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Yes. I've found others in my boat. It's a sad boat to be in. Thank you for sharing. I also have a lack of empathy.
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My heart is so hardened
- Thread starter Invalidusername
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Yes. I've found others in my boat. It's a sad boat to be in. Thank you for sharing. I also have a lack of empathy.
marineimaging
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Your salvation was secured with the blood of Jesus Christ. Not what you did nor what you didn't do. You cannot work your way into salvation but I tell you that what your heart is missing is fulfillment by following Jesus. Get off your ruck sack and do something that Christ would find pleasing and when you do, do not expect any reward. Fill you life with being Christ like and walk the walk of Christ, and talk the talk of Christ. Not to win anything but to fill that void. The more you do expecting nothing in return the more jewels you will have in your crown to lay at the feet of God. Your concern is sufficient to KNOW that you were first saved by the pure blood of the only begotten Son. That cannot be undone or the Word of God is a lie. If your "r-e-l-i-g-i-o-n" is convicting you of being a lost soul to God then you are not reading the rest of the Word and maybe you need a church where the entire Word of God is written into the hearts of the men who will testify as to God's faith. Be not afraid for your soul unless you really did not give yourself to Christ the first time. But it sounds like you did so just be a doer of the Word and you will find that hole filled.
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You’ve got a long road ahead of you brother. Understanding yourself and what issues you may have from a (modern) psychological viewpoint can help to get some perspective - among a great many other books Stephan Grozinger’s ‘Faith on a stone foundation’ is a useful take on interpreting newer ideas and findings in neurology and psychology from a Christian paradigm. Other than that I would say just pray in whatever way it comes out, apathetic or whatever. God listens to those prayers too. And just keep at it, one day at a time.
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Dorothy Mae
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Dorothy Mae
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God told us to love him with our minds. God is not anti-intellectual.
Acknowledging him in our ways is an intellectual matter.
All of that requires the intellect.
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Dorothy Mae
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Those verses don’t promise what you claim cause there is no such promise. If we grieve or quench the Spirit enough, he leaves and God takes His Holy Spirit from too unholy people.
As the OP writer humbles themself, so they will be granted Grace.
That’s like saying if you read a book about the character of the kindest person you know, you will develop an intimate relationship with them. Utter nonsense. No one who thinks reading the Bible alone will give you an intimate relationship with God will ever have one. You have to obey the living God as He speaks to you. Reading the writings of those who knew God will not generate a person who knows God. God hides from those kind.
How come believers then disagree about a lot? It’s because it doesn’t work that way.
The poster would do better to talk to God not those who claim they do just cause they read the Bible.
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Dorothy Mae
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There’s another element to
this. Since you dabbled in drugs, there are occultism powers that can have a claim over you as you have given yourself to their pleasures.
Condemnation comes from the Devil. So I suggest you rebuke the Devil when you feel condemned. Read out loud “there’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!!”
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Dorothy Mae
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True but it seems he saw how terrible his life was and changed it. This is pretty admirable. I’m acknowledging this.
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discipler7
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What kind of addictions did you quit.? Was it drug addiction.?
If it is just inappropriate content addiction and masturbation, maybe it is not an addiction and not a sin, ie it is just the natural male sex drive to "Go forth and multiply". Are girls also addicted to feeling sexy and flirty during their monthly ovulation period and to feeling cranky during their monthly menstrual outflow.?
Try to get married to a Christian girl or get a Christian gf asap.?(1CORINTHIANS.7)
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To be dull of emotions may be connected to things like depression and anxiety. I had general anxiety disorder, and at that time I was pretty numb, and I had no idea what was going on.
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You are here asking for advice, that means you want a change in your life, you want Christ in your life. That proves that you have not gone too far in sins, that there is a way back. Only those that blaspheme the Holy Spirit have shut the box for good, and such a person never again turn back to God like you do.
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discipler7
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JOHN.6:63 = 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
EPHESIANS.6:17 = and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
2CORINTHIANS.3:17 = 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
JOHN.1:1 & 14 = 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... &
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
HEBREWS.8: = 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
MATTHEW.4:4 = 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
ACTS.21:25 = 25 But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.”
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The problem is he's right. There's a hole in me and that means something is drastically wrong. The part where he's wrong is saying I'm leaving God out. Unfortunately I've prayed and prayed but received no answer. My mind is now reprobate.
Doesn't Hebrews 12 talk about Esau searching for repentance?
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I think I may have a demon. I sometimes sense the presence of something evil. Especially after sleeping. Sensed it last night.
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What do you mean with your mind being reprobate?
If you don't "feel inside", what do you want with your "head"? The choice you make is from your head, not from your feelings. Feelings can betray us. The important thing is not what you feel, but what you choose.
Maybe someone else can explain that better than I can? Esau wasn't repenting to get the relationship with God restored, he wanted the blessing back that was given to Jacob. That's a totally different story ...
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By that I mean my mind is incapable of being spiritual again. I took that new nature God gave me and murdered it. I am choosing God but I fear he's forsaken me because I forsook Him in a favor of a sinful lifestyle.
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Michael Ward
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Invalidusername,
some how you need refreshing. Take a break, you seem to be "trying too hard", we all, ALL of us have a "sinful lifestyle" it's our sin nature. Perhaps you've heard way too many messages from Preachers that imply that we can "eliminate sin" in or lives.
Well, that's just not possible. We are ALL polluted in this state, that's why NO ONE lives forever, we have Death because God had mercy on his creation and wouldn't let Adam and Eve eat from the Tree of Life.
So we are ALL stuck in our sinful condition. Sure, we'd like to be "Holy" and "Righteous" in every decision, action we do from now until the end, but it's just not going to happen. That's what I mean by "lightening up". Don't compare yourself to what you think others are doing or not doing that is holier than you. You just talk to God and thank him for sending Jesus, not only as a perfect example and guide, but to die for our sin nature so we can be born again into new life.
There you go. May you find clarity in your working out this time.
some how you need refreshing. Take a break, you seem to be "trying too hard", we all, ALL of us have a "sinful lifestyle" it's our sin nature. Perhaps you've heard way too many messages from Preachers that imply that we can "eliminate sin" in or lives.
Well, that's just not possible. We are ALL polluted in this state, that's why NO ONE lives forever, we have Death because God had mercy on his creation and wouldn't let Adam and Eve eat from the Tree of Life.
So we are ALL stuck in our sinful condition. Sure, we'd like to be "Holy" and "Righteous" in every decision, action we do from now until the end, but it's just not going to happen. That's what I mean by "lightening up". Don't compare yourself to what you think others are doing or not doing that is holier than you. You just talk to God and thank him for sending Jesus, not only as a perfect example and guide, but to die for our sin nature so we can be born again into new life.
There you go. May you find clarity in your working out this time.
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Tutorman
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@Invalidusername you are going through what appears to be the dark night of the soul. You are not the first to go through this nor will you be the last. Here is a quote:
Even Mother Teresa experienced what you are experiencing, hope is not lost. You may what to do some spiritual reading, take a retreat some monasteries offer such things so you an clear your head. Remember this:
Footprints in the Sand
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?"
The Lord replied,
"The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints,
is when I carried you."
- Mary Stevenson
St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, OCD, a 19th-century French nun and Doctor of the Church, wrote of her own experience of the dark night. Her dark night derived from doubt of the existence of eternity, to which doubt she nonetheless did not give intellectual or volitional assent, but rather prevailed by a deepening of her Catholic faith. However, she painfully suffered through this prolonged period of spiritual darkness, even declaring to her fellow nuns: "If you only knew what darkness I am plunged into..!"
While this spiritual crisis is usually temporary, it may endure for a long time. The "dark night" of St. Paul of the Cross in the 18th century endured 45 years, from which he ultimately recovered. The dark night of St. Teresa of Calcutta, whose own name in religion she selected in honor of St. Thérèse, "may be the most extensive such case on record", having endured from 1948 almost until her death in 1997, with only brief interludes of relief, according to her letters
While this spiritual crisis is usually temporary, it may endure for a long time. The "dark night" of St. Paul of the Cross in the 18th century endured 45 years, from which he ultimately recovered. The dark night of St. Teresa of Calcutta, whose own name in religion she selected in honor of St. Thérèse, "may be the most extensive such case on record", having endured from 1948 almost until her death in 1997, with only brief interludes of relief, according to her letters
Footprints in the Sand
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?"
The Lord replied,
"The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints,
is when I carried you."
- Mary Stevenson
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