I don't know how to phrase this...

[zyzychyn]

i'm from a christian home; christian parents, everything. i believe God exists. i believe pretty much everything about christianity. it's just that, i don't know, i can't really sense God's here. i know everyone says he is, but i can't feel it. they say there's a special time when you really feel God working in your life; that's when you're truly born again, but i haven't had that. and baptism is coming around, my parents expect me to take it, and i don't know...

 

[MizDoulos]

Hi, zyzychyn:

Feelings never determine whether a person is saved or not. And even when a person is a born-again believer, sometimes God doesn't feel close at all but that doesn't mean God isn't near.

A born-again believer has had his sins forgiven by Christ and believes in his heart that He died and rose again, that Jesus is the Son of God and is God. God wants our contrite hearts. He wants us to turn to him and ask Him to forgive us of our sins. If you haven't done this yet, I would ask that you think about asking Christ into your heart. This is just a suggestion and something to think about.

Blessing to you.


Titus 3:4-7

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

 

[SUNSTONE]

I would say do something, don't just settle in a church without God.

I talk to God and he talks to me, in my head mostly. I was sitting in church today when the pastor said "God told me to do this special thing. You mean to tell me God talks to you?(He was acting like someone asked him that question) Yes he talks to me, through my spirit, and you know what? He sounds just like me. If God isn't talking to you, then you better do something to find out whats going on"

When he said that, I was like wow I said the same thing about how God talks to me. God will spend hours with me, and he sounds like me only a much much more mature me. It is a standard that I really like and aim for.
Jesus said call no man on earth your master or teacher. Peter(I think) said the Holy Spirit will giude you into all truths.
This means God is the one who teachs you everything, even if you hear it from someone or book, its the Holy Spirit that makes total since out of it.

So do something, call out to God, fast, scream for God to show you he is there. It took me time to learn that God was there and that he talks to me very very often, like a baby learning to understand his parents, so is a born again Christian.
God teachs me in my thoughts, or through the word by flooding little sermons into my thoughts. Now I almost never get revelations from anywhere, except in my thought life with God. Its neat to get something from there, then hearing it in a sermon that week. You know its God when it happens over and over.

 

[debs]

Are you saying that you dont know if youre born again? is that the issue here.

 

[Blessed-one]

zyzychyn,

it's very important not to be forced into taking baptism. Baptism shows a personal commitment to God, and one has to be willing to show this in public in order to take baptism. Get your relationship right with God first, that's the main thing.
As MizDoulos said, invite God into your heart. Start praying more and reading the bible, going to bible study and fellowship would help, and get in touch with God. Don't worry, it takes time to "feel" God, sometimes it's really quick, sometimes you have to wait.

As for whether you feel saved.... so long as you confess your sin, say that only through Jesus can you get saved, repent and accept Jesus to be your saviour, then you're saved! sometimes feelings can play tricks on us. If i felt that my mum hated me when i was ten, was valid? a child wouldn't know that mum was caring for you when she took the sweets away. That's why trust and faith is so important.
Question: you trust God's word? then there, you're saved, unless you're not sincere, that's another matter.

 

[Angelo]

You must still have doubt in your mind. You won't always feel God, but He's there and will reveal Himself when He needs to.

 

[Othniel]

Anyone who says they never doubt the presence of God is a liar and a hypocrite. We are all sinners here.

Feelings are fickle and come from our sinful flesh. Trusting them in any matter is foolish and tantamount to "leaning on one's own understanding."

God speaks in different ways to different people, but we can be certain of this: When we don't feel Him, that is when He is closest to us. It is when we believe He is there in spite of all that our emotions and reasoning tell us. It is when the entire world has proven that He does not exist, but we still can't bring ourselves to deny the faith, that God is most strongly present. He has said, "When you are weak, then I am strong." and again, "for my strength is made perfect in weakness."

What encouraging words; just think, to know that our salvation rests not on ourselves, but on the shoulders of Christ, the King, our Lord and Savior! It is His death and ressurection which save us, NOT our committment to Him, or our acknowleding of His presence by our feelings. It is His grace which redeems and sustains us, not our own flesh which is ever dieing.

Believe me, friend. I understand what your going through. Sometimes the world can seem pretty big and ugly. Peter reminds us that the devil is always prowling like a roaring lion, looking to devour us, and that ain't no joke! But never fret, small sheep. Rest in the knowledge (no matter what emotion says) that Christ is risen from the dead, and by His death, He conquered death, so that we are now MORE than conquerors through Him who loved us, and gave Himself up for us all.

As to the baptism, well...no one ever agrees about this one.

I would recommend going ahead and getting baptized if you believe that God exists, that He sent His son to die for your sins, and that He will send His Spirit to guide and sustain you. It matters not what you feel or do. If you believe this much, you have saving faith, and the apostles never hesitated to baptize for such.

However, if you do not belive Jesus Christ is your Lord, to receive baptism would be to enter into a covenant of grace which you have rejected, and to invite a double condemnation on yourself, for you would be mocking God's gift to you in the worst possible way.

Some may disagree with me, but keep this in mind: It is by grace you have been saved... and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift FROM GOD so that not one of us has the right to boast.

Peace and may God grant you the understanding of your faith which you evidently desire.

 

[Help-me-learn]

Faith in God is not a feeling but a trust. Feelings change all the time, but we need to trust God even when you don't feel Him.

 

[zyzychyn]

I want to thank you all for taking the time to answer this and give me suggestions. I did a lot of reading the Bible and praying the last few days, and I just 'prayed the prayer'. I mostly feel the same, but the Bible says if you mean it when you ask forgiveness, repent, and ask Jesus to live in your heart, then he WILL. So I'll trust he's there and he'll help me live my life for him from now on.

Just a little thing to add: I'm finding the Bible isn't just boring old stuff, it's interesting, but there's so much to look through. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should read next as a new believer?

 

[kersejohn]

Lukes Gospel

Also if you can get it - Charles Price, "ALIVE IN CHRIST"

From a library if need be ask for ISBN 0-551-02892-0

You will be richly blessed and you will enjoy how this book explains things to you.

 

[Blessed-one]

the Gospels! plus Romans... Ephesians.....

 

[papakapp]

When I was in high school in bible class we were given a lillle pictograph. Three, actually. They all had a little throne in the picture representing the most important thing in your life. Around the throne was a bubble. Inside the bubble but not on the throne was all the other influences in your life. The first pictograph had self on the throne and Jesus outside the bubble. This was supposed to be an unsaved person. The second pictograph still had self on the throne but now Jesus was inside the bubble. This was supposed to represent a christian who was carnal. Like the people being addressed as christians in I Corinthians.
By the way, II Corinthians 2:9 The reazon I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.
Doesn't that mean that when Paul wrote I corinthians he wasn't even sure if they would stand the test?
Anyway the last pictograph depicted the obedient christian. It had Jesus on the throne and self was in the bubble-in submission to Jesus.
I thought Good! I have Jesus in the bubble That's good enough. I'm on the throne, but this little picture says that all I need to be a christian is to have Jesus in the bubble. That's good enough for me.
James 2:19 You believe there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder.
Demons got Jesus in the bubble too. But I hadn't fully grasped this yet.
About 2 years ago I took a job out of town. I lived in a house with my co-workers from Monday to Thursday. On Thursday I would come home for the weekend. On this Job I met a guy named Leo. Leo was bold. In everything. On the Job, he had an opinion. On politics, he had an opinion. Around the dinner table, he had an opinion. And when it came to living your life in submission to 0our Lord Jesus Christ, he definently had an opinion. I remember many times when a sub-contractor would come on the job. Leo liked sub contractors. They were a captive audience. He would build a rapport, then he would share the gospel. Sometimes he would proudly announce that I thought the same way he did, or ask for my opinion on something. I didn't like that too much, I was like "Shhh, not so loud. Yeah I agree with you but I don't want these people to think I'm wierd."
The next thing I noticed was that Leo would not watch TV with the guys after dinner. He would go into his room, or call his wife, or something. I started to realize that Leo did not approve of the things that we were watching on TV. It wasn't that hard to figure out. He would say something like "Boy, what the heck are you doin watchin that garbage on TV."
Another clear indicator was the radio in the truck. I accidently left my station on instead of 106.5. And I didn't hear the end of that for a long time. He also wouldn't go to the bar with us.
These are just little examples, but it became apparent to me that Leo had Jesus on the throne, and I only had Him in the bubble.
Revelation 3:20
Behold; I stand at the door and knock, If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and dine with him, and he with Me.
This verse had cut me to the bone. Nightly, for weeks, maybe months, I would pray "Lord, I know you are knocking on the door, but how do I open it?!"
I didn't know.
Then one monday night, around midnight, in my bedroom at work, in my bed, after a weekend of heavy carousing and general debauchery; I knew I was spiritually bankrupt, unble to turn my mind off and get to sleep I got out of bed, choking back tears and went into Leo's room. I tried to pick his brain fron an 'intelectual standpoint' It was obvious to him that there was more on my mind than I was letting on. after all, I did just wake him up. Soon I was in tears, exclaming to him "What you've got, I want!" He prayed with me, and I went back to my room incredibly comforted. Still in tears, but with a new confidence.
This was the night that Jesus moved from just the bubble, to the throne. That was the day I left my form of godliness and finally acknowledged the power. I had asked Jesus into my heart before, but that night I felt like Jesus asked me into his family. And the following Sunday I inquired about getting baptized.

The simple fact that you are wrestling with this indicates that you are where you should be for God to use you.  Pray for guidance.  God will hear your prayer.  Don't give up!! 

 

[MizDoulos]

This thread was started back on 8 Sept 2002 with the last response on 10 Sept 2002 until it was resurrected today. Am moving this thread to the Non-denominational forum from QAC.

 

[Reformationist]

Originally posted by MizDoulos
Feelings never determine whether a person is saved or not. And even when a person is a born-again believer, sometimes God doesn't feel close at all but that doesn't mean God isn't near.

I agree 100% MizDoulos.  Very sound advice.

God bless

 

[sbbqb7n16]

Baptism is a form of public showing that you are repenting. This was a requirement for all baptisms back in the day . I learned this from a book called "Jesus the Jewish Theologian" (sp?)... very nifty book