Counseling Through Your Bible Handbook (60 page)

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will”

(R
OMANS
12:2).

—
Purpose
to renew your mind by selecting meaningful scriptures to read, meditate on, and commit to memory. These will help you deal with any past, present, or possible future rejection.

—
Plan
a specific time each day to read God’s Word and pray.

—
Partner
with someone who will hold you accountable for applying God’s truth to your heart.

Thank God for what you’ve learned through your rejection
.

“It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees”

(P
SALM
119:71).

— “Thank You, Lord, for using my pain to make me more dependent on You.”

— “Thank You, Lord, for using my pain to make me less dependent on people.”

— “Thank You, Lord, for using my pain to make me more dependent on Your Word.”

Encourage others as an expression of Christ’s love
.

“Encourage one another daily”

(H
EBREWS
3:13).

—
Extend
compassion to those who are hurting as someone who has also been hurt.

—
Enfold
them in prayer, faithfully praying for them and with them.

—
Ease
emotional wounds by embracing those in pain and encouraging them to talk.

Draw on the power of Christ’s life within you
.

“I can do everything through him who gives me strength”

(P
HILIPPIANS
4:13).

— “I will see Christ as my security whenever I feel insecure.”

— “I know that I have all I need, for Jesus will meet all my needs.”

— “I will daily set aside my selfish desires in favor of His desires, saying, ‘Not my will, but Yours, be done.’”

Following in Jesus’ footsteps…

Though I’ve been hurt, I will not harbor hate;
Though betrayed, I will still live with love;
Though my heart aches, I will hold onto hope;
Though I’m afraid, I will face life with faith.

—JH

Psalm 34:18

Psalm 27:10

Lamentations 3:22

1 John 3:1

Psalm 66:20

Romans 8:38-39

1 Samuel 12:22

Isaiah 41:10

Psalm 13:5

Deuteronomy 31:8

For additional guidance on this topic, see also
Anger, Critical Spirit, Depression, Dysfunctional Family, Evil and Suffering…Why?, Fear, Forgiveness, Grief Recovery, Hope, Identity, Recovery, Prejudice, Self-worth, Singleness, Suicide Prevention, Verbal and Emotional Abuse, Victimization
.

T
he Bible refers over and over again to our need to be saved—to be rescued from an impending threat, to be delivered from a disastrous destiny. What is this desperate ditch of doom—this formidable future—faced by every single person who has ever lived? It is separation from God and all that is good (Luke 19:10).

1. We need to be saved from the
penalty of sin
. This is
justification
—meaning “declared righteous, vindicated, acquitted”
¹
—a completed action.

“For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ”

(1 T
HESSALONIANS
5:9).

2. We need to be saved from the
power of sin
. This is
sanctification
—meaning “set apart to God, set apart from sin”
²
—a current process.

“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose”

(P
HILIPPIANS
2:12-13).

3. We need to be saved from the
presence of sin
. This is
glorification
—meaning the final state of all believers who, with transformed, imperishable bodies, will live in the presence of God—a future condition.
³
The Bible refers to “the redemption of our bodies,” and says that “in this hope we were saved” (Romans 8:23-24).

God wants you to know if you are an authentic Christian or not. In fact, He has devoted one whole book of the Bible to letting you know whether or not you have eternal life (1 John 5:13). Read the letter of 1 John and notice how the word “know” is repeated seven times throughout this short book to make this point clear. Then evaluate your life in light of this insightful book of the Bible.

Take the following Salvation Test (mark
yes
or
no
by each statement to indicate if it is true of you or not).

“We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands”
(1 John 2:3).

“If anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did”
(1 John 2:5-6).

“You know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him”
(1 John 2:29).

“No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him”
(1 John 3:6).

“No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are…Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God”
(1 John 3:9-10).

“Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us”
(1 John 3:24).