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Struggles by Non-Christians
Am I an actor (with religious OCD)?
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<blockquote data-quote="aiki" data-source="post: 76497425" data-attributes="member: 178791"><p>This is the terrible consequence of modern psycho-therapy, that pathologizes nearly all bad thinking as a "disease" and thus puts such thinking outside of the responsibility of the individual to act to remedy. So long as a person believes their mental/emotional problems are diseases existing apart from their choices to adopt various modes of thinking, they have no reason to do anything to change their thinking. What a wonderful way to keep people permanently dependent upon the psycho-therapeutic industry, perennially reliant upon drugs and the therapist's couch, never actually better in their minds and hearts, but only merely "managed."</p><p></p><p>This isn't the experience God offers to His children in Himself. God's word has nothing to say about how to mend a broken leg, or surgically remove a tumor, or treat an infection, but it has an <em>enormous</em> amount to say about the state of a person's mind and heart, about their inner landscape, their psychology and spiritual condition. God makes a strong, clean distinction between the psychological part of a person and their physical being, repeatedly declaring in Scripture that, regardless of the physical condition a person may be in, walking well with God always results in peace, joy, inner stability, freedom from fear, and contentment.</p><p></p><p><strong>Isaiah 26:3-4 </strong></p><p><strong>3 You will keep <em>him</em> in perfect peace, <em>whose</em> mind <em>is</em> stayed <em>on you</em>; because he trusts in you. </strong></p><p><strong>4 Trust in Jehovah for ever; for in Jehovah, <em>even</em> Jehovah, is an everlasting rock. </strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Matthew 11:28-30 </strong></strong></p><p><strong>28 Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. </strong></p><p><strong>29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. </strong></p><p><strong>30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Philippians 4:6-7 </strong></strong></p><p><strong>6 In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. </strong></p><p><strong>7 And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. </strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Romans 8:14-15 </strong></strong></p><p><strong>14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. </strong></p><p><strong>15 For you received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but you received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. </strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>2 Timothy 1:7</strong></strong></p><p><strong>7 For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline. </strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p>And so on. There are literally hundreds of Bible verses that indicate that, in a right relationship with God, peace and inner stability are found. What has happened, then, to the modern Church that is crowded with believers mired deeply in fear, depression, obsessiveness, and a multitude of other psychoses? Why do they no longer believe that the life of peace and rest God offers to them in Himself is possible? Because modern psycho-therapy has declared that every bad thought and feeling within a person is a disease, an ailment akin to diabetes, or cystic fibrosis, and as such cannot be influenced by mere religious belief. And Christians have adopted this as truth even though it is directly contradicted by Scripture.</p><p></p><p>In my early twenties, I was severely afflicted with OCD, depression and anxiety. In my mid-fifties now, I have not suffered with such things for the last three decades. God set me free just as He said in His word He would, without any drugs or the weekly sympathetic noises of a therapist. In contrast, I have observed people on both drugs and in therapy who are far worse off now after twenty years of "treatment," in some cases, than they ever were!</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Why? The poster was correct. You aren't saved by the strength or depth of your sincerity. That would mean that, ultimately, you have saved yourself: The power of <em>your sincerity</em> is your Savior, not Jesus. But this isn't what the Bible says. We are saved by a Person, in whom we are commanded to trust as our Savior and Lord. (<strong>Romans 10:9-10</strong>)</p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p>But, you see, this is to put yourself above God, to make His rescue of you contingent upon <em>your</em> powers of clarity about yourself. Here, again, you are positioning <em>yourself</em> as your own rescuer, putting even God Himself at the mercy of <em>your ability</em> to break through the layers of fantasy and self-delusion that rest upon you. Do you see why we have to stop looking at ourselves, to cease navel-gazing, and look away from the awful muddle of our own hearts and minds, to Christ, trusting in him to sort us out, to bring us to freedom and the Truth?</p><p></p><p><strong>Hebrews 12:2-3 </strong></p><p><strong>2 <u>fixing our eyes on Jesus</u>, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. </strong></p><p><strong>3 For <u>consider Him</u> who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. </strong></p><p></p><p><strong>2 Corinthians 3:18 </strong></p><p><strong>18 But we all, with unveiled face, <u>beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord</u>, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.</strong></p><p></p><p>God doesn't need you to be utterly clear within yourself, free of self-deception and sin, in order to redeem you and make you His own. It is when you are one of His, indwelt by His Spirit, that He goes to work on you, transforming you, peeling away the falsehoods clouding your vision, scouring off the sin and selfishness that fouls your life. <em><u>He cleans you up</u></em>; He doesn't expect you to clean yourself up for Him.</p><p></p><p>No man ever became more like <em>Jesus</em> by focusing upon <em>himself</em>.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>God doesn't need you to be faithful enough before He saves you. Nowhere in Scripture are we told <em>how much</em> faith is necessary to be saved, only the <em>kind</em> of faith. God responds to a faith, however small, that is not merely of the mind, solely intellectual, but that is also of the heart, that anticipates a changed life corresponding to the truth of what is believed (ie. the Gospel). He takes what little saving faith we have and grows it over time as we walk with Him, making it deep and solid. He doesn't expect us to have such faith <em>before</em> He saves us, however.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In my case, I simply used every surge of obsessive-compulsive thinking to focus upon God's truth and to trust myself to it no matter what feelings I was having. In time, this became a reflex of my thinking that totally dissolved my OCD. But I had to struggle at first against my thought-habit of obsessing about what I feared, quoting God's word to myself, consciously choosing to believe it and trust in it, and in so doing gradually stepping out of the practice I had formed of going round and round within my mind about my fears. As I made God and His truth my focus, I became conformed to it - just as I had become conformed to my fears, bound by them, when I was focused upon them.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well, once again, you've put your salvation all on you, on your seeking it out. Our salvation is never far away, except if we tell ourselves he is. Please understand: Salvation isn't a condition, but a Person, Jesus Christ, who may be found instantly by all who, by faith, trust in him as their Savior and Lord. </p><p> </p><p><strong>1 John 5:11-12 </strong></p><p><strong>11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. </strong></p><p><strong>12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>John 1:4 </strong></p><p><strong>4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>John 14:6 </strong></p><p><strong>6 Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. </strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Acts 4:12 </strong></p><p><strong>12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Acts 17:27-28 </strong></p><p><strong>27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; </strong></p><p><strong>28 for in Him we live and move and exist...</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Revelation 3:20 </strong></strong></p><p><strong>20 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. </strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>Because <em>a feeling of certainty</em> is not the basis upon which you're saved. It is on the basis of what God has promised to us in His word that we know we are saved, regardless of whatever feelings we might have.</p><p></p><p><em>"Feelings come, and feelings go,</em></p><p><em>And feelings are deceiving. </em></p><p><em>My warrant is the word of God,</em></p><p><em>Nought else is worth believing."</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="aiki, post: 76497425, member: 178791"] This is the terrible consequence of modern psycho-therapy, that pathologizes nearly all bad thinking as a "disease" and thus puts such thinking outside of the responsibility of the individual to act to remedy. So long as a person believes their mental/emotional problems are diseases existing apart from their choices to adopt various modes of thinking, they have no reason to do anything to change their thinking. What a wonderful way to keep people permanently dependent upon the psycho-therapeutic industry, perennially reliant upon drugs and the therapist's couch, never actually better in their minds and hearts, but only merely "managed." This isn't the experience God offers to His children in Himself. God's word has nothing to say about how to mend a broken leg, or surgically remove a tumor, or treat an infection, but it has an [I]enormous[/I] amount to say about the state of a person's mind and heart, about their inner landscape, their psychology and spiritual condition. God makes a strong, clean distinction between the psychological part of a person and their physical being, repeatedly declaring in Scripture that, regardless of the physical condition a person may be in, walking well with God always results in peace, joy, inner stability, freedom from fear, and contentment. [B]Isaiah 26:3-4 3 You will keep [I]him[/I] in perfect peace, [I]whose[/I] mind [I]is[/I] stayed [I]on you[/I]; because he trusts in you. 4 Trust in Jehovah for ever; for in Jehovah, [I]even[/I] Jehovah, is an everlasting rock. [B]Matthew 11:28-30 [/B] 28 Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. [B]Philippians 4:6-7 [/B] 6 In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. [B]Romans 8:14-15 [/B] 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but you received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. [B]2 Timothy 1:7[/B] 7 For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline. [/B] And so on. There are literally hundreds of Bible verses that indicate that, in a right relationship with God, peace and inner stability are found. What has happened, then, to the modern Church that is crowded with believers mired deeply in fear, depression, obsessiveness, and a multitude of other psychoses? Why do they no longer believe that the life of peace and rest God offers to them in Himself is possible? Because modern psycho-therapy has declared that every bad thought and feeling within a person is a disease, an ailment akin to diabetes, or cystic fibrosis, and as such cannot be influenced by mere religious belief. And Christians have adopted this as truth even though it is directly contradicted by Scripture. In my early twenties, I was severely afflicted with OCD, depression and anxiety. In my mid-fifties now, I have not suffered with such things for the last three decades. God set me free just as He said in His word He would, without any drugs or the weekly sympathetic noises of a therapist. In contrast, I have observed people on both drugs and in therapy who are far worse off now after twenty years of "treatment," in some cases, than they ever were! Why? The poster was correct. You aren't saved by the strength or depth of your sincerity. That would mean that, ultimately, you have saved yourself: The power of [I]your sincerity[/I] is your Savior, not Jesus. But this isn't what the Bible says. We are saved by a Person, in whom we are commanded to trust as our Savior and Lord. ([B]Romans 10:9-10[/B]) But, you see, this is to put yourself above God, to make His rescue of you contingent upon [I]your[/I] powers of clarity about yourself. Here, again, you are positioning [I]yourself[/I] as your own rescuer, putting even God Himself at the mercy of [I]your ability[/I] to break through the layers of fantasy and self-delusion that rest upon you. Do you see why we have to stop looking at ourselves, to cease navel-gazing, and look away from the awful muddle of our own hearts and minds, to Christ, trusting in him to sort us out, to bring us to freedom and the Truth? [B]Hebrews 12:2-3 2 [U]fixing our eyes on Jesus[/U], the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For [U]consider Him[/U] who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. [/B] [B]2 Corinthians 3:18 18 But we all, with unveiled face, [U]beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord[/U], are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.[/B] God doesn't need you to be utterly clear within yourself, free of self-deception and sin, in order to redeem you and make you His own. It is when you are one of His, indwelt by His Spirit, that He goes to work on you, transforming you, peeling away the falsehoods clouding your vision, scouring off the sin and selfishness that fouls your life. [I][U]He cleans you up[/U][/I]; He doesn't expect you to clean yourself up for Him. No man ever became more like [I]Jesus[/I] by focusing upon [I]himself[/I]. God doesn't need you to be faithful enough before He saves you. Nowhere in Scripture are we told [I]how much[/I] faith is necessary to be saved, only the [I]kind[/I] of faith. God responds to a faith, however small, that is not merely of the mind, solely intellectual, but that is also of the heart, that anticipates a changed life corresponding to the truth of what is believed (ie. the Gospel). He takes what little saving faith we have and grows it over time as we walk with Him, making it deep and solid. He doesn't expect us to have such faith [I]before[/I] He saves us, however. In my case, I simply used every surge of obsessive-compulsive thinking to focus upon God's truth and to trust myself to it no matter what feelings I was having. In time, this became a reflex of my thinking that totally dissolved my OCD. But I had to struggle at first against my thought-habit of obsessing about what I feared, quoting God's word to myself, consciously choosing to believe it and trust in it, and in so doing gradually stepping out of the practice I had formed of going round and round within my mind about my fears. As I made God and His truth my focus, I became conformed to it - just as I had become conformed to my fears, bound by them, when I was focused upon them. Well, once again, you've put your salvation all on you, on your seeking it out. Our salvation is never far away, except if we tell ourselves he is. Please understand: Salvation isn't a condition, but a Person, Jesus Christ, who may be found instantly by all who, by faith, trust in him as their Savior and Lord. [B]1 John 5:11-12 11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.[/B] [B]John 1:4 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.[/B] [B]John 14:6 6 Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. [/B] [B]Acts 4:12 12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."[/B] [B]Acts 17:27-28 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist... [B]Revelation 3:20 [/B] 20 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. [/B] Because [I]a feeling of certainty[/I] is not the basis upon which you're saved. It is on the basis of what God has promised to us in His word that we know we are saved, regardless of whatever feelings we might have. [I]"Feelings come, and feelings go, And feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the word of God, Nought else is worth believing."[/I] [/QUOTE]
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