Trying to Find the Quiet in Christ

Glad to hear from you. Very good question. We all go through the same. It will be like that for a while but every tree will grow the fruit in its season. Until then you have to hold on to the faith and keep nourishing it with regular prayer and scriptures, even during the harsh testing times. I saw the fruit of the Spirit inside me/my life after about 20 years of trying to keep believing. It is different for each person. Don’t be disheartened. God does give instant comfort and quietness and rest as you needed.

The Quiet In Christ said:

the conflict of different doctrine and in-fighting within the Christian community, as well as the lack of positive change in my personal life, or in myself.

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I would offer >

Yes, there are people not living the right way. Just make sure you do not join in their divisive and negative and judgmental stuff, and deal with how you need God to correct and bless you.

It is possible for immature people to be outspoken and always making themselves seen and heard. Do not let them get to you. And you can do well to find the gentle and humble . . . quiet . . . senior ones, and feed on their good example

And yes, my own need for change and real correction is what needs my attention, more than pointing and looking at how others may be wrong. I am encouraged that God does want to personally correct us so we can find out how to share with Him - - - in quiet rest, yes . . . and how to relate in love as His family while we also love and care for any and all of this evil world's people . . . and have hope for the ones who are nasty and mouthy and critical and in-fighting > > > be there for them, with good example, have hope for them > love "hopes all things" (in 1 Corinthians 13:7)

There is plenty more we can say; but, for now, thank you for joining us and please share with us, more. Welcome to Christian Forums

Bill

Hi; good to see you. Romans chapter 8 and John's First Epistle are excellent reading.

The Quiet In Christ said:

I am new believer in Christ (about 6 months old or so), and I am still trying to renew myself daily. Lately, I’ll admit I have been struggling in my faith, due to the conflict of different doctrine and in-fighting within the Christian community, as well as the lack of positive change in my personal life, or in myself.

It’s easy to get into the habit of doubting my salvation when all I hear about is having a changed heart, and good fruits, and I feel so far from these things. I look at other people’s testimonies, how they seemingly had these Saul to Paul conversions without ever having had to go in depth within scripture to learn gospel truths or realize their identity in Christ, or any of these things that seem to require so much self-shedding and mental and emotional capacity for understanding.

I’m trying to realize these things for myself: That I am saved, cleansed, reconciled to God, forgiven, because of what Jesus did on the cross. Why does it feel like it takes so much inner machination? Jeez, just BELIEVE, I scream at myself.

I dunno. I want to quiet my inner woman; I want Jesus to extract the noise, and bring me those fruits of the spirit that scripture talks about. The peace beyond understanding.

Anyone else going through the same “growing pains”?

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There is an old proverb, "experience is a good teacher." There are few who learn from it and even less who learn correctly.
If we will grow in our understanding of Who God is and what He is doing in us, it is crucial that we learn from experience.
The Scriptures are the place to start. They will give us the perspective we need in order to properly benefit from experience. Psalms 1 tells us the godly man meditates upon the Word, follows its direction, and as a result, will prosper in his soul.
There are so many experiences to read about in the Scriptures. They are especially helpful because, in most cases, they reveal the very purpose of God in the experience.
Then there is church history. There are many good biographies that teach us the ups and downs of Christian experience. For instance, Foxe's Book of Martyrs is very instructive with regard to persevering through suffering.
Then there is personal experience. Explore your past and consider what good lessons God has taught you. What difficulties did you face while growing up, and what was the outcome? See these things through the lens of God's purpose for you in Christ as He has led you this far.
This will help you and others as you share with them God's purpose for what and why He does what He does.
Psalms 143:4-6
My spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.
I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Blessed be God...Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

royal priest said:

There is an old proverb, "experience is a good teacher." There are few who learn from it and even less who learn correctly.
If we will grow in our understanding of Who God is and what He is doing in us, it is crucial that we learn from experience.
The Scriptures are the place to start. They will give us the perspective we need in order to properly benefit from experience. Psalms 1 tells us the godly man meditates upon the Word, follows its direction, and as a result, will prosper in his soul.
There are so many experiences to read about in the Scriptures. They are especially helpful because, in most cases, they reveal the very purpose of God in the experience.
Then there is church history. There are many good biographies that teach us the ups and downs of Christian experience. For instance, Foxe's Book of Martyrs is very instructive with regard to persevering through suffering.
Then there is personal experience. Explore your past and consider what good lessons God has taught you. What difficulties did you face while growing up, and what was the outcome? See these things through the lens of God's purpose for you in Christ as He has led you this far.
This will help you and others as you share with them God's purpose for what and why He does what He does.
Psalms 143:4-6
My spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.
I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Blessed be God...Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

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Great verses there!

I do love this verse; Psalm 73.26:

"My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."

The Quiet In Christ said:

I am new believer in Christ (about 6 months old or so), and I am still trying to renew myself daily. Lately, I’ll admit I have been struggling in my faith, due to the conflict of different doctrine and in-fighting within the Christian community, as well as the lack of positive change in my personal life, or in myself.

It’s easy to get into the habit of doubting my salvation when all I hear about is having a changed heart, and good fruits, and I feel so far from these things. I look at other people’s testimonies, how they seemingly had these Saul to Paul conversions without ever having had to go in depth within scripture to learn gospel truths or realize their identity in Christ, or any of these things that seem to require so much self-shedding and mental and emotional capacity for understanding.

I’m trying to realize these things for myself: That I am saved, cleansed, reconciled to God, forgiven, because of what Jesus did on the cross. Why does it feel like it takes so much inner machination? Jeez, just BELIEVE, I scream at myself.

I dunno. I want to quiet my inner woman; I want Jesus to extract the noise, and bring me those fruits of the spirit that scripture talks about. The peace beyond understanding.

Anyone else going through the same “growing pains”?

Click to expand...

People all have different journeys. Just because some people seem to have it all together does not mean you are on the wrong track. When I made a choice some years to return to the LORD, every one in my church seemed so spiritual, and blessed. Yet I seemed to go from one emotional disaster to another. I would find myself praying over and over, trying to reassure myself, "God you have good plans for me", while my heart screamed I am in pain here.

Yet now move forward a few years, maybe 5 - 10 and I am now in a place of blessing and security.

Don't measure your success by the success of others, God is with you, stick with it through the struggle and God will bring you out into a place of peace and blessing.

Do you take time to be quiet?

The Quiet In Christ said:

... Jeez, just BELIEVE, I scream at myself.

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Is that how the woman in your screen icon found peace?

I dunno. I want to quiet my inner woman; I want Jesus to extract the noise, and bring me those fruits of the spirit that scripture talks about. The peace beyond understanding.

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Have you consider the possibility that such a gift is not beneficial for you at this time? There's a story of a certain young monk that had prayed God to take his passions away from him so that he might become free from care. He went and told an old man this: ‘I find myself in peace, without an enemy,’ he said. The old man said to him, ‘Go, beseech God to stir up warfare so that you regain the affliction and humility that you used to have, for it is by warfare that the soul makes progress.’ So he besought God and when warfare came, he no longer prayed that it might be taken away, but said, ‘Lord, give me strength for the fight.’

The Quiet In Christ said:

I am new believer in Christ (about 6 months old or so), and I am still trying to renew myself daily. Lately, I’ll admit I have been struggling in my faith, due to the conflict of different doctrine and in-fighting within the Christian community, as well as the lack of positive change in my personal life, or in myself.

It’s easy to get into the habit of doubting my salvation when all I hear about is having a changed heart, and good fruits, and I feel so far from these things. I look at other people’s testimonies, how they seemingly had these Saul to Paul conversions without ever having had to go in depth within scripture to learn gospel truths or realize their identity in Christ, or any of these things that seem to require so much self-shedding and mental and emotional capacity for understanding.

I’m trying to realize these things for myself: That I am saved, cleansed, reconciled to God, forgiven, because of what Jesus did on the cross. Why does it feel like it takes so much inner machination? Jeez, just BELIEVE, I scream at myself.

I dunno. I want to quiet my inner woman; I want Jesus to extract the noise, and bring me those fruits of the spirit that scripture talks about. The peace beyond understanding.

Anyone else going through the same “growing pains”?

Click to expand...

Hello The Quiet In Christ, first off, WELCOME TO CF

"Growing pains?" Oh yeah, especially when I was a new believer like you are now (that was nearly 34 years ago though, and I can promise you that things get better, much better as you grow in knowledge, understanding and wisdom .. especially of God's word .. and as He continues to sanctify you by His truth .. John 17:17; Philippians 1:6, 2:13; 2 Timothy 2:15, 3:16-17).

One of the things all Christians have to come to terms with is the fact that we have a common enemy who hates us because He hates the One who we now belong to. This is one of the big reasons that we need to grow in the knowledge of God's word, so that we'll understand what the truth really is when Satan and his demons are attacking us with their deceptions/half-truths and outright lies.

One of the things our enemy loves to do is to whisper in our ears and try to convince us that we aren't Christians, and/or that we aren't even worthy to think of ourselves as Christians (I'm sure you've experienced this already). For instance, he'll tempt you to sin, but even if he fails to do so/fails to have you fall into sin (because you used the escape from his temptation that the Lord provided you with in the moment .. 1 Corinthians 10:13), Satan won't give up that easily Rather, he'll try to convince you that, even though you didn't fall for his temptation, a "real Christian" would have never had such horrible thoughts in their mind to begin with. IOW, he'll try to convince you that you aren't a "real Christian", and/or that you are unworthy to even consider that you might be one.

Sound familiar by any chance? If so, just know that they are all lies.

The Bible tells us to resist Satan, and that he will flee from us when we do .. James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8-9.

We resist Satan in a number of ways. First off, by knowing and remembering who we are, children of the living God.

We also need to remember who God is, that He knows the end from the beginning, that nothing we do for the rest of our lives, good or bad, will ever be a surprise to Him, and that even though He knew EVERYTHING about us, He chose to save us anyway (Did you know that as His child, God has loved you from ~everlasting~ .. Jeremiah 31:3, and that He will ALWAYS love you, now and forevermore? That is a pretty comforting thought, isn't it As Charles Spurgeon once said, "everlasting love shall be the pillow for my head this night").

Secondly, we resist Satan by knowing AND believing the truth (the Holy Scripture), and by choosing to believe and trust God, rather than Satan and the lies that he tells us. We need to stop listening to Satan and/or what our "feelings" are telling us in the moment, and we take those thoughts "captive" and give them over to Jesus to deal with .. 2 Corinthians 10:5), consciously choosing to believe/trust God and take Him at His word instead

I'm going to stop because this is simply getting to be too long of a post, but I'll leave you with this thought to consider. Do you believe that God is pleased/honored/glorified with us when we choose to listen to our "feelings" and/or Satan's deceptions/lies, or when we choose to listen to/trust Him instead, consciously choosing to take Him at His word ~IN SPITE~ of what our feelings and/or Satan's lies may be telling us in the moment?

Trust God! (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Praying for you!

God bless you!! (Numbers 6:24-26)

--David
p.s. - it is hard to do at first, and it will take work, an ongoing, conscious effort on your part to believe/trust God and His word in the face of your feelings/Satan's lies that are telling you otherwise. But it does get easier as time goes by Refusing to believe such thoughts/feelings and taking them "captive" is perhaps the principle way that we, "resist the devil", so that he will (eventually) flee from us, just like God promises us that he will (and if you fail to listen to God and end up sinning, no worries, you are still his .. John 5:24, 6:37-40, 10:27-28, and He's always ready to forgive you just for the asking .. 1 John 1:9, as well bring you back into full fellowship with Him again).

The Quiet In Christ said:

I’m trying to realize these things for myself: That I am saved, cleansed, reconciled to God, forgiven, because of what Jesus did on the cross. Why does it feel like it takes so much inner machination? Jeez, just BELIEVE, I scream at myself.

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The key here is that we walk by faith not by sight (or feelings). God wants us to grow in grace (patiently) learning to take hold of His promises regardless of outward circumstances or self diagnosed feelings.
Here are a couple of verses I still hang my hat on (after walking with Jesus 45 years)...
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (Joh 5:24)

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (Rom 5:10)

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2Co 3:18)

Hello again @The Quiet In Christ, here are a couple of daily broadcast/online Christian teaching ministries that I'm certain would prove to be helpful to you.


--David

The Quiet In Christ said:

If it weren’t for the fact that we were in the midst of a global pandemic, of course I’d have tried to embark on some sort of retreat. For now, I am forced to make do with attempting to be “mentally in the desert”.

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Please feel free to stop by here whenever you want to We are all self-isolated, so this is a great place for us to fellowship with one another (my church broadcasts services on Facebook right now, which is great, but the kind of face to face fellowship that we used to enjoy every week is impossible right now).

God bless you! (Isaiah 40:31)

--David
p.s. - here is one of my very favorite Spurgeon quotes, with a related Scripture reference below it.

gospels said:

Glad to hear from you. Very good question. We all go through the same. It will be like that for a while but every tree will grow the fruit in its season. Until then you have to hold on to the faith and keep nourishing it with regular prayer and scriptures, even during the harsh testing times. I saw the fruit of the Spirit inside me/my life after about 20 years of trying to keep believing. It is different for each person. Don’t be disheartened. God does give instant comfort and quietness and rest as you needed.

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@gospels

What you say reminds me of Psalm 1:

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

St_Worm2 said:

Please feel free to stop by here whenever you want to We are all self-isolated, so this is a great place for us to fellowship with one another (my church broadcasts services on Facebook right now, which is great, but the kind of face to face fellowship that we used to enjoy every week is impossible right now).

God bless you! (Isaiah 40:31)

--David
p.s. - here is one of my very favorite Spurgeon quotes, with a related Scripture reference below it.

"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him"
2 Corinthians 5:21
.​

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Another excellent Spurgeon quote there...

The Quiet In Christ said:

Thank you for responses, all. I appreciate it so much.

I have some contemplation to do tonight. I need to trust more in God.

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There are some nice youtube audios. Put in some ear buds.

Rain, bells, flute , forest. I discovered some nice music. Deuter and Parijat.
and because I have tinnitus


and
Koshi chimes