I am lost

[ToBeLoved]

I did work on my relationship with God! I’m sick of people twisting my words! I prayed daily and listened to worship music and tried this. I did this in obedience to God! People here are rude and not understanding!

No. We are not trying to be rude. We are trying to get you to think through what decisions you made and if you need to change how you view and relate to God.

Faith is not built thinking God just fixes everything. Faith is built each day. Day by day.

Would it be loving to leave you in error and not correct your incorrect assumptions? No. Not when it comes to eternity.

 

[paul1149]

Paull1149, what do you mean that I cannot live up to these expectations?If you mean that I will never be perfect, I do understand that. I understand that no matter how hard I try, I will always stumble, but that will not keep me from trying my best to cut all sin out of my life. I have always thought that is what a christian is supposed to do, try their best every day to keep all of God's commandments. I have learned from my post called "Good Works", that James and Paul are saying that a natural faith result in good works. Good works are following God's commandments, right? I want to please God/Jesus and do everything in my power to keep all of His commandments.

Yes, that's a good outlook. Even Jesus said, "exert yourselves vigorously to enter the kingdom". Christianity is not merely an intellectual pursuit.

But let's go a bit deeper, to motivations. Why are we striving to do the right thing, to take every thought captive, to conform ourselves to Christ? If it is to establish our own righteousness apart from God, that is wrong motivation. If we could do that, then Christ died needlessly. We can never be perfect, and perfection is God's standard.

This is why Paul writes, "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." -Rom 10:4 We don't do works in order to make ourselves righteous. Our righteousness derives from Christ. We do it in response to His love, because nothing else would be worthy of Him. As 1John writes, "we love because He first loved us".

If you understand that God himself is the prime mover of our salvation, it puts works in its proper light. It takes the strain off, because we are no longer trying to avoid damnation, we are trying to glory God. This is a healthy, positive attitude, and one that is grace-filled. It is also one that sets us free from the chains of performance-based acceptance. All we need do now, in essence, is sit at Jesus' feet, as did Mary of Bethany. Of course the works will follow, but His presence will go with us as we do them.

So I'm not trying to discourage you from good works. But I want you to be free from the concept of God as a harsh taskmaster, and to understand the astonishing love that drove Jesus to the Cross on our behalf, and to find your strength in that love rather than performance.

 

[Jesus' Girl]

I'm not surprised that my comments confuse you. I get this a lot from new believers in particular when I teach them "Christianity 101" at my church.

First of all, the "fear of the Lord" is not a craven fear; it is not the fear a slave has toward a hard and cruel master; it is reverential awe, a sort of awe-struck recognition of the incredible majesty, and power, and glory of God.

If you obey God, then your obedience must begin with the First and Great Commandment which is to love God with all of your being. (Matthew 22:36-38) It's the FIRST and GREAT commandment, right? Stands to reason, then, that it is the beginning place of your obedience to God.

There is a story Jesus tells of men who stand before God at the Great Judgment and hear Him say, "Depart from me. I never knew you." The men protest, describing their deeds done in Christ's name: exorcism, prophesying, and miracles. How could they be going to Hell when they had done all these good things in Jesus' name? (Matthew 7:21-23) The answer is in what they didn't say. They make no claims to loving Christ or God. They never claim to have obeyed the First and Great Commandment. No, they skipped that one and hoped no one would notice. But God is serious when He says that love for Him is the ground out of which all of our other obedience is to arise (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). If we get busy going to church, and praying, and reading the Bible but never actually obeying the First and Great Commandment, we will stand before God one day and hear Him say, "Depart from me. I never knew you."

So, don't fear Hell. Don't fear God. Fear a heart that is cold and cowering toward God, a heart that never fills with love for Him.

One other thing: The only place you can get a proper love for God is from God. He doesn't want from you your own corrupted human love, but His own perfect, holy, self-sacrificing love. If you find your heart cold and flat toward God, ask Him to fill you with His love by His Spirit. But remember: God only pours Himself - His love, peace and joy - into a life surrendered to Him.

That makes sense to me. But I did seek God on several occasions. I guess that wasn’t real enough to change my current hardened heart

 

[NeedyFollower]

Now I understand...
I have never truly loved Him.

... It all really does flow from Him...

... I will pray that He will give me His love and start a work in me, and I will hope He hears me and answers my prayer.
If He does not then I will perish...

Thank you...

Hi brother ..I hope everyone ( existing christians especially read both Aiki post and this response ..it agrees with " know ye not that the Goodness of God leads a man to repentance ? " Thank you for sharing this ..It is about God's love and we have a desire to be with Him which is why He sent His Son ..the good news of reconcilliation ...I am still working out my salvation with fear and trembling but I know who works in me to do and to will of His good pleasure ..Make sure you have many praying for you and also pray for others ...I feel like we are in times that would provoke us to prayer ( which is both love and faith in action ) Love does although love also feels . God has an eternal amount of whatever we need but like any child , eat good spiritual food . May God bless you with abundant fruit .

 

[NeedyFollower]

That makes sense to me. But I did seek God on several occasions. I guess that wasn’t real enough to change my current hardened heart

Hi Sister ..I would also ask others to pray for you . The only prayer request I typically hear in church is for the sick ...If you read in Paul's letters , he also mentions that he prays day and night for BELIEVERS ! Why would he do that ? Because we need prayer ! The "saved " ,( I prefer born again ) need prayer ..especially in our days full of worldly distractions .... May you be found in HIM . Grace and Peace in Jesus Name .

 

[David7818]

That’s what happens when you start watching ‘God sent me to hell for one sin’ or whatever it is.

Who that God sent to hell is still on this earth instead of being in hell (where you say God put them)?

How can someone be alive on earth
And have been dead, judged by God and sent to hell, yet writing or making videos about it?

That makes no sense.

Seems to me your looking at a bunch of people, you have no idea who they are, waiting fir them to tell you about God.

That is why people tell you read the Bible for yourself.

Judgement does not come before death one does NOT come back from. If someone comes back (like a near-death experience) they were not judged and sentenced for eternity.

God’s Word says a man dies OnCe and then judgement.

If they come back, they aren’t dead. Obviously.

If God wanted to send you to hell for one sin (or any of us) we are already guilty and He could have done that. So then the question is ‘Why send His Son as a Savior’ if God wants to send us to hell for one sin?

It makes no sense.

What is the need for the judgement? Why can't all live? Is it because there has to be order and law? Why can't people live freely?

 

[lastofall]

As do many which profess themselves to be a Christian, you also are led astray by the notion of a Jesus as Savior, but do not like Him as Lord, though you call Him Lord: yet a Lord is one that is to be obeyed; then is He your Lord. We cannot have it both ways: His way and also our way. Any that would follow the Lord Jesus Christ must first deny their own will, and if we cannot, then until now the true Jesus is not our Lord, but another Jesus of our own making.

 

[David7818]

As do many which profess themselves to be a Christian, you also are led astray by the notion of a Jesus as Savior, but do not like Him as Lord, though you call Him Lord: yet a Lord is one that is to be obeyed; then is He your Lord. We cannot have it both ways: His way and also our way. Any that would follow the Lord Jesus Christ must first deny their own will, and if we cannot, then until now the true Jesus is not our Lord, but another Jesus of our own making.

Should younger deities die?

 

[aiki]

Now I understand...
I have never truly loved Him.

... It all really does flow from Him...

... I will pray that He will give me His love and start a work in me, and I will hope He hears me and answers my prayer.
If He does not then I will perish...

Thank you...

I think you've got it! The Christian life does all flow from Him.

Philippians 2:13
13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Philippians 1:6
6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

Here's a promise God makes to all who seek Him:

John 6:37
37 ...the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

James 4:8
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you...

Finally, remember that asking God for His love is to ask Him for Himself. God is love, you see; He doesn't merely possess it. He will pour Himself into you by the Holy Spirit and fill you with His love, with Himself, but only as you humble yourself before Him and give Him the throne of your heart. This, too, God must enable you to do. A prayer for God's love, then, needs to be preceded by a prayer of surrender to Him. God can only pour Himself into a vessel that is first emptied of Self.

Romans 12:1
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

1 Peter 5:5-6
5 ...be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,

James 4:6-7
6 ..."God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
7 Therefore submit to God...

May you find the fellowship with God for which you were made!

 

[aiki]

That makes sense to me. But I did seek God on several occasions. I guess that wasn’t real enough to change my current hardened heart

Coming into relationship with God is His doing, not yours. Even wanting to seek Him is something God places in your heart to do. Seeking God is not hard, though; there is no where He is not; He is at your elbow all the time. But when a person turns to Him, they must do so recognizing who He is: God. He is the Boss, the Sovereign Ruler and Lord of All. When we come to Him, it must always be as an inferior to a superior; we must approach Him as the God He is and yield ourselves to Him as is His right. God will not relate with any of us as an equal or as a mere accessory to our life. He will be God in our life just as He is in the universe. When you come to Him this way, recognizing your inferiority and dependency, His awesome greatness, and yield yourself to Him, then it is He sits on the throne of your life where He should be and transforms who you are.

 

[aiki]

What is the need for the judgement? Why can't all live? Is it because there has to be order and law? Why can't people live freely?

What is the need for judgment? Do you make no distinction between healing the sick and killing them? Do you make no distinction between feeding the hungry and starving them to death? Do you make no distinction between protecting the weak and vulnerable and exploiting them? If you do, then you have judged between things, distinguishing good from bad and right from wrong. And this is what we all ought to do. A person who does not judge healing the sick as better than killing them is a person with a broken moral compass.

Why can't all live? Well, they can; only, they must do so God's way.

A moral God, a holy, loving and righteous God, must also be just which means He cannot let evil go unpunished. It is an evil judge who lets the murderer, and rapist, and thief go free.

What does it mean to "let people live freely"? Why should we have the freedom to live as we like in God's universe? Why shouldn't God, who sustains our existence at every moment, have the right to dictate to us how we ought to live?

 

[David7818]

What is the need for judgment? Do you make no distinction between healing the sick

and killing them? Do you make no distinction between feeding the hungry

and starving them to death? Do you make no distinction between protecting the weak

What... judgement on people who do what hey want and smoke weed? That's poor judgement.

and vulnerable and exploiting them?

LOL. Then it can go both ways.

If you do, then you have judged between things, distinguishing good from bad and right from wrong.

You oughta know.....
And this is what we all ought to do.

Maybe...
A person who does not judge healing the sick as better than killing them is a person with a broken moral compass.
Yeah, I know.

Why can't all live? Well, they can; only, they must do so God's way.

Yup. Kids too.

A moral God, a holy, loving and righteous God, must also be just which means He cannot let evil go unpunished. It is an evil judge who lets the murderer, and rapist, and thief go free.
Yeah, it's just when las are set forth to make people thieves....

What does it mean to "let people live freely"? Why should we have the freedom to live as we like in God's universe? Why shouldn't God, who sustains our existence at every moment, have the right to dictate to us how we ought to live?
He may be right, but some people are their own person. Many are, and to "dictate" how you ought to live is criminal. To live how you want is better, it's just some people, Christian or not, need God, and he should help his sons, devil or not, regardless. He should be a strong God and father.

 

[David7818]

Coming into relationship with God is His doing, not yours. Even wanting to seek Him is something God places in your heart to do. Seeking God is not hard, though; there is no where He is not; He is at your elbow all the time. But when a person turns to Him, they must do so recognizing who He is: God. He is the Boss, the Sovereign Ruler and Lord of All. When we come to Him, it must always be as an inferior to a superior; we must approach Him as the God He is and yield ourselves to Him as is His right. God will not relate with any of us as an equal or as a mere accessory to our life. He will be God in our life just as He is in the universe. When you come to Him this way, recognizing your inferiority and dependency, His awesome greatness, and yield yourself to Him, then it is He sits on the throne of your life where He should be and transforms who you are.

Yeah, Quite a few people ir Gods are awesome and amazing, quite a few.

 

[David7818]

God doesn't care if you love him.

 

[David7818]

What is the need for judgment? Do you make no distinction between healing the sick and killing them? Do you make no distinction between feeding the hungry and starving them to death? Do you make no distinction between protecting the weak and vulnerable and exploiting them? If you do, then you have judged between things, distinguishing good from bad and right from wrong. And this is what we all ought to do. A person who does not judge healing the sick as better than killing them is a person with a broken moral compass.

Why can't all live? Well, they can; only, they must do so God's way.

A moral God, a holy, loving and righteous God, must also be just which means He cannot let evil go unpunished. It is an evil judge who lets the murderer, and rapist, and thief go free.

What does it mean to "let people live freely"? Why should we have the freedom to live as we like in God's universe? Why shouldn't God, who sustains our existence at every moment, have the right to dictate to us how we ought to live?

Father God isn't the only one who created things. Where did the worlds come from?

 

[David7818]

What is the need for judgment? Do you make no distinction between healing the sick and killing them? Do you make no distinction between feeding the hungry and starving them to death? Do you make no distinction between protecting the weak and vulnerable and exploiting them? If you do, then you have judged between things, distinguishing good from bad and right from wrong. And this is what we all ought to do. A person who does not judge healing the sick as better than killing them is a person with a broken moral compass.

Why can't all live? Well, they can; only, they must do so God's way.

A moral God, a holy, loving and righteous God, must also be just which means He cannot let evil go unpunished. It is an evil judge who lets the murderer, and rapist, and thief go free.
What about acts of repentance?

 

[David7818]

Damning people and pagans... killing them... judging them... because they are who they are, young and cool, over judging them and OVER punishing them, even if they like or believe in God. Games, weed, whatever. It's not right, that is criminal.

 

[David7818]

Because they live how they want..... Thou shall not kill is a healthy command...

 

[W2L]

God doesn't care if you love him.

The Holy spirit can be grieved, and God is a jealous God. God spoke of Israel as being a cheating spouse. All those things mean that God does care.

 

[David7818]

Or damage minds or brains.