How do you stay strong??

John 15:5 "...for without me ye can do nothing." (Jesus is talking there)
Philipians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens me."

This is something that I know I struggle with, you cannot be strong at all. YOU would give into the Devil if it weren't for Christ. Don't rely on yourself, you will fail every single time if you do.

Also, here's some verse that I know helped just yesterday when I was struggling with where I was at.

First, Romans 8 is a wonderful chapter for assurance, and I would sit down and read it.

Now here's some individual verses:

Romans 10:17 "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God"
Philipians 1:6 "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"
I John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

"But he said to me, "My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. "

I struggle with this daily. I ask God to give me the faith to make it through the day the way He wants me to. It isn't easy, and I'm just beginning my true walk (or so it feels!), but there have been such feelings of peace and joy that accompany these prayers that I know he has answered them!

well, you learn that god will never fail to love you, and his mercy endures forever by reading the word of god and having it teach you that.
and also taking those tears to god in prayer and finding that he never left you, and that he still loves you, and he will always love you and that he will move heavon and earth to do anything he can for you no matter what.

the strength of my relationship with god, is simply how close i am to him.
as any relationship, the more 2 people talk and spend time together the closer they grow.

i get up in the morning, and i begin to worship him.
and i sit down on the floor and begin to talk with him, telling him everything, and i spend time with him. listening to what he tells me and i tell him how i feel. just like to regular people talking.
doing that is how i really meet with god, and how i really know him for myself.
one man once said
"all i ever wanted was a god i could talk to"
and he really is that.
those times of prayer and talking to god are how you grow strong in your relationship with him.
and then i open up my bible and read it, asking god about it, telling how i feel about it, reading it with him, and he teaches me the scripture, things like his mercy will endure forever, and there will never be a time that he does not love me.

its all about fellowship with him,
when your not talking to him and spending time with him, you begin to forget who he is and what hes really like.
and you begin to doubt, and to worry, and try to do things on your own, and it all goes down hill from there.

its not some thing, like youll be strong with god if you pray 2 hours a day and read exactly 5 chapters!
no, but it is saying "god, come talk to me, i want to meet you, and find out who you really are"
and in that time with him, youll meet him, and all doubt and fear and worry is blown away, because now you know.

when somethings wrong, go cry to god, and tell him about it, and hell soon be so real to you, and youll find yourself having conversations with the almighty god. its wonderful.

prayer is simple,
take whats on your heart at the moment, and talk to god about it.

I suggest reading more of God's word.

Know this : NOTHING can separate you from the love of God. Jesus loved you so much that he died for you. He paid the ultimate price to show you his love. Just accept it, and thank him for his grace and mercy. If you feel you are not good enough for heaven, then rebuke that thought, it is from the evil one! No one was good enough for heaven, which is the exact reason Jesus came to Earth. He paid for our sins with his blood, which is a payment we could never do ourselves. God has gone through a lot for us to be with him. He asks that we love him back. So spend time with God, both in prayer and in reading his word, and serve him. I find that when things don't make sense in my life, I focus on what God has called us all to do, and in doing that, things come back together. The peace of Christ be with you!

Amen Dave, so true on both points!!! Romans 10:17 and Romans 8 (last few verses)

Try picking a time of day to just sit down and read your bible for a little time...i usually read my bible in bed, just before bed..it's a nice cap to the end of your day (i get good dreams too)...I also like reading it in the morning when I wake up..kicks off the day nicely.

I'll tell you what works for me. Studying the bible, not just reading it. I try to study it like I'm studying for a text at school. Praying helps as well. The more of God's words you know, the better your chances of disarming the fiery arrows of the devil when he attacks. One thing you have to realise as well is when you start to make progress in your relationship with the Lorrd, the devil tries his best in whichever way to pull you back. he does this by making you feel discouraged, lying to you to name a few. But he was defeated a long long time agao, so its empty bluff. Know your position in christ. You are a new creature now, Satan is beneath you and has not control over you. I'll be praying for you though it is well. God loves you and so do I

 

 

 

If you take the examples form the book of acts, prominently the people that were often lifted up by God were the same ones that devoted time to study of God's word along with a strong prayer life. These people put our Lords word in their heart and mostly by memorization since it was very expensive to purchase scriptures. As for prayer, they were in prayer continually whether actively or passively.

As for salvation I have never feared for it (loosing it) for the word of God which dwells in my heart is there and bears the promises of my salvation leading to peace by the working (acknowledgment) of the Holy Spirit (God) that indwells me. Though I have my off days (seemingly below my par), this does not alarm me but gives me a hint that I need to spend more time actively in study and prayer.

Peace


 

Can I get a Hallelujah?!



Gerry for God

WWJDFAKB?

Hallelujah!

If anyone has any suggestions on how they stay strong in their relationship with Christ, I would love to hear.

Click to expand...

Read your Bible Daily and talk to God in Prayer.

Attend a Good Bible believing, preaching and teaching church.
Obey Gods words.

Confess your sins at least daily and ask God to help you to forsake them.

Be around other mature Christians as much as possible.

Be a Christian witness

My church teaches quiet time. In the morning everyday arm yourself with wisdom from the Word of God. Pray to God and confess your sins daily. Pray through out the day and be a witness for Christ. The devil will attack you unless he feels your a threat, whatever you're doing in Christ to be a threat, keep it up.

First of all, I want you to know that all Christians stuggle with sin, although sometimes we are embarassed to admit it. The only Person who EVER lived on this earth under the temptation of the devil who did NOT sin was Jesus. Everyone does things they wish they didn't sometimes, and when we do, Satan likes to make us feel unworthy of God's love. There is this idea nowadays that if we mess up, we have to suffer some unnamed amount of of pain or sorrow in order to "regain" God's forgiveness. This is no doubt from what we read in the Old Testament about how God's people failed Him and His anger with them and the punishment that followed.

However, if you read 1 Corinthians 5, there was a man in that church who had committed sexual immorality with his own father's wife! And the church had done nothing about it, not even rebuked him for this terrible sin. Paul commanded that the church put him out and spiritually deliver him over to the devil for the destruction of the flesh, "that his spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord Jesus." If you then read what Paul later wrote about this man, in 2 Corinthians 2, you will see that after the man had asked forgiveness and forsaken his sin, Paul said to forgive and restore him, "lest such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow." He also said, "lest Satan take advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices."

What is this device that Paul spoke of? Condemnation. Everyone who strives to live righteously is going to fall into sin once in a while, even Paul, or Paul would not have bothered to write Romans 6-8. Satan knows that if he can get you to sin and then feel so rejected by God that you want to give up, he can break down your spirit, and all that does is make you less strong against the next temptation. The best lesson for a Christian to learn is that when you fall down, what makes you different from those who God will judge, is that you cry out to God, ask for His mercy, and GET BACK UP AGAIN. Don't allow the devil to make you feel unrighteous when all you are doing is trying to live for God. Just because you are not perfect doesn't mean you don't know the One who is. Jesus stands at the right hand of God this very moment to make intercession for you to God, with His own blood - not the blood of a bull or a goat - His OWN blood, and pleads over you..."INNOCENT."

Make up your mind not to sin again and walk with your head held high. Know that if you sin again, God will forgive you because He is more faithful than a mother, closer than a brother, and sent His very own Son to die for you. Don't let Satan make you feel GUILTY that Christ died for you! It is a gift. Accept His righteousness by faith because it is this very faith that will get you to heaven. Love your neighbor as yourself because this IS THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS.

I love you and am praying for you. If you ever need someone to encourage you, don't hesitate to email me. I'm online every day and it gives me get honor to encourage the saints of God. Hold fast to your faith and lift up your eyes to the heavens, for your redemption is nearer than when at first you believed.

staying strong....it all revolves around othre christian friends. you need a boost and they provide it. i have notced that i have drifted from God when my church friends are not supposrtive of me. try and build up other peoples, make an effort to sink into god.

once you get reading the bible you will draw closer to god and long to read the bible more and they cycle continues!

I'll say this much, no one said Christianity was going to be easy.

Let me tell you a story of my very first sign of God.

It was a cold January night about a year and a half ago. My Christian friends had been trying to get me to know God for months and I was beginning to get a little discouraged. So I sat up for over a half an hour staring out my window, and prayed for the very first time in my life. I prayed mostly for a sign that he was there and real. After time went by, I was recieving nothing but silence, so i went to bed.

The next morning I went outside to catch the bus, and I was startled by what I saw. On the driveway was a yellow, dried flower that smelled a sweet sent. I looked all around but I didn't see anymore. I couldn't understand how on earth it got there. It was winter, and there were no flowers to be seen! Then I remembered the prayer I said last night when I asked for a sign. I was dumbstruck. This flower was a sign from God!!

but there's more...

Seeing the bus pull up i had to put the flower down, cause I didn't want to take it to school with me. It was a very windy day, so I figured the flower had blown away from where I had left it. I was in for a surprise when I got home. I got off the bus only to discover the flower in the very same spot where I had left it. God kept it safe for me.

To this day I still have that flower. And whenever I feel weak in my walk with God, I remember how he showed me that sign, the miricle he showed me. That day started my walk with God. I wanted to know everything I could about him, all because of one little flower.

I hope my post wasn't too long, but I felt a need to share it.