burns was forwarded to me by one of the members struggling with self-condemnation, with an acknowledgement that God was still trying to get his attention:

The Trumpet by Bill Burns
March 5, 2007: I will open the windows of heaven and begin to pour out the blessings that you have yearned for. I will pour out to the extent that these blessings will overtake you. I will bring the promise of the Spirit, the promise of life, and the promise of prosperity. I will give to you, My Bride, gifts that will prepare you for your Bridegroom. Gird up the loins of your faith and dare to believe even though your faith may have been diminished by the events and circumstances of the past. Rise up to the place of faith that you have known, for it is a seed within you that can sprout up and bring forth life again. I have given you living water and the seed of your faith shall grow to maturity and even reach beyond places it reached in the past. Dare to believe! Activate your faith! You are worthy to receive the treasurers of heaven, says the Lord.

Small Straws In A Soft Wind by Marsha Burns
March 5, 2007: Beloved, you are on the very threshold of moving into new realms of glory. There have been seasons in your life where I came to you to strike a covenant with you in order to facilitate a new level of effectiveness in My kingdom. And, this is yet again a time of new or renewed covenant when you can choose to come up higher in kingdom purpose and responsibility. You must, however, quiet your own soul and quell your own ambitions in order to submit to My intentions, says the Lord.
Genesis 17:2 “And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”
You can visit Bill and Marsha Burns’ website, Spirit of Prophecy, where you can read their messages and sign up to receive them by email. And it’s really fun to go back and check out the archives too!

I can’t think of a better or more powerful way to make the case against self-condemnation as we stand for the restoration of our marriages than these amazing, right on point messages, which once again totally blow my mind with God’s never ending faithfulness to confirm the messages He’s trying to get across! And they really confirm that restoration can’t begin without first receiving and resting in the awesome and amazing power of God’s love! So I sure hope that everyone is blessed and encouraged by them and that the devil will lose his stronghold of self-condemnation in our midst once and for all!

Posted Monday, March 5th, 2007 at 9:13 pm in Seeds Of Faith.