So How Do You....

[JourneyRain]

I'm curious how does someone make God their everything and actually keep Him as the most important thing. How do you withstand the spiritual warfare that never seems to quit..which all in all is probably not a bad thing but how do you find that ever ellusive peace that other people talk about. How do you realize that there has to be a reason why friendships are very few and far in between?

I've always been a loner and I'm extremely independent. So I'm not too needy but lately loneliness has been my middle name, that people think I'm needy which I'm not. I'm tired of people telling me I have to rely on God when I don't know how to do that. How do I make him the must crucial part of my life?

 

[Talie]

persistance, discipline and experience

 

[songz777]

I have no real friends. I would dearly long to have a dear woman to talk to and share life.
Making God No1 comes easier when you have had so little of "friendships" because it has taught me to rely on God for all happiness.
To KNOW God in a way that is an experience of HEAVEN on EARTH will not happen over night. It has taken me 21 yrs. It comes by the route of much pain and hurt, and is ONLY OBTAINED by MUCH and VERY Much time alone with Him in WORSHIP and prayer. It takes many hours of disciplne and self denial of time and social life. It demands daily times of early hours with God and sesions alone with Him into the early hours at times.
Many DESIRE to know God deeper, FEW bother to persue that DESIRE.
If you sincerey seek God and the FULLNESS of JOY you will OBTAIN and you will stand in awe of the visions almost of heavenly glory of being close to God.
I hope you hunger and persue and find as I have, for despite the pain its worth it.

 

[JPPT1974]

I'm curious how does someone make God their everything and actually keep Him as the most important thing. How do you withstand the spiritual warfare that never seems to quit..which all in all is probably not a bad thing but how do you find that ever ellusive peace that other people talk about. How do you realize that there has to be a reason why friendships are very few and far in between?

I've always been a loner and I'm extremely independent. So I'm not too needy but lately loneliness has been my middle name, that people think I'm needy which I'm not. I'm tired of people telling me I have to rely on God when I don't know how to do that. How do I make him the must crucial part of my life?

Though I have acquaintnices as well as Sunday School friends, I am also too independent as well as a loner myself as loner and loneliness both have been my middle name probably since I was born in the craddle. As also I rely on God regardless of what others say about what God says goes and rules in my life. So don't let people get you down as you can only rely on God to direct your path.

 

[Peter_in_Christ]

Meditate on Scripture every morning, pray, and serving others throught your gifts for the Lord, you'll find joy in serving Him that way> I found these a good way to express my love for the Lord

Peter

 

[holo]

persistance, discipline and experience

No, that's just your own efforts, and that's not what God wants. He wants to be your alpha and omega, from faith to faith, begun and ended in mercy.

Don't struggle to make God more important in your life, He only needs an open heart. An open heart is often a broken heart. Tell Him how you feel. He's there regardless of how you feel.

 

[boilerblues]

I've gotta agree and disagree with everything above. Seeking the Lord through the spiritual disciplines is key to a growing relationship with the Lord. However, Christian community is also key to a growing relationship with the Lord. Think of this, you can't learn how to love another person unless there is another person there to love. That's not saying start dating, but we need to be in relationships with brothers and sisters to practice what we study and learn through the disciplines.

One of the things I'm learning is that there's not stock answers for questions like this. A relationship with God is just that, a relationship with another living being. There are not set rules in how to grow in a relationship, there is only relationship. When we are in a relationship with someone then we seek to know as much about them as possible. We spend time with them and the more our relationship grows the more we want to spend time with them. We want to know what makes them happy and what makes them sad. Their interests become our interests. We do things to honor them and please them. In a somewhat similar manner as we "fall in love" with someone, we fall in love with God.

Christian community is important because it helps us learn about God. It encourages us to continue in our relationship with God despite difficulties in the relationship. They let us know when we are cheating on God. They help us to practice the things we learn in our relationship with God. It's easy to love people we like, being in Christian community helps us learn how to love people we don't like. It causes us to learn how to love someone despite them wronging us. It helps us learn how to forgive, and to be forgiven.

I'll recommend checking out Philip Yancey's "Reaching for the Invisible God". But always keep in mind, a relationship with God is a relationship with a living being. There are no formulas, no 12 steps to an easy relationship, no concrete answers. There is only the mad pursuit of a desperate lover

 

[Johnnz]

Boilerblues has said some very good things. There is often an extroverted, always happy, socially demonstrative kind of Christianity preached and modelled to us. Fine for some, but it does not contain all that is truly Christian. Don't get caught up in a cultural image of what a Christian is. be who you are and liv eyour life with God from there.

John
NZ

 

[Talie]

No, that's just your own efforts, and that's not what God wants. He wants to be your alpha and omega, from faith to faith, begun and ended in mercy.

Don't struggle to make God more important in your life, He only needs an open heart. An open heart is often a broken heart. Tell Him how you feel. He's there regardless of how you feel.

I guess I should ahve explained myself more.....

by persistance i mean - "get up and try again" don't give up - God teachs us things, often, a little bit at a time - if we give up and don't persist, we'll learn nothing.

by discipline I mean that sometimes we need to MAKE ourselves do certain things that will improve our relationship with Him..... it's like any relationship really, if there's something that's getting in the way, you need to discipline yourself when you find that you're falling into letting that something get inthe way.... for example - thought pattens - if you find yourself thinking negatively, it takes discipline to teach yourself NOT to think that way

by experience, I mean when we do something in faith, God proves Himself faithful to us - it's through these experiences that our faith continues to grow

 

[holo]

I see what you mean Talie, I'm just scared (burnt) by all the things we try to do to please God. After all, we're God's work, God's children. We cannot justify ourselves. Even faith is a gift from God, it's not something we can "produce". Same with love, it doesn't come by reminding ourselves to be good or wearing WWJD wristbands - I think you can't create love, only accept it and then pass it on.

"Let your mind be renewed." Struggle and fight, but do it in/of/by the Spirit.

 

[JPPT1974]

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I guess I should ahve explained myself more.....

by persistance i mean - "get up and try again" don't give up - God teachs us things, often, a little bit at a time - if we give up and don't persist, we'll learn nothing.

by discipline I mean that sometimes we need to MAKE ourselves do certain things that will improve our relationship with Him..... it's like any relationship really, if there's something that's getting in the way, you need to discipline yourself when you find that you're falling into letting that something get inthe way.... for example - thought pattens - if you find yourself thinking negatively, it takes discipline to teach yourself NOT to think that way

by experience, I mean when we do something in faith, God proves Himself faithful to us - it's through these experiences that our faith continues to grow

God also never, ever lets us down at all. As we all need to be faithful that God can and will provide even if it may not be what we want, His ways are always the right ways as they are blessings in disguise as well as also Him working miracles in our lives.