Originally posted by Susan
I think God hates me and is angry at me, although I am a Christian.
He does not hate you Susan!
He does not hate you, He hates sin but He loves you. Read these:
John 3
16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
John 15
9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
John 14
21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."
1 John 4
8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
19 We love, because He first loved us.
Romans 5
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
I try to do my best to serve Him, but I can't ever do enough, and I feel that He is there watching, waiting for the smallest error, the smallest mistake, whatever, to remove His protection from my life and allow demons, calamities, and whatever else to be loosed in my life.
No one can ever do enough for God, let alone do anything that would make us deserve the awesome love that He has for us and the love that He has shown to us. He is omniscient and omnipresent, so He does know of any sins that you and everyone else commits, but He does not enjoy sin, nor does He enjoy it when anyone sins, let alone when one of His children commit sin. God does not want you to be sad, afraid, upset, or hurt and He will not allow anything to happen to you that you can not handle. Satan and other demons are real but they are nothing compared to God. We do go through many difficult times in our lives, but do not forget that God will always be there for you and love you:
Nehemiah 9
17 . . . But You are a God of forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;
And You did not forsake them.
Hebrews 13
5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,"
6 so that we confidently say,
"THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID.
WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?"
Isaiah 46
4 Even to your old age I will be the same,
And even to your graying years I will bear you!
I have done it, and I will carry you;
And I will bear you and I will deliver you.
Matthew 19
26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Galatians 5
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
John 14
30 " . . . for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me;"
I also fear that He will take someone away from me that I care about out of anger over any sin I commit or even because I might care too much and forget to put my Bible reading or prayer as the first thing of my day. . .
Do not forget to pray and to read God's Word, and when you do happen to stumble into sin(which we all do sometimes
) ask God for forgiveness and also ask the person(s) that you hurt for forgiveness if you hurt someone, God will always forgive you, and your brothers' and sisters' in the Lord will also forgive you. This scripture is very relevant:
Nehemiah 9
17 . . . But You are a God of forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;
And You did not forsake them.
All this is because, like I said, I can't ever do enough. I have asked forgiveness for my sins many times over, but I think that God probably has an even more exacting standard for us than even my parents' "Don't say you're sorry. If you were really sorry you would never have done that." I have not seen dramatic answers to prayers, as you have seen I am too negative and don't have or use the right words of faith and deliverance.
It is good that you know that we can never do enough for God and that nothing we can do will ever--not it any way--would make us deserve His gift of salvation, it is by grace through faith that God has forgiven us. He will forgive you for any sin that you commit if you earnestly ask Him for forgiveness and repent of it, as in: you feel really mournful about committing that sin and you want to never commit that sin again. He will forgive you the first time that you ask if you are honest and sincere about it, you have to have faith and know that He has forgiven you. No dramatic answers to prayers or repentance is needed for you to have been forgiven. You are much too negative and harsh on yourself; you are a child of God and He loves you very much, why can't you believe this?
I'm just no good, and I wonder how long it will be before God goes as far as to take my life from me.
All humans are sinners, none of us are perfect, and sin does equal death, but you have been forgiven, you are now a child of God, and under His grace. We as Christians still stumble and sin sometimes, but God does not take our lives, He loves us and forgives us of any sins when we sincerely ask Him for forgiveness. It is only by God's tremendous and amazing grace that He allows us to live and that He forgives us and no longer remembers our repented sins. Read these verses of scripture:
Romans 3
20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
Isaiah 1
18 "Come now, and let us reason together,"
Says the LORD,
"Though your sins are as scarlet,
They will be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They will be like wool.
Hebrews 10
10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins;
12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,
13 waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET.
14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,
16
"THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM
AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:
I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART,
AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,"
He then says,
17
"AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS
I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE."
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh,
21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
Hebrews 4
12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Mark 3
28 "Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter;
29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"--
30 because they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit."
Daniel 9
8 "Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.
9 "To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him;
Galatians 3
11 Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."
12 However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, "HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM."
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"--
14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
