Your Walk with God.

[jynx]

okay... I am wanna know because i wanna grow!

Where are you at this point and time in your walk with Christ? How did you arrive at this place in your walk of faith? What do you do to mantain your realtionship with Christ?

Here is my thing... I was raised a PK that got seriously derailed in my walk with the Lord. You woulda thought being a PK that I would have learned how to have a realtionship with Christ...eh... instead I leanred all the bad stuff churches have to offer. I pray and read His word. I pray alot. but He seems so distant to me. I know He is here, with me, IN me... and I know emotions are fleeting things...to look at the evidence of His power in my life...and there is sooo much to see that He has done for me...

but....

I meet these people that are at amazing peace with their walk with God and seem sooo..dunno..."at one" with Him... I want that kinda realtionship with Him....I just don't know how to get there....

LOL I have to admit though... I don't even have a real life realtionship like that... I am loud, and the filter between my brain and my mouth often malfunctions...and I am a go go go GO kinda gal... a real type A personality. How do you maintain that kind of Godly peace? I know that peace intamately...I've prayed over things and recieved that "peace that passes all understanding" but it is only for that situation. I want to have it all the time??? Is that greedy of me or what? but there seems to be people who maintain that kind of God given peace in their lives all the time....

SOOOOO that is why I am asking that question in the beginning of this winded post

Baby is upset gotta run.

tc

 

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

Hye Jynx.

Bes it getsy late here now and Moriah sorely needs rest, but it would like to take your question up sometime when it has more time to respond. It finds in your OP a good excuse to ponder and take some inventory.

Meanwhile of late it has monastic colored fantasies ...

It thinks a visit here would be awesome ...
http://christdesert.org/

 

[Izdaari Eristikon]

Where am I? That's a good question, but not an easy or comfortable one.

I accepted Christ at age 12 or so in Sunday School, at a Baptist church. But I had no support system, and I wandered off during my teen years. I explored a lot of different secular philosophies, some New Age stuff, some Eastern religions, etc.

By age 21, I had found my way back to the Christian faith... or probably more accurately, God came looking for me and led me back. By then I had become pretty much a rationalist skeptic and an agnostic. I give a lot of credit to C.S. Lewis for showing me that Christianity could make sense. My path back involved investigation of the intellectual case for Christ, especially the evidence for the truth of the resurrection. The case was strong enough that it was easy for me to again make the "leap of faith" I had made as a child, and decide to trust God.

Some 30 years later...

I'm ashamed to say I haven't followed Christ very well most of the time. Though I never again lost my faith, for many years I remained an isolated and ineffective believer who showed little fruit. Not finding a good church for long, nor hooking up with any kind of group of fellow believers, had a lot to do with that I'm sure. Not that it was all a waste, mind you. I learned some important life lessons, and continued learning in general.

But I've been back in church for over a year now, a very good one, and I'm praying and reading scripture daily, and studying and thinking on God and His ways. I'm sure this is for good now, and I'll not wander again, nor allow myself to be neutralized. I'm secure in God's love for me, and growing in my love and trust for Him.

So I guess I'm not where I should have been by now (or am I? maybe it was preparation for something?), and sometimes it's two steps forward, one step back, but I'm on the road again, steadfast and determined, and with God's help, making slow but steady progress.

 

[plmarquette]

We for the most part all drit a bit when we leave mom and dad's oversight.... but many return as we run out of rope and the bungee cord of a good example returns us to center ....

Ask God for a vision - Habakkuk 2.2 , then the wisdom and knowledge to use it ... Proverbs 29.18 and Hosea 4.6 ....

We were raised Roman Catholic, presently we are in a nondenominational Word of Faith Church in Auburn , IL. , we write a weekly newsletter, and teach in our local county jail , and do a midweek service for pastor from time to time ....

From 45 minutes a week to 45 hours a week full time job, and 80 copies of a 4 page newsletter each week , and ministering to 20-40 men a month within the cell blocks ... James chapter 2 , Matthew 25.32-42

 

[Worddancer]

This has to be one of my favorite things about being a Believer . . that of discovering how others have come to a saving Faith, and where their paths have taken them to where they are now. I was raised in a very stale rural Lutheran church that I simply could not relate to my life, and thus strayed deeply into about every imaginable sin in my teen years. Not blaming the church, it was my own choices. I was witnessed to by folks from a vibrant Assembly of God church (I think!) but did not act on what I heard for another 4 years.

When I finally stopped running and was transformed by a pivotal moment in my life and took on a radically different view of God, I found myself nurtured by a tiny group of charismatic believers that had no denominational ties. From there, I landed in another small group of zealous charismatics that formed into a very early Word of Faith church, which I was certain would bring the very kingdom of heaven down. Unfortunately, it fell apart, which hurt more than the divorce I'd just gone through.

I wandered into another Assembly of God congregation until I remarried and moved. My husband was very involved in another tiny house group that grew and came to call themselves a "Community Church" that is still going strong, although we left when we moved again. We returned to his home city, but we so burned out that we drifted into an Evangelical Free Church with several others who felt the same disillusionment as we felt, and are still there, 20-some years later. It's a good church, although I'm still not sure it's the right one for us. We have drawn back from being very involved on a number of levels . . to merely attending on Sunday mornings, if even then.

I grew by leaps and bounds in the Word of Faith family, mostly through a women's bible study that drew me deeply into the Word on an exciting, daily adventure. I haven't thought about it all in so many years now, but I have to wonder if I've never really gotten past the loss of that era in my life, although I know perfectly well that I cannot blame the cooling of my passions towards God on anyone other than my own decisions. He has remained very real and intricately entwined in so much of my life, even amidst the straying I went through. I think the bottom line is that even when I thought I had found new freedoms and promise in some of the detours I took, there was always this ache to be back in the center of His will for me . . to be aligning my values and decisions with integrity.

I know it's in giving that we receive . . I'm so in awe of those who give of themselves unselfishly to others in need.

 

[Izdaari Eristikon]

Worddancer,

I think Joseph Prince is a preacher who could really bless you.

 

[Worddancer]

I've been so wary of following any one man's teachings, since being so devoted (and so misled) by others before. But thank you for the recommendation, Izdaari . . I've never even heard of Joseph Prince before.

 

[AnneSally]

What is a PK?

 

[Izdaari Eristikon]

What is a PK?

Player-Killer? (in roleplaying games that allow player vs. player)

Preacher's Kid?

 

[Izdaari Eristikon]

I've been so wary of following any one man's teachings, since being so devoted (and so misled) by others before. But thank you for the recommendation, Izdaari . . I've never even heard of Joseph Prince before.

I would agree that not following any one man's teachings is a wise policy. You mentioned a couple of times that you had done well in WoF churches, and Prince is in that tradition. I am not myself WoF (well, maybe just a little), but Prince is one of the few WoF teachers who appeal to me. If you've decided everything WoF is all wrong, you might want to stay away from him... but otherwise, he has some very good insights even for non-WoFers, and a very appealing way of presenting them.

 

[p0LkFliedLice]

okay... I am wanna know because i wanna grow!

Where are you at this point and time in your walk with Christ? How did you arrive at this place in your walk of faith? What do you do to mantain your realtionship with Christ?

Here is my thing... I was raised a PK that got seriously derailed in my walk with the Lord. You woulda thought being a PK that I would have learned how to have a realtionship with Christ...eh... instead I leanred all the bad stuff churches have to offer. I pray and read His word. I pray alot. but He seems so distant to me. I know He is here, with me, IN me... and I know emotions are fleeting things...to look at the evidence of His power in my life...and there is sooo much to see that He has done for me...

but....

I meet these people that are at amazing peace with their walk with God and seem sooo..dunno..."at one" with Him... I want that kinda realtionship with Him....I just don't know how to get there....

LOL I have to admit though... I don't even have a real life realtionship like that... I am loud, and the filter between my brain and my mouth often malfunctions...and I am a go go go GO kinda gal... a real type A personality. How do you maintain that kind of Godly peace? I know that peace intamately...I've prayed over things and recieved that "peace that passes all understanding" but it is only for that situation. I want to have it all the time??? Is that greedy of me or what? but there seems to be people who maintain that kind of God given peace in their lives all the time....

SOOOOO that is why I am asking that question in the beginning of this winded post

Baby is upset gotta run.

tc

If you can learn to relax and have as much fun in the quiet as you do in the noise, then truly you will be able to find that peace you seek.