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    A Stranger Within
    A Stranger Within
    A Stranger Within
    Ebook115 pages1 hour

    A Stranger Within

    By Paulette Riddlesprigger

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    About this ebook

    Do you know me, or am I a stranger within?

    When the Lord asked me this question, it changed my life forever. I heard Christians say there was nothing like intimacy with the Lord. I didnt understand what that meant. I asked spiritually mature Christians to instruct me in the ways of Lord so that I might know Him. They consistently said pray, study the Word, be obedient to the Word, and live a sanctified life. Thus began my pursuit of intimacy with the Lord. I made mistakes during my pursuit; I tried to know Christ through other Christiansbig mistake. I decided to pray and study the Word daily, obey His commands, and live a holy life. Out of that obedience came a longing to know Christ and to make Him known to others. God has a place within us where we are to meet with Him daily through His Word and prayer. Humanity has tried to fill that place with drugs, alcohol, porn, women, men, etc.failing to realize the Lord created that special place just for Himself.

    The road to knowing the Lord is a journey that must be traveled alone. This book can help you find keys and principles to assist you.

    Stranger Within seeks to help those who want to look like Jesus, who want to walk in the truth of Gods Word, and who want minister in the power of Gods Spirit.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateJul 30, 2013
    ISBN9781490802299
    A Stranger Within
    Author

    Paulette Riddlesprigger

    Paulette Riddlesprigger is an administrative pastor at Mount Zion Assemblies. She was a chaplain with the Fresno Police Department for five years. Paulette teaches Boot Camp, a discipleship training program that teaches biblical, prophetic spiritual warfare tactics and principles. Her aim is to train leaders that emanate spiritual maturity and authority.

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      Book preview

      A Stranger Within - Paulette Riddlesprigger

      Copyright © 2013 Paulette Riddlesprigger.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      NIV—New International Version

      Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com  The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

      Amplified Bible

      Scripture taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

      KJV—King James Version

      Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

      NLT—New Living Translation

      Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

      The Message Bible

      All Scripture quotations in this publications are from The Message. Copyright (c) by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

      WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      1-(866) 928-1240

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-0230-5 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-0231-2 (hc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-0229-9 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2013912769

      WestBow Press rev. date: 7/29/2013

      CONTENTS

      Preface

      Introduction

      Chapter 1: Intimacy through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

      Chapter 2: Seek Ye First the Kingdom

      Chapter 3: Intimacy through Faith

      Chapter 4: Intimacy through Hope

      Chapter 5: Intimacy through Love

      Chapter 6: Intimacy through Holiness

      Chapter 7: Intimacy through Worship

      Chapter 8: Intimacy through Brokenness

      Chapter 9: Intimacy through Repentance

      Chapter 10: Intimacy through Justification

      Chapter 11: Intimacy through Communion

      Chapter 12: Intimacy through Humility

      Chapter 13: Order and Authority

      Chapter 14: Build Me an Altar

      Chapter 15: Becoming a Servant

      In Closing

      Select Bibliography

      DEDICATION

      To my daughter, Maisha, who loves, honors,

      and respects the Christ in me.

      To my late mother, who taught me the value of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

      To my pastor, Leslie Howell, who encouraged me to discover

      the untapped potential within me.

      Preface

      B efore I became a Christian, I didn’t know how to love. I was very defensive; I wouldn’t allow anyone entrance into my heart for fear of being hurt. It wasn’t until I opened my heart to Jesus that I learned who love is.

      For many years, I had heard Christians say there is nothing like intimacy with Christ. I didn’t understand what they meant, as He was a stranger within me. I was curious, so I went in pursuit of my new love. I asked spiritually mature Christians what it would take to know Him, and I received the same answers: pray, study the Word, be obedient to the Word, and live a sanctified life. I said to myself, That sounds easy enough. Thus began my journey of intimacy.

      I made mistakes during my search. I tried to get to know Christ through the lives of other Christians. Big mistake! I observed some who cursed, some who lied, some who deceived, some who fornicated, some who committed adultery, some who drank, and some who stole. I remembered what the Holy Spirit told me at the beginning: pray, study the Word, be obedient to the Word, and live a sanctified life. Frustrated after observing these behaviors, I decided to be obedient and search the Scriptures.

      With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. (James 3:9-12 NIV)

      Through this Scripture, I learned that those who are in Christ do not curse because they have new natures.

      Lying lips are extremely disgusting and hateful to the Lord, but they who deal faithfully are His delight. (Proverbs 12:22 AB)

      This Scripture proves that God hates liars, so I chose to disagree with lying lips.

      What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person. (Mark 7:20-23 NIV, emphasis added)

      In these Scriptures, the Lord shows us three sources of sin:

      •   human nature—out of a person’s heart

      •   human mind—evil thoughts

      •   human action—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly.

      I chose to disagree with these sins, which are displeasing to the Lord.

      Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral [fornicators] nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9 NIV)

      There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much a spiritual mystery as a physical act. As is written in Scripture, The two become one. Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must never pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy; it will leave us more alone than ever and keep us from ever becoming one.

      In a sense, sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin, we violate the sacredness of our bodies, which were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for becoming one with another. We must realize our bodies are sacred places of the Holy Spirit; we cannot live however we please and squander in the process what God paid such a high price for. Our bodies are not pieces of property belonging to the spiritual part of us; God owns the whole works, so let people see God in and through your body (1 Corinthians 6:16-20 MSG).

      So, come out from among [unbelievers], and separate [sever] yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch not [any] unclean thing; then I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor, And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:17 AB)

      I chose to be obedient to the Word of God no matter what behavior other Christians were exhibiting, and out of that obedience came a longing to know Christ and make Him known to others. I began to study the Word and cry out to God every day in prayer to get to know Him better. The Scriptures began to come alive in me. They were not just words in print; they were a living, vital organism.

      I decided to make some changes in my life. First, I needed to spend time with Christians who were living the Word. When I took this bold stand, old friends stopped coming around. I was talked about, lied about, betrayed, and misunderstood. I was sad, but I decided to pay whatever price was necessary to know this stranger within.

      God

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