PDA

View Full Version : Being Born Again:


hornblower
03-10-2006, 10:41 AM
Ive been facing some things this morning. First thing. Ive been suffering from some form of abuse since the day I was born. Its true its really honest to God true. Maybe not as bad as some people but bad enough ok? Bad enough for me. I went into therapy when I was about twenty I think for the first time. When I did I would pass out because it was like an iron door trying to open. I literally couldnt remember just a few years before I was twenty the pain was so bad and I never knew to talk about any of it. Nobody was interested in me I didnt think and nobody in my family ever talked about pain to my knowledge. Any kind of pain really, physical or emotional for sure.
So why am I telling you this? Ive been talking to Jesus this morning. At one point in therapy...(years later than when I was in my twenties)...... I learned gestault. I think thats what you call it. Where if youve got to deal with something like you are angry with someone or you dont understand them or whatever, you simply place a stool or chair in front of you and you talk to them. It works I dont know how but it works for me.
So some years later when I became a christian, actaully I did become one at about this same time when I was in that one group therapy situation. I did gestault with Jesus.
Now some people think Im sort of spiritual but actually Im just practical and this is the way I look at being a Christian. Either its real or it isnt. Either its all true or its a fairy tale of mamoth proportions. Doesnt really matter to me because and Im just being honest here, I dont have a lot to loose. I agree with Peter when he said to Jesus where else am I going to go???????? You are the only one with the message of eternal life. Peter looked around and there wasnt much else happening for him in his life, a lot like mine, and so he followed Him.
So as I am saying here Ive been following Him for over thirty years now. The Lord has been saying to me this morning that Ive gotten to the point where I think I know something..............:rolleyes:
Ok it was kind of a joke to Him too.
Anyway........back to it. I havent done this gestault thing with Jesus in a long long time. Yesterday I read in the bible that we would see Him again. That He would be gone and then He would come back to get us. BUT! That in the meanwhile He would be in us and we would be in Him and we would be together and not only that but He would send us a helper, a counselor to help us out and that He this counselor would lead us into all truth and He this counselor would show us all kinds of neat things all kinds of stuff and whatever we want all we have to do is ask Him and He will give us anything we want.
Yeah He said all of that stuff in there Ill look it up and tell you where it is if you want to know.
So as Im saying Im talking to him because this kind of a trigger thing happened this morning with my husband. He has this situation at work and he was telling me about it its all very stressful and it reminded me of this horrible abuse I went through at one of my jobs years ago............which reminded me of the abuse I went through in highschool.......... which reminds me of the "biggy" the church abuse I went through about seven years agao which has all but frozen me.

Im telling you all of this and I know I talk way too much ok :eek: but Im hoping maybe it will help someone else, like Im hoping this is going to help me and Im just starting on this so bear with me.

Jesus this morning asked me........"How come you go to everybody else except to me with all of your anbuse situations?"
Now I didnt have an answer really cause I didnt know the answer but Im here to tell you this is what came out. He didnt just ask me once either He kept on asking me.
Heres the answer the way it finally came out of me.
"You Jesus dont stop the abuse ever!!!!!!!!! If You are God then why dont you and why didnt you stop it?"
Then He said "How do you know that I didnt stop it?"
I didnt have a response except I do remember this one time that a guy had a gun up to my head in a closet fixing to shoot me because he was afraid I might tell everybody what he had told me........I wont go into it but obviously Im here and he didnt pull the trigger.
There were a lot of times that maybe I should have died and I didnt. My own daughter should have died and she didnt when she was attacked in that church.

So ok I dont know that much.
In fact Im beginning to see I dont know anything about Jesus and what Hes really done for me.:(

Then He said Tell me about your abuse and I said No I dont want too You know anyway why tell you?

This is what He said to me.

I quote:"Did you know.........that I died so you could come here and talk to ME?" He said, "Did you know I died for a lot of people to come and talk to me but they dont. They are too busy. Then they want Me to fix stuff for them. Do you know what I have to go through in order to fix things for you?" " I had to die......on a cross for one thing and be beaten all night long and come down here and leave My Home to come for you."
Then He said to me........"You dont tell me your abuse, I dont tell you Mine."

Then me being me........I said "I dont really want to know about Your abuse Jesus! It scares the living stuffing out of me." To which I think I heard it didnt exactly make Him calm.
Ok this is getting long so Ill start another thing onto this cause I dont want to loose it.

hornblower
03-10-2006, 10:53 AM
so then I realised that this same conversation was a lot like Jobs conversation that He had with God. Also that Job was always talking to his friends and they didnt help him even the best of them. Now believe me Im not saying that we shouldnt have friends but friends like Jobs I dont think we any of us need if you get what Im saying.......
So Ill try to make this short here........
This so far has ended up this way. I cried when I realised that I have been keeping myself for so long away from God and that He died so He could talk to emmost especailly about all of these abuses. I realized that Im mad at God for making this world this way and being the way He is. The way I want things to be is for all of us to be happy all of the time, loving each other helping each other and having a good time healthy with not any of this bad stuff happening.
Guess what so does God! He wants it this way too except He has this enemy! Now either you buy this or not its up to you and up to me to believe the story........Im just telling you what happened to me this morning thats all.

So anhoo I told God I was so sorry and that I wish I could do better than I have been doing and I wish I wasnt so abused and stuff and that I wish I could go back.
And He said.........."Thats why Im here, thats what I died for."
I said "huh?"
He said........."Come here and let me heal you and start it all over again."
I said "What?"
and He said "Your life, let me give you a new start, let me give you a new birth all over again."
So essentially you are now hearing a new born baby talking to you right now. Yep Im officially born again................... again.
Ok there it is hope it helps somebody like its been helping me today. love yall:)

Jerry
03-10-2006, 10:58 AM
It's not about the abuse,,,,,It "IS" about what you lost because of the abuse,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"The Son of man has come to retrive that which was lost ;)
Love Jerry
P.S. The little one who was "Hornblower" that you knew long ago,,,,,,She is not dead,,,,,,,,,but sleeping ;)

hornblower
03-10-2006, 08:22 PM
Hi Jerry, yes you are so right as usual my friend. Thankyou.:)

Hope 98
03-10-2006, 08:41 PM
Bless you Hornblower for sharing all that.

It sounds like you had a very powerful experience. It is very much like an experience I had some years ago. I'll never be the same again. THANK GOD!!

hornblower
03-10-2006, 09:25 PM
Bless you Hope. It didnt feel powerful at the time but you know its been so long since Ive really heard from Him. I know there is no formula but I hope it occurs some more because honestly I am so lonely for Him I ache sometimes. Im sure we all do. I hope I do change like you say it happened with you. I need and want change. I want to go back to church I think and try again. I dont know if I can make it. I get so scared, but maybe it wont be so bad after this. Then again sometimes I think I just use the abuse situation too fuel my laziness of not wanting to try.
Its hard for me to believe that God really cares whether I go or not.
In any case Im going to keep on talking to Him for sure. Thanks for responding. It gets so lonely. Its so good to come back here and be able to be me again, the real me.

Theodora
03-11-2006, 06:06 AM
It does sound like you had a good experience and I'm thankful for that. Take things "one day at a time"--- and if it feels right for you to try again at church, I think you'll know that. Sometimes it's necessary to push through fears that might hold us back from doing things which would be "good" for us---and, I'm guessing that that might be especially true if you don't have much "face-to-face" community right now, BUT....as you can, do try to pick a place where you CAN feel "safe."

It might be that a totally new church environment would be helpful for you right now, lest you find people or circumstances which trigger too much of your past pain. Perhaps???? Though I've been homebound of late, I know that for me it was very helpful to be able to attend a different church at Christmas--same denomination, just a different parish. I'll not go into my "issues" at a previous church, where we still have our membership---but let's just say that some people there are not "safe" for me and that it seemed that we were mutually "triggering" each other---no matter HOW "low-key" I might try to be in the future. In any case, physical health and various other demands on me (including my son's wedding that fall!) meant that I just didn't have the "extra" energy I would have NEEDED to "deal" with those issues. (Even writing about this, I feel the all-too-familiar "tightening" in the stomach which alerts me to anxiety over this and assures me that I was right to continue to stay away.)

It's SAD when things don't work out sometimes, BUT....as with your personal experience here....know that you are NOT alone and there IS a "path" for you as well to know the experience of God in Christ.

I'll be thinking of you and keeping you in prayer----whatever you decide to "do" this Sunday.

Love you!

Theodora



Bless you Hope. It didnt feel powerful at the time but you know its been so long since Ive really heard from Him. I know there is no formula but I hope it occurs some more because honestly I am so lonely for Him I ache sometimes. Im sure we all do. I hope I do change like you say it happened with you. I need and want change. I want to go back to church I think and try again. I dont know if I can make it. I get so scared, but maybe it wont be so bad after this. Then again sometimes I think I just use the abuse situation too fuel my laziness of not wanting to try.
Its hard for me to believe that God really cares whether I go or not.
In any case Im going to keep on talking to Him for sure. Thanks for responding. It gets so lonely. Its so good to come back here and be able to be me again, the real me.

molehills
03-11-2006, 06:21 AM
Man, that hit the spot hornblower. There just isn't anything like hearing from him and being with him. Your testimony was just such a feast and a reminder that those of us who've been abused, we really care about God. We really want to know him. We're vulnerable to abuse because we're willing to do whatever it takes. Maybe what it takes is being willing to suffer. I've been struggling with stuff. I keep pushing it because I'm determined to get over it and get on with it. I pay for it every time I push, but this last time I realized what I really need isn't shelter from the suffering it's the courage to endure. Suffering isn't going anywhere any time soon. Hiding isn't the answer. Being in good with God won't spare me. I've got to perservere and grow some integrity so that I can have hope that will not disappoint.

***triggerish***
The only place to get that kind of strength of snuggled right up next to the Savior. Helen Roseveare wrote her autobiography (He Gave Us a Valley). In it she talks about when she was attacked and raped, and she says Jesus asked her to lend him her body, and that he suffered for her. I don't understand that yet, but it makes me hopeful. It gives me courage to keep pushing it.

hornblower
03-11-2006, 08:46 AM
Hi Theo,
Well one day at a time. Im still in "therapy" with Jesus and its painful as these issues come up but I am doing so much better in my soul just realizing that a human being can not ever be the end all, where withall, forever for me. lol. I think this is the 'root' problem. Going to people before I go to God, not good, human maybe, but it will never really heal me.

Ill share some more maybe later. I dont know if Ill go tomorrow or not but Im sure that this church is safe. You know how I know? First off I know this pastor. He is from way long ago and I know his history that he has been church abused as well as a suffering saint for sure. That in itself doesn't mean he would be 'safe' but........this church has helped my daughter, not once, but many times. There it is, safety for sure. Any person that looks after her is ok in my book.

Its right down the street from us and lo and behold guess how I found out about it? I was grieving over my Mom and just called this lady mostly out of shock. I havent seen or heard from her in years and years. She sings so I asked her to sing at my Moms funeral and she did.

Then out of the blue she asked me if I was going to church and then she told me about this pastor being there. We both knew him from way back. I told my daughter as she wanted to go and Ive never had the nerve to go or the time really as we go to our little lake house on the weekends. Anyway thankyou so much Theo I love you and am praying for you.

hornblower
03-11-2006, 08:56 AM
Hi molehills,
Thankyou so much for responding. Sounds like youve been through a lot. I understand. I agree with you. I think He saw us in our unloved unadopted state and snapped us up. Thats why Im so angry........ is the suffering......youre right its going to happen thats just the way it is. If it happened to Him its going to happen to His followers.
One time a long time ago I heard a church going man say this to an alcoholic that we were giving our testimonies too. Its stuck with me for years. He said I may not know what its like to be you.........I havent suffered through your losses but I have suffered my little ones. Then he said, a person can only hurt as much as he can hurt, its what he does with his pain that matters. That has helped me with people that havent been through what I have. That same man went on to suffer much but he was like pure gold because he always loved his Lord.
Ive got to get this fantasy life of mine under Jesus and the only way I think its going to happen is going to Him with all of it.
Love you molehills and thanks for posting to me.:o

Illuminated
03-11-2006, 04:16 PM
And He said.........."Thats why Im here, thats what I died for."
I said "huh?"
Wow, Gwen. Thanks so much for sharing that enlightening story. I talk to Jesus all the time, but ya know, some people don't! I'm glad you are talking to Him.

When I was in a counseling session (with a wonderful Christian lady who specializes in missionary counseling) we had kind of come to a plateau, and I was crying because of how hurt I was. And she said, 'why don't you ask Jesus what He wants you to do with the pain?' So right there I asked Him to take it away, and He said "That's what I'm here for - to take your pain away". And then I said 'But I feel like dirt!!' and He said, "It's ok to feel like dirt, because that's what I made you from, from dust and dirt!"

So, Gwen, I found out it is just fine to feel terrible and to feel like dirt, because, when we are weak, then He is strong!!!

Ít's also ok to yell at Him and be mad at Him, just like you mentioned Job was. I love that guy Job - every time I fell guilty about wanting to gripe at Jesus, I remember that Job did it, and he's in the Bible just for me!

Love in the Big J!

Carmen
03-13-2006, 10:47 AM
I'm happy for you, Hornblower, that you can make a new start. I am doing something similar with the family too. We are starting off new with each other. I pray that the situation holds for both of us.

Hope 98
03-13-2006, 05:47 PM
Ít's also ok to yell at Him and be mad at Him, just like you mentioned Job was. I love that guy Job - every time I fell guilty about wanting to gripe at Jesus, I remember that Job did it, and he's in the Bible just for me!

Love in the Big J!

And I thought he was in the Bible just for me!

:D