I need advice - struggles with sin

[Mistavega]

Hello,

I’ll just come right out and say I’m not a Christian, but I feel connected to Christ and I just need some spiritual advice. Just hear me out please. I hope this post doesn’t get deleted I didn’t know what category to put it in. The only reason why I say I’m not Christian is because I haven’t devoted my life to it.

So there’s a Sin I’ve been struggling with for YEARS. I’ve been convicted on several occasions that this sin is morally wrong, yet I keep falling short over and over again. I feel like when I pray to God no one listens anymore and if he does answer somehow my sin blinds me from receiving the prayer, thus just further disconnecting me.

I just wonder have any of you struggled with something like this? Can you comeback from this or does it reach a point where God is tired of you smacking his hand away? I hope not I want his providential hand—I just have a really difficult time with my behavior. It’s just a shame... if I got to the end of my life and I couldn’t experience God.... How sad and pathetic that would be.

 

[Chris V++]

Church is full of sinners. That doesn't excuse the sin but puts it in context since a big theme of the Bible is that we all sin. God is the God of second, third, forth.... chances. I came across this quote recently that hopefully may comfort you: 'Do not fight to expel darkness from the chamber of your soul. Open a tiny aperture for light to enter, and the darkness will disappear.'

Jesus said ' Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.'

 

[jsimms615]

Hello,

I’ll just come right out and say I’m not a Christian, but I feel connected to Christ and I just need some spiritual advice. Just hear me out please. I hope this post doesn’t get deleted I didn’t know what category to put it in. The only reason why I say I’m not Christian is because I haven’t devoted my life to it.

So there’s a Sin I’ve been struggling with for YEARS. I’ve been convicted on several occasions that this sin is morally wrong, yet I keep falling short over and over again. I feel like when I pray to God no one listens anymore and if he does answer somehow my sin blinds me from receiving the prayer, thus just further disconnecting me.

I just wonder have any of you struggled with something like this? Can you comeback from this or does it reach a point where God is tired of you smacking his hand away? I hope not I want his providential hand—I just have a really difficult time with my behavior. It’s just a shame... if I got to the end of my life and I couldn’t experience God.... How sad and pathetic that would be.

Without being born again and having Christ pay for your sins you will continue to live in sin and be in a place where if you died you would be condemned to hell. So, the first thing you need to do is repent and turn to God and ask him to forgive you of your sins. Otherwise, not much else really matters.

 

[Romans 8]

Without being born again and having Christ pay for your sins you will continue to live in sin and be in a place where if you died you would be condemned to hell. So, the first thing you need to do is repent and turn to God and ask him to forgive you of your sins. Otherwise, not much else really matters.

One Billion Percent! After you commit to Jesus, find a full Gospel church and ask for the elders to pray for you. Sometimes the addictions we face go beyond the flesh and the demonic must be delivered from us in order to move up to the next step.

 

[Lucian Celestine]

I find Sin is often a perception, there are things like Rape and Murder which are clearly wrong, but being addicted to a certain substance isn't necessarily a 'Sin' its something that many people struggle with due to withdrawals you just need to find the strength inside yourself to overcome it if that is what you struggle with. For example many people smoke tobacco but it doesn't make them 'Sinners'.

 

[Mistavega]

Without being born again and having Christ pay for your sins you will continue to live in sin and be in a place where if you died you would be condemned to hell. So, the first thing you need to do is repent and turn to God and ask him to forgive you of your sins. Otherwise, not much else really matters.

I agree with this, but what does being born again actually mean? Does it mean I go to a church and have someone perform a baptism and then, I’m saved? Is it saying a prayer to God in the name of Jesus asking him to come in my life and take over and then I’m saved?

I honestly don’t think so. I think it’s about literally surrendering all your worldly desires and having a complete change of heart. It’s more like having your value system completely flipped around and being able to view the world how God sees it, by studying his word.

so yeah the first thing I need to do is repent and turn to God, but I think the deeper issue is how do I get to this place where... I just give up on my stupid life?

 

[Mistavega]

Church is full of sinners. That doesn't excuse the sin but puts it in context since a big theme of the Bible is that we all sin. God is the God of second, third, forth.... chances. Yesterday I came across this quote recently that hopefully may comfort you: 'Do not fight to expel darkness from the chamber of your soul. Open a tiny aperture for light to enter, and the darkness will disappear.'

Jesus said ' Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.'

This does help, thank you. I’ll try my best to tuck this away and remember it.

 

[Mistavega]

One Billion Percent! After you commit to Jesus, find a full Gospel church and ask for the elders to pray for you. Sometimes the addictions we face go beyond the flesh and the demonic must be delivered from us in order to move up to the next step.

But how do you get to the place were you’re ready to commit to Jesus? I think most people just say a prayer exclaiming their committed, but it really doesn’t mean anything because they don’t know what their talking about.

So you can’t go to church unless you’re committed? I miss going to the church I used to go to.

 

[Mistavega]

I find Sin is often a perception, there are things like Rape and Murder which are clearly wrong, but being addicted to a certain substance isn't necessarily a 'Sin' its something that many people struggle with due to withdrawals you just need to find the strength inside yourself to overcome it if that is what you struggle with. For example many people smoke tobacco but it doesn't make them 'Sinners'.

Depending upon how you look at a sin I think certain things can be a perception, but in my case what I’m doing is clearly wrong. It’s not as bad as murder or rape, but it’s still bad nonetheless because I feel it separates me from God. It might as well be a form of idolatry even though it isn’t literally. I will make no excuses for myself.

 

[HatedByAll]

You must be born again. I myself was a person that others thought I was a good guy and thus they thought I was a Christian while I was still a very real sinner. I went to church and before I came to Christ, I was "never a drunkard," had quit smoking, cussed very little, tried not to lie or cheat, etc. To the average person, they would have judged me to be a Christian. But, I could not brag about my "goodness." I knew my own heart. I did not have true faith in God. I believed the way for me to have a fulfilling life, I would have to live a sinful life. And I practiced sin by worshiping men instead of God for most of the first half of my life.

But this is not about me. This is to answer one of your questions. Even in the midst of my sin, the Holy Spirit got my attention. I saw the wife of a good friend dress and act in a way that clearly showed me that she saw their marriage as over. This so disturbed me, for I hated to see my good friend have to go thought the pain of a divorce even though I knew he loved her very deeply. I was witnessing the ruin of his life, something I did not believe I even had the capability of ever experiencing for myself, but knew I could do nothing about it. But there was one who could. That one was Jesus Christ. This made me realize that, I, not my friend, was the one who needed to worry about my life. That night, I realized that I needed to get things right with God. I repented of my sins and turned my life around completely by putting all my faith in the saving power of the Blood of Jesus Christ.

So what must you do. You have to come to the point in your life that you realize that you must repent of all your sins. You must come to the point where you realize that the ways of the world, whatever they are in your case, will not give you a fulfilled life. You must repent and by the power of the Holy Spirit, place all your faith in Jesus Christ. Faith, in part means that you believe that to have the best life, you must believe that following Jesus Christ and trusting him for everything is what you must do. Please realize that you, by yourself, are not capable of doing this. The Holy Spirit must renew your mind and help you to see this is the truth, even for you. The Holy Spirit brought me to this point by seeing the life of a good friend being torn apart, and making me realize that I needed to get the "trunk of a mature Redwood tree" out of my own eye before realizing about the speck in his. . .

In one day my life radically changed. Others may not have seen it, for I hid my sin from most people well, but I knew there was a real change in my life. There in no doubt that what I experienced that night was a rebirth. I became a new creature in Christ Jesus.

So, now what do you do. You must realize that you have to place all your faith in Jesus Christ. You must believe that he died for your sin and paid the cost by dying for you on the cross. You must believe that the best life for you is obeying the teachings Jesus Christ and His Word, the Holy Bible. It is this believe in Jesus Christ that justifies you, not your efforts. How do you do this? By hearing the calling of the Holy Spirit and responding to that call.

 

[jsimms615]

I agree with this, but what does being born again actually mean? Does it mean I go to a church and have someone perform a baptism and then, I’m saved? Is it saying a prayer to God in the name of Jesus asking him to come in my life and take over and then I’m saved?

I honestly don’t think so. I think it’s about literally surrendering all your worldly desires and having a complete change of heart. It’s more like having your value system completely flipped around and being able to view the world how God sees it, by studying his word.

so yeah the first thing I need to do is repent and turn to God, but I think the deeper issue is how do I get to this place where... I just give up on my stupid life?

You repent (which means to turn from your sin) acknowledge your need for God and trust Him to save you.

 

[Lucian Celestine]

Depending upon how you look at a sin I think certain things can be a perception, but in my case what I’m doing is clearly wrong. It’s not as bad as murder or rape, but it’s still bad nonetheless because I feel it separates me from God. It might as well be a form of idolatry even though it isn’t literally. I will make no excuses for myself.

Maybe its not what is separating you from God but your past? In order to feel a separation you must have at one point felt a deep connection. Remember Christ is inside all of us. Is it this 'Sin' that separated you or is it something else?

Remember it is written

And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

 

[Mistavega]

You must be born again. I myself was a person that others thought I was a good guy and thus they thought I was a Christian while I was still a very real sinner. I went to church and before I came to Christ, I was "never a drunkard," had quit smoking, cussed very little, tried not to lie or cheat, etc. To the average person, they would have judged me to be a Christian. But, I could not brag about my "goodness." I knew my own heart. I did not have true faith in God. I believed the way for me to have a fulfilling life, I would have to live a sinful life. And I practiced sin by worshiping men instead of God for most of the first half of my life.

But this is not about me. This is to answer one of your questions. Even in the midst of my sin, the Holy Spirit got my attention. I saw the wife of a good friend dress and act in a way that clearly showed me that she saw their marriage as over. This so disturbed me, for I hated to see my good friend have to go thought the pain of a divorce even though I knew he loved her very deeply. I was witnessing the ruin of his life, something I did not believe I even had the capability of ever experiencing for myself, but knew I could do nothing about it. But there was one who could. That one was Jesus Christ. This made me realize that, I, not my friend, was the one who needed to worry about my life. That night, I realized that I needed to get things right with God. I repented of my sins and turned my life around completely by putting all my faith in the saving power of the Blood of Jesus Christ.

So what must you do. You have to come to the point in your life that you realize that you must repent of all your sins. You must come to the point where you realize that the ways of the world, whatever they are in your case, will not give you a fulfilled life. You must repent and by the power of the Holy Spirit, place all your faith in Jesus Christ. Faith, in part means that you believe that to have the best life, you must believe that following Jesus Christ and trusting him for everything is what you must do. Please realize that you, by yourself, are not capable of doing this. The Holy Spirit must renew your mind and help you to see this is the truth, even for you. The Holy Spirit brought me to this point by seeing the life of a good friend being torn apart, and making me realize that I needed to get the "trunk of a mature Redwood tree" out of my own eye before realizing about the speck in his. . .

In one day my life radically changed. Others may not have seen it, for I hid my sin from most people well, but I knew there was a real change in my life. There in no doubt that what I experienced that night was a rebirth. I became a new creature in Christ Jesus.

So, now what do you do. You must realize that you have to place all your faith in Jesus Christ. You must believe that he died for your sin and paid the cost by dying for you on the cross. You must believe that the best life for you is obeying the teachings Jesus Christ and His Word, the Holy Bible. It is this believe in Jesus Christ that justifies you, not your efforts. How do you do this? By hearing the calling of the Holy Spirit and responding to that call.

Hay man, thanks for this. I enjoyed reading your post a lot, it was pretty profound and gives me a couple of things to dwell on. I liked that you shared your personal journey too, that’s cool. I have a few questions if you don’t mind.

So when you finally committed yourself to Christ—in what way did your life change? Were you able to get to a closer relationship with God? Did you feel a deeper presence? Have you had anything special happen to you?

“So, now what do you do. You must realize that you have to place all your faith in Jesus Christ. You must believe that he died for your sin and paid the cost by dying for you on the cross. You must believe that the best life for you is obeying the teachings Jesus Christ and His Word, the Holy Bible. It is this believe in Jesus Christ that justifies you, not your efforts. How do you do this? By hearing the calling of the Holy Spirit and responding to that call.”

I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, but where I stand now I don’t realize I have to place all my faith in Jesus Christ. I don’t know how to get there to that point. I want to believe in all the truths you aforementioned, but in my view beliefs are not arbitrary. I just can’t make myself believe these things they have to be shown to me to be true in some capacity. I guess that’s where the Holy Spirit comes in then, right? Well I don’t have control of that the best thing I can do is pray for it and also pray that I may come to realize these truths.

Thanks for directing me.

 

[Mistavega]

Maybe its not what is separating you from God but your past? In order to feel a separation you must have at one point felt a deep connection. Remember Christ is inside all of us. Is it this 'Sin' that separated you or is it something else?

Remember it is written

And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Maybe its not what is separating you from God but your past? In order to feel a separation you must have at one point felt a deep connection. Remember Christ is inside all of us. Is it this 'Sin' that separated you or is it something else?

Remember it is written

And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

I’m pretty sure it’s this sin. I don’t really have a regretful past. I feel like this sin blinds me and makes me more isolated from people. People who could be the answers to my prayers. people who I could be helping. It makes me very apathetic and volatile which is the the opposite of loving your neighbor and ruins my potential and current relationships with people.

 

[HatedByAll]

So when you finally committed yourself to Christ—in what way did your life change? Were you able to get to a closer relationship with God? Did you feel a deeper presence? Have you had anything special happen to you?

When I was reborn my life changed overnight. I had a thirst for the knowledge of God. I read the Bible through over and over again and read every religious book that I could find laying around my family's houses. I watched what religious shows I could get on TV and did not miss going to Church. I can't say, I have maintained that thirst for Truth for all the thirty or so years since I have accepted Christ as my Savior, but for the first four or five years, that was my life. . . And then the demands of work weakened my walk with the Lord. (But that is another story, one probably most sincere Christians experience at some point in their lives.) Sin lost its stranglehold on me. Before that night when I gave my life completely to Christ, one sin defined who I was. That night I gained freedom from the slavery of the sin that controlled my life. I was not freed from the temptation to sin, but for probably twenty years, the temptation has been very mild and basically not long lasting. But, as I move toward wanting to be a much stronger witness for God, the temptation to fantasize about what I could have done in my past before becoming a Christian is my current struggle. I know that probably sounds weird, but I am not tempted at all to sin or even tempted to think about sinning caused by seeing chances to sin today, but I am tempted to dwell on thoughts about what could have been (over thirty years ago.)

I will stop there. Don't want to subject you to reading a book, for that is what it would take to answer that question correctly.

I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, but where I stand now I don’t realize I have to place all my faith in Jesus Christ. I don’t know how to get there to that point. I want to believe in all the truths you aforementioned, but in my view beliefs are not arbitrary. I just can’t make myself believe these things they have to be shown to me to be true in some capacity. I guess that’s where the Holy Spirit comes in then, right? Well I don’t have control of that the best thing I can do is pray for it and also pray that I may come to realize these truths.

Thanks for directing me.

You are right on the money. Belief does does not start with you. It starts with hearing the word. Remember, God is involved in the fight for your soul. It is not just about what is most logical and what makes the most since, etc. It is about him calling to you. You want to control this. You want to be in charge. But you do realize there is a still small voice in your heart that says, It is not going my way. God's way is better. . . You know the still small voice is right, but you still want to be in charge. You are not ready to give up control of your life to God. . . There is still that one sin. Not yet.

But hear me, now you need to make a choice. Is today the day, you give up and let Jesus Christ take over? If not, why not? Is that one sin something you love so much that you are willing to take a chance of being out of the Graces of God?

 

[HatedByAll]

There is one small town pastor I love to watch. His Church is much too far away for me to attend, but I would probably go there if I lived near the Churches town. Anyway, his sermon that I saw today (from last Sunday) is right on point with this topic. I don't see people linking to video sermons on here, so it may be frowned on to post links to sermons, but I do believe this sermon would be a great one to watch to find answers to your question. The sermon starts at 26.40 or so. cms-production-api.monkcms.com/Clients/embed_video_preview.php?moduleRecordId=7122156&CMSCODE=EKK

 

[Mistavega]

When I was reborn my life changed overnight. I had a thirst for the knowledge of God. I read the Bible through over and over again and read every religious book that I could find laying around my family's houses. I watched what religious shows I could get on TV and did not miss going to Church. I can't say, I have maintained that thirst for Truth for all the thirty or so years since I have accepted Christ as my Savior, but for the first four or five years, that was my life. . . And then the demands of work weakened my walk with the Lord. (But that is another story, one probably most sincere Christians experience at some point in their lives.) Sin lost its stranglehold on me. Before that night when I gave my life completely to Christ, one sin defined who I was. That night I gained freedom from the slavery of the sin that controlled my life. I was not freed from the temptation to sin, but for probably twenty years, the temptation has been very mild and basically not long lasting. But, as I move toward wanting to be a much stronger witness for God, the temptation to fantasize about what I could have done in my past before becoming a Christian is my current struggle. I know that probably sounds weird, but I am not tempted at all to sin or even tempted to think about sinning caused by seeing chances to sin today, but I am tempted to dwell on thoughts about what could have been (over thirty years ago.)

I will stop there. Don't want to subject you to reading a book, for that is what it would take to answer that question correctly.



You are right on the money. Belief does does not start with you. It starts with hearing the word. Remember, God is involved in the fight for your soul. It is not just about what is most logical and what makes the most since, etc. It is about him calling to you. You want to control this. You want to be in charge. But you do realize there is a still small voice in your heart that says, It is not going my way. God's way is better. . . You know the still small voice is right, but you still want to be in charge. You are not ready to give up control of your life to God. . . There is still that one sin. Not yet.

But hear me, now you need to make a choice. Is today the day, you give up and let Jesus Christ take over? If not, why not? Is that one sin something you love so much that you are willing to take a chance of being out of the Graces of God?

I’m so glad I wrote this post. I swear you’re like an answer to a prayer man, let’s keep this thing going. I appreciate you taking the time to explain this stuff to me I am greatful

I must say though, it’s a little disappointing to me that you say your job weakened your walk with God. I’m sure it happens to a lot of people and who knows if I‘ll ever get to where you’re at in your faith which is above where I’m at currently. If I ever experience God like you, that would surely be the best day of my life and all I’ll want to do is get to work for him. For me man, it’s not enough just to be saved, it’s to be involved and see Gods providential hand. Man I would just love to advance his agenda in some way shape or form. I’ll try my best to hit the ground running. I remember when I was a kid I used to read these biblical children’s books and I would pray that I wanted to be as close to God as Abraham was, lol.

“But hear me, now you need to make a choice. Is today the day, you give up and let Jesus Christ take over? If not, why not? Is that one sin something you love so much that you are willing to take a chance of being out of the Graces of God?”

Well I wouldn’t know how to let Jesus Christ take over. The sin I’ve talked about in this thread is so stupid, it’s a no brainer that I choose God over that sin. Lol, since I made this thread I haven’t done it, but who knows if I’ll relapse. I will say that there is one other sin that I know is terrible. This is a more complicated one. I would actually like to DM you if you’re open to giving me some advice.