Deleted

I will boast of my weaknesses so Christ's power will rest on me. 2nd Corinthians Chapter 12 Verse 9

There is no fear in Love.

Love is made mature in us so we have confidence on the day of judgment, because we are like God in this world.

God is love.

The bible also teaches us to replace what is not of God within us, with what is of God. A good example of this is Philippians 4:4-9 that teaches us to replace the reflex of anxiety with trusting God and prayer instead.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. (2nd Peter 1:5-7)

This passage and others like it are helpful because it gives steps on what to add in increasing measure until the whole thing fits together like the way we breathe.

RawStrength said:

Awesome, thank you. Do you have any more you’d like to share with me?

Click to expand...

I think the above are all that I am reminded of at the moment. I hope it helps.

RawStrength said:

Hi everyone, I have a strong desire to be a great man of god, but I am still struggling with indulgence, explosive anger, depression, finances, and a few other things. I constantly am surrounded by destructive people, and I have little time when my mind is at ease, if any at all. I was just looking for some powerful scriptures anybody could send me, or any verses anybody could suggest I read that are along the lines of how to become a true, powerful, man of god, how to deal with internal struggles, and how to serve others properly, and in a Christian way. I am open to any type of verse or scripture that you feel would help me out, or I could learn from, (which is quite literally all of them) but am most looking for ones leaning towards those topics. Thank you to anyone who read this.

Click to expand...

1) Anything and everything in the book of Proverbs

2) The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew Chapters 5, 6 & 7

3) The letter of James (it's only five chapters, but packed with vitamins and iron)

Also, the book of John especially Chapters 13-18 and Rom 8.

RawStrength said:

Hi everyone, I have a strong desire to be a great man of god, but I am still struggling with indulgence, explosive anger, depression, finances, and a few other things. I constantly am surrounded by destructive people, and I have little time when my mind is at ease, if any at all. I was just looking for some powerful scriptures anybody could send me, or any verses anybody could suggest I read that are along the lines of how to become a true, powerful, man of god, how to deal with internal struggles, and how to serve others properly, and in a Christian way. I am open to any type of verse or scripture that you feel would help me out, or I could learn from, (which is quite literally all of them) but am most looking for ones leaning towards those topics. Thank you to anyone who read this.

Click to expand...

Read 2 Tim 2:15 and 1 Cor 11:1 ,

dan p

RawStrength said:

Hi everyone, I have a strong desire to be a great man of God........

Click to expand...

Hello RawStrength, here's a short passage, Mark 10:35-45, that you may find helpful in your pursuit of greatness as a Christian (take special note of v43-45, and of v45 alone, as it is the key or central verse of Mark's Gospel).

Also, here are a couple of short articles on the topic for you to consider as well.


God bless you!!

--David

RawStrength said:

I am still struggling with indulgence, explosive anger, depression, finances, and a few other things.

Click to expand...

Hello again RawStrength, I'll give you a few verses/passages that come to mind about some of these things and we can talk about them later if you'd like to.

RawStrength said:

I constantly am surrounded by destructive people, and I have little time when my mind is at ease, if any at all.

Click to expand...

God bless you!!

--David
p.s. - the following quote has been very helpful to me, especially when I find myself at some kind of crossroad in life and am in need of making a decision about the best way to go or the best thing to do next.

RawStrength said:

Hi everyone, I have a strong desire to be a great man of god, but I am still struggling with indulgence, explosive anger, depression, finances, and a few other things. I constantly am surrounded by destructive people, and I have little time when my mind is at ease, if any at all. I was just looking for some powerful scriptures anybody could send me, or any verses anybody could suggest I read that are along the lines of how to become a true, powerful, man of god, how to deal with internal struggles, and how to serve others properly, and in a Christian way. I am open to any type of verse or scripture that you feel would help me out, or I could learn from, (which is quite literally all of them) but am most looking for ones leaning towards those topics. Thank you to anyone who read this.

Click to expand...

A person can read the Bible from cover to cover, repeatedly, over a period of 100 years or more, and that would not help them to "be a great man of" God, or put away "indulgence, explosive anger, depression", etc.

What you need, is first... a correct knowledge of God and Christ (John 17:3); a correct knowledge of truth (1 Timothy 2:3, 4).
These will motivate you to build a relationship with God, and live your life in harmony with God's will.

Second... Once you build such a relationship, you will work at maintaining it, and what will help you to do so, is regular fellowship with God's people (Hebrews 10:23, 24), which in turn will encourage you to do regular personal study and meditation on God's word (Psalm 1:1-3), and participate regularly in Christian activity (2 Timothy 4:2, 5).

These will help you conquer any wrong habits and conduct, and be a complete man of God. 2 Peter 1:2-9
Pray about these things, and God will supply you, if you are sincere in heart.

I apologize for my lack of clarity.
I don't think you understood clearly, but it's my fault. Not your.

RawStrength said:

I'm aware that simply reading biblical text will not change me, or anyone, I'm not that ignorant, but thank you for telling me so, in case I was.

Click to expand...

I was not suggesting this.
Reading; thinking; meditating... These are all good, but they will not get you what you are aiming at, without those things I mentioned.

RawStrength said:

One must have a strong will to follow God, do the right thing, give up sinful habits, have faith, serve others in a positive way, and be diligent in all of these actions.

Click to expand...

This is correct, but those two things I mentioned, are what helps. Strong will by itself, is not enough.
Many people have a willingness to do what is right. They are sincere, but they lack. Why?

RawStrength said:

What I'm asking for are scriptures or stories to enlighten me, and provide me a message on how to control these habits so I can apply them to my life.

Click to expand...

I understand. Thank you.
So you are looking for encouragement, or motivation.
Am I understanding you correctly?

Okay, here is what I can offer.
God has a people. They are a united people... which means they speak in agreement.
They fellowship together, and are united in what they learn, or are taught. 1 Corinthians 1:10; 1 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Corinthians 12:19-27; 1 Corinthians 14:13
God's holy spirit flows among them, and guides them through God's appointed ones. Acts 20:28; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12, 13

The result is "oneness of the Spirit in the bond of peace [each individual working together to make the whole successful]." Ephesians 4:3
The spirit along with the knowledge of the truth of God's word, can help us to be united in every good work (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). So, imagine if one is immersed in it, because of being in the environment where if flows.

RawStrength said:

I like to collect as much truth and important information as possible from genuine people.

Click to expand...

I believe you are sincere, and it seems you are searching.
Trying to collecting as much truth as possible from the scriptures is a good thing.

RawStrength said:

I agree with everything you said, and thank you for taking the time to provide me with some good advice and scripture. On the second thing you said, this forum has actually been helping me do so, although I need to also start going to a good church.

Click to expand...

Perhaps you are hoping to find "a good church" by asking questions here.
If you find the good Church, that will help... which is the point I was making there.

RawStrength said:

Seeing people actually listen to what I have to say, and caring enough to provide genuine advice and not look down on me is definitely encouraging me to keep on moving, study, and help other people at a more consistent rate.

Click to expand...

I understand now that you were looking for encouragement and motivation.
I did not realize that before, sorry.
I will try to remember this for future.

RawStrength said:

Thank you Corey, that was great.

Click to expand...

Thank you.

RawStrength said:

You don't have to apologize at all, thanks for the help. I believe I fully understand what you're telling me. What I meant by the first thing I said was that I know that simply reading the bible will not get me where I want to be, I must try to understand it as best as possible and apply it to my life, along with many other actions I need to take to live a proper life as a Christian, and I was telling you I understand that and I'm not that ignorant. Nothing more, nothing less. You didn't offend me whatsoever either, I appreciate you. No my objective is not to receive encouragement and motivation, it is to learn as much truth as I can and apply it to my life, and also to involve myself with people who also want to do so, or help others do so. Also to speak up when I believe I should and I'm qualified to. Discipline, knowledge and knowledge on how to discipline myself better is what I seek for here, and what I need. I was just telling you that encouragement and motivation does help me, and I do appreciate it, especially given the fact that I've been void of any of that my entire life, and it does make me more productive because I'm in a more positive hardworking mindset, and not surrounded by negativity, but I can not rely on that I have to be disciplined, and that is not the objective of my post, it is just a bonus that I will always be open to. I have to be at a point where I can be hardworking, diligent, clear headed, optimistic and a true man of God without relying on encouragement or motivation in the slightest, although I do not for the most part, I'm still not fully there yet. I'm pretty odd and hard to understand sometimes, thanks for bearing with me I really do appreciate it.

Click to expand...

Okay, thanks.
You would need then, the correct knowledge of God and Christ (John 17:3); a correct knowledge of truth (1 Timothy 2:3, 4), and regular fellowship with God's people (Hebrews 10:23, 24), which in turn will encourage you to do regular personal study and meditation on God's word (Psalm 1:1-3), and participate regularly in Christian activity (2 Timothy 4:2, 5).

Pray about these things, and God will supply you, if you are sincere in heart.
I'm glad to hear you understood.
Thanks for sharing.
All the best.

Hi @RawStrength. Hope you are well his morning.
How did yesterday go?

I want to apologize to you, since I made a couple mistakes earlier, and I believe the spirit is urging me to correct those.
Please don't tell me, I don't have to apologize. I have to. I made mistakes.

First. The scripture I reference - Hebrews 10:23, 24, should really have been Hebrews10:24, 25. Big difference.

The second mistake I made was failing to be empathetic.
I looked back at your OP, and realized, I read it superficially, without reflecting on the spirit of it. Sorry about that.

You said...

I have a strong desire to be a great man of god, but I am still struggling with indulgence, explosive anger, depression, finances, and a few other things. I constantly am surrounded by destructive people, and I have little time when my mind is at ease.

Click to expand...

The last sentence says everything, and I had overlooked this.
I can more understand your struggle, by thinking about that.

This world is not easy on anyone trying to go against it.
It can be compared to being in slime, and as you lift yourself up, and attempt to move out of it, you are hit from behind with a load of slime from a bucket.
Or, it can be compared to being in a building with toxic fumes, and you are without a gas mask.

The apostle Paul said it is the spirit of the ruler of the authority of the air Ephesians 2:1, 2
in which once you walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience,

Being bombarded each day with this atmosphere, makes it hard for anyone to walk in the light.
Though hard, it can be done, if we feed and meditate on God's word daily, keep focused on the work Jesus gave his followers, and look forward to, and fellowship with God's people.
These refresh us, and give us the protection we need to get through this dark world.

We need the "complete armor of God".
Ephesians 6:11-18
11 Put on the complete armor of God, for you to be able to stand against the schemes of the devil,
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
13 Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed,
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace.
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.

We need each piece of equipment, if our armor is to be complete.
No soldier of Christ will survive an all out direct attack from the wicked one, if he fails to put on every piece of spiritual armor from God.

Did you notice the first piece of armor Paul mentioned? The belt - Truth.
If we do not have a correct knowledge of truth (John 17:3; 1 Timothy 2:3, 4; Romans 10:2), we don't stand a chance.
We need the other pieces though. All.

With regard to anger, a scripture you can reflect on, is Galatians 5.

How though, can one "walk by the Spirit", or be led by or influenced by the spirit?
What do you think needs to be in place, for that to be possible?

Hello again @RawStrength, the easiest way to create a PM/Private Message (aka "Start Conversation") is to click on a member's name or avatar and then click on "Start Conversation" at the bottom of the little window that pops up.

I believe that you need to have 25 messages and 10 likes to do so however, so as soon as you post 1 more message I believe that you will be able to create and/or participate in a PM with other members.

God bless you!!

--David
p.s. - we can just continue to talk to one another right here in your thread too, of course