What is the Christian Wilderness?

The Christian wilderness can be defined as a period of testing and refinement. It may seem during this experience that you have a dark cloud that hovers over you. You may have also encountered several losses during the wilderness time. It can seem like God is distant and does not care or hear your prayers. Your character, sins, and shortcomings are exposed to the light of Christ to bring healing.

There is a preparation period that God brings His people when He needs to correct undesirable behaviors or even to test our faith. This preparation will be used for something greater in the Kingdom of God. If God has called you to a ministry or Kingdom work, you can rest assure there will be a time of preparation. Many people are made whole as the Bride of Christ during the wilderness phase. Yes, it is a lonely and difficult time, but you will make it out if you do not complain, grumble and trust God. Complaining and grumbling over your circumstances will keep you in the wilderness longer, but having a thankful heart will help you get to your promised land quicker.

You may wonder how long you will stay in the wilderness, but it differs from person to person. I believe I would have left the wilderness sooner than 10 years, but I got lost in self-pity, complaining, bitterness, and lack of thankfulness. Was I a bad person? No, I had not learned how to trust God during my time of facing some very difficult circumstances. I felt like Job in the Bible many times, perhaps you can relate?

I also stayed stuck in the wilderness because of my stinkin’ thinkin.’ My thoughts became sour and rotten, and I allowed my thought life to run wild. Some days I felt I had the right to my disturbing thoughts because of all I had been through. I tried everything to take away the pain, everything except running to God. I thought if He allowed all this bad stuff to happen to me why should I go to God for help? I know that is messed-up thinking, but you have to understand I had tremendous pain and losses back to back in my life. I simply did not know that God would turn all the pain in my life for good. I complained and grumbled about my circumstances to anyone who would listen to me. Why? I was needing someone to sympathize me and feel sorry for me. I thought there is NO WAY other people have it as bad as I did. I believed that God must not be pleased with me, and maybe I was being punished for my prior sins.

 I could not see past my pain.

I had so many blessings but I could not see them for all the heartache that was surrounding me. I tried to count my blessings, but it was a struggle for me. I knew God gave me promises, but I saw the “giants” in my promised land like the Israelites did on their journey to the Promised Land.

In the wilderness you may feel isolated from others, distant from God, hopeless, suffer from infirmities, lonely, and may be lacking in ministry work. This is a time to run to God, not from Him. You may be tempted to go back to your former life, or go back to that old comforting sin habit-BUT DON’T! STAY THE COURSE and finish the work God is perfecting in you. It will be well-worth your discomfort now. Don’t give up during your wilderness season, but PUSH and then PUSH some more. I am telling you that you have to push your way through to your promised land. The enemy will try and deter you getting there anyway that he can.

Have you experienced the Christian wilderness? If you are still in the wilderness ask God how you can find your way to the Promised Land.

Check out a book that I wrote on Wilderness Mentality,Stop your Stinkin’ Thinkin’

Life Lessons on Contentment

This article is based on years of what the Lord has given the author about the subject of contentment. The author has accumulated several journals over the years on contentment. What the author writes in this article are the life lessons the author has learned about contentment.

Have you ever wanted the "White-Picket Fence?"

Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to be abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:11-13

You can be content in no matter what state you are in, with Christ who strengthens you. It may not be easy or comfortable to go through difficult circumstances, but you can truly learn to be content in them. Contentment is accepting God’s control over all your circumstances.

We can rejoice too, when we run into trials, for we know that they are good for us-they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation.

Romans 5:3-4

Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything.

Philippines 4:6

Give all your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

Psalm 55:22

But in my distress I cried out to the Lord…He heard me from His sanctuary; my cry reaches His ears.

2 Samuel 22:7

Speaking God’s Word over your circumstances is medicine to your soul. Apply these scriptures and any additional ones that the Lord gives you on contentment. Then wait for the Lord to act on your behalf in confident expectation. Don’t get discouraged if your life is not changing in the manner you would like, or your circumstances are seemingly not changing. God is at work, but sometimes there are life lessons we have to learn along the way.

Key Life Lessons on Contentment:

·        Be joyful today, not when your circumstances are prefect. Enjoy your life now.

·        Start doing things bring you enjoyment.

·        Trust God with all your heart and do not lean on Your Understanding of things.

·        Take it one day a time. Don’t focus on tomorrow or dwell on yesterday.

·        Do not be moved or react by your circumstances. Be stable in all your ways.

·        Give God all your desires of your heart and trust that His timing and plans are perfect for your life.

·        Stop dwelling on what you don’t have.

·        Don’t force anything to happen on your time.

·        Never complain about your circumstances.

·        Apply grace to yourself and to others. Don’t have unrealistic expectations for yourself and others.

·        Stop comparing yourself to others.

·        Don’t take life so serious. Things will pass.

·        You are not responsible for everyone’s happiness or contentment.

Contentment comes when we accept our lot in life, and not running ahead of God’s timetable. Take the account of Abraham and Sarah who went ahead of God’s timetable and took matters into their own hands. Countless people get tired of waiting, become discontented and take matters into their own hands.

The most important things to remember about contentment is waiting for God to fulfill His promises to you, and while your are waiting not to enter into complaining. This is not always easy to do, but when you ask God to line your desires with His desires; He will.

Discontentment will cause you to have stinkin’ thinkin’. Most of us are content when circumstances are going well, but God wants you to have contentment in all things and in all seasons of your lives. God teaches, molds, and trains us through our circumstances. Surrender all to God and release all control to our Savior. Do not compare you situations to others or what they have, God has a unique plan for each of us. Contentment means wanting nothing more than what God has given you. So ask yourself, how content are you really? Are you satisfied with what God’s provisions for your life have been? It is okay to have desires, but when we make things we desire “idols,” (things that we put above God) then you risk living discontented. Instead of talking how big your problems are, start thanking and parsing Him instead. Change your perspective. Get your mind off of what you don’t have, start daily counting the blessings that you do have. [i]

---

[i] Insert taken from author’s book, Wilderness Mentality, Stop your Stinkin’ Thinkin.’ Order copies from www.createspace.com/4036785

New Perspective

Change your thoughts and change your life. How do you view your life? Do you see the glass half empty or half full? Maybe you need an attitude adjustment and a new perspective. You may be seeing your life through faulty lenses.

We lose perspective in our lives when:

1.      Discouragement occurs

2.      Disappointment happens

3.      Defeat, failure and regret sets in

4.      Hope is deferred once again for those things we are waiting for

5.      We become weary in our waiting time

6.      We stop being thankful and become complainers and murmurs

7.      Trials, circumstances, crisis and trauma that are out of our control

All the above can change our perspective in life. Life can let us down and our expectations about life can let us down. We can become disillusioned very quickly when our lives take a detour. A detour happens when the path we would like to stay on gets detoured by life’s circumstances. If we are not careful our attitudes can become rotten.

Maybe it’s time to get your perspective back today. You might need new lenses to see out of today. When you put on these new lenses your life will look differently.

How do you get a new perspective?

1.      In every situation, trial or circumstance know that God will bring good from it. Maybe not right away but good eventually can come from your worst circumstances.

2.      Be thankful for the good and blessings in your life. If you want the enemy to flee from you, then praise God in everything; this will send the enemy packing. When you do this you are telling God,” I trust you and I know you will turn this around for my good.”

3.      Take the garbage out and stop your stinkin’ thinkin’. Renew your mind and take all your thoughts into the obedience of Jesus Christ. Don’t just allow anything to fall into your mind. You must be proactive and stop the A.N.T.S. (automatic negative thoughts).

4.      Ask God to renew your faith as your waiting for His promise to come to pass in your life. Some of you have been waiting a long time for certain things, and you have grown weary and disillusioned.

5.      See the good in every situation. Don’t see the negative in a situation but see the potential and the good that can come from it.

6.      Surrender your life to God totally. That means giving up controlling your life and others.

From our perspective, God seems slow to intervene on our behalf. But what might appear slow to us is good timing from God’s perspective. It is easy to become impatient while waiting for God to act, but we must never give up on Him! God is worth the wait. Change your perspective and change your life.

To contact author go to http://www.christianhopecounseling.com

For additional reading on Wilderness Mentality, Stop Your Stinkin’ Thinkin’ go to http://www.createspace.com/4036785

Don't Go Back

The enemy would love for you to stay in the past, and not arise to your destiny. It is time to come up. Forget those former things and reach out to what lies ahead. Fear does not come from God, so step out in faith and don’t go back.

Get up again. Shake off the old wineskins and put on your new wineskins. It is time to prevail over all your enemies. Leave the past in the past. There is victory in the present. The pain and the discouragement of the past are over. If you receive this message in your spirit, then you know God is calling you up out of the past; out of the shackles and chains that have held you prisoner of the past. It is not God’s will or plan for you to stay bound to the past.

Do not concern yourself any longer with what others think of you or what you are doing. God has called you with a purpose and you must follow Him. God forgives all your sins and cleanses you from all unrighteousness. Be cleansed today and forgive yourself because God has. Now be a prisoner of hope not a prisoner of your past. Do not put God in a “box,” but expect God to work out of the “box.” Be who God wants you to be, not what people want or expect you to be.

You are God’s chosen. Stop living in past regrets and past hurts. Forgive others and set them free. Be clothed in the robe that God has for you. Do not live by man’s approval of you any longer. Be grounded and rooted in God’s plan for your life.

Take a step of faith out and don’t go back. Forgive yourself and forgive others. Let God order and direct your steps. You are not who you were before. God has healed and anointed you for this time and season. Now prepare yourself for the things that God has for you, and let go of the past. Let go today of all should haves, ought to haves, and could of haves. Don’t explain yourself to others, they probably are not going to understand anyways. Pray that they see and know your heart, and then let it go. Let go of the expectations others have for you and embrace what God expects from you.

Do not remember the former things nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth;

Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.                                      

Isaiah 43:18-19, NKJV

If you have trouble with your thinking, check out Wilderness Mentality. Stop Your Stinkin’ Thinkin’ @ http://www.createspace.com/4036785

NewSeason

Have you been in a rut lately? Are you going through the motions of life? Maybe it’s time to get stirred up again in the spirit. You might be wondering, how? Sometimes God speaks to us or gives us things to do, and we either ignore what He says to do or we procrastinate doing what He said; hoping He will change His mind.

What I have learned is to obey God as soon as you know He has said something. God is not pushy, nor will He make us feel guilty and condemned if we decide not to follow what He says. But we may notice a few things if we don’t obey God. We may notice our connection to God feels distant, we may lack joy or peace, and we may even feel confused. Why these things? It’s God’s desire to get you to follow His ways, which are for our good not harm. God won’t keep telling you to do the same things over and over again. He will step back and leave your life up to you; how you think your life should be. Living out of God’s obedience can cause a sense of unrest in your spirit. You can be affected in your mind, body, and spirit when you decide to follow your ways.

Maybe it’s time for a new season. Maybe it’s time to follow what God is telling you. Do you want more peace, more joy, and a more fulfilling relationship with God? Maybe it’s time to ask God, “What do you want me to do?” And then do it!

Here are some things the Lord gave me to be obedient with a while ago. I did not follow immediately, and I can say, “It is worth following God the first time.” Use these as a guideline, but seek God for yourself as to what He wants you to do. You may modify or add to this list.

·         Stop looking back. The past is over. This is a new day and a new season.

·         Don’t project the future, what it will be like or what it won’t.

·         Focus on the day you have been given. Take it one day at a time.

·         Trust me to work out your situations. Don’t try and figure them out.

·         Remain calm and peaceful at all times.

·         Do not complain, murmur or find-fault.

·         Do not criticize or judge others.

·         Speak faith-filled, positive thoughts not negative, defeated thoughts.

·         Be hopeful in all things.

·         Do not react in anger or hostility. Do not be easily provoked.

·         Do not be easily offended. Forgive continually.

·         Do not react to your circumstances.

·         Stop worrying and being anxious, instead pray.

Copyright ©2013. HopeCounselingMinistry. All rights reserved.

http://www.christianhopecounseling.com

Trouble with negative thinking? Check out Wilderness Mentality, Stop Your Stinkin’ Thinkin’@

http://www.createspace.com/4036785

Wilderness Mentality: New Life Changing Book Out

Wilderness Mentality: New Life Changing Book Out: List Price: $9.99  Add to Cart About the author: Stephanie R. Reck is a Licensed Master Social Worker, Licensed Belief Ther...

New Life Changing Book Out

List Price: $9.99  Add to Cart About the author: Stephanie R. Reck is a Licensed Master Social Worker, Licensed Belief Therapist and a Board Certified Christian Counselor. Stephanie has served with a Crisis Pregnancy Center, led Celebrate Recovery groups, has led Bible studies for women, and has given her public testimony on several occasions. Stephanie has a heart and a passion to see women free from bondage and healed from their wounds. Stephanie, has endured much heartache and trials throughout her life, and she uses her experiences to reach out to others with the compassion of Christ. Her desire to see the hurting know the love of God and to have a personal, intimate, life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. Stephanie continues to write and counsel women through her counseling ministry, Hope Ministry. She has been married for 15 years to her husband, Stephen, they have one grown son, Jonathon, a doggie child named Gizmo and their beloved doggie angel in heaven, Kobe.  Wilderness Mentality   Stop Your Stinkin' Thinkin' Authored by Mrs. Stephanie Rene ReckDo you ever stop and think what you are thinking about? The way you feel is directly related to what you think about. This book will take you on a journey on how God views a negative mindset, and how you can enter into a "wilderness mentality." A wilderness mentality will keep you in bondage, and you will not experience the life that God has for you. You know your mind is in the wilderness when you start to complain about your life's circumstances, you are envious of others, you find fault and critize, you lack thankfulness, you worry and are plagued by fear, and you have an overall negative mindset. Throughout this book I will give you practical steps to staying out of the wilderness mentality. I use practical applications, real-life examples from my life, scripture, research and ulitize my education in forming this book's application and purpose. Do you want to live a joy-filled, peaceful life? A life filled with hope no matter your circumstances? If you answered yes to these questions, then begin reading and applying" The Wilderness Mentality." Publication Date: Apr 09 2013 ISBN/EAN13: 1480231517 / 9781480231511 Page Count: 104 Binding Type: US Trade Paper Trim Size: 6" x 9" Language: English Color: Black and White Related Categories: Religion / Christian Life / Personal Growth

Get Out of the Wilderness

Dictionary.com defines wilderness as: A wild and uncultivated region, as of forest or desert, uninhabited or inhabited by wild animals; a tract of wasteland.

So are you in the wilderness? Is your mind in the wilderness, and not under control of the Holy Spirit? Where have you been living, in the “wilderness” or in the “Promised Land?”

Now is the time to let go of former things and your wilderness living. You have dwelt in the wilderness long enough. In the wilderness you held onto the past. You had no peace, no joy, and no hope. You were burdened in the wilderness. You were not free, but held in captivity. You were in bondage. In the wilderness, you cared about what people thought about you. You pleased man rather than God. You looked at your circumstances and complained. You threw yourself a little pity party, and became a victim rather than a victor. You allowed negative emotions to rule over you. You wandered aimlessly in the wilderness but could not find a way out.

Are you sick and tired of your life yet, your wilderness? Have you tried everything and it is just not working? If so, you may be in the wilderness. Just as the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 long years, so can we remain in a type of wilderness? God does not want you to stay in the wilderness, but you may not know how to get out of the wilderness. You may have been in the wilderness for so long that you do not know how to get out of the wilderness. The good news is if you are tired of your ways enough, change is possible.

You know you are in the wilderness if your life is full of negativity, burdens too heavy to carry, a lack of joy and peace, confusion (lack of direction), oppression, and fear (anxiety). If you are in the wilderness you are not living the abundant life that God says that you can have.

Would you dare to believe there can be change? Would you like to be in the Promised Land instead of living in the wilderness? In the Promised Land your eyes are on Jesus not your circumstances or the “giants” in your life. You have God’s eyes and His ears. You are now His vessel that His spirit can flow through. Your life is marked with peace and joy despite your circumstances. You have a hope that is unshakeable.

Here are some practical steps to get you out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land living:

1.      Believe God is bigger than your problems.

2.      Speak faith-filled words. Watch what you are speaking over yourself and others. Your words are powerful. They can produce life or death. Choose your words carefully.

3.      Don’t speak what you see but what God can do. Speak to that “mountain” in your life. Don’t let that “mountain” speak to you, or it will!

4.      Enjoy right where you are at. Be content with the season you are in. Knowing all seasons does eventually end. Don’t “curse” your next season with your words.

5.      Do not complain find-fault or judge yourself or others.

6.      Do not look at your problems/circumstances and speak negatively or defeat over them. The enemy WILL present things and situations to stir you up and get you to speak out what you see.

7.      Carry hope continually. Never, ever let hope disappear. Even if you have failed, made mistakes, and have been defeated. NEVER stop hoping. We will soon end up discouraged and eventually defeated if we stop hoping. Always hope for better!

8.      Pray before reacting to what the enemy shows you or tells you. DO NOT react, the enemy sees and will use your reaction against you.

9.      Maintain peace with yourself and others. Walk in peace, talk peace, be peace. Refrain from arguments, contentions, strife, anger, and division. Live in peace.

10.  Be easy on yourself. Be gentle and loving with yourself. Stop belittling and beating yourself up. God does not do this to you, so why should you do this to yourself.

11.  Keep all sin out of your life. Continually purge and confess sin. Be cleansed by the blood of Jesus not condemnation.

12.  CHOOSE to walk in faith and not fear. Yes, I say choose because fear will try and come against you but CHOOSE to rise in faith.

Do not remember the former things,

Nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I will do a new thing,

Now it shall spring forth;

Shall you not know it?

I will even make a road in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:18-19, NKJV

Side note from author: I believe so much in helping people understand being free from wilderness living that I wrote an entire book called, Wilderness Mentality. You can find this book on amazon.com.

Copyright@2013, HopeCounselingMinistry. All Rights Reserved.