How can i make myself desire God above all things

[MercyandFaith]

I know this feeling well. I am a very cold Christian but wish it weren't this way.

 

[tturt]

To some extent, it's left up to us. James 4:8 Draw near to G_d and He'll draw near to you. I didn't notice the order til someone pointed it out to me.

Suggesting to set aside a time to get our minds off ourselves and others and deliberately focus on Yahweh by thanksgiving, praising Him, playing some music ((like religious Christmas lyrics that are about Him), focusing on Scripture such as Psa 145 (can use audio Bibles at biblegateway.com), thinking about some of His titles, names, and attributes and singing a song to an audience of One, etc. based on such Scriptures as I Thess 5:17; John 4:24; Psa 46:10, 69:30; 71:23; and 100:4.

 

[TheyCallMeDave]

Rubiks, don't think that you have to perfect. Because none of us are, or ever will be. Not in this life at least. Don't think to be a good Christian you have to check off a list of things to do, clubs to join, charities to donate to. All of our walks of faith are different. God doesn't have the same plan for every single person. That would be boring.

At first, my interest for God was pretty small, and what little interest that was there was purely out of selifshness ("Just tell me how to be saved, and then get out of my life") 6 months later, a desire for God had consumed me, eclipsing everything else that I used to value. It takes time to mature in your faith, I still have so long to go, and so many things to learn. I'm no better than you, God loves you just as much as anyone else on these forums.

Do not think for an instance that you have to earn His love by doing a bunch of little good deeds. The point here is, geunine love for God will make you WANT to serve Him. The desire to serve has to be there.

Incorrect on several accounts :

1. God calls us to a higher standard of living...not financially or materially...but in our desires and goals.

1.a. God does have the same plan for each of us that call ourselves Followers of Christ ; to love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, mind, soul, and strength which means putting forth effort to get there and maintain that . God doesnt call us to mediocrity and says that if we are just lukewarm toward him that he will spit us out of his mouth . Hes not looking for a fanclub, but real devoted Followers which means self sacrifice . And no., that is never 'boring'..in fact it is what gives deep meaning and purpose to ones Christian Walk.

2. God loves us all the same, however, to be a genuine Child of the Most High God is a reserved place with him. And we should do all we can to live up to that undeserved high Title. In other words : DIVE IN all the way.

3. Not only the desire has to be there..but action is also required. In fact, that is the evidence that our faith is real .

 

[The Fire Rises]

Incorrect on several accounts :

(not really, but I understand how you may have misinterpreted my post. No worries though, it happens a lot on here lol )

1. God calls us to a higher standard of living...not financially or materially...but in our desires and goals.

(I never said that He didn't. I was just trying to caution the OP against falling into a "saved by works" kind of thinking, because I used to be like that, and it was horrible. In any case, I completely agree with you.)
1.a. God does have the same plan for each of us that call ourselves Followers of Christ ; to love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, mind, soul, and strength which means putting forth effort to get there and maintain that . God doesnt call us to mediocrity and says that if we are just lukewarm toward him that he will spit us out of his mouth . Hes not looking for a fanclub, but real devoted Followers which means self sacrifice . And no., that is never 'boring'..in fact it is what gives deep meaning and purpose to ones Christian Walk.

(I'm sorry, but I feel like this is kind of nit-picking my post. Again, I agree with everything you said. I was just trying to give the OP words of comfort and encouragement. I don't remember advocating for lukewarm faith or anything less than complete trust in Christ. And as far as God's plan goes, yes, if we want to get technical about it we all have the same mission, which is being Christ-followers. What I was trying to say is that He calls different people to serve in different way. For example we won't all be preachers or missionaries. If we were ALL called to be preachers, that WOULD be boring lol)
2. God loves us all the same, however, to be a genuine Child of the Most High God is a reserved place with him. And we should do all we can to live up to that undeserved high Title. In other words : DIVE IN all the way.
(Just as I said. And I never said we shouldn't dive in all the way...)
3. Not only the desire has to be there..but action is also required. In fact, that is the evidence that our faith is real .
Again, I never said that action wasn't required, nor was I trying to imply that. James is one of my favorite books in the NT, because it says things flat out - faith without works is dead. I was just trying to get across the fact that the desire to act is what leads to the action itself. In other words, we aren't Christian because we do good things, we do good things because we are Christians. Hopefully that clarifies things. I really don't want to derail this thread with a lengthy discussion. But if you wanted to talk more, feel free to PM me brother

Peace

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[TheyCallMeDave]

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I didnt mean to rub you up the wrong way ; I just felt that by your response to the OP that you werent being definitive in havin him jump in all the way . My answers were a combination of addressing some of your points in addition to elaborating in general for the OP's edificatio.n. Again, no meanness intended . Regards.

 

[The Fire Rises]

I didnt mean to rub you up the wrong way ; I just felt that by your response to the OP that you werent being definitive in havin him jump in all the way . My answers were a combination of addressing some of your points in addition to elaborating in general for the OP's edificatio.n. Again, no meanness intended . Regards.

Oh, no need to apology brother. One thing I love about CF is people have different perspectives on the same subject, it adds a lot more variety and opportunities to learn. We both have the OP's best interests at heart, and when communicating over the internet, it's inevitable that there will be some miscommunication. When a post actually makes me angry I usually just don't reply at all lol

 

[child630]

Then, you need to be Born Again. That is, you first need to follow the passage i have in my signature below and meaning it very very sincerely, then leaving all known lifestyle sin youre in, and entering practices that will help you to grow in Christ including love for him -- some of the more vital ones are : Regular Bible Study alone and with others in a group, attend a local Protestant Church regularly, start serving God and Others when opportunities present themselves , regularly attend a Christian SIngles Ministry if you are single , and get deep with God in prayer several times per day.

Thats what you must do. But you have to want to do that . If you wish to remain uninterested in God, then you will only have condemnation to look forward to especially right after you die to this short earthly life which could be at any moment in reality. Regards.

erasing forum. Who cares what I think

 

[motherprayer]

erasing forum. Who cares what I think

God cares what you think! He loves you!

 

[child630]

God cares what you think! He loves you!

Thank you and God bless you