Struggling with whether I believe or not

dms1972 said:

I struggle with whether I am really a believer. I know that if i feel or think I am not then I am deeply troubled. Perhaps because I did seem to believe at one time, awareness of being in unbelief panics me greatly. But i need to start to be honest with myself, not keep deceiving myself (if I am) about where I am at. To come back to myself somehow

I take a couple of meds currently, and my doctor indicated a while back he still thought I had an obsession. I am not sure if he means Obessional personality disorder. I don't have OCD symptoms. I think the obsession is all tied up with my not believing.

Please pray for me.

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We all go through dark periods in our lives. It's important to remember that salvation is something that God does and it does not rest on our feelings. Give all of your troubles to the Lord and He will bring you peace.

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." ~ Ephesians 2:4-10

dms1972 said:

I take a couple of meds currently, and my doctor indicated a while back he still thought I had an obsession. I am not sure if he means Obessional personality disorder. I don't have OCD symptoms. I think the obsession is all tied up with my not believing.

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An obsession? If he said that about your spiritual convictions then I would question such a statement.

But in answer to your condition, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word. Devote yourself to spending time in the word of God, and ask Him to reveal truth to you through the Holy Spirit. And from there build virtue and character into your life (2 Peter 1:5-11). All these things are designed by God to strengthen your faith so it won't fail.

dms1972 said:

I struggle with whether I am really a believer.

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My advice to you is to ask God for the Holy Ghost.

One of the things having the Holy Ghost brings is unbreakable faith.

Good luck!

dms1972 said:

I struggle with whether I am really a believer. I know that if i feel or think I am not then I am deeply troubled. Perhaps because I did seem to believe at one time, awareness of being in unbelief panics me greatly. But i need to start to be honest with myself, not keep deceiving myself (if I am) about where I am at. To come back to myself somehow

I take a couple of meds currently, and my doctor indicated a while back he still thought I had an obsession. I am not sure if he means Obessional personality disorder. I don't have OCD symptoms. I think the obsession is all tied up with my not believing.

Please pray for me.

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Ok. And I want you to read matthew ch 7, verses 24-27, and then you will be having some specific things to do, and they will result in a firm foundation for your faith to flourish and endure.

Here's one good site to read that in a good translation --
Matthew 7 NIV

dms1972 said:

I struggle with whether I am really a believer

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There is nothing wrong with having doubts or questions.
That is provided you search for answers to them.

What do you believe about Jesus?
check out the coldcasechristianity web site or if you like complecated arguments try reasonablefaith's Q+A.

Other sites are answersingenesis, use there search function for articles on the bible and Jesus.
Toughquestionsanswered, reasontobelieve.

dms1972 said:

I struggle with whether I am really a believer. I know that if i feel or think I am not then I am deeply troubled. Perhaps because I did seem to believe at one time, awareness of being in unbelief panics me greatly. But i need to start to be honest with myself, not keep deceiving myself (if I am) about where I am at. To come back to myself somehow

I take a couple of meds currently, and my doctor indicated a while back he still thought I had an obsession. I am not sure if he means Obessional personality disorder. I don't have OCD symptoms. I think the obsession is all tied up with my not believing.

Please pray for me.

Click to expand...

I pray that God will establish your faith.

Many of us have doubts about our salvation from time to time. The problem is that we are too focused on our feelings. But faith transcends feelings - this means that real faith in Christ keeps on trusting Christ in spite of feeling doubts. Don't let your feelings define whether or not you have faith.

Feelings can indicate something wrong, but don't put too much stock in them, because they can also deceive. In other words, feelings are unreliable. If feeling guilty is due to sin committed, then the sin has to be dealt with, starting with confession. But if you can't put words to the guilt, then it probably is a "firey dart" of the devil.

The idea is to trust in Christ no matter what, because the Bible says "the one who trusts in Him shall not be disappointed." Faith in Christ is the foundation of our relationship with God, and the path to inner peace. Rom. 5:1 "Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ."

Reading the scripture, especially the NT also helps a lot, as does memorizing verses that you can quote to yourself throughout the day. Direct your faith toward Christ, not toward yourself.
TD

dms1972 said:

I am thinking at the moment , is believing in God (in the sense of that basic belief one would need to begin with) does that sort of belief involve doing something mentally, a mental act, or is it just a recognition, a heart awareness that there is a God, really not denying God's existence?

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Recognition is a perfect word to use. A Greek word that would most properly be translated this way is actually used in the New Testament numerous times and in this very context, though translators often opt for using the word "knowledge" instead. But it is indeed not an act but a recognition, not only that there is a God but that Jesus Christ is His Son, and that through He alone we have access to the Father and salvation for all eternity.

dms1972 said:

Thankyou again for replies.

Its hard to explain, I went through a difficult time some years ago, through which I was thinking a lot about what reality is and how I could be in touch with it. After a lot of thinking I had what was to me a painful and intolerable sense of being in touch in reality. It was such that in reaction I said to myself there is no reality. Ok at that point things were bad, and as far as I can recall I was taken to see a psychiatrist. But as I recall he said nothing could be done, I think he said this in repsonse to I was saying that I was God. So that's quite a few years ago, I am not sure what I really believe at the moment.

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I know, it can be hard to explain. The view you're thinking of is sort of like solipsism, where you are all that exists; yourself, what you perceive physically, and nothing else. It's really the devil trying to isolate you (as he is wont to do.) Read what the other posters have provided you, they are great sources of inspiration, and what you need to re-establish your love for God, and appreciate all that's He's blessed you with; blessings both seen and unseen; from waking up, to a glass of water in the morning.

If you find trouble with the Lord working through you, look around; look at the world He's created (not the horrors that humans have created), but the beautiful, untainted nature he designed, the abundance of animals he's created, and when you see these things, there should be no doubt, not only of His existence, but of His power. Again, start with the Scripture verses provided in earlier posts, and ask God to work through you, to open your heart so that He can work through you, and ask to be receptive to whatever you may receive.

God bless you, and I pray that you overcome the thoughts you've had. Everybody struggles, and it takes work to establish a relationship with God, but His love is unconditional, so always remember that. We may wander off the path He's given us, but it's the effort we put forth to get back on and proceed further down said path that brings glory to God. Sorry for the rant :/

Your brother in Christ,
Justin

dms1972 said:

Thankyou again for replies.

Its hard to explain, I went through a difficult time some years ago, through which I was thinking a lot about what reality is and how I could be in touch with it. After a lot of thinking I had what was to me a painful and intolerable sense of being in touch in reality. It was such that in reaction I said to myself there is no reality. Ok at that point things were bad, and as far as I can recall I was taken to see a psychiatrist. But as I recall he said nothing could be done, I think he said this in repsonse to I was saying that I was God. So that's quite a few years ago, I am not sure what I really believe at the moment.

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Many times it is our mind and our thinking and our desire to control our destiny that becomes our worst enemies. If I ever have a thought that questions God's existence, I always go back to the origin, which is a consideration that nothing can come into existence except there be something greater that creates it. In other words, I recognize the principal truth that nothing ever created itself, because it would have to have existed before it could come into being.

With that in mind, God must exist, because the created order had to have a creator greater than the created order. Here are a few elements of the created order:
For order to exist, someone had to put it in order; otherwise there would only be chaos (or nothingness).
For information to exist, someone had to put the information into the creation.
For beauty to exist, someone had to make things aesthetic.
For intelligence to exist, someone had to put that intelligence into the creation.

Since God could not have created Himself, then He must be eternal in nature. The term for self-existence is aseity.

1 Corinthians 2 tells us that the things of God can't be understood by man's natural thinking. In order for our faith to be established, we need God's Spirit to illuminate us. It would be to our advantage then, to ask God to reveal Himself in a personal way. He did so for me, and I believe He would do so for you. But it also required that I search the scripture for the answer. In the scripture I found mostly questions, and those questions turned to answers as I followed Christ faithfully. And such is the call of the gospel; Jesus says "follow Me."
TD

I would say the Holy Spirit's test of whether you have done the Day's work for the Lord: is that you have kept the Lord's word, in your heart.

No one can keep the Lord's work in their heart, unless they have done the work.

If you have trouble with the work, you can always pray the Lord of the Workers (that workers unite in their work of the harvest).

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