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is my faith sincere? - 6/11/2008 6:00:55 PM
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DLindros
Posts: 29
Joined: 4/24/2008
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i wish i could say that my beliefs were unwavering, but i do have many nagging doubts. there's nothing in the world i want more than to be a fountain of righteousness, but i still have sinful thoughts. i long to cast away the desires of my flesh, but i still act on them. if Christ were to return tomorrow, would he see that i have faith? or would he see that i have doubt? as much as i've changed my life and as much as i want to be God's servant, there is always that little doubt that jumps in there. i reject it as the enemy trying to poison me, but should i be able to shut him out completely? all i want is to completely TRUST in God. and that is something that is so hard for me to do because I'm still new to this. I never believed in anything until lately. I just thought that God was an imaginary friend for grown-ups. how can i completely trust in him? how can i get to that point? i need some help.
_____________________________
Each passing minute is another chance to turn it all around....
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RE: is my faith sincere? - 6/11/2008 6:06:51 PM
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earthless
Posts: 5735
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: where pigeons are getting their sweaters ready....
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Do know that a lot of what you're sharing is what is expressed by the Apostle Paul in his writings in the New Testament. Nowhere in Scripture does it say that if we experience lows (emotions are fickle) and or have doubts, struggles with our flesh nature, that we are "bad" and or not right with the Lord.
Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to convict of sin, He will. Seek Jesus, acknowledge your sins, repent of them, and know that God's grace is amazing and Jesus' precious shed blood on Calvary is more than suffice to cover your sin.
I recommend you get into the Word and get the Word into you. Find a doctrinally sound, healthy and well-balanced church where Jesus is Lord and His Word is preached.
Test all things in light of Scripture and ask for discernment.
1 Corinthians 15:33 tells us, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” The Bible is full of warnings about the influence “bad” people can have on us.
Spending time with those who engage in sinful activities will cause us to be tempted by those activities. The character of those we are around will “rub off” on us.
That is why it is so important to surround ourselves with other people who love the Lord and are committed to Him.
Try to find a friend or two, perhaps from your church, who can help you and encourage you (Hebrews 3:13; 10:24).
Ask your friends to keep you accountable in regard to your quiet time, your activities, and your walk with God. Ask if you can do the same for them.
This does not mean you have to give up all your friends who do not know the Lord Jesus as their Savior. Continue to be their friend and love them.
Simply let them know that Jesus has changed your life and you cannot do all the same things you used to do. Ask God to give you opportunities to share Jesus with your friends.
God is good to keep His promises, including the promise to forgive. “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
_____________________________
Probing Today's Religious Movements | Promoting Doctrinal Discernment & Critical Thinking | Providing Reasons for Christian Faith & Ethics
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RE: is my faith sincere? - 6/11/2008 6:43:50 PM
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mvic
Posts: 1364
Joined: 1/17/2008
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Well said earthless.
"Try to find a friend or two, perhaps from your church, who can help you and encourage you."
You see DLindros, getting advice from people on this Forum is good. There are some wise people around here, and I've learnt a lot from them. But at the end of the day you should talk to "real" people as it were !!! They'll get to know you better, and you'll get to know them and trust them. Together you can help each other as you grow in Faith.
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Christian words of comfort at http://www.holyvisions.co.uk
Welcome to my Blog
MEI VITA INDICO CHRISTUS
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RE: is my faith sincere? - 6/11/2008 6:55:46 PM
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Liveloved
Posts: 1628
Joined: 1/22/2008
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quote:
i wish i could say that my beliefs were unwavering, but i do have many nagging doubts. there's nothing in the world i want more than to be a fountain of righteousness, but i still have sinful thoughts. i long to cast away the desires of my flesh, but i still act on them. if Christ were to return tomorrow, would he see that i have faith? or would he see that i have doubt? as much as i've changed my life and as much as i want to be God's servant, there is always that little doubt that jumps in there. i reject it as the enemy trying to poison me, but should i be able to shut him out completely? all i want is to completely TRUST in God. and that is something that is so hard for me to do because I'm still new to this. I never believed in anything until lately. I just thought that God was an imaginary friend for grown-ups. how can i completely trust in him? how can i get to that point? i need some help.
My words of wisdom to you (coming from one who completely identifies with what you are saying) are get your eyes off your self and fix your eyes on Jesus. He is both the author and the finisher of your faith. He has promised to get the job done in you, for you, and in spite of you (my words). He will! Believe! That is what He asks. Put your trust and confidence fully in Him. Look to Him. He is faithful. He will accomplish all for you. He says so. Bless ya, LL
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RE: is my faith sincere? - 6/11/2008 11:39:51 PM
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AboundinginHisGrace
Posts: 322
Joined: 4/28/2008
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quote:
ORIGINAL: DLindros
i wish i could say that my beliefs were unwavering, but i do have many nagging doubts. there's nothing in the world i want more than to be a fountain of righteousness, but i still have sinful thoughts. i long to cast away the desires of my flesh, but i still act on them. if Christ were to return tomorrow, would he see that i have faith? or would he see that i have doubt? as much as i've changed my life and as much as i want to be God's servant, there is always that little doubt that jumps in there. i reject it as the enemy trying to poison me, but should i be able to shut him out completely? all i want is to completely TRUST in God. and that is something that is so hard for me to do because I'm still new to this. I never believed in anything until lately. I just thought that God was an imaginary friend for grown-ups. how can i completely trust in him? how can i get to that point? i need some help.
Only God knows your heart so I can't say whether or not your are a Christian I don't even know you. But Christians can and will have doubts. Just look at Gideon here
Judges 6:19 So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought [them] out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented [them.] 20 The Angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay [them] on this rock, and pour out the broth." And he did so. 21 Then the Angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that [was] in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. 22 Now Gideon perceived that He [was] the Angel of the LORD. So Gideon said, "Alas, O Lord GOD! For I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face." 36 So Gideon said to God, "If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said -- 37 "look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and [it is] dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said." 38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew." 40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.
As you can see Gideon had seen an angel face to face and he still asked God to show him a sign. Then asked him to show him another. As was mentioned earlier about Paul's writings, we are born again but even though we have the Holy Spirit in us we are still humans, with human traits.
< Message edited by AboundinginHisGrace -- 6/11/2008 11:48:56 PM >
_____________________________
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
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RE: is my faith sincere? - 6/12/2008 12:33:52 AM
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deermousie
Posts: 1678
Joined: 9/26/2007
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quote:
ORIGINAL: DLindros
there's nothing in the world i want more than to be a fountain of righteousness, but i still have sinful thoughts. i long to cast away the desires of my flesh, but i still act on them.
The Apostle Paul struggled with this, too, and so does every Christian. See the end of Romans 7. And don't forget the answer: Romans 8:1! 
quote:
if Christ were to return tomorrow, would he see that i have faith? or would he see that i have doubt? as much as i've changed my life and as much as i want to be God's servant, there is always that little doubt that jumps in there. i reject it as the enemy trying to poison me, but should i be able to shut him out completely? all i want is to completely TRUST in God. and that is something that is so hard for me to do because I'm still new to this. I never believed in anything until lately. I just thought that God was an imaginary friend for grown-ups. how can i completely trust in him? how can i get to that point? i need some help.
The Christian has 3 enemies: the world (that hates God), the flesh (your sin nature - the part that wants it's own way and it's the wrong way. Me, me, me <temper tantrum>), and the devil.
The devil part is easiest to handle, I think: the Bible says if you resist the devil, he will flee. Run away like crazy. So when thoughts creep into your head, "God doesn't really love you" or "you will never be forgiven for *that*" (whatever you just did), etc. you can say, "Nice try but it didn't work. Buzz off. Thank you, Jesus, for loving me." Satan hates the name of Jesus and runs. A fun and easy book to read about this is Lewis' "Screwtape Letters." It's fiction, supposedly from a demon's point of view (the writer is a strong Christian, so don't freak out), and it is a lesson book on the devil's tricks and how a Christian can combat them. I wouldn't get too wrapped around the axle about the devil because our problems we usually cause ourselves; see below.
The world is the framework that leaves God out. Society can be sucked in and people can be fooled into thinking life is easier without God (if they're trying to hide their sin - ha!). But we do things God's way.
Your flesh will tell you you should be insulted when God says to love people inspite of their rudeness. Your flesh says you deserve to be treated right when Jesus died an innocent death to love and save a bunch of yahoos who don't deserve it. Like me. Get the idea?
Congrats on your new membership into God's Forever Family, DLindros! If you aren't in a Bible-teaching church, find one and join it. Get a Bible and start reading it every day (I read mine every year all the way through. 33 times so far, and I'm still getting something new every time!). Pray - talk to God. Tell Him when you don't feel like talking to Him. Ask for things. Thank Him for things (like your salvation!). Tell Him He is worthy of praise, and tell Him how wonderful He is. Tell Him you love Him and want to love Him more. It just gets better and better, and He works on us and makes us more like Him. Look at Rom. 8:28,29. Yay!
To answer your question: is my faith sincere? Probably not.  God saves sinners with lots of practice in sinning. He teaches us and leads us and convicts us of sin, so we confess (we say we sinned), we repent (we turn away from it and go do what's right instead) and He cleanses us of all unrighteousness. For free. 1 John 1:8,9 Not the Gospel of John. And little by little He grows us up. But when you fall on your face, confess, repent, get up, dust yourself off, thank Him He's forgiven you, take His hand again and start walking. It's what all of us have to do.
God bless you, dear heart. I am praying for you. (((Hugs)))
< Message edited by deermousie -- 6/12/2008 12:44:04 AM >
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Want to know where a certain word or phrase in the Bible is found? www.biblegateway.com Yay!
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RE: is my faith sincere? - 6/12/2008 4:49:38 AM
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BibleL7
Posts: 493
Joined: 2/1/2008
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: DLindros
i wish i could say that my beliefs were unwavering, but i do have many nagging doubts. there's nothing in the world i want more than to be a fountain of righteousness, but i still have sinful thoughts. i long to cast away the desires of my flesh, but i still act on them. if Christ were to return tomorrow, would he see that i have faith? or would he see that i have doubt? as much as i've changed my life and as much as i want to be God's servant, there is always that little doubt that jumps in there. i reject it as the enemy trying to poison me, but should i be able to shut him out completely? all i want is to completely TRUST in God. and that is something that is so hard for me to do because I'm still new to this. I never believed in anything until lately. I just thought that God was an imaginary friend for grown-ups. how can i completely trust in him? how can i get to that point? i need some help.
quote:
Each passing minute is another chance to turn it all around....
Occaisionally read your signature line. It is not unusual for believers to have doubts especially when we are struggling against our flesh. Paul tells us that the flesh is at odd with the Spirit. It is a struggle that will only end when we are changed from mortal to immortal. Keep in the Bible read it regularly and meditate on it. Keep in fellowship with other believers regularly and often not just attending service on Sunday. Keep in prayer continually. Keep in praise. When you find yourself headed towards sin turn around and turn to Jesus. The more you feed the Spirit by thinking on Jesus and His righteousness then the less time we have to let temptation in. The flesh and spirit are at emnity the one you feed is the one that gets stronger the one you starve gets weaker. Jesus said to cast your cares upon Him. Let Him help you with your doubts.
The following is the chorus of a song that may help you to sing when you are feeling tempted or are in a struggle.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of the earth
Will grow stangely dim
In the Light of His glory and grace.
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RE: is my faith sincere? - 6/13/2008 12:18:25 PM
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futuremartyr
Posts: 138
Joined: 4/4/2008
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quote:
ORIGINAL: DLindros
i wish i could say that my beliefs were unwavering, but i do have many nagging doubts. there's nothing in the world i want more than to be a fountain of righteousness, but i still have sinful thoughts. i long to cast away the desires of my flesh, but i still act on them. if Christ were to return tomorrow, would he see that i have faith? or would he see that i have doubt? as much as i've changed my life and as much as i want to be God's servant, there is always that little doubt that jumps in there. i reject it as the enemy trying to poison me, but should i be able to shut him out completely? all i want is to completely TRUST in God. and that is something that is so hard for me to do because I'm still new to this. I never believed in anything until lately. I just thought that God was an imaginary friend for grown-ups. how can i completely trust in him? how can i get to that point? i need some help.
no one can be righteous on their own merit. It is Christ that makes you righteous, by His blood. Him who knew NO SIN, was made to be the sin offering for your sin. If you are a Christian, you did not change your life, the Vine did. He is the vine, you are the branches and without Him you can DO NOTHING. What does completely trusting God look like to you?
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RE: is my faith sincere? - 6/14/2008 10:26:05 AM
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JusThoughtZ
Posts: 4
Joined: 6/14/2008
From: Atlanta
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fam... completely trusting iin Christ is simply...Loving Him and obeying His commandments....and living a disciplined and diligent life even when its unpopular to do so.
Loving Him, unto the point where its not all about you.
I dealt with this too for a LOONG time.
I thought it was all about me, then i was carried away with the cares of this world which still made me think "it was all about me."...then when it hit me that everything in this world is vain if I don't seek to please the Father through doing so.....why do it?
It'd only bring a temporary satisfaction to a lifetime disposition.
It takes God to live a God filled life.
When you pray don't ask to do good or not do bad.
Request that you are made "WHOLE" within. That regardless of what the situation is, His Holy Spirit will lead you within. No matter HOW uncomfortable it makes you feel.
That is the true call kiddo.
That even when you don't want to follow Christ. You do it anyway.
It pays off.
Read Collosians 1:27 when you get a chance.
Its Kosher
-JusT
< Message edited by JusThoughtZ -- 6/14/2008 10:40:41 AM >
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RE: is my faith sincere? - 6/15/2008 12:06:12 AM
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_CANCELLED_
Posts: 165
Joined: 6/14/2008
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: DLindros
i wish i could say that my beliefs were unwavering, but i do have many nagging doubts. there's nothing in the world i want more than to be a fountain of righteousness, but i still have sinful thoughts. i long to cast away the desires of my flesh, but i still act on them. if Christ were to return tomorrow, would he see that i have faith? or would he see that i have doubt? as much as i've changed my life and as much as i want to be God's servant, there is always that little doubt that jumps in there. i reject it as the enemy trying to poison me, but should i be able to shut him out completely? all i want is to completely TRUST in God. and that is something that is so hard for me to do because I'm still new to this. I never believed in anything until lately. I just thought that God was an imaginary friend for grown-ups. how can i completely trust in him? how can i get to that point? i need some help.
It's natural for man to question and doubt, especially in the infancy of his Faith. Questioning is a sign of intelligence. Yet, we're not to rely on our understanding. What I do is tell God--as if I were in conversation with my earthly father--I don't understand this, please bless me with more Faith and your wisdom. The only thing is, you have to be careful what you ask of Him b'c he listens. It seems everytime I've asked for more Faith, I went through some sort of difficult trial. But I came out stronger and with stronger faith. God sees much farther down the road we're on than we do. When we fall flat on our faces in the path of life--especially after asking for God's blessing--all we see is the bumps and bruises we got in that fall. We don't see the bullet we dodged while we were down. God did see it.
_____________________________
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and they house--Acts 16:31
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RE: is my faith sincere? - 6/15/2008 8:42:37 AM
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jn1010lf
Posts: 242
Joined: 4/20/2005
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Hello DLindros
Go back and read your post. You said that YOU have changed your life. Sorry, but that's wrong. Christ living in you changes your life. The Holy Spirit producing a re generated person changed your life. However, you have to renew your mind; that is point your undived attention to Christ, His word and allow Him to live through you.
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