This week on Inside Cup has been a big one. I’ve shared a lot of challenging posts in one week, and I haven’t really done that since I started blogging.
Yesterday’s post (see Friday below), in particular, is really interesting to me because before I published it I already was preparing my heart that I may not get many comments when it published. I’m grateful for God preparing my heart because that was the case.
I admittedly, especially in the past, struggled with stats and lack of comments. I know I’m not the only one 🙂 as some of you also have shared these things get to you too. I’m grateful for your honesty. The past several months I’ve really been working on letting go of these things and God has helped me.
I’m telling you this as a fellow Christian blogger, post the hard stuff ESPECIALLY if God is like, “I need someone to talk about this, and I’m putting it on your heart. Will you listen to Me?” We can’t let stats or comments, things that may puff us up get in the way. I want to encourage you too, as a blogger, don’t let lack of comments determine whether or not your post was bad because…
I know a number of you did read the post, or at least glanced at it from the likes I saw. Thank you! 🙂 I appreciate it very much.
Not everyone comments. Some people are very shy about it, including liking a post too. Not everyone comments on everything. It’s okay! What I have been hoping and praying is that for anyone who looked at it, it spoke to that person in some way.
If you’re a Christian blogger, like me, have hope God is doing what He wants with our post. Don’t let comments become a priority, and don’t judge readers because we don’t know their reasoning and it is not fair to assume.
God has really been revealing a lot to me. If anyone is not familiar with this week.
Monday explained WHAT started it all – Hell Was A Wake-Up Call | Life Chat
Tuesday focused on wickedness and evil – Watered Down Wickedness & Evil
Wednesday was lighter – 5 Christian Songs To Work Out To
Thursday God was convicting my heart – Stop Remaining Silent About Christ
Friday God really opened my eyes – Are We The Rich Man With Our Entertainment?
I started this blog and shared how I believe my calling is for believers. We are all called for something. God has a purpose for each and every one of us. No, it will not all be the same purpose or calling because we are the body.
Paul talks about this in scripture. Our foot, for example, does not have the same function as our eye. We can’t all do the same thing because God has so many plans for His body, the Church, and time, as God reminds me, is very short.
The more I draw closer to God the more He pushes the reality of these topics on me. We really need to wake up. As I shared with a fellow blogger, God revealed to me last night that as believers we are very pressed for the lost to repent and receive salvation. But what does this mean? It means that someone BEGINS a relationship with Him afterward.
How can we constantly push others to be in a relationship with Him when we ourselves aren’t taking the time DAILY (not routinely) to draw closer to Him?
I may talk about this next week. It’s easy for us to focus on what everyone else is doing wrong in their walk with Christ. It’s easy to talk about everyone else. It’s hard to talk about what we ourselves are doing wrong. It’s hard to admit when we are attached to the world and the things of this world.
Especially…as shared in yesterday’s post, when the majority of Christians are okay with many of these things.
That’s why I try to always be honest with you all. I’m not an exception. I’m not perfect. I make mistakes. I have been extremely attached to the world in ways I did not really consider until God shared the truth with me.
If the Lord reveals something to us, that we know is Biblically sound and it is of Him, especially if the majority of believers struggle to talk about…we MUST talk about it. We are called to share the truth for His glory.
Why is okay to talk about reading the Bible and prayer more than giving up certain habits? God has revealed to me when we do not give up certain things that are worldly we may not hear Him as well in scripture or prayer. But there are many things we do in our own lives that stuff our ears and blind our eyes. Especially when we have allowed our heart to be tainted and weakened in darkness.
Maybe He’s quiet to us because He is like, “I want you to give up that tv show that exposes nudity. I want you to give up that YouTuber that is constantly cursing in My name!” These are hard things to talk about, and I know, unpopular, too. I’m right there with you all.
We have to admit when we are not doing something that reflects Christ, EVEN when MANY believers are okay with it, and that’s the hard part. I’m not taking away all the things we are doing RIGHT in our relationship with Him and others. But anything we hold onto of this world still can taint us and weaken us as I shared yesterday. God wants our all, and He means it. Our entire being focused and turned to Him.
Christ already warned.
(NLT) Matthew 7:13, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”
One of the first lessons God ever gave me as I drew closer to Him in the summer of 2012 was, “MANY refers to Christians as well.”
Take heart and courage, He is still at work. He has overcome the world. But we must give the things of this world that we have in our lives over to Him, and leave them at His feet.
There is time, but it is short.
How Has God Been Speaking To You This Week?
I’ll be putting up the Prayer Requests For November up this coming week if you have any requests let me know.
Monthly Scripture, (NIV) John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
*** Community Prayers | October ’18 – Join Me In Praying For Each Other And If You Have A Request To Add Let Me Know.
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I would clarify that “many” refers to “Christians” in inverted commas, those who are so in name only- because if someone truly belongs to Christ they are on the narrow way that leads to eternal life, not the wide road that leads to destruction…
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I totally understand what you are saying. I’ve heard this before from other believers. However, what I’ve been led to think by God is that fallen believers are still believers. A fallen Christian is still a fallen Christian. This is why I have chosen to include Christians. I think it’s easy for us to separate ourselves. I don’t want to. Those who have known Christ at some point cannot be in the same category as someone who does not. Scripture is clear about that too. I hope that makes sense 🙂 I do understand though what you are saying.
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It’s not that believers are trusting in our own righteousness. The whole point of believing is that we fall just like unbelievers but we cry and God picks us up. If someone stops crying to be picked up after falling, they never truly believed in the first place. Even the demons believe in God… and shudder!
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Amen, the demons believe and they know the truth. But unfortunately they fell away too.
(NIV) 2 Peter 2:20 -21 is where God has led me on what I was saying. Verse 20 indicates fallen believers at one point did believe and knew the truth because they were freed from corruption.
“If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.”
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I appreciate that Christians have different views on whether we can lose our salvation. But in context, those verses are about false teachers who were never saved in the first place. Note it’s the word”if” not “when”. If I could lose my salvation, I would, because I still fall into sin. Thankfully, my salvation depends 100% on God, 0% on me.
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Agreed, the context is around false teachers.
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For the sake of discussion, and for anyone else curious about scripture indicating a falling away as a believer and once again having the option to being restored or not.
(ESV) 1 Timothy 4:01, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,”
We can only depart from the faith if we were once part of it. – This scripture is also like 2 Peter referring to false teachers.
(ESV) Hebrews 6:4-6, “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.”
This scripture is referring to maturity.
(ESV) James 5:19, “My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back,”
– To wander from the truth would indicate the wanderer knew the truth – this scripture focusing on restoring a sinner and we know as we are not perfect, we all can fall in sin.
You made a good point about context so I hope adding these scriptures only add to the discussion. I don’t want this to become a debate or anything like that. I thought it may help to add more scriptures aside from the one. I appreciate your comments. Thanks!
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There are different kinds of faith and belief. There is saving faith, and non saving faith. If God gives you saving faith and eternal life, no one can take it out of your hands. Nothing can seperate us from the love of God for us in Christ Jesus. Non saving faith is like that of the demons- they may know the Bible’s true, but they hate it. If you once loved God and turn away from Him, you never truly loved Him in the first place because love never fails. If salvation could be lost it would be, because we stray every day. But the Lord is a good shepherd who will chase after His lost sheep until He’s brought them back into the fold.
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Amen, T.R. and what an excellent post this week. I like when you said, “… have hope God is doing what He wants with our post. Don’t let comments become a priority, and don’t judge readers because we don’t know their reasoning and it is not fair to assume.”
I do think that it’s important that we as Christian bloggers don’t forget this.
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It really is important! 🙂 Definitely! And I think we all just need that reminder from time to time. I’m glad this spoke to you.
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The reason this spoke to me so well, is because; as I’m writing these articles for this Christian blog; I’m oftentimes asking myself, “Is this right?” “Should I even be writing this?” but it’s in those times where I kind of have to step back and just pray to God and ask: “What do You get from this?” “How will this reach the people who need to hear it?”
So, I do thank you for your obedience to the Lord this past week and the blog posts you’ve created. They are helpful to me as well.
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I’m really glad God used them to speak to you!!! And I’m very thankful for you sharing that. It uplifts my spirit as well. They are good questions. We should ask ourselves why are we writing something and make sure it points to Christ and gives Him the glory.
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T.R. – You asked, “How has God been speaking to you this week?” Well, what immediately came to mind is that the Lord had me respond this past week to a blogger award, and to a blogger tag. And, I believe I am to share them here with you, and with your readers, and this is why:
In both cases he had me write about things he has taught me throughout my life, and that he is still teaching me, and which served as reminders to me of God’s goodness to me and of all that he did to prepare me to do what I am doing today – blogging and giving out his messages.
The neat thing about both of these blog posts is that they are perfectly fitting to what God has been having you talk about this past week, but not just regarding the messages he is having you give out, but to what he is doing in your life in preparing you to do what he has called you to do.
So, I am going to share these here with you, out of obedience to the Lord, and also to encourage your heart, for it is hard to speak forth the hard truths that are in scripture, because we will face rejection and opposition.
One of my favorite all-time life passages of scripture is Jeremiah 1, where God prepared Jeremiah, as well, “for such a time as this.” Praying for you, my friend in Jesus. Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power! Sue
https://runwithit.blog/2018/11/01/dear-15-year-old-me-tag/
https://runwithit.blog/2018/10/28/blogger-recognition-award/
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Thank you so much, Sue!!! Yes! When the Lord encourages Jeremiah, that too, is a favorite of mine!! I’m so glad He has encouraged you!!!!! Thank you for your encouragement to me! ❤
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Thank you, and you are welcome. 🙂 Keep pressing on. It will all be worth it in the end.
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To Him be the glory!
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In response to your question echoed by Sue, God has been speaking to me about John 12:32 in a way I have never thought or heard before. I give Him praise.
As for your post, I agree with you. Stats can be discouraging if our attention is fixed on it. I always ask myself this question – why do I blog when I find myself falling in this area.
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❤ PRAISE Jesus! I'm so glad He is speaking you too!!!
Oh wow! That looks like a deep scripture! (Thankful for Biblehub 🙂 )
It's a good question to ask ourselves. Thank you so much for sharing! May God bless your weekend!!!
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It’s a deep scripture indeed. And He led me to share on here yesterday. I thank Him for His leading. God bless your weekend too T.R
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Oh, I’m so happy to hear that! I will be catching up with your blog soon 🙂
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I wanted to say no rush but it seems you have caught up already lol. I truly appreciate Sis but never feel pressured to doing this. I know you have a good heart❤️❤️❤️❤️
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No pressure at all 🙂 I’m working on going through posts just at a smaller pace and not cram so many posts, from several bloggers all in one day. That was really getting to me, but God has been showing a better way to go about it. May be slower in me getting to everyone but I still get to them, and I’m glad I can encourage others 🙂
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You are doing really good sis. It’s been hectic over here. I missed a week worth of posts when we went on holiday. I will definitely get through to yours😊
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❤ take your time! May God Almighty speak to you!
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Thank you for sharing! I can count the amount of comments and shares I have had on one hand, and it makes me really happy that some people are enjoying what I share!
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Community is important. I’m glad you’ve been uplifted. 🙂
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I so understand this! It is hard to not think about if our post was bad when it doesn’t get views but I know that there will be one reader that will connect to it! I have written a bunch of hard blog post. Thank you so much for this up lifting post. Real encouragement!
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It’s easy to think lack of feedback reflects our writing, and it does not always. Especially as a Christian blogger it’s hard to talk about things other people may struggle with, but we are encouraged to do so anyway. People need awareness. We all need accountability. I’m really glad this post encouraged you 🙂 keep going strong!
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Thank you I will keep it strong! You as well!
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