Hello! I'm lost in life & faith...

[Matlock]

Hello,

First off, thank you to the CF for allowing me to become a member.

A little about me..

My name is Matt, 33, Divorced, father, live alone, have rarely, if ever, practiced my faith.
I've struggled with my faith since I would say, day one of adopting being a Christian. Realities of human nature, and experience of such, has made it very very difficult to fully embrace being a Christian.

I am one to want the truth and understanding before I fully commit to most anything. That, has what as made it hard for me to embrace something based off of faith.

I believe that GOD exists, at least that's what I tell myself.
The bigotry and Hippocrates I have seen and been around had made it very hard for me to put any effort in becoming a member of a physical Church. The ones I have attended, by force (as a child) and choice; I have seen so many say and act one way within the walls, then outside completely change when they leave. So my ability to rely on them to help in my time of need, is, difficult.

I don't believe, we has humans can truly be perfect while practicing our Faith, but at least I hope most try.



Anyway, why I am here..

As I've said I have struggled my entire life, and never really believed someone within the Church could help. I was showering earlier, and like all great things happen in the shower, either I, or something else told me to try to use an online Forum to ask for help.

So here I am.

I am lost, in faith, and life.. I ask for direction and words for encouragement, and understanding while I navigate to find GOD within myself..


Thank you

 

[Anto9us]

The thing about online forum is that it can be everyday - hours a day maybe - of just learning, discussing Bible...

So that's the encouraging thing I can say about what hit you in the shower.

Going to church one day a week -- if even that -- is a small piece of my time compared to what I learn on this site and half-dozen like it.

Welcome, Matt, glad you're here!

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

If possible and if you want to, Yahweh Willing, message me when you have time.

There's a lot that's never posted online, and you may know as Jesus says the most important of all to realize is about things not seen. (spiritual TRUTH and reality, in line with all Scripture always (testable, proveable) ) .

You have entered a kind of outer limits/ twilight zone - nothing is as it seems , or perhaps everything may be different than it looks,

just like the places you already mentioned.

 

[AvgJoe]

Hello,

First off, thank you to the CF for allowing me to become a member.

A little about me..

My name is Matt, 33, Divorced, father, live alone, have rarely, if ever, practiced my faith.
I've struggled with my faith since I would say, day one of adopting being a Christian. Realities of human nature, and experience of such, has made it very very difficult to fully embrace being a Christian.

I am one to want the truth and understanding before I fully commit to most anything. That, has what as made it hard for me to embrace something based off of faith.

I believe that GOD exists, at least that's what I tell myself.
The bigotry and Hippocrates I have seen and been around had made it very hard for me to put any effort in becoming a member of a physical Church. The ones I have attended, by force (as a child) and choice; I have seen so many say and act one way within the walls, then outside completely change when they leave. So my ability to rely on them to help in my time of need, is, difficult.

I don't believe, we has humans can truly be perfect while practicing our Faith, but at least I hope most try.



Anyway, why I am here..

As I've said I have struggled my entire life, and never really believed someone within the Church could help. I was showering earlier, and like all great things happen in the shower, either I, or something else told me to try to use an online Forum to ask for help.

So here I am.

I am lost, in faith, and life.. I ask for direction and words for encouragement, and understanding while I navigate to find GOD within myself..


Thank you

Hi Matt and welcome to CF! I commend you for acting upon the message you received, by reaching out here on CF.

Question: "What does it mean to believe in God?"

Answer: Simply put, to believe in God is to possess confidence in Him. To believe in God includes an acknowledgement of His existence, of course, but true belief in God is more than that. Theism is a great place to start, but it’s not the goal of the journey.

To believe in God is necessary to having religious faith. Scripture says that believing in the true God is foundational to a relationship with Him: “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Most basically, to believe in God requires a belief that He actually exists. There are many people around the world who believe in the supernatural world, which would include God or “the gods.” Even if we exclude adherents of pagan religions, there are still many people who believe in a single, personal God. This is an important step, but simply believing that God exists is not enough. As James 2:19 explains, the demons believe in God’s existence as well. Simple acknowledgement of God’s existence does not make one godly.

To believe in God should also involve commitment and a change of life. We all believe facts about things that do not change the way we live. Most people believe the facts that they have been told about the necessity of good diet and exercise, for example, yet most of them do not change their lives on the basis of those facts. Many people who believe that God exists do not do anything in light of that fact, so their belief is really no better than that of the demons. Faith that does not result in actions is a dead faith (James 1:26).

But even a belief in God that motivates one to action is not enough. Some people have a belief in God that consumes their lives. They are driven to great acts of sacrifice, religious devotion, or service in the name of God. In most religions, there are people who are willing to do anything for their god or gods. But, depending on the god in question, the actions demanded of the devotee might include self-harm or even murder. Commitment, service, and devotion to a higher power are no guarantee of moral uprightness.

Genuine belief in God is based on who He really is. The Bible’s axiom that “anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists” (Hebrews 11:6) assumes that faith is placed in the God of the Bible, not some other god. Although many people believe that God exists and want to serve Him, the god they worship is one of their own design. People often remake God in their own image, picking and choosing the aspects of the true God they find agreeable. They may believe that He is love (which is a biblical concept—1 John 4:8), but they may then interpret that by their own definition of love. God, for some, is a doting grandfather who gives them good things and wants them to be happy. Members of Christian cults may be devoted to God, but not God as He has revealed Himself in Scripture. To believe in a god of our own making is a worthless faith. If our belief would conform to reality, we must believe in God as He has revealed Himself: the Triune God who is perfect, omniscient, omnipotent, all-sufficient, immutable, true, faithful, gracious, loving, merciful, holy, and just.

To truly believe in God as He has revealed Himself, we must believe in Jesus Christ, who is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus is God in the flesh, and it is through Him that God has shown Himself to us in a way we can all understand: “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1–2). As Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. . . . Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:9–11).

www.gotquestions.org/believe-in-God.html

God’s Plan of Salvation

​

The Futility of Human Effort
The Bible teaches that no amount of human goodness, human works, human morality or religious activity can get anyone into Heaven. Being a good person, belonging to a religious family, being baptized, going to church, none of these can save anyone. Everyone still falls short of God’s perfect standard. (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 4:1-5, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5-7)

The Only Way
Jesus said to him, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) me.” (John 14:6)

What must I do to be saved?
1) Realize that you’re are a sinner. (Romans 3:23, 5:12; 1 John 1:10)
2) Change your mind about Jesus (repent).

• Jesus said: “…unless you repent (have a change of mind that results in a change of action), you will all perish and be lost eternally. (Luke 13:5)
• …now God charges all people everywhere to repent. (Acts 17:30)

3) Believe that Jesus Christ died for you, was buried and rose from the dead.

• We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in the same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger (wrath) against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed His blood, sacrificing His Life for us. (Romans 3:22, 25)
• For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

4) Go to God in prayer, confessing Jesus as Lord and your need for forgiveness of your sins. Give your life to Jesus, making Him the Lord of your life.

• For it is believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. (Romans 10:10)
• For anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.(Romans 10:13)

 

[Tigger45]

Welcome to CF Mat! Keep asking, keep seeking, God’s not intimidated by our minuscule questions. That’s what I did and I haven’t regretted it for a moment.

 

[sunshineforJesus]

Hi and welcome here.

 

[BabyToe]

Hi Matt, your not alone. Let me tell you a little about my testimony: My mother was a native who was forced into residential school as a child by the government and the Catholic Church, along with other protestant church denominations. But by the grace of God, she had not allowed her heart to become hardened towards Jesus, even though she had been persecuted, abused and had her entire culture, traditions, and language stripped from her.
When I grew up my parents didn't force religion on me, so I never went to church or was affiliated with any other religion. But I was given a bible and I remember a time when I sat under a table and listened to my dad speak to a woman about the book of revelations. When I left home and went to college I got involved with the wrong kind of guy and it was a very abusive toxic relationship and it broke my heart. After it ended I started getting into the bar scene and was looking for love in all the wrong places, like drugs, alcohol, sex and anything that felt like an escape from reality. And everything I sought after seemed to just cause more pain and rejection. It was failure after failure. I had gone to get my BFA but didn't succeed. During my last year of art college, I met my husband who helped me get out of that lifestyle but I still had this empty void that needed filling and nothing seemed to help. I felt depressed and angry all the time. Bitterness and resentment grew with each day and all the rejection I had felt worse and worse. I began taking it out on all the people closest to me, mostly my husband. Our marriage was in shambles and things weren't going so well. I also suffered the loss of a beloved younger sister who died a traumatic death, along with another lady close to her passing. This really affected me. I remember writing her obituary and I included Pslam 23. The only problem was, I forgot to write "Thy rod and thy staff comfort me". Later, I began planning my wedding (after having been together for years) and began to get cold feet. Was he the right one etc. I began to doubt all the years we had been together and began to think about another man I had met once that had been interested in me, and thought maybe it should have been that guy, but someone thankfully told me what I felt was lust. It was the first time I began to acknowledge that I was sinning. I decided I needed to marry my husband, that it was the right decision. As I planned our wedding I wanted God to see our marriage. I didn't really care what anyone in the family thought, I just knew I wanted for the first time in my life for God to see this one thing in my life. Later after we married I began to think about giving being an artist one last go (even though I didn't get my BFA). I began writing a comic book and remembered the scene about the table and revelations when I was young, and wanted to create my comic around that. Only, as I began researching ideas online for my comic, I began a search for truth, finding that the prophecies in the bible were matching events happening right now. The more I went down the rabbit trail, I learned more and more truth. I became convinced the bible was true. Then I went onto youtube and watched a video of an evangelist who said if I believed in Jesus, I need to surrender my life to him and pray. I never knew that I needed to pray, so I did, and what I said went like this:
Jesus, please forgive me of all my sin, I give you my past, my present and my future. Please write my name in the Lambs book of life and fill me with your Holy Spirit, and refine me with your fire. As soon as I said that it was like a fire came down out of heaven and landed upon me and in me. It burned, but was gentle. I knew right away I was different, I was born again. I wanted to learn everything about God quickly. But because I didn't know very many christian's and hadn't gone to church, I began a journey to learn more. And with my mothers history I was hesitant on who to trust. The first church I went to After I listened to the sermon, I felt like something wasn't quite right, so I ran home and read the bible for myself. That was one of the first lessons I learned, to take everything to my heavenly Father, to the Word of God. If it didn't line up, throw it out!!! study to shew yourself approved. I soon learned that the more I studied and went searching to find a church home, the more I saw a spiritual famine, adulterated doctrines everywhere, we truly are living in the last days. I want you to also know that I called home to my mother, she was sick. I said to her, mom let us pray for healing. She was pleasantly surprised, I asked her if she believed in Jesus, she said yes, I said have you prayed? She didn't have an answer, so I said mom, lets pray to surrender your life to Jesus, and we did. She believed Jesus, but it wasn't until she fully surrendered that she became a born again christian, this was about 1-2 years ago from today. I've been saved just over 3 years.
God began refining me, he started a process on me similar to pruning. Taking all the things I didn't need away. He gave me the power to overcome the things I was addicted to. He gave me the power to not give up hope. He took away my loneliness. He made me feel loved and accepted. I will never forget Thy staff and thy rod comfort me. God has done an amazing work in my life.

Matt, don't give up, God is with you, he will neither leave you nor forsake you. He will teach you to know his presence, to know his glory, to know his voice and not the voice of the stranger, he will teach you that you can trust in him and that his word will never fail you, and that he will always be at your side. Give him everything, he will lead you in peace. I cannot tell you that things will be easy, because the life of a christian is hard. You will be persecuted, you will be mocked, times will be hard and when you think that it can't get harder it probably will. You will also have the things you don't need stripped away from you, it will hurt, a lot. But it is all worth it. God will not forsake you, he will show you Light in the darkness and you will find an unshakable joy that only he can give you. You will find rest for your soul and for your weary mind. He will take away your rejection, your depression, your loneliness, your anger, your pain. You will be able to stand without fainting, God is Holy and Righteous and only good ever comes from our Father of lights. God saved me from all the things I suffered. You have a sister in Christ, and if I'm really honest, I am a sinner and a hypocrite, but that is why God came to save us. Don't let criticism Harden your heart. I have learned that one of my gifts is to help edify people who drift away from truth, because I do not compromise truth. We need each other and fellowship helps keep us in Gods Light. But like I said, take everything to the scriptures and know that we only need one teacher, and that is the Holy Spirit. Jesus is our God, the Lord is One.

 

[BabyToe]

I also wanted to say, we are to put off the old man and put on the new man. To walk in newness of life. Learn your identity in Christ. How you glorify Jesus, you are made in his image. You are fearfully and wonderfully made!

 

[Deidre32]

I've been lost before, also. It takes time to find your way. Even upon prayer, it takes time to make a heart shift to God. This site has a lot of good information, and support. I hope you find your way. Welcome

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Hello,

First off, thank you to the CF for allowing me to become a member.

A little about me..

My name is Matt, 33, Divorced, father, live alone, have rarely, if ever, practiced my faith.
I've struggled with my faith since I would say, day one of adopting being a Christian. Realities of human nature, and experience of such, has made it very very difficult to fully embrace being a Christian.

I am one to want the truth and understanding before I fully commit to most anything. That, has what as made it hard for me to embrace something based off of faith.

I believe that GOD exists, at least that's what I tell myself.
The bigotry and Hippocrates I have seen and been around had made it very hard for me to put any effort in becoming a member of a physical Church. The ones I have attended, by force (as a child) and choice; I have seen so many say and act one way within the walls, then outside completely change when they leave. So my ability to rely on them to help in my time of need, is, difficult.

I don't believe, we has humans can truly be perfect while practicing our Faith, but at least I hope most try.



Anyway, why I am here..

As I've said I have struggled my entire life, and never really believed someone within the Church could help. I was showering earlier, and like all great things happen in the shower, either I, or something else told me to try to use an online Forum to ask for help.

So here I am.

I am lost, in faith, and life.. I ask for direction and words for encouragement, and understanding while I navigate to find GOD within myself..


Thank you

Try reading and studying the Bible. Everything you need is there. You need to get your eyes off what you can see around you, and believe what the Bible says about you and the promises that God has made for you.

 

[Shadow]

Welcome to the Forums Matt.

 

[mukk_in]

Welcome to CF Matt. I'm sorry to hear about your struggles. There are plenty of spirit filled saints here who can help you out. I hope that you'll give God a chance to help you. Prayers and peace in Christ .

 

[discipler7]

I am lost, in faith, and life.. I ask for direction and words for encouragement, and understanding while I navigate to find GOD within myself..

.
Here's my summary of the Bible or Word of God.

0. God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient. God has His throne in heaven.(EZE.1, REV.4) Satan and his demons rebelled against God.(ISA.14:12, EZE.28:17, REV.12:4-9)
....... God-in-heaven desired to replace the spiritual rebels with S'piritual humans. Earth is like a test-bed for this purpose.

1. On earth, all humans are born sinful/evil/satanic because of Adam's Original Sin = unclean/dirty/unholy = bound for hell when they die.(ROM.5:12)

2. Because of 1. , no humans on earth can see the true face of God and live or qualify to be in heaven.(EXO.33:20, JOHN.1:18 & 5:37)

3. To save fallen humans, God-in-heaven endeavoured to come down to earth in lesser forms as the invisible Spirit or as the visible human(= Angel of God or Jesus Christ). (JOHN.8:58/EXO.3:14, JOHN.1:1 & 14, 1TIM.3:16, 2COR.3:17, ISA.9:6)
....... As the Spirit in the yet-to-be-revealed Jesus Christ, God-in-heaven gave His Law to Moses and the Jews, in order to curb humans' inborn tendency to commit sins/evil-deeds/satanic-deeds.(DEUT.28)
....... As Jesus Christ, God-in-heaven gave the apostles and Christians the sacrificial Lamb of God on the Cross(JOHN.1:29), in order to save them from hell when they die = the free gift of salvation or the kingdom of heaven through faith in Jesus Christ/God.(JOHN.3:14-18, LEV.17:11, HEB.9:22, MATT.4:17, GAL.2:16)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _

A good analogy of our One and Only God is our one and only sun.
... God-the-Father-in-heaven sends His invisible Spirit and His visible Son-Jesus to earth to sustain immortal life = the sun-in-outer-space sends her invisible warmth/heat and her visible light to earth to sustain mortal life.
.
.
.
.
The Bible or Word of God can be broken down into 2 parts, the Old and New Testaments/Covenants, ie,

(i) if you wanna have a good n long life on earth, you need to keep the Law/Word of God.(DEUT.28, MATT.19:21, ACTS.15:24-29, cf; 1COR.5:1-5 & 11:30, 1JOHN.5:16-19),

(ii) if you wanna go to heaven when you die, you need to be saved from hell by Jesus the Christ/Messiah/Savior.(MATT.5:27-30, ROM.5:12, LEV.17:11, HEB.9:22, JOHN.3:16, 1COR.6:9-11, REV.22:12-15)

Christians should aim to achieve both, ie to gain both blessings from God, eg MATT.19:23. Both blessings require faith in God/Jesus, ie believe that He will bless them accordingly.(HEB.11:1-6) Cf; obey or follow like a robot, like a pack of dogs.
.
.
Bc of our inherited Adam's Original Sin, we have the dual problems of INVOLUNTARY satanic/evil/sinful thoughts, eg immoral lust, hate, anger, greed, selfishness, jealousy, fear/worries, doubts, etc, ...and VOLUNTARY satanic/evil/sinful deeds, eg blasphemy, idolatry, murder, adultery/fornication/rape, stealing, lying/cheating/defrauding, etc.
....... The former resulted in being cursed/sent to hell when we die(GEN.3:14-16) and the latter resulted in being cursed by God with a sad and short life on earth. God's Law solved the latter and God's Son solved the former.
....... Usually, before someone committed murder, he/she had originally harbored hate or greed or lust or jealousy or etc in his/her heart and mind.(source is spiritually from Satan - JOHN.8:44, MATT.16:23 & 23:27, MARK.7:21, 1JOHN.3:8)) IOW, all humans are born satanic/evil/sinful/unclean, from their hearts to their feet.
.
.
At ACTS.15:24-29, God/Jesus requires Gentile Christians to begin their born-again lives of the Spirit by keeping 4 easy or non-burdensome laws of Moses, ie avoid eating blood, strangled animals, foods sacrificed to idols and sexual immorality = minimum legal requirement. They r then given time to learn to gradually keep the other laws of Moses which are not a burden, esp morality laws, eg the Ten Commandments at EXODUS.20, LEVITICUS.10:9, DEUTERONOMY.18:9-14, etc.
....... In comparison, Jewish Christians are required by God/Jesus to continue to keep Moses Law, as many as possible, because it is not a burden to them.
....... Eg, Gentile Christians should still avoid homosexuality and continue to eat non-kosher foods because the former is not a burden but the latter is a burden(ie it's a burden for them to keep the food laws).
... Faith in God's Son, Jesus = faith in God's Word/Law/commandments because JOHN.1:1 says the Son is the Word and is also God = justified for salvation by faith in Jesus Christ/God alone, and not by the works of the Law/commandments or faith+works.

We need to properly differentiate between involuntary satanic/evil/sinful thoughts and voluntary sins/evil deeds, and between involuntary or inborn Gentile and Jewish Christians.

Analogy about involuntary evil/satanic thoughts and voluntary evil-deeds/sins - black crows often squawks noisily over our heads but we should not let them settle and build their dirty nests on our heads.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

A lot of good people get tripped up with who they see as hypocrites in the church. But what we have to realise that the church is not meant to be a showcase of perfect Christians. It is a hospital for forgiven sinners. No one is perfect, and the weaknesses and shortcomings of many are too obvious for all to see, and others are hidden from view. The Church is designed as a fellowship centre where like-minded believers come together to encourage each other and find ways of serving the Lord there.

My church was perfect before I joined it, and now it is not perfect as a result. But I didn't care who was faithful to the Lord and who wasn't. My thought was, "How can I serve God here and make a difference?" So I joined the choir and taught Sunday school. Then I became treasurer, and after that an elder. Now I am the senior elder and have influence in the direction of the church. That sounds glamous, but it isn't. Everyone wants to pass the buck to me. Sometimes it drains me and makes me feel burned out. I told one member who was putting pressure on me to do something extra, "I want a life!!"

You see, the church could have been chock full of hypocrites, but I knew I wasn't, and becoming a member of that church meant that although everyone else was a hypocrite, I was honestly serving the Lord the best I could. I have my weaknesses and shortcomings. Just ask my wife!

What I did discover when I got to know the other folks in the church, that they were honest believers and treated the church as a family. Sure we had one or two who were up themselves with a holier than thou attitude, but they didn't last long when they found out they couldn't get their way. My attitude is, "Goodbye and good luck as you go to greener pastures." I have found that over the years, the church has changed for the better since the criticisers, moaners and grizzlers got sick of the church and moved on. Now we have a group of good people who love the Lord and want the best that He can give them.

So, don't be put off by the weaknesses and shortcoming of others. Don't smash your chances of good fellowship by having a perfectionist attitude toward other church members. Remember, you are not perfect either, and someone who doesn't know you could view you as a hypocrite as well. Who knows?

 

[Heavenhome]

A warm welcome to the forum.

I pray that you will find all your answers to life as I have and that is God through our Savior Jesus.
He alone can do this, we here can only steer you towards Him but let me say,

1/ Seek and ye shall find IF you seek with all your heart.

2/Coming onto this forum is perhaps the very prompting from Him to start you on the road to eternal life.

Don't hesitate to ask questions, I pray with all my heart that you will soon be saying "I have found my Lord and Saviour"
Everything will finally make sense.

One other thing I would say, you mentioned that you check out things thoroughly before you commit (wise)
Look to Jesus Christ alone, not people, try as we might, we are fallible, so you will need a Bible to check all these things. Start in a gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John) and pray that God will give you understanding as you read.
I am sure any questions would be welcome here on the forum if you need assistance.
God bless you and lead you

 

[“Paisios”]

Hello,

First off, thank you to the CF for allowing me to become a member.

A little about me..

My name is Matt, 33, Divorced, father, live alone, have rarely, if ever, practiced my faith.
I've struggled with my faith since I would say, day one of adopting being a Christian. Realities of human nature, and experience of such, has made it very very difficult to fully embrace being a Christian.

I am one to want the truth and understanding before I fully commit to most anything. That, has what as made it hard for me to embrace something based off of faith.

I believe that GOD exists, at least that's what I tell myself.
The bigotry and Hippocrates I have seen and been around had made it very hard for me to put any effort in becoming a member of a physical Church. The ones I have attended, by force (as a child) and choice; I have seen so many say and act one way within the walls, then outside completely change when they leave. So my ability to rely on them to help in my time of need, is, difficult.

I don't believe, we has humans can truly be perfect while practicing our Faith, but at least I hope most try.



Anyway, why I am here..

As I've said I have struggled my entire life, and never really believed someone within the Church could help. I was showering earlier, and like all great things happen in the shower, either I, or something else told me to try to use an online Forum to ask for help.

So here I am.

I am lost, in faith, and life.. I ask for direction and words for encouragement, and understanding while I navigate to find GOD within myself..


Thank you

Welcome to the forums. I hope you will find the direction and clarity you seek, and encouragement from your fellow Christians.

 

[Southernscotty]

Welcome to CF friend and I sent you a message. Praying blessings and wisdom come upon you.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Hello,

First off, thank you to the CF for allowing me to become a member.

A little about me..

My name is Matt, 33, Divorced, father, live alone, have rarely, if ever, practiced my faith.
I've struggled with my faith since I would say, day one of adopting being a Christian. Realities of human nature, and experience of such, has made it very very difficult to fully embrace being a Christian.

I am one to want the truth and understanding before I fully commit to most anything. That, has what as made it hard for me to embrace something based off of faith.

I believe that GOD exists, at least that's what I tell myself.
The bigotry and Hippocrates I have seen and been around had made it very hard for me to put any effort in becoming a member of a physical Church. The ones I have attended, by force (as a child) and choice; I have seen so many say and act one way within the walls, then outside completely change when they leave. So my ability to rely on them to help in my time of need, is, difficult.

I don't believe, we has humans can truly be perfect while practicing our Faith, but at least I hope most try.



Anyway, why I am here..

As I've said I have struggled my entire life, and never really believed someone within the Church could help. I was showering earlier, and like all great things happen in the shower, either I, or something else told me to try to use an online Forum to ask for help.

So here I am.

I am lost, in faith, and life.. I ask for direction and words for encouragement, and understanding while I navigate to find GOD within myself..


Thank you

Hello Matlock! It never hurts to turn another page in our lives and see how the story develops further. We're glad you're here and hopefully at least a few of us can give you some substantive things to think about and also offer you some encouragement in what is definitely a hard world to live in---as it is for most of us! Many of us here have also felt the sting of dealing with hard-liner religious folks who also turn out to be utter hypocrites. .....however, I'll just tell you straight off that I'm not perfect either, nor am I yet fully the man that the Lord would like for me to be. But I trudge on through the philosophical jungle and mist in the hope of becoming and overcoming......................one day at a time!

Welcome to CF!

2PhiloVoid

 

[faroukfarouk]

Hi; good to see you. (See link, below, on John 3.16)

 

[FIRESTORM314]

Welcome to the Forum

How much do you want to find out about God?
The answer lies in your desire and the truth is shown in your efforts to seek

Proverbs 2:4
if you truly call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search it out like hidden treasure, then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God.…

Mathew 13:12
He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

Much here