originally posted on January 14,2010
Scripture References;
But these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name. John 20:31 HCSB
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Psalm 51:10-12 KJV
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2 KJV
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2:13 KJV
I am thinking about moments.
We do like to capture moments; both good and bad…
We can be having a happy, quiet, thoughtful, God glorifying moment, where our focus is on everything that is lovely, and in an instant it is invaded by the memory of another moment.
Sometimes a painful moment can be branded into our memory, and the one who caused the pain can be “defined” by that moment, and as a result, the memories of the happy moments are misplaced. They might turn up for a little while only to be misplaced again.
I have experienced this on numerous occasions. Then one day I thought to myself, “How would I feel if someone witnessed me at an inconvenient moment, and then defined me by that moment?”
And one more thing…When you catch yourself in a moment defining someone by a moment, don’t beat yourself up. Confess it to the Lord and ask him to renew your mind. We might be saved in one moment but we need to be transformed daily, moment by moment. This is something that He does for us as we call on Him. (Psalms 51:10-12, Romans12:2, and Philippians 2:13)
Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord? Please click here:https://pronetoponder.wordpress.com/category/about-salvation-very-important-words/ and make sure.
Do you have a Bible? If you don’t have one, you need not worry. Just go to http://www.biblegateway.com. They have many versions and translations of the Bible that you can read. Some of the best things in life are free!
Moore to Ponder 
Ann said,
February 13, 2011 at 3:37 am
“Isn’t it wonderful to be defined by the moment we went to the cross…the moment we believed? (John20:31)”
Amen, Theresa.
So thankful that His love defines me!
“When you catch yourself in a moment defining someone by a moment, don’t beat yourself up. Confess it to the Lord and ask him to renew your mind. We might be saved in one moment but we need to be transformed daily, moment by moment. ”
So true. The Word says ‘Do not conform…but be transformed by the renewing of your mind’ … (Romans 12:2). He’s given us the answers. We just need to look.
Blessings and thanks for sharing,
ann
Moore to ponder said,
February 13, 2011 at 4:11 am
Thanks for stopping by. I am glad that the Lord is helping you to look to Him for your answers. He is doing the same thing for me. God is good. 🙂
Blessings,
Theresa
Debbie said,
February 13, 2011 at 4:18 am
Thank you, Theresa! Once again you bring us a moment to ponder and turn over to Him, to be comforted in how He can transform. Yes! I so need to be transformed daily. And to remember that everyone else is being transformed too.
Recently I read at Holley Gerth’s blog (she’s a writer for DaySpring) something that went with this . . .and I found hard to imagine most the time. God told her to write her bad moment down, that mistake that was defining her. Then He told her to tear it from the notebook and throw it away. He told her that’s what He does each time. He just sees the good. I forget this Theresa. I think it’s always there for Him and everyone to see. So thank you for reminding me that it’s true . . .He doesn’t dwell on them. So I shouldn’t either.
God bless you and all you are in Him!
Moore to ponder said,
February 13, 2011 at 4:26 am
Deb,
I love her idea, and all that you said…the world sizes up people and situations so quickly and in a negative unfair fashion. Part of our transformation lies in seeing ourselves the way the Lord sees us with all of our sins under the blood.
God bless you, too Deb!
Theresa
bendedspoon said,
February 14, 2011 at 3:53 am
“Sometimes a painful moment can be branded into our memory, and the one who caused the pain can be “defined” by that moment”
I’m guilty of this but slowly I am beginning to understand — them and God. I pray that one day there will be no more pain but total understanding.
Thank you so much Theresa for bringing moments like this where I got to pause and check how my heart is.
🙂
Moore to ponder said,
February 14, 2011 at 4:27 am
Rea,
It can be a challenge…I know. I am praying for myself, too. I sometimes do pretty well for awhile and then something will happen that will bring back memories, and then I have to pray for the Lord to help me again.
Then there are the moments when I remember a time when I hurt someone. They might not even know it, because I hurt them with my secret judgmental thoughts… and I start to define myself by that moment that I was unfair and unkind in my thinking. It is strange how we can ask the Lord to forgive us for something and even quit doing it, but the memory can pop up and then we start to punish ourselves. We can be very cruel to ourselves. The Lord loves us so much, and all He sees is his precious blood bought (and cleansed) child that He loves with a passion that we cannot even fathom. Why is it that we so easily forget that? I am so glad that I just now remembered it. I am bad about always thinking that I am the exception to the rule…that my sins are blacker and the Lord must love me less, but it’s not true. I just had to get that all off my chest. Oh, I love Him so…because He is so loving and good!
I hope it is okay that I went on and on. I feel so much better! 🙂
Love,
Theresa
bendedspoon said,
February 14, 2011 at 4:42 am
“The Lord loves us so much, and all He sees is his precious blood bought (and cleansed) child that He loves with a passion that we cannot even fathom.”
You just made my day Theresa! This heart’s day nothing can beat His love because it’s not only for today!
🙂
Moore to ponder said,
February 14, 2011 at 4:54 am
Amen! 🙂
Linda said,
February 14, 2011 at 4:51 am
You are an excellent and powerful writer, in case I haven’t said that lately. : )
Phrases like “inconvenient moments” and “branded memories” bring life to common feelings and issues. They take me back to the days when I was living day by day with domestic violence, and now the man who did that to me is living with Alzheimer’s.
The Lord has made him so precious and dear to me, that while the knowledge of those terrible times is still real, I have put those thoughts behind me. It’s a miracle… can you just imagine?
You can do it too, Theresa. Here’s a little trick: If you can’t reach that place you so need to be, don’t do it for the person who hurt you. Do it to honor God. And see what happens. It’s something I learned listening to the radio! : )
Hugs to you, my friend.
Moore to ponder said,
February 14, 2011 at 5:18 am
Linda I was so moved by your post that I forgot to respond to what you said. LOL. I know what you are saying is true. I am so sad that you were mistreated, and also sad that He ended up with Alzheimer’s, but I am so glad that the Lord has blessed you with this special gift of empathy and compassion and love. It is just wonderful!
Love,
Theresa
Moore to ponder said,
February 25, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Linda,
“You can do it too, Theresa. Here’s a little trick: If you can’t reach that place you so need to be, don’t do it for the person who hurt you. Do it to honor God. And see what happens.”
I just saw something in the your words quoted directly above. Tears falling…
We can fall in love with someone…or something.
Then they might hurt us really badly…and we withdraw with our hearts and sometimes literally drop off the planet. We can recoil at the idea of going back to a place where we might be misunderstood, judged and injured. There is a part of me that still loves this thing, but I have been very stubborn. I want to pick and choose which types of suffering I will allow myself to endure. That is resisting the Lord…isn’t it?
I am sure that there are other reasons behind my resistance that are so deep down that I don’t even know what they might be. Do I dare lower my net…allow the Lord to bring them up…and then leave them behind and follow the Lord wholeheartedly? But you gave me these words:
“If you can’t reach that place you so need to be, don’t do it for the person who hurt you. Do it to honor God.”
Thank you.
Love,
Theresa
Debbie said,
February 26, 2011 at 3:41 am
Thank you so much for such a beautiful, heart rending comment to Linda. 🙂 I love what He is doing and is going to do, in each one of us.
love, deb
Moore to ponder said,
February 26, 2011 at 4:09 am
Deb,
Oh yes! I just can’t get over how the Lord uses the word. I kept thinking about “lowering the net” after I read your post, and the part about how they forsook all and followed Jesus…it made me think about casting our cares…and then I was thinking about all of the hidden things below the surface that the Lord needs to bring up for us to see and then leave behind…things that hurt and hinder us.
Love,
Theresa
Moore to ponder said,
February 14, 2011 at 5:10 am
Oh Linda…I feel so happy that you write your blog…so happy that you come by mine and encourage me and the other people (mostly ladies) who comment. Sometimes I wish this was a real place with a real altar and we all could just weep and pray, and hug, and laugh and rejoice together. Wouldn’t that be something?…but in a sense we really are, aren’t we?… and Jesus surely must be in the midst! Praise the Lord!…and hugs to you…and all of the ladies who commented on this post. 🙂
Love,
Theresa
Linda said,
February 15, 2011 at 3:17 am
A real place with an alter, a coffee pot, no cell phones, and lots of Kleenex. Great idea! : )
Moore to ponder said,
February 15, 2011 at 3:39 am
You just made me smile so Big! I was just re-reading my post and all of these comments…reliving the wonderful moment, and when I came to my last comment there was that little picture of your pretty face!… you had just posted! 🙂
God is so good!
Moore to ponder said,
February 25, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Linda,
I wish I knew how to email bloggers. Do you suppose it is possible that I have “defined”… “something”…something the Lord established by some “painful moments” and ran away?
I need to go deeper…been dog paddling on the surface too long.
Love,
Theresa
Deep Places: (Part One…The Lord Has Searched Them…a long post) « Moore to Ponder said,
February 25, 2011 at 8:16 pm
[…] https://pronetoponder.wordpress.com/2011/02/12/defining-moments-4/ […]
Linda said,
February 27, 2011 at 3:01 am
Think I caught all the pingbacks, which gave me a chance to think.
Regarding “painful moments… ran away… going deeper.’ Yes, I think it’s possible.
On that note, I’ll tell you my secret prayer (lol) that I leaned from an old Charles Stanley cassette. I have raised eyebrows, heard gasps of horror, and watched Christian girlfriends shake their heads when I’ve shared it, so enter at your own risk.
This is long, but it’s worth it.
Last winter my husband went to Boca alone, and I didn’t care. I was tired of being afraid, fighting an ulcer, migraines, IBS. I had vertigo, couldn’t sleep, and went to bed every night with mace tucked in the side of my panties. I think my terror and desperation were a key to making this prayer effective. I wasn’t hiding the truth from me or the Lord anymore.
So I began to pray… “God, please don’t take away this adversity until you’ve taught me all you need me to know. Keep me under this conflict so I will Iearn your will and your ways. Teach me now so that I will be able to serve someone else who suffers, and thank you for this blessing, this opportunity to know you better. Show me how to embrace this difficult season so I can live for your glory.”
I choked on the words at first. Took awhile to really mean it. I prayed it about seven weeks. On March 20, 2010 my husband came home from Florida. Something happened. It’s something God did, and I ask Him every day, “Lord, give me a way to tell your story. Let me glorify you to the world by telling what you did.” I prayed it just today… every day.
But I ask Him how I can do this without dishonoring my husband, who He gave me a heart to love. I know there is a way, but He hasn’t given it to me yet. I know He will because He wants to be glorified, and I’M HIS GIRL!
Whatever the Lord established in your painful moments, yes, I know there is a way to did in deeper. But that prayer means leaving yourself behind and walking away from any expectations. I never would have asked Him for what he gave me, but no day goes by that I just shake my head, and weep, and wonder why. Me, of all people. But he gave me a miracle.
I have described it to preachers, and teachers, doctors and shrinks. They’re all just waiting for it to fall apart, but it hasn’t. March 20 is coming up again and God is faithful. It’s the only thing I want to write about, but He hasn’t given it to me yet. So I tell all my silly stories in the meantime. Still waiting…
Sorry I hijacked your blog.
Love and hugs…
Linda : )
Moore to ponder said,
February 27, 2011 at 5:22 am
Linda,
I can’t believe you were able to pray that prayer. That took a lot of courage. I am such a baby. My prayers are either prayers of confession or feeble little prayers like “Lord, help me I’m scared. Please make it stop….or please change someone’s heart so they will have faith in you…because I love that person so much…please please.”
I have already learned some things from what you write both in your comments here and in your posts at your blog. I just can’t get over how you and Deb and Rea have touched me.
Love,
Theresa
Debbie said,
February 27, 2011 at 7:26 am
So blessed and helped by Linda’s “hi-jacking” and your replies! Thank you so much for this meeting place, this safe place, to gather and share, to learn and lean on each other and the Lord.
love, deb
Moore to ponder said,
February 27, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Deb,
God has been good…hasn’t He? I feel the same way. I love meeting with you at both of our blogs! 🙂
I thank Him. He has really been sustaining me with these meetings.
Love,
Theresa