Seeking God but failing miserably time and time again

John 3:16 is a good place to start.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that all who believe in him will not perish but have everlasting life.

Also try listening to some Derek Prince on YouTube. He has a lot to say on deliverance.
You have a lot to sort out, being involved with so much stuff that is not of God.

TruthSeek3r said:

Some background to my question:

• I'm a truth seeker. I come from a scientific mindset background, but the last couple years I've been intensely researching about the supernatural and the spirit realm. I've watched testimonies from all kinds of religions, including testimonies from people who practiced witchcraft, the occult, Satanism, Hindu mystics, New Agers, Kundalini awakening, Reiki healers, paranormal investigators, people who have used Ouija boards, and of course, testimonies from Christians, baptism in the Holy Spirit, Christophanies, healing miracles, gifts of the spirit, words of knowledge, speaking in tongues (including unknown foreign languages), demonic possessions, exorcisms, etc. All this has led to me conclude that the spirit realm has to exist.
• I believe that encounters with God are possible. As I just said, I've watched tons of testimonies, including first-hand accounts of powerful encounters with the Creator. To give you an idea, here are some notable examples: example 1, example 2, example 3, example 4, example 5, example 6, example 7, example 8, example 9, example 10, example 11, example 12, example 13, example 14, example 15, example 16, example 17, example 18, example 19, example 20, example 21.

I'm currently at a position in which I'm extremely obsessed with knowing the truth first-hand. As I already said, I've watched tons of testimonies, but after almost two years of doing the same, I'm starting to see no point in storing more and more anecdotal information in my head if I don't live out these things by myself. I know a lot about God (theory), but I don't know God (personal experience/testimony), if that makes sense. So my obvious next step is to seek God, to seek an encounter with Him. Unfortunately, every time I try, I keep failing miserably. I know that the key ingredients to seek God are consistent 1) prayer, 2) fasting, 3) reading the Bible, 4) obedience, 5) a life of holiness, 6) having faith, and of course 7) repentance and having accepted Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior. I know the theory. Intellectually speaking, things are quite clear to me. The problem is that I'm struggling to implement the theory successfully.

There are many distractions, temptations and weaknesses that are making it extremely hard for me to achieve a significant streak in which I successfully implement the 7 points I listed above. I keep messing up all the time and I'm not getting results. God still appears abstract and very distant to me, and when I read the Bible and the stories of the prophets, the apostles, the early Church, or when I remind myself of the testimonies that I've watched (like the ones I listed above), I feel like a total failure, trapped, unable to achieve any kind of spiritual breakthrough.

One thing that I would love to do is to have like serious period of seeking God with prayer and fasting for, say, 7 days in a row, without any distractions, just full-time seeking God, but the problem is that there are always distractions, responsibilities, things that take away my time, and I feel like I'm not getting anywhere. Then I go back to watching more testimonies to regain motivation, but at the end of day, that's just more intellectual information for my head, but what is the point of wasting my life away with hours and hours of investigation and watching endless testimonies if, at the end of the day, it doesn't translate into an actual, real encounter with God?

I seriously need a spiritual breakthrough and I've got no idea what to do about it.

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1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

Hosea 6:6
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

1 John 4:19
We love because he first loved us.

1 John 4:7-8
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Change your focus ;o)

Love is the knowledge and truth of God.

TruthSeek3r said:

Some background to my question:

• I'm a truth seeker. I come from a scientific mindset background, but the last couple years I've been intensely researching about the supernatural and the spirit realm. I've watched testimonies from all kinds of religions, including testimonies from people who practiced witchcraft, the occult, Satanism, Hindu mystics, New Agers, Kundalini awakening, Reiki healers, paranormal investigators, people who have used Ouija boards, and of course, testimonies from Christians, baptism in the Holy Spirit, Christophanies, healing miracles, gifts of the spirit, words of knowledge, speaking in tongues (including unknown foreign languages), demonic possessions, exorcisms, etc. All this has led to me conclude that the spirit realm has to exist.
• I believe that encounters with God are possible. As I just said, I've watched tons of testimonies, including first-hand accounts of powerful encounters with the Creator. To give you and idea, here are some notable examples: example 1, example 2, example 3, example 4, example 5, example 6, example 7, example 8, example 9, example 10, example 11, example 12, example 13, example 14, example 15, example 16, example 17, example 18, example 19, example 20, example 21.

I'm currently at a position in which I'm extremely obsessed with knowing the truth first-hand. As I already said, I've watched tons of testimonies, but after almost two years of doing the same, I'm starting to see no point in storing more and more anecdotal information in my head if I don't live out these things by myself. I know a lot about God (theory), but I don't know God (personal experience/testimony), if that makes sense. So my obvious next step is to seek God, to seek an encounter with Him. Unfortunately, every time I try, I keep failing miserably. I know that the key ingredients to seek God are consistent 1) prayer, 2) fasting, 3) reading the Bible, 4) obedience, 5) a life of holiness, 6) having faith, and of course 7) repentance and having accepted Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior. I know the theory. Intellectually speaking, things are quite clear to me. The problem is that I'm struggling to implement the theory successfully.

There are many distractions, temptations and weaknesses that are making it extremely hard for me to achieve a significant streak in which I successfully implement the 7 points I listed above. I keep messing up all the time and I'm not getting results. God still appears abstract and very distant to me, and when I read the Bible and the stories of the prophets, the apostles, the early Church, or when I remind myself of the testimonies that I've watched (like the ones I listed above), I feel like a total failure, trapped, unable to achieve any kind of spiritual breakthrough.

One thing that I would love to do is to have like serious period of seeking God with prayer and fasting for, say, 7 days in a row, without any distractions, just full-time seeking God, but the problem is that there are always distractions, responsibilities, things that take away my time, and I feel like I'm not getting anywhere. Then I go back to watching more testimonies to regain motivation, but at the end of day, that's just more intellectual information for my head, but what is the point of wasting my life away with hours and hours of investigation and watching endless testimonies if, at the end of the day, it doesn't translate into an actual, real encounter with God?

I seriously need a spiritual breakthrough and I've got no idea what to do about it.

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Hi, TruthSeek3r
First, I'd like to welcome you on this forum. I'm brand new also and I'm glad to see other new members joining up. It makes me feel hopeful to see that God is still being sought out by people of all walks of life.
On to your OP...
Reading it, I was transported 30yrs ago where I, too, was earnestly seeking the face of our Creator but I did not have such a hard time as you seem to be having. Maybe because I have always felt that there indeed is an omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent entity who is above all and created it all. I just couldn't put it into the correct frame of mind, couldn't put my finger on it.
Then one night, working as a security officer, I found a Bible in the front desk of the building I was watching over and since I was bored out of my skull, I started reading it. I started at the book of Matthew, worked my way to Revelations and then backward from Genesis to Malachi. I consumed the entire book in one reading from 8pm to the next day Saturday 4pm ( overtime hours ) but I didn't get 'saved' that day. What happened was that I was deeply moved by the sayings of Jesus, most of all, the Sermon on the Mount. I cried after reading it and I was hooked - not saved - just hooked. Over the year that followed I continued reading and pondering all those wonderful passages, having more questions than answers even though I was conscious that I was holding the greatest book(s) ever written.
Like you, I was thirsting for more, to get closer to that infinite all-powerful being but couldn't get that breakthrough.
Then one day, I was discussing all that with a stranger I had met while working at a store. The conversation was fairly short but the man gave me the best advice possible: Join a church and ask the pastor all the questions you can think of.
Sure... But what church? What denomination? There seemed to be too many denominations and felt like I wouldn't be able to choose wisely.
I decided to be pragmatic and turned to the library for answers to that dilemma.
What I found was that there is a 'group' of believers who are known all over the world for being good students of the Bible: the Jehovah's witnesses.
I was hesitant to contact them but I told myself: who better to help me but renowned students of the Bible?
I am in no way telling you to become a Jehovah's witness. I am not one and I am non-denominational. But I did study the Bible with them and had the chance to have long conversations with an elder who understood my 'quest'. I had a thousand questions and he took the time to calmly answer them, according to the Bible, pointing out scriptures, expounding on them and giving exemples. He said I have an inquisitive mind and that was an understatement.
All that, to tell you this:
Join a church - of your choosing - you can even join two or three of them or jump from one church to the next ( no particular denomination holds the ultimate truth so you can't go wrong ) and make friends in Christ. Participate in their events, go to the services, pray with them, share your worries and ask as many questions as you can.
Be patient, be long-suffering, be curious and keep seeking God with all your heart and all your might.
God sees you, He understands you and He loves you as you are. Trust in Him and trust that one day, sooner or later, He will reveal Himself to you in all his Majesty and Power, as He did to me and the countless other believers who didn't give up in their quest for Truth and Salvation.
The Lord, in all His kindness and Grace, revealed Himself to me, several times, through dreams, visions, signs and quiet whispers, guiding my path and protecting me throughout my crazy life.
Pray. Pray a LOT, pray in earnest, pray until you fall asleep, pray at home, pray at work, pray while you walk, pray always and ask Him to reveal Himself to you and if your heart really yearns for His love, He will show Himself to you. Not in a way you expect and not at a time you want.
He is the Master of all universes and He will not be ordered or commanded. His time is not our time, He exists outside of Time, He is timeless.
Love Him, fear Him, serve Him, and it starts with you mingling with your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Hope I've helped.
May God bless you with His presence, brother.

God initiates encounters like the kind you seek. We can keep fit but that isn't going to make it happen. When it does we know we could not ever make it happen. There could be an unknown obstacle keeping it from happening. Ask that it be removed and be prepared for some suffering. Mostly, let God initiate encounters. That's how we know it's God. Accept the possibility that there won't be the encounter you expect? What then? Maybe therein lies the obstacle. I pray you encounter God. My advise is to stop seeking an encounter with God or thinking about it. God knows you want that. Let God

TruthSeek3r said:

I'm currently at a position in which I'm extremely obsessed with knowing the truth first-hand. As I already said, I've watched tons of testimonies, but after almost two years of doing the same, I'm starting to see no point in storing more and more anecdotal information in my head if I don't live out these things by myself. I know a lot about God (theory), but I don't know God (personal experience/testimony), if that makes sense. So my obvious next step is to seek God, to seek an encounter with Him. Unfortunately, every time I try, I keep failing miserably. I know that the key ingredients to seek God are consistent 1) prayer, 2) fasting, 3) reading the Bible, 4) obedience, 5) a life of holiness, 6) having faith, and of course 7) repentance and having accepted Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior. I know the theory. Intellectually speaking, things are quite clear to me. The problem is that I'm struggling to implement the theory successfully.

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When you write, "Seek an encounter with Him," what do you mean, exactly? What's in your mind when you write this? What do you imagine such an encounter will be like?

God wants only one kind of encounter with you. He wants you to put yourself under His authority, to accept Him in your life as the God, and King of Kings, and Almighty Creator that He is. God is not an item on a buffet table that you may sample to see if you like Him or not. You can't take Him or leave Him, really. Oh, you can choose to love Him or not; you can choose to know Him personally or not; you can choose to pretend you aren't in His universe; but you cannot ever escape the fact of your utter and total dependency upon Him at every moment. You exist only because God wills that you should exist. And this fact puts you on a collision course with Him. God invites you to "encounter" Him as the God He is, your Maker, Lord and Saviour. This is where a real encounter with God begins: humility, submission and dependence. Is this the encounter you want?

James 4:6-10
6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."
7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

1 Peter 5:5-6
5 ...all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

Micah 6:8
8 He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

TruthSeek3r said:

There are many distractions, temptations and weaknesses that are making it extremely hard for me to achieve a significant streak in which I successfully implement the 7 points I listed above. I keep messing up all the time and I'm not getting results. God still appears abstract and very distant to me, and when I read the Bible and the stories of the prophets, the apostles, the early Church, or when I remind myself of the testimonies that I've watched (like the ones I listed above), I feel like a total failure, trapped, unable to achieve any kind of spiritual breakthrough.

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God changes us; we don't change ourselves. And He does this only as we go low before Him. When we submit to Him as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1), when we yield ourselves to Him as His "slaves of righteousness" (Romans 6:13, 22), He fills us with Himself, transforming us in a powerful and profound manner, making the changes in us only He can make.

John 15:5
5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Philippians 4:13
13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Philippians 2:13
13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

We can't get to God by Self-reformation. Self can't remediate itself. It is so incorrigibly sinful (Romans 7:18; Romans 8:7), so settled in rebellion to God, that His response to Self is to put it to death (Read Romans 6; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:1-3, etc.) and in its place give to us Himself, His divine nature and power, in the Person of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:9-11; Titus 3:5, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, etc.)

TruthSeek3r said:

One thing that I would love to do is to have like serious period of seeking God with prayer and fasting for, say, 7 days in a row, without any distractions, just full-time seeking God, but the problem is that there are always distractions, responsibilities, things that take away my time, and I feel like I'm not getting anywhere. Then I go back to watching more testimonies to regain motivation, but at the end of day, that's just more intellectual information for my head, but what is the point of wasting my life away with hours and hours of investigation and watching endless testimonies if, at the end of the day, it doesn't translate into an actual, real encounter with God?

I seriously need a spiritual breakthrough and I've got no idea what to do about it.

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See above.

You know, God's word doesn't give us cause to expect a strong, sensual experience of God. He may interact with us such that we experience Him on this physical, fleshly level, but this is not the norm. In fact, Scripture gives us good cause to think that the more sensual, the more of the flesh, our "experience" of God is, the less spiritual it actually is.

Sensual Faith: Oh, God, You Make Me Feel Sooo Good!

The experience of God - more precisely, of the Holy Spirit - that the Bible lays out for us is as follows:

The Spirit:

- convicts (John 16:8)
- illuminates (John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 2:10-13)
- strengthens (Ephesians 3:16; Romans 8:13; Philippians 2:13)
- transforms (2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 5:9)
- disciplines (Hebrews 12:5-11)

Nowhere in the NT are we told that the Spirit working in us in these ways is a typically overt, sensual business, marked by obvious, external manifestations of his presence and power. Instead, the Christian is grown progressively, over time, by the Spirit, as a branch in the Vine. (John 15:4-5) And just as the growth of a branch is imperceptible, so, too, the growth of those "branches" filled with the "sap" of the Spirit, also grow surely but imperceptibly.

The Pharisees wanted a sign, some remarkable instance to mark the power and presence of God, something to appeal to their fleshly desire for sensual stimulation. Jesus called this wanting of a sign the desire of a wicked and adulterous generation (Matthew 12:39; Matthew 16:4). Instead, the Bible tells us we "walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7) and that "the just (righteous) shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38) Faith operates independently of signs and seeing, trusting God on the basis of what He has said, first and foremost, not on some external, sensual, fleshly validation of the sort the wicked Pharisees desired.

You might find it of value to check out my posts on the Discipleship subforum on this site. I think they'll be of help to you, clarifying the proper, biblical basis upon which the Christian life operates.

It is God's revelation of Himself and His truth in His word that should anchor your expectations of your experience of Him. God doesn't make any promise in His word, the Bible, to give you some extraordinary "moment" with Him. Only those things I already pointed out to you from Scripture can you expect as an experience of Him.

That God can act in a multitude of various and remarkable ways in no way obligates Him to do so, nor does His potential for extraordinary acts give you cause to expect such acts from Him. The Christian life isn't grounded on such things but upon the truth of God's word and the subtle, transformative work of His Spirit.

Be very careful what you believe as genuine instances of God acting in special ways to "meet" people. Paul's Damascus Road experience was unique and singular; no else had Moses' experience with the burning bush; Elijah's moment of fiery divine power against the priests of Baal has never been repeated. And nowhere in the Bible are believers urged to seek out such experiences, nor are they urged to ground their faith in them.

To whom much is given, much is required. Paul's Damascus Road moment led him into tremendous suffering and ultimately to his execution; many supernaturally-empowered OT prophets were murdered for their work as God's agents; the apostle John was boiled in oil and then exiled to Patmos; Moses had to confront one of the greatest human powers of his time, risking life and limb in doing so, fleeing into the wilderness, leading a grumbling, wayward, fickle people and finally dying in the wilderness, forbidden to enter the Promised Land. You want something "big" from God, something more than the ordinary experience He offers to you in His word? Count the cost. To whom much is given, much is required.

TruthSeek3r said:

What do you ground your faith in? Why do you consider Christianity more convincing than, say, skepticism, agnosticism, atheism, naturalism, pantheism, deism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, New Age, the Occult, etc.? Why did you choose to become a Christian? What kind of epistemology allowed you to arrive at the solid conclusion that Christianity is the best explanation for reality?

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Read Alvin Plantinga's book "Warranted Christian Belief."

I believe Christianity has the greatest explanatory power of any worldview. Better than any other, the Christian worldview explains why things are the way they are, why reality is what it is.

I also experience God in the way He says I can every day. The truths of His word are borne out in my life constantly. I could no more deny God's existence than I could deny the existence of my wife - and for the same reasons.

None of the verses/passages you cited indicate anything other than what I've pointed out. It is eisegesis to assert from them that the giving of the Spirit necessitates some overt, extraordinary supernatural experience.

TruthSeek3r said:

Some background to my question:

• I'm a truth seeker...
• I believe that encounters with God are possible...
• 
  
• I know that the key ingredients to seek God are consistent 1) prayer, 2) fasting, 3) reading the Bible (Note: THere is no command to read the bible anywhere in scripture. Be a workman laboring day after day to cut it out straight to get to the truth of all God's word says and means on every topic. Keep on proving all things over and over again as a habit and way of life and always hold fast to what is good/true and not to your beliefs... Meditate on His word day and night ... Never do you see read it. Yes you will have to do that to actually get to the point of doing what He commands us to be doing with it, but you can read it for 12 hours a day and never once do what God commands. The Scribes, Pharisees and Saducees... for example. 4) obedience, 5) a life of holiness, 6) having faith, and of course 7) repentance and having accepted Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior. I know the theory... The problem is that I'm struggling to implement the theory successfully. Yes, and every person from every belief group knows they love the truth and believe the truth. Ever wonder how everyone can know completely opposite things are absolute unquestionable truth? Atheists know they love and have the truth, Moslems, Roman Catholics, Mormons ... Pick a group

...
I seriously need a spiritual breakthrough and I've got no idea what to do about it.

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You want a breakthrough? How about considering what most people do to hold fast to what they want to believe as truth and seeing where you fall on the scale. Ask 97% of the people out there what they believe and why and this is what they will share with you if they are sharing what they "want to believe" "as" truth. Look at what they share/do. Do they:

1.) Share the proof that verifies their views are the correct ones. What else do they share?

2.) They share the evidence that proves all opposing views are off. How do they interpret everything?

3.) They Interpret everything in the light of what they “know” is truth. What is truth? For each of them, the truth is their beliefs. Ergo, all correct interpretations … of all “valid” data, must support … or at least not negate, their infallible beliefs.

4.) Anything that doesn’t seem to fit with our views, we reinterpret, ignore, discredit, invalidate …

5.) They may share experiences, signs, or other "facts" about their belief group that are foundational to believing as they do. Things like: We have a burning in the bosom, we speak in tongues, we perform signs or wonders, a statue of Mary came to life and told us our belief groups views are correct, we have prayed to God for the truth and received “feelings” or even signs from heaven. Or, on a more concrete level we have facts about our belief group. Things like: Our belief group is the oldest, largest, fastest growing, wealthiest, has the most experts with doctorates… We include anything that adds assurance that our way is the best way.”

But these are the things we do "if" we just want to believe what we want to believe and have reasons for discarding the rest, closing our eyes, ears and hearts to even considering anything else. Everyone doing the above process has unquestionably true, infallible beliefs. Why? Look at 1-5 above. I call them Methodology One: The Methodology of belief groups. If you do more of any of them, how long before you discover your beliefs are false? How long before you realize something else is true? Answer to both is you can never get to anything but complete assurance of your beliefs, whether you are an Atheist, Moslem, Jew, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Mormon ... everyone does the methodology above to hold fast to their beliefs "as" truth.

Now look at this Method:

1.) Rule #1: Avoid “Methodology One”: Proving your beliefs true and holding fast to them, is not the same as, “Proving all things over and over again as a habit and way of life, and holding fast to what is good/true.”

2.) Open-mindedness: All belief groups believe in being open minded … “until” you accept their beliefs. Then they believe in being as closed as possible. If you love truth, you will continually remain open-minded to altering any or all of your beliefs in the light of the fullness of the truth, when everything that “might” pertain to the topic at hand is rightly divided.


3.) Habitual ongoing Labor/ Getting Every Piece of Data that Might Pertain: If you Love Truth, you, personally, must become a manual laborer and keep on gathering every fact anyone thinks might pertain to every topic at hand. Then gather all the data that “might pertain” no belief group gathers because they can’t use that information to prove their beliefs true or opposing beliefs false.

4.) Consistency with Background Context: Pick a meaning that fully aligns with the historical, legal, architectural, agricultural … context.

5.) Consistency of Meaning of words/root words/figures of speech: Hold to a meaning for all words, root words, and figures of speech consistent with their usage throughout the Old and New Testament. We have a Greek Old and New Testament and a Hebrew Old Testament, pick a meaning fully fitting everywhere the same word, root word, and figure of speech is used.

6.) Consistency with the Surrounding Discussion: Hold to a meaning consistent with the entire discussion surrounding the verse or passage being considered, hold to the flow of thought, flow of arguments, meaning of points made …

7.) Consistency with conscience: Example: If your interpretation would be a sin if a man did likewise and your interpretation results in believing God does what would be sin for us, your interpretation is wrong. i.e., there are no illustrations in the Bible where God says He commits adultery. If your chosen meaning for the word adultery would make God an adulterer, and by His own admission, you picked the wrong meaning for the word.

8.) God, God’s People and God’s Word are 100% consistent: Pick an interpretation for all the data that makes God, God’s people and God’s word 100% consistent in “all” they say and do and “all” they don’t say and don’t do. Any inconsistencies, are proof of incorrect beliefs/definitions.

9.) Always apply logic, reason, and rational thinking: Pick an interpretation fully fitting with all logic, reason, and rational thinking. (i.e., if the writer spent a whole chapter saying all gifts are equal and necessary, that none are greater than any others, … do not choose an interpretation for the very next verse that would command us to desire what God spent the previous 30 verses saying doesn’t exist, and that you can’t get, period, regardless of your desire. “Earnestly desire the greater gifts”, contradicts everything prior. Look for the “other” possible meaning. Note: There is one.

10.) Start with the Easiest/Clearest … data on the topic: Interpret the clearest, easiest understood, most straightforward data/passages first—then the more complex or difficult passages. The complex, convoluted, and difficult passages are easy to distort to fit beliefs.

11.) It ALL fits together: Pick a meaning for the parts that fully fit with the whole of the data that might pertain without adding meaning, subtracting meaning, or distorting anything to force it to comply with your beliefs. If everything gathered (#3 above) does not fully fit with everything in #4-10 above, you have the wrong meaning, and you are forcing the scriptures to fit what you want to believe “as” truth.

12.) Keep on continuously proving all things over and over again as a habit and way of life and never stop … and hold fast to what is good/true. Getting to truth is an ongoing process that never ends. One single verse, one fact you missed, one slight change in interpretation … can force a complete reevaluation and even a complete a change of beliefs. That is, if you love truth, and obey what God commands all His people to be continuously doing for and by themselves. If not …

13.) It’s all on You! Trusting others to get to truth “for” you, is like trusting others to have a relationship with your wife / husband / kids “for” you. It cannot be done. Your failure to keep on habitually doing as God commands all His people to keep on habitually doing, proves you have gathered enough using Methodology One to hold fast to what you want to believe and fall short of 2Th. 2:10-12

I tell everyone I talk with this:

Understand, “Agreement with me might only make us both wrong.”

For good reason. It only takes one verse, in context, that fully fits with every other passage that may apply but that truly portrays a different meaning than what I currently hold to to alter my beliefs. It is my beliefs that are subject to change in accordance with the fullness of the truth with every bit of it cut out straight to alter my beliefs.

I get it. You "feel" you are missing something. Things are not where you want them to be. Understand, you can believe Jesus is your Lord God and Savior, be casting out demons in His name, doing many powerful works in His name, all the signs, wonders, miracles in the bible ... and still not even be a true Christian. "Many will say to Me, Lord, Lord, did we not ... and I will say to them depart from Me ... for I never knew you."

Everyone in every belief group knows they love truth and have the truth. Here's why:

2Th 2:10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. 13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

Everyone gets what they really want. That which we love least is always forced to conform to that which we love most. Everyone either loves the truth or their beliefs.

Want an example of beliefs that almost all Christians get wrong? How about God's definition of adultery. David had 7 wives before he committed adultery, and then took between 10 and 20 more before He died. How many times does God/God's word say he committed adultery? How many times does the scripture say Solomon committed adultery? How many wives can you have before everyone in the church accuses you of adultery? And that's only the definition of one word in scripture. Which Methodology you use will determine what beliefs you have and whether you are teaching as doctrines the precepts of men and nullifying the commandments of God to hold to church traditional views or not.

TruthSeek3r said:

Did you become a Christian because of this book or were you already a Christian when you read it? Or simply put: how did you become a Christian?

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How did I become a Christian? By hearing the Gospel and believing it.

TruthSeek3r said:

Can you share a few concrete examples of those experiences? Also, how do you know those experiences come from God and are not just a psychological product of psychology or a counterfeit or something?

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I might ask you the same question regarding the many "experiences" about which you've read that prompt you to want a similar experience. How do you know they aren't mere human psychology manifesting human desire, or are a demonic counterfeit?

God acts very often quite contrary to my normal, natural human reflexes of thought and behavior, and certainly in opposition to the purposes of the devil. As Scripture says,

Isaiah 55:8-9
8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.
9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Take the Spirit's convicting me of sin, for example. (John 16:8) When the Spirit is convicting me, the experience differs from a mere pang of conscience in that the effect of the Spirit's conviction of me moves me toward God rather than away. When the Spirit is convicting me of sin, my motivation is the restoration of my fellowship with God, not the mere relief of an uncomfortable sense of guilt and shame. God's goal is to connect me with Himself, to deepen my communion (fellowship) with Him (1 Corinthians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 John 1:3), and to fill my life with all that He is (joy, peace, love, truth, etc. - Galatians 5:22-23). This is what the work of Christ on the cross was for, after all; his atonement for my sin reconciled me to God (Colossians 1:20). And this divine desire for reconciliation is reflected in the convicting work of the Spirit in my life. Human guiltiness, which the devil always tries to magnify, in contrast, acts upon me as it did upon Adam and Eve in the Garden, causing me to retreat in shame from God and to justify my sin.

The matter of personal holiness also distinguishes the work of God from my own human piety or a demonic counterfeit. Holiness is, perhaps, God's pre-eminent quality. The cherubim before His heavenly throne declare, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty," not "Love, love, love," or "Mercy, mercy, mercy" or whatever; God's throne is holy; His word is holy; His temple is holy; His mountain is holy; and so on. It's no surprise, then, that my personal holiness is of prime interest to God:

Hebrews 12:14
14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

Romans 6:19
19 ...yield yourselves servants to righteousness unto holiness.

2 Corinthians 7:1
1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

1 Thessalonians 4:7
7 For God has not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

Hebrews 12:10
10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he (God) for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

And so on.

When God works to create His holiness in me, when He works to sanctify my daily living, He does not operate on the basis of my own conception of holiness but constantly - daily, really - challenges my thinking, choices and conduct, showing me again and again how I've strayed from His holiness. This is definitely a progressive thing, God showing me as I go deeper with Him that many things in my life I have thought of - perhaps for years - as perfectly all right are, in fact, either damaging hindrances to my walk with Him, or outright sinful. Movies I've watched with perfect ease, books I've read without moral qualm, attitudes I've had that seemed entirely justified and right, music I've listened to with great pleasure, relationships I've fostered - all of these God has turned me from over time, showing me that my ease with a thing does not make it right, my comfort with an attitude or action doesn't make it holy, nor does a long habit of peaceful indulgence in a particular activity make it holy and pleasing to God. And this is where I am able to distinguish my human attempts at piety from God-directed holiness: His holiness more often than not directly opposes those things to which I naturally gravitate; His holiness penetrates into cherished areas of my thinking and living and shows them to be dishonoring to Him and destructive to my fellowship with Him; His holiness constantly reveals my unholiness.

God's holiness moves me out of occupation with myself and into greater and greater occupation with Him. This is a primary characteristic of true, godly holiness that the devil cannot counterfeit. Always, the devil's aim is to move me away from God and into self-righteousness, into self-centered "worship" and "experience" of God. Satan wants me focused on myself, on how God stimulates me, how God excites me, how God gratifies me and elevates me in the eyes of others. Satan wants me occupied with the flesh, with how God can stimulate my physical senses and agitate me emotionally. He'll try, also, to get me so busy doing religious stuff that I haven't the time to actually fellowship with God. Really, the devil will use whatever he knows will serve to distract me from God and perhaps even replace Him in my thinking to keep me from a holy life centered on God that He can use to glorify Himself.

Of course, every experience I have is a psychological one in some measure; my mind is integral to all of my experiences, whether spiritual or not. But in the ways I've outlined above, I can distinguish an experience of God from something I've manufactured from within myself or that has been insinuated into my life by the devil.

TruthSeek3r said:

By 'necessitates' you mean that they are not mandatory (i.e. they don't have to happen in 100% of the cases), but you still leave the door open to the possibility that they may happen in some cases from time to time, right?

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The record of Scripture is replete with instances of God dealing with people in unusual, supernatural ways. But, you know, Moses didn't go looking for a burning bush; the prophet Amos didn't crave the role of prophet; Gideon wasn't eager to be used by God to defeat the enemies of Israel; Paul wasn't out searching for the Damascus Road experience when he had it; Abraham wasn't yearning for God to make him the father of many nations. Did the disciples expect Jesus to arrive and tell them to follow him? No. God may approach a person in an extraordinary way, but if the Bible is anything to go by, more often than not, He does so with the person who is not looking for such an experience at all.

Read the Gospels, if you wanna know truth.

Did you know God is a rewarder of those who seek Him?

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

TruthSeek3r said:

Some background to my question:

• I'm a truth seeker. I come from a scientific mindset background, but the last couple years I've been intensely researching about the supernatural and the spirit realm. I've watched testimonies from all kinds of religions, including testimonies from people who practiced witchcraft, the occult, Satanism, Hindu mystics, New Agers, Kundalini awakening, Reiki healers, paranormal investigators, people who have used Ouija boards, and of course, testimonies from Christians, baptism in the Holy Spirit, Christophanies, healing miracles, gifts of the spirit, words of knowledge, speaking in tongues (including unknown foreign languages), demonic possessions, exorcisms, etc. All this has led to me conclude that the spirit realm has to exist.
• I believe that encounters with God are possible. As I just said, I've watched tons of testimonies, including first-hand accounts of powerful encounters with the Creator. To give you an idea, here are some notable examples: example 1, example 2, example 3, example 4, example 5, example 6, example 7, example 8, example 9, example 10, example 11, example 12, example 13, example 14, example 15, example 16, example 17, example 18, example 19, example 20, example 21.

I'm currently at a position in which I'm extremely obsessed with knowing the truth first-hand. As I already said, I've watched tons of testimonies, but after almost two years of doing the same, I'm starting to see no point in storing more and more anecdotal information in my head if I don't live out these things by myself. I know a lot about God (theory), but I don't know God (personal experience/testimony), if that makes sense. So my obvious next step is to seek God, to seek an encounter with Him. Unfortunately, every time I try, I keep failing miserably. I know that the key ingredients to seek God are consistent 1) prayer, 2) fasting, 3) reading the Bible, 4) obedience, 5) a life of holiness, 6) having faith, and of course 7) repentance and having accepted Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior. I know the theory. Intellectually speaking, things are quite clear to me. The problem is that I'm struggling to implement the theory successfully.

There are many distractions, temptations and weaknesses that are making it extremely hard for me to achieve a significant streak in which I successfully implement the 7 points I listed above. I keep messing up all the time and I'm not getting results. God still appears abstract and very distant to me, and when I read the Bible and the stories of the prophets, the apostles, the early Church, or when I remind myself of the testimonies that I've watched (like the ones I listed above), I feel like a total failure, trapped, unable to achieve any kind of spiritual breakthrough.

One thing that I would love to do is to have like serious period of seeking God with prayer and fasting for, say, 7 days in a row, without any distractions, just full-time seeking God, but the problem is that there are always distractions, responsibilities, things that take away my time, and I feel like I'm not getting anywhere. Then I go back to watching more testimonies to regain motivation, but at the end of day, that's just more intellectual information for my head, but what is the point of wasting my life away with hours and hours of investigation and watching endless testimonies if, at the end of the day, it doesn't translate into an actual, real encounter with God?

I seriously need a spiritual breakthrough and I've got no idea what to do about it.

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With God, miracles do not happen quickly. God has to trust a person with His power. I have seen a handful of miracles, but I did not see God clearly until around 20 years of struggle. Even now seeing God clearly, I still only occasionally see a real miracle.

God's primary goal is our salvation, miracles are there to bring people healing, hope, and sight. Seeking miracles as proof of God's acceptance is not wise. God accepts us in Christ. He has forgiven us.

What you have learned has led you to Christ. Walk-in him, not for a miracle, but for your own eternal security.

Luke 10:20 But don't be happy because evil spirits obey you. Be happy that your names are written in heaven!

Lay all your concerns at the feet of Jesus. Let Him take control.

Trust in Jesus

God bless you