Civil Religious Discussions : all things Christianity II

[ditcherman]

But man, can Jordan dress. Is that tweed? (I need more vests)

I'll take "things I'll never say as long as I live" for a thousand, Alex.

 

[Lost Californian]

How do you really live for God?

All my life, by inclination and choice and training, my entire career, I have been a technician. Most specifically, an electronics technician. I understand how complex circuits work, how entire radar and information systems are maintained and operate. I like guns, they are easy to understand. Reloading is simple, just do the steps in order and you get an accurate round. Just like electronics. Magic smoke escapes and you trace out which component failed and replace it. Signal trace the circuits to find where the signal is lost, then repair or replace as needed.

So how do I get it right when I want to follow Jesus Christ? Mere steps, all my work, is for nothing. I believe Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, that He was born of a virgin, that He was crucified, died, and raised from the dead. I have behaviors that are contrary to good teaching, and I won't stop them. How does faith work? It sure ain't in a tech manual, or instructions from Ikea. Just believe, I am told, and all will be well. I know that when God remakes the world, all will be well. I want to be more like Jesus Christ NOW. I want a transformed life, away from all the things I did before, not just most of the things.

Yes, I am in a particularly rough, bad spot in life right now. My wife's health is going from really bad to kinda sorta good, day by day. A thirty year old daughter who is making many wrong choices, while living at home again. Causing stress and problems for us. And I doubt, on top of it all.

If you read all that, thanks for your time.

 

[ChristianPatriot]

Just believe, I am told, and all will be well.

First off, I’m sorry to hear about your wife’s health issues and daughters’ waywardness. Everyone struggles with doubt. Everyone.

If someone has given you the above advice that all will be well, then they were very misleading.

Christ said quite the opposite.

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
‭‭John‬ ‭16‬:‭33.

The world is full of sin and suffering, but if you have the Holy Spirit living in your heart then you have a comforter with you.

As children of God, this world is not our home. We live for a different kingdom.

 

[Firehawk]

How do you really live for God?

All my life, by inclination and choice and training, my entire career, I have been a technician. Most specifically, an electronics technician. I understand how complex circuits work, how entire radar and information systems are maintained and operate. I like guns, they are easy to understand. Reloading is simple, just do the steps in order and you get an accurate round. Just like electronics. Magic smoke escapes and you trace out which component failed and replace it. Signal trace the circuits to find where the signal is lost, then repair or replace as needed.

So how do I get it right when I want to follow Jesus Christ? Mere steps, all my work, is for nothing. I believe Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, that He was born of a virgin, that He was crucified, died, and raised from the dead. I have behaviors that are contrary to good teaching, and I won't stop them. How does faith work? It sure ain't in a tech manual, or instructions from Ikea. Just believe, I am told, and all will be well. I know that when God remakes the world, all will be well. I want to be more like Jesus Christ NOW. I want a transformed life, away from all the things I did before, not just most of the things.

Yes, I am in a particularly rough, bad spot in life right now. My wife's health is going from really bad to kinda sorta good, day by day. A thirty year old daughter who is making many wrong choices, while living at home again. Causing stress and problems for us. And I doubt, on top of it all.

If you read all that, thanks for your time.

It’s great that you’re trying to do the right thing. But “good works” doesn’t grant us salvation, belief/faith in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His being raised to life does. The Christian faith is more about a relationship with Jesus than just a list of do’s and don’ts. We aren’t perfect and that’s why we need Jesus. He gives us His spirit to live in us, guide us, convict us, change us and make us more and more like Christ. It is a process. Strive for progress, not perfection, because we all fall short and mess up but we strive to do better and be better.

I heard this analogy one time and I think it’s a good one: When I got married I became a husband but also I am spending my life learning to be a husband. Faith and a relationship with Jesus is the same in a lot of ways. We are saved and become Christians, adopted sons of God, but we also spend life learning to be Christians and Sons of God.

Reaching out is important. Getting around loving mature Christians that will encourage you and build you up is important. If you’re not regularly involved in a church or faith group I encourage you to look for one that will encourage you and build you up in Christ.

God loves you. Jesus’ mercies are new every morning. He’s with you. Be encouraged that many here will be praying for you and your wife and your daughter.

Edit: And there is manual. It’s the Bible, the Word of God. A good place to start in the Bible is the book of Romans or Ephesians and the Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.

 

[DadSmith]

It’s great that you’re trying to do the right thing. But “good works” doesn’t grant us salvation, belief/faith in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His being raised to life does. The Christian faith is more about a relationship with Jesus than just a list of do’s and don’ts. We aren’t perfect and that’s why we need Jesus. He gives us His spirit to live in us, guide us, convict us, change us and make us more and more like Christ. It is a process. Strive for progress, not perfection, because we all fall short and mess up but we strive to do better and be better.

I heard this analogy one time and I think it’s a good one: When I got married I became a husband but also I am spending my life learning to be a husband. Faith and a relationship with Jesus is the same in a lot of ways. We are saved and become Christians, adopted sons of God, but we also spend life learning to be Christians and Sons of God.

Reaching out is important. Getting around loving mature Christians that will encourage you and build you up is important. If you’re not regularly involved in a church or faith group I encourage you to look for one that will encourage you and build you up in Christ.

God loves you. Jesus’ mercies are new every morning. He’s with you. Be encouraged that many here will be praying for you and your wife and your daughter.

Edit: And there is manual. It’s the Bible, the Word of God. A good place to start in the Bible is the book of Romans or Ephesians and the Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.

Agee with starting in Romans and going thru Revelation.
I also recommend NKJV version. I've read several translations, and I enjoy the NKJV over the rest. It's a well translated version of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Textus Receptus.
About any version will get you pointed in the right direction.
There are many English translations. If you can read other languages you can get a translation in those languages as well. Not all translations read exactly alike, but will get you the knowledge you desire.

 

[Lost Californian]

ChristianPatriot, Firehawk, DadSmith

Thank you for talking with me. My problem is not about salvation, or of the trials and tribulations of life in a world fallen away from God. The question I asked still remains, how do I live for God?

A little background on myself: I was raised in the church by parents who are filled with the Holy Spirit. I ran away from God as a teen, lived a wild and rebellious life until my late 30s, when I returned to the foundation my parents taught me. I read God's Word daily, in many different versions (The Message has had the greatest impact on me recently). Found a church where the pastor speaks God's Word, and attend regularly.

I have a lot of head knowledge about living for Jesus Christ, yet I find that my inner self is just the same as my rebellion years. I think of ways to do evil, my language is still rough and coarse (I swear a lot). I still put ME first, instead of God. The two people I relate to the most in the Bible are King Saul and Nicodemus. Saul had it all, yet would not follow the God's instructions (obedience instead of sacrifice). Nicodemus knew the Law inside and out, yet could not understand the spirit (How shall a man be born again?). I see myself as a hypocrite pharisee, able to give out sound knowledge and advice yet not live it. Firehawk, your example of husband and wife is one I have used, along with how a parent, especially a father, cares a child.

I will provide an example of what I mean, just don't get hooked on what others did, but on my reaction.

My wife is in poor health. Long story. She spent a week in the hospital. She is stuck at home now, unable to go out. She had 4 visitors from the church, 2 men and one couple. She has been at home for over a week now, and there is no contact from the church group. Every Sunday and Wednesday, I am asked if we need anything - food, cleaning the house, laundry service, etc - and I say no, that is all under control and taken care of. I say she is lonely and unable to get out of the house, and visitors are welcome. None come by. Yesterday, I went to service, and I was angry and bitter, ready to lash out and tear into the church body, think Matt 25:34-45. I condemned the entire group, I wanted to tear down in anger, not build up in faith. I found a seat which made it hard for people to approach me. During prayer time, two women place their hands on my shoulders and prayed for me. I broke inside, and began to weep. I left service less angry.

How do I put in to practice what I believe? Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah did it, and didn't even smell of smoke. Abraham did it, and God counted it as righteousness. Paul changed his life on the road to Damascus, Peter finally got it right, the list goes on and on.

Thanks for your time.

 

[Firehawk]

I want to be more like Jesus Christ NOW

The question I asked still remains, how do I live for God?

I hear what you’re saying. It is a process. Even for the people in the Bible that you mentioned, it was a process. Abraham waited 25 years for God’s promise to manifest and he got a lot of things wrong along the way. It was a process. Peter denied Jesus after spending 3.5 years with him and still later had to be confronted about his prejudice. It was a process. Even Paul who met Jesus on the road to Demascus and wrote most of the New Testament writes in Romans 7:19 “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing”. Read Romans 7:14-25. Paul struggled too. It is a process.

A big part of that process is surrendering to Jesus. Being honest and saying “I can’t do it, I need You”. It sounds like that may be what happened when the ladies prayed for you. Change like that comes moment by moment as we surrender to Jesus.

I suggest setting up a meeting with your pastor and talking with him about the struggles and your faith. Does your church offer any counseling services? Many Christians have deep rooted things from their past that hold them back from moving forward. Often times it’s things we didn’t know was there or didn’t understand how it affected us. Counseling can help find and work through those things.

Also, I suggest being respectfully honest with your pastor or church leaders about your wife’s loneliness. See if they can set up a schedule of friends to come visit her. It’s probably one of those things they just didn’t think of and didn’t fully understand the situation or how your wife was feeling, but if suggested they probably will be happy to visit and set up friends to visit.

It sounds like you’re on the right track. Don’t give up. God is with you.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

How do you really live for God?

All my life, by inclination and choice and training, my entire career, I have been a technician. Most specifically, an electronics technician. I understand how complex circuits work, how entire radar and information systems are maintained and operate. I like guns, they are easy to understand. Reloading is simple, just do the steps in order and you get an accurate round. Just like electronics. Magic smoke escapes and you trace out which component failed and replace it. Signal trace the circuits to find where the signal is lost, then repair or replace as needed.

So how do I get it right when I want to follow Jesus Christ? Mere steps, all my work, is for nothing. I believe Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, that He was born of a virgin, that He was crucified, died, and raised from the dead. I have behaviors that are contrary to good teaching, and I won't stop them. How does faith work? It sure ain't in a tech manual, or instructions from Ikea. Just believe, I am told, and all will be well. I know that when God remakes the world, all will be well. I want to be more like Jesus Christ NOW. I want a transformed life, away from all the things I did before, not just most of the things.

Yes, I am in a particularly rough, bad spot in life right now. My wife's health is going from really bad to kinda sorta good, day by day. A thirty year old daughter who is making many wrong choices, while living at home again. Causing stress and problems for us. And I doubt, on top of it all.

If you read all that, thanks for your time.

I know your struggle. I am not the man I want to be and I still sin many of the same sins I’ve always done. Probably, many people do—if they’re being honest. But I have been able to kill a few.

Here’s what helps me some: whatever triggers the sin behaviors—avoid them, as best you can. Confess to God...and pray.

God sanctifies us on his own schedule.

 

[Lwright]

I don't know what to say other than keep praying and reading his word. Prayers.

 

[45sRfun]

How do you really live for God?

Living for God is largely a matter of obedience to God. It should help to be with others who are striving to live for God. See if you can find a church where the members are really living for God, not just Sunday Christians. I found such a church 5 years ago and it has been an inspiration for me to strive to live better and behave in a more Christian manner.

Many things in life can be frustrating, and that can lead us to sin (complaining, blaming, fits of anger, etc). But if we see the big picture, that God is in total control, and so will use those frustrating, difficult, and even terrible situations for your good (Romans 8:28) then we can avoid the complaining, blaming, anger, etc. and just calmly continue with life, knowing that God is working it to our good, though we may not know what that good is now.

 

[2A_Tom]

1 Timothy 6:6

 

[DadSmith]

ChristianPatriot, Firehawk, DadSmith

Thank you for talking with me. My problem is not about salvation, or of the trials and tribulations of life in a world fallen away from God. The question I asked still remains, how do I live for God?

A little background on myself: I was raised in the church by parents who are filled with the Holy Spirit. I ran away from God as a teen, lived a wild and rebellious life until my late 30s, when I returned to the foundation my parents taught me. I read God's Word daily, in many different versions (The Message has had the greatest impact on me recently). Found a church where the pastor speaks God's Word, and attend regularly.

I have a lot of head knowledge about living for Jesus Christ, yet I find that my inner self is just the same as my rebellion years. I think of ways to do evil, my language is still rough and coarse (I swear a lot). I still put ME first, instead of God. The two people I relate to the most in the Bible are King Saul and Nicodemus. Saul had it all, yet would not follow the God's instructions (obedience instead of sacrifice). Nicodemus knew the Law inside and out, yet could not understand the spirit (How shall a man be born again?). I see myself as a hypocrite pharisee, able to give out sound knowledge and advice yet not live it. Firehawk, your example of husband and wife is one I have used, along with how a parent, especially a father, cares a child.

I will provide an example of what I mean, just don't get hooked on what others did, but on my reaction.

My wife is in poor health. Long story. She spent a week in the hospital. She is stuck at home now, unable to go out. She had 4 visitors from the church, 2 men and one couple. She has been at home for over a week now, and there is no contact from the church group. Every Sunday and Wednesday, I am asked if we need anything - food, cleaning the house, laundry service, etc - and I say no, that is all under control and taken care of. I say she is lonely and unable to get out of the house, and visitors are welcome. None come by. Yesterday, I went to service, and I was angry and bitter, ready to lash out and tear into the church body, think Matt 25:34-45. I condemned the entire group, I wanted to tear down in anger, not build up in faith. I found a seat which made it hard for people to approach me. During prayer time, two women place their hands on my shoulders and prayed for me. I broke inside, and began to weep. I left service less angry.

How do I put in to practice what I believe? Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah did it, and didn't even smell of smoke. Abraham did it, and God counted it as righteousness. Paul changed his life on the road to Damascus, Peter finally got it right, the list goes on and on.

Thanks for your time.

By doing his will. By living a life pleasing to him.
What is a Jehovah pleasing life? Is that the question?

If so let me know if I'm on the right road and I'll quote you Scriptures and let you know how I go about doing my best to strive for being as perfect as I can on earth spirituality minded that is.
I will tell you I fail, but according to Paul you strive for perfection until the day this corruptible body changes to incorruptible.

 

[Lost Californian]

I think my question is more like, how do I be changed from a natural man, wanting to please myself, to a spiritual man, wanting to please God.

I received encouraging words here. Had a talk with my pastor, which covered a lot, and encouraged me more. Guest speakers on Sunday and Wednesday had messages that really hit home with me. While the situations in my life have not changed, I am not as despairing and desperate as before. Talking with people Wed night reminded me of several of God's promises, mainly Isaiah 40:28-31. I was tired and worn out, and have chosen to wait upon the Lord.

Thanks for your concern and willingness to help me.

 

[bmbutch]

At 57 years old, I’ve struggled with many aspects of Christainty pretty much as long as I can remember.

It’s ok to believe but have doubts / unbelief
Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, “If[d] you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

For me, when I fast, when I pray, when I stay away from worldly things (those things that tempt you), and when I include the request to deliver me from lusts of the flesh and lead me into fruits of the Spirit, and lead on the paths of righteousness for Your name sake, I do much better.

It’s also critical to find salvation minded friends, encouragers, etc..
Be careful of religious people, those people will kill you, just ask Jesus.

Will be praying for you and your wife/family.

 

[DadSmith]

Be careful of religious people, those people will kill you, just ask Jesus.

Paul's books say exactly this. ^

Philippians 2:12-16 NKJV
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
[13] for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
[14] Do all things without complaining and disputing,
[15] that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, [16] holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

This should be every Christians desire and goal.
Philippians 3:12
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

I also was raised in a Christian home, but just 2 years and a month ago today I Myself became a Christian.
I'm doing the best I can, and as Paul said press on to be as perfect before Christ as I possibly can.

 

[DadSmith]

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Have a wonderful day of worship.

 

[indiucky]

This is going to sound strange.....but this was one of the most faith based films I've seen in a while....I don't want to spoil it so I won't say much other than the lesson of the film is one I struggle with....

God bless and remember...it's Halloween.....there is nothing wrong with a little jump scare to go along with the churching....

It really was not what I expected....it's ultimately about forgiveness I suppose....

 

[DadSmith]

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Have a wonderful day of worship.

 

[DadSmith]

1 John 3:4-9 NKJV
Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
[5] And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
[6] Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
[7] Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
[8] He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
[9] Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

These verses have come up in discussion.
I say they it means exactly how it is written.
Christian are not supposed to sin on purpose, and seek ways to sin.
Does this mean Christians are perfect? No it means Christians do not knowing commit sin.
It also says if we do slip up, and sin we have an Advocate, and if we confess and repent, we are forgiven.
1 John 2:1 NKJV
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

This thought has crossed my mind...

I the state of Israel the legitimate Israel, the country of God's chosen people? I ask because the current state celebrates LGBT stuff and supports abortion (among other things). These types of things by kings of the Old Testament got Israel judgement from God. They were driven out of the land for it.