Christian Life

[Abugah]

Good Day All:

With this thread I would like to receive feedback and questions, etc. for the idea of what properly constitutes a "Christian Life", or, more accurately, what is it, outside of the obvious sins and blessings, respectively, that a Christian should not or should do? I offer this thread because I have had a number of setbacks in my Christian life and belief, and I'd like some outside help and opinions. My pastor is a wonderful man, and the church he runs is BY FAR the most authentic when it comes to following God that have found.

Here goes! I've done my best, which may not be very good, to be a good Christian, and in the process of doing so, I've found that many I considered to be Christian are not, IMHO, and are instead seeming to look authentic for their own base desires. Example? I gave a man at my church a car I had, as he was on disability (not physical) and had no money for transportation, and without the same, he was literally trapped in his apartment, he couldn't go anywhere, or see anyone. So I gave him a fairly nice older car I had, which I wasn't using. I picked him up at his subsidized apartment in the car, so I could take him and it to the DMV to get the title for the car put in his name. Well, on the way over, he did nothing but criticize my driving! When we finished at the DMV, I drove him back to his apartment, and left the car there, and was picked up by my wife. Not once since that time has he evinced any gratitude or thankfulness for my gift to him (I am not rich, and wasn't working at the time, so it was an even bigger "gift" as viewed from my side. ) Thinking he just forgot to say anything, I emailed him, and asked him if he'd like to go for a cup of coffee (my treat) and he never answered the phone, or called me back. I finally found out he had no interest in "communing" with me, since, as he told my wife, NOT ME, "We just didn't click." I've never been so regretful of helping anyone in my life, and this is the THIRD car I gave away gratis in my life, along with a number of monetary gifts which were substantial. I know our God says people are evil, but in addition to having no response from Mr. Car, I felt no presence (which I still don't) of God, or His approval of my doing His will, and I am, frankly, just a little tired of doing His will persistently and getting not even so much as a tiny feeling of His approval. I know we are to live by faith, so perhaps I am just not a very good Christian. Perhaps I ought to do all I've done and not expect any return, not even a thank you, but I am not this "wonderful" of a person. I have since decided that being generous is a trap, and I will not participate in it any longer. I believe I have as a gift, if you can call it that, from God to be generous, but I am not going to continue to do so if there isn't even a SCINTILLA of gratitude, either from the human I helped or God. Selfish? Perhaps, but I am what I am. I gave a women, and I am NOT rich, $10,000 to start an inner city church, I tithed on the sale of BOTH of my homes that I sold, and did that which I, to the best of my ability, believed to be what God would have had me do, and not so much as a "Well done, good and faithful servant." Perhaps others can be hard-core Christians without any "reward" but I cannot. I've being doing this kind of giving ever since I became a Christian, over 20 years ago, and I am just worn out. I would ask kindly that no responders chime in with the "you don't earn your salvation" line, as I am NOT talking about whether God has accepted this sinner as one of His, but why there is NO joy in doing His will for me, ever. Thank you.

 

[Ken Behrens]

This is exactly how I often (not always) get treated, and have been all my life. If God does not tell you to do it, then don't waste your time. If God does tell you to do it, then take Jesus seriously, when He says in Matt. 25, you are doing it for Him. Then, if the guy you do it for does not accept it, let Jesus deal with it. Go on and wait and pray until God tells you to do something else.

Two sources of joy: Rom. 8:28 everything works for your good, and you are simply suffering along with Christ who now lives in you, as they treat Him the same as they treated Him when He walked on earth in His own body (Col. 1:24, I Pet. 4:13)

If you have $10,000 to start an inner city church, pray about whether you should not be the one who starts it.

 

[Andrewofthetribe]

Shake the dust off of your shoes and speak to him no more.Let him have his misery? I think not, did you speak to him and tell him about his impoliteness ? Should you ask him why he critiques thee? I think so, it is our fear that keeps us from speaking openly to all our brothers and sisters. Could it be that he is helping you dispose of a good cause that would otherwise be of scrap and junket?

 

[smithed64]

Good Day All:

With this thread I would like to receive feedback and questions, etc. for the idea of what properly constitutes a "Christian Life", or, more accurately, what is it, outside of the obvious sins and blessings, respectively, that a Christian should not or should do? I offer this thread because I have had a number of setbacks in my Christian life and belief, and I'd like some outside help and opinions. My pastor is a wonderful man, and the church he runs is BY FAR the most authentic when it comes to following God that have found.

Here goes! I've done my best, which may not be very good, to be a good Christian, and in the process of doing so, I've found that many I considered to be Christian are not, IMHO, and are instead seeming to look authentic for their own base desires. Example? I gave a man at my church a car I had, as he was on disability (not physical) and had no money for transportation, and without the same, he was literally trapped in his apartment, he couldn't go anywhere, or see anyone. So I gave him a fairly nice older car I had, which I wasn't using. I picked him up at his subsidized apartment in the car, so I could take him and it to the DMV to get the title for the car put in his name. Well, on the way over, he did nothing but criticize my driving! When we finished at the DMV, I drove him back to his apartment, and left the car there, and was picked up by my wife. Not once since that time has he evinced any gratitude or thankfulness for my gift to him (I am not rich, and wasn't working at the time, so it was an even bigger "gift" as viewed from my side. ) Thinking he just forgot to say anything, I emailed him, and asked him if he'd like to go for a cup of coffee (my treat) and he never answered the phone, or called me back. I finally found out he had no interest in "communing" with me, since, as he told my wife, NOT ME, "We just didn't click." I've never been so regretful of helping anyone in my life, and this is the THIRD car I gave away gratis in my life, along with a number of monetary gifts which were substantial. I know our God says people are evil, but in addition to having no response from Mr. Car, I felt no presence (which I still don't) of God, or His approval of my doing His will, and I am, frankly, just a little tired of doing His will persistently and getting not even so much as a tiny feeling of His approval. I know we are to live by faith, so perhaps I am just not a very good Christian. Perhaps I ought to do all I've done and not expect any return, not even a thank you, but I am not this "wonderful" of a person. I have since decided that being generous is a trap, and I will not participate in it any longer. I believe I have as a gift, if you can call it that, from God to be generous, but I am not going to continue to do so if there isn't even a SCINTILLA of gratitude, either from the human I helped or God. Selfish? Perhaps, but I am what I am. I gave a women, and I am NOT rich, $10,000 to start an inner city church, I tithed on the sale of BOTH of my homes that I sold, and did that which I, to the best of my ability, believed to be what God would have had me do, and not so much as a "Well done, good and faithful servant." Perhaps others can be hard-core Christians without any "reward" but I cannot. I've being doing this kind of giving ever since I became a Christian, over 20 years ago, and I am just worn out. I would ask kindly that no responders chime in with the "you don't earn your salvation" line, as I am NOT talking about whether God has accepted this sinner as one of His, but why there is NO joy in doing His will for me, ever. Thank you.

No Joy at all.
Are you healthy?
You are able to provide for others as you have shown, correct? How did you do that all by yourself? Who do you think gave you your job?
You have a wife? Is she still with you? Why? Who do you think put you two together so that you could have a marriage?
You have children? Are they healthy? Great kids? Who taught you the difference between doing that which is Godly and not, so that you could teach your children this?

You know Job had the same problem. He had so called friends that lie about Him and told Him things that made Him question God.

He didn't like God's answer.
If you have time, Read Job chapters 38, 39, 40, and 41 of Job.
They're short. But to the point.

My question to you, and this is going to probably make you angry. But it's a truthful question.
Did you do these things for popularity? Or Did you do the things you did, because you wanted to give God the Glory for the things that you have?

Living for God, isn't about feelings. Feelings can pull you in the wrong direction. How many times have you felt one thing about someone, just to find out you were wrong. Our emotions are substantially fallible and many times wrong.

I'm not saying we shouldn't have emotions. We Children of God can have very strong emotions about things. But we should never be led by them.

To answer your question about being a "good" Christian, no such thing. None of us are good, not one. We are sinners saved by Grace alone, by Christ alone, by faith alone. We are human and live in a fallen World. There are many lost souls out there who live by one rule. What can they do for themselves and that is it.

We who are Born Again are taught to deny ourselves, pick up our crosses and follow Christ.
We are to help those in need, feed the poor, be there for the sick, put shelter over the homeless. For when we do, even to the least of them. Is doing it to Christ. For He will judge us for the works of faith we do on judgment day.

Pick on the spoiler to see verses.

Spoiler: Matthew 35

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

You seek God's approval. You have it. Your alive, your working, you have a family, you have the means to help those in need, you worked hard for these things yes. But that isn't God's fault that is the fall of man's fault. It's the curse that was placed on man because of sin.
But you have what you have, and get what you get, because God allows you to have it and He is the provider of all things.

If what you seek is here, then here is where you will receive your reward. If you seek you treasure in heaven, then there is where you will receive your reward. And the one in heaven will stay, the one on earth will not.

We all go thru struggles with our faith in God. It's the human condition to question it. It can be a good thing or it can be a bad thing.
Good, because if we are truly a Child of God, then we know that He will provide, He will keep His promises. Good, because when we do go thru these times of struggle we have to remember we don't lean to our own understanding of things, and we have Him to lean on and His grace is sufficient to pull us through. Good, because we know that one day, we won't have to deal with all this sin and Satan any more. We will be with our Lord and Savior, praising Him for what He has done. Living eternally with Him, soaking in His righteousness forever.
There's so much more of the good, that the bad isn't worth speaking except for one thing.

It will make you question God and doubt him. Which again,we all have doubts. We think it is God we doubt. Nope, it's ourselves. God is going to do exactly what He said He would do. We on the other hand, do not always pull thru. Mainly because we are selfish sinners and we need our Savior to make it.

Now I go back to the beginning.

No Joy ever?
Where you not joyful when you saw your wife for the first time?
If you have children were you not joyful when you first held your child?
Are you not joyful, when you do help those in need? Even though they treat you badly, something deep inside of you knows you are doing the right thing.
Are you not joyful, that you get to go to work and make a living, able to take care of your family? Yeah, it's a drag, but you man up and you do it.
Aren't you joyful, to know, that no matter what you do, some one loves you greater than anyone has ever loved you and ever will.
Be joyful and shout praise to God. He is there, He knows you, He drew you to Him, He has something for you to do, and most importantly He loves you so much.
I'm sure if you sit back and think on it, you'll find those things that your joyful about.
Don't let the devil steal your joy. It's yours and it's given to you by God.

 

[Root of Jesse]

Good Day All:

With this thread I would like to receive feedback and questions, etc. for the idea of what properly constitutes a "Christian Life", or, more accurately, what is it, outside of the obvious sins and blessings, respectively, that a Christian should not or should do? I offer this thread because I have had a number of setbacks in my Christian life and belief, and I'd like some outside help and opinions. My pastor is a wonderful man, and the church he runs is BY FAR the most authentic when it comes to following God that have found.

Here goes! I've done my best, which may not be very good, to be a good Christian, and in the process of doing so, I've found that many I considered to be Christian are not, IMHO, and are instead seeming to look authentic for their own base desires. Example? I gave a man at my church a car I had, as he was on disability (not physical) and had no money for transportation, and without the same, he was literally trapped in his apartment, he couldn't go anywhere, or see anyone. So I gave him a fairly nice older car I had, which I wasn't using. I picked him up at his subsidized apartment in the car, so I could take him and it to the DMV to get the title for the car put in his name. Well, on the way over, he did nothing but criticize my driving! When we finished at the DMV, I drove him back to his apartment, and left the car there, and was picked up by my wife. Not once since that time has he evinced any gratitude or thankfulness for my gift to him (I am not rich, and wasn't working at the time, so it was an even bigger "gift" as viewed from my side. ) Thinking he just forgot to say anything, I emailed him, and asked him if he'd like to go for a cup of coffee (my treat) and he never answered the phone, or called me back. I finally found out he had no interest in "communing" with me, since, as he told my wife, NOT ME, "We just didn't click." I've never been so regretful of helping anyone in my life, and this is the THIRD car I gave away gratis in my life, along with a number of monetary gifts which were substantial. I know our God says people are evil, but in addition to having no response from Mr. Car, I felt no presence (which I still don't) of God, or His approval of my doing His will, and I am, frankly, just a little tired of doing His will persistently and getting not even so much as a tiny feeling of His approval. I know we are to live by faith, so perhaps I am just not a very good Christian. Perhaps I ought to do all I've done and not expect any return, not even a thank you, but I am not this "wonderful" of a person. I have since decided that being generous is a trap, and I will not participate in it any longer. I believe I have as a gift, if you can call it that, from God to be generous, but I am not going to continue to do so if there isn't even a SCINTILLA of gratitude, either from the human I helped or God. Selfish? Perhaps, but I am what I am. I gave a women, and I am NOT rich, $10,000 to start an inner city church, I tithed on the sale of BOTH of my homes that I sold, and did that which I, to the best of my ability, believed to be what God would have had me do, and not so much as a "Well done, good and faithful servant." Perhaps others can be hard-core Christians without any "reward" but I cannot. I've being doing this kind of giving ever since I became a Christian, over 20 years ago, and I am just worn out. I would ask kindly that no responders chime in with the "you don't earn your salvation" line, as I am NOT talking about whether God has accepted this sinner as one of His, but why there is NO joy in doing His will for me, ever. Thank you.

First, welcome to Christian Forums and to the Christian Life! Try to understand that we should do what we do without expecting ANY reward. May I suggest that, rather than make substantial gifts to individuals, that you make them to organizations that you can see help others with them? For example "Kars for Kids" for an auto or boat, or the Food Bank for substantial money? Regarding your reaction, this is something God wants you to work on. Your "Well done, good and faithful servant" will come at the Pearly Gates, brother. And while I don't believe we can earn our salvation, I do believe we contribute to it, by God's grace. Again, your joy will be in heaven.

 

[Imnotjokingwellnotmostly]

Good day to you! God bless you.

 

[drjean]