Do you *sometimes* wonder if you're a "TRUE" Christian!?!?!?

jacksoncharvel61 said:

But have you guys, ever like sometimes, just wanted to "throw in the towel" when it came to being a Christian, because things seem(ed) to get hard(er)???

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Yes I have wanted to throw in the towel many a time. Today in fact. But after reading your post I don't think I will. If you can hang in there, I will too. God bless you.

Yep, I too wonder the same thing. However, it's the same wonder at times that makes me want to strive that much harder to be a good servant to the Lord.

I can't tell you how many times, I've stumbled, and the devil used that to tell me to just give up and that I'll never be the person God wants me to be. Now I recognize Satan's tactics and work that much more against them.

jacksoncharvel61 said:

...I wonder if I'm a Christian or not, because I touch a few times a week and all and do things that don't make Jesus happy(even though i'm trying to stop, IT'S HARD ),

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I talk about masturbation because that was the main thing you bought up.

Masturbation is not a sin at all but a gift of God with 50 health benefits for all to enjoy.

Do a Yahoo.com web search on christianmasturbation and on masturbation is not a sin but a gift from God with 50 health benefits for all to enjoy.

jacksoncharvel61 said:

...and all and do things that don't make Jesus happy(even though i'm trying to stop, IT'S HARD

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List some of the other things you are having a problem with and find hard to stop.

Jesus said my yoke is easy. He said come to me i will give you rest. Truth will set you free. God loves you just reflex his love to others. Love God and love other as you love yourselves that fulfills the whole law. We live under the law of love today.

My College professor said: If being a Christian was easy, everyone would do it.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I have known Christ for 25 years now and am more convinced now than ever.Salvation yours and mine is ALL of Grace begining,middle and end.He saves He keeps and He delivers.All of Grace.Look to him alone not to ourselves,trusting in Him alone.
(Heb 7:25 NKJV) Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

My freinds God did not save you for anything in you but through His Grace and by His Grace He will take us to glory.

Actually if you consider it to be a sin then it is... i Dont remember where i read that in the bible but i sorta remember...

and we arent worthy to be Christians but By the Grace of God we are.

Furthermore
Rom 3:22 Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference

i effect this proves that THROUGH Christ Jesus we can be righteous.

So what does it mean when Paul says:
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

IMO he means that we arent worthy of the Glory of God when we werent yet saved but "Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe"

Through Faith in Jesus Christ we can have the righteousness of God unto us

So now the issue would be Faith.
Do you have enough Faith in God?

And also note that we Must have the armour of God put on constantly

Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Note this... we often arent strong in the lord and in the power of his might. It means that dont be afraid of those who persecute you and Stand Up for God

Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].

E.G.
Pride(i think its a Power/ruler of darkness/Principality) is a very crucial factor that crushes people and makes them lose their salvation. it binds and blinds people.
Alone we can do nothing to change ourselves so stop trying with your OWN MIGHT.
But In Christ Jesus we will be reformed if we keep praying CEASELESSLY never losing heart as Change cant be overnight unless God wants it to be.

And against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness and spritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places we cant do no nothing but through Christ Jesus we PWN em... okok... we will crush em
How? well just talk to the demon. Its there and just speak to it saying you come in Christ Jesus and that hes getting OUT. Be fierce, dont falter have confidence in the Lord's power and dont be afraid of losing face(getting embarrassed)


And also you need to be on guard against lies.
Dont fool yourselves by trying to make something look UN-Sinful when it is.

If Satan can deceive 1/3 of the Inhabitants of Heaven then believe me He can DECEIVE the WHOLE World.

Thats why you got the belt of truth to expose the lies.
Ask God if theres any lie of the devil in your life and ask him to uproot any lies.
Ok enough for now i know long posts make people wanna skip em

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ,
Jeriel(my real name -_-)

I think most Christians have had the same questions and doubts. I know I sure have. I think the questions come from a variety of sources. Sometimes we bring these feelings on ourselves. It's easy for us to beat ourselves up if we are struggling with something. We say 'if I am really saved, why I do keep doing this or that?' Or we might compare ourselves to another Christian who seems to have it all together, and wonder 'why I am not as spiritual as that person?'

It's important that we don't confuse our feelings with our faith. Think of a train with an engine and two cars. The power is in the engine, that is what drives the train. We'll call the engine FACT, next is the first car which is called FAITH and finally the last car is FEELING. When FEELING starts to fall off the tract FAITH will help pull it back up. And if FAITH starts to fall, FACT is there to pull it back on track. We have to remember the facts. And where do we find the facts? In the Bible.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

I John 5:11-13 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

When feelings of doubt come to you pray about it. Our enemy the devil, wants to discourage us. Ask God to protect you and to replace those feelings with peace. He will get you thru difficult times. God didn't bring you this far to let you go now.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ

Don't forget to read the Bible too.
Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

And if you want some extra reading, get a book called If I Really Believe, Why Do I Have These Doubts? by Dr. Lynn Anderson. It's really good.

Finally.... Don't give up!!!

jd

oh yea and no comparisons are allowed

2Cr 10:12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

Instead

2Cr 10:13 But we will not boast of things without [our] measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.

Yes I have wondered, but the truth is we all have fallen and come short of the glory of God. I think that as long as we go to God in prayer and with a humble, repentant spirit God will forgive every slip. As a few others said, The Christian path is not an easy one and I'm going out on a limb and say that for a teenager it is even tougher. I know when I was a teenager, I just wanted to fit in... my hormones were out of control and my christian family did not seem to 'get me'. Now, I do not worry so much about fitting in, my hormones have calmed down (slightly )and I can see that my christian family and friends were only trying to help me ease the pain of growing. Does that mean the Christian life has gotten easier? No, but I just automatically go to God with it and he takes care of me.
God is for us, he knows how hard it is to go against the 'norms of the world' and he will give his children the strength to endure til the end!!

I have been born-again since 12 years approx. and I thought this question many times till now. I think this is a thought of every True Christian who wants to live the Christian Life sincerely to his/her best possible. And again and again the in-dwelling Spirit of God in us reminds us untiringly that God still loves us and then thoughts of assurance also come into our minds (if God percieves that we are loosing our faith in Him).

This kind of thought is a "humble thought" too for a Christian to have from time to time, so that, we don't become too over-confident or proud that we are a "True Christian".

As far as Sin is concerned, Sin separates us from God. But, the moment we repent sincerely and seek forgiveness from Him and ask Him to cleanse that Sin with His precious blood. He will surely forgive us and will not remember that Sin anymore in future. We again get-back our fellowship with God and continue-on in with our walk with God.

I would like to add this quote from Charles.H.Spurgeon which is relevant for this topic :-

"He That Cometh To Me I Will In No Wise Cast Out
We come to Him in weakness and sin, with trembling faith, and small knowledge, and slender hope; But, He does not cast us out. We come by prayer, and that prayer broken; with confession, and that confession faulty; with praise and that praise far short of His merits; But, yet He recieves us. We become diseased, polluted, worn out and worthless; But, He doth in no wise cast us out. Let us come again today to Him Who never casts us out."

-- Charles.H.Spurgeon.

JMO
Vincent

ive done some things that i know havent glorified God in the least bit and every once and a while i wonder if im really a christian or not. but i know that i am and a strong one at that...im pretty sure its satan playing tricks on me...

Wow this is second time I have seen this topic on here today and I think its great that there are people on here willing to discuss these issues as there are a lot of stiff necks that would gasp and say you discuss such things so this is really cool, for starters I have been through issues about masturbation myself and wonder if it were sinful as it does not involve another person but the bible does say that if you look on another in lust you have alreay commited adultry in your heart so I dont know if so much the act of it or what your thinking about to get excited in the first place you know what I mean, sex in a natural desire that we all have and God is aware of this and he also knows the struggles people will have with it, that is why it is mentioned so much in the bible, things that are good pure and holy and of good report think on these things is mentioned in the bible so we have to learn how to ( through prayer and reading the word) keep our minds where they need to be and think on the things that would make the Lord pleased, so every time you feel yourself starting to think on things that are impure start praying or quoting scripture, call a friend a talk about something else but learn how to avoid those thoughts that the enemy puts in your mind because if you resist the devil he has to flee that dont mean he wont come back with something else to bug you with later but the more you resist things the stronger your faith becomes and the easier resisting becomes as you grow closer to Lord and further away from the flesh. It takes time that is why it is born again, when we are babies we cant do nothing for ourselves we have to rely on our parents for everything its the same for a new Christian as baby grows and starts learning to walk how many times do they fall before they get it right but what do they do when they fall they get right back up and try again once again its the same for a growing Christian as you learn to walk in the Lord you will fall so what should you do get back up and keep on walking dont fall and stay down as God knows we are not perfect thats why he sent his Spirit to guide us because he knew we could not do it on our own and also why he died for us.
When children do things wrong does a parent stop loving their child ofcourse not and God's love is so much greater than ours so if we are that forgiving of our own children how much more forgiving would God be of his.

I haven't thought that yet but I'll post again if I do. I do ask myself if I am being as christ like as I should be... heh that question is always no because I always have more to go to get to perfect. I will keep running the race.

i have doubted when i was a baby in the lord.. but since then ..no i do not doubt that.
the bible tells us to believe and i do .. i know that i am saved.. no worries there..
i think its normal to have doubts starting out.. but after you are saved for yrs.. your realtioship with God gets strong..and so does your faith.. you know with out a shadow of a doubt you are Gods child.