Stuggling in my faith about God- which is strange, right, because he personally delivered me from so much.
Tl;dr: Why do we love God? Why do we believe in the death of Christ, and why did he die for us?
Long story ahead.
I have no motivation for anything, literally. I am lazy. And there will be no solution for that other than hard work. However, I am motivated by the avoidance of failure. I hate failing. It stinks.
In my quest for wisdom I realized that we are to Love God with all our heart, mind body and soul.
I was like, hey! That could be motivation.
Except... I don't want to. I don't really feel like loving God, or giving him praise. And it's not to be insulting. Surely, He is using this to eradicate the unbelief and hard-heartedness in me.
Any thoughts?
You need the Holy Spirit.
God wants you to be filled with His Spirit.
Luke 11:13
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly
Father give the
Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Acts 1:8
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 2:33
Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God,
and having
received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit,
He poured out this
which you now see and hear.
Acts 8:17
Then they laid hands on them,
and they received the Holy Spirit.
Acts 8:19
saying, “Give me this power also,
that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 19:2
he said to them, “
Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
So they said to him, “
We have not so much as heard whether
there is a Holy Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 2:12
Now
we have received, not the
spirit of the world,
but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the
things that have been freely given to us by God.
There is joy in the Holy spirit...
1 Thessalonians 1:6
And you became followers of us and of the Lord,
having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,
Acts 13:52
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Romans 14:17
for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking,
but righteousness and peace
and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit gives us the power to love God.
Galatians 5:22
But the
fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Romans 8:15
For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear,
but you received the
Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
You need to be filled with God's Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
You need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 3:11
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance,
but He who is coming after me is mightier than
I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Mark 1:8
I indeed baptized you with water, but
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
John 1:33
I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said
to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending,
and remaining on Him,
this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
Seek after this gift until you receive it.
Don't believe those who live defeated lives with no power, love,
joy or desire as they say there is no baptism in the Holy Spirit.
God does still give the baptism of the Holy Spirit to those
who surrender their lives to God in Christ and who
desire to serve God and love Him with a pure heart.
Read the book of Acts and see the power of God at work in the lives
of those who received the baptism of the Holy Spirit .
Compare the lives of the early Christians to the lives of men today.
Most men today live defeated, broken and powerless Christian lives.
What is missing?
Men today say that there isn't any greater portion of God's Spirit and
that they already have all of God Spirit that they need and yet their lives
have no power as they tell you that the early church power is not meant
for today's Christians.
There is power, love, joy, peace and more in the Holy Spirit
but you have to seek it because everyone has told you that you can't have
it so your doubt is huge and you do not believe that God wants you to have
this greater portion of His Holy Spirit.
You must overcome the fear and doubt men have put into your heart
and go after all that God has for you in the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Link about the baptism of the Holy Spirit..
The Baptism of The Holy Spirit - Facts about the Holy Spirit, fruit of the spirit, Jesus, Holy Ghost, God, tongues, prayer, speaking in tongues, pentecost, trinity, Bible, scripture, Father, Son
Coming of the Holy Spirit
Acts 2
1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come,
they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven,
as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole
house where they were sitting.
3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues,
as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 10:44
[ The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles ]
While Peter was still speaking these words,
the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.
Acts 11:15
And as I began to speak,
the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning.
Ephesians 5:17-19
Therefore do not be unwise,
but understand what the will of the Lord is.
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation;
but be filled with the Spirit,
speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
