How to love god?/Is there sin of thoughts???

Yea the Bible says that if you commit adultry in your mind then you have already commited the sin, im not shure where that is maby somone else can help us out. But i struggle with the same thing and what i try to do is to tie my thoughts to somthing i want really bad, like if i want to go do somthing really dificult i tell myself and God not to let me get it unless i stay way or seriously try to stay away, so then i have somthing to work for.

 

meditate on the following passage of scripture:

"James 4:4-10 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."

 

Do you attend church?
Do they have social gatherings?

Idle hands are the devils workshop and an idle mind is no different.

Taking time to relax is not the same as having an abundance of unused/unproductive time on your hands. GET INVOLVED in the church. If you don't have a church, go visit some.

Ask the Lord to strengthen you and help you to stand firm against the pull of the flesh and read PHIL 4:13
God will strengthen you.

It sounds as though you are a young one and have a good fight ahead of you, but you aren't walking alone.

God bless,
Mommyperson

 

Matt 5:28 is the verse your looking for,mommyperson is right get involved in church, if you dont have one find one, but be careful to find one that teaches the truth. dig into the scriptures for yourself. At 48 I still struggle with these things reading Gods word and memorizing scripture is the only thing that helps.Remember if you are a child of God satan will do any thing he can to make you mess up.

 

Get a Bible and start (or keep if you are) reading it, living off of it. Whatever spiritual problems you may have, it'll show you.

NAS Psalm 119:9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Thy word.

 

We love God by seeking to obey Him, we desire to obey Him, but messing up and sinning does not mean we didn't love Him. Fill your mind with His word, and your life with His people, service to him, and worship of Him. Not just Sundays and Wednesday nights either. If you feel you love God but not enough, just ask Him, God is love and all love comes from Him, if you ask for more love for Him He will give it.

 

this (last word) would be considered swearing in UK.

Gwyneth---I removed the slang that you quoted--to be on the safe side! Thanks,

Bro. David

[ March 09, 2005, 03:24 PM: Message edited by: blackbird ]

 

Note to benz---I deleted and substituted the slang word you used in your first post. Please remember this is an open forum---with people literally from around the world that tune in----we all have to remind ourselves that what may be considered as "normal" speech in our respected country---may not be accepted as normal in others. Please be careful in your choice of words!

Thanks!

Brother David
aka Blackbird

 

Thanks Bro David

 

I dont know of one Christian who has not experienced sin starting in the mind and causing them to feel bad over it, that is quite usual.

My best advice is to be in a good church and jump right into the programme. Get close to God and He will be close to you in your time of temptation.

 

Hmm... How can we know if we haven't traveled? Is there some way to tell us what this word is without spelling it out?

HankD

 

In this life, temptation in one form or another will be before you every day. Remember, the devil has nothing else to do but try to cause God's people to sin, and to keep the lost lost.

God says to put on the whole armor of God, and to pick up & wield the sword...His word...He has for you. He says, "Resist the devil, and he shall flee from you". but he WILL be back. The solution? Rely upon JESUS to get you through the temptation, and the devil will flee from you again. YOU cannot resist the devil on your own...he's far too powerful for the whole physical universe to resist. BUT, WITH GOD, any person can successfully resist him.

Think you're by yourself? Newp! ALL of us are tempted by the devil somehow. or other. I don't know of any ordinary Christian man whose head isn't turned by a pretty woman. But it's HOW WE REACT to such things that determines if it's sinful or not. God built a libido into every one of us, but He commands us to use it properly. It's normal for a man to take more than a brief glance at a pretty woman & therefore it's not sinful, but if we imagine ourselves in a sexual encounter with her, that IS sin. (Nothing wrong with pursuing her with the object of a wholesome relationship if you're both single!)

The devil will cause a former addict or alcoholic to remember the PLEASURES derived from chemical abuse, trying to take your mind off all the BAD things about it. While YOU cannot hope to resist the devil by yourself, the devil cannot resist JESUS, so when tempted, immediately pray, silently or aloud, for JESUS to give you the power to resist Satan, and He WILL. Long as you're willing to resist temptation, and call upon JESUS to overcome any given temptation for you, He WILL help you get through it! YOU supply the will and desire to overcome it, & not hesitate to ask JESUS to help you and JESUS will supply the power to successfully resist!

 

and He Himself a defender if and when you fail/fall:

NKJ 1 John 2:1 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.

HankD

 

If you think about it, all sin starts in the mind as a thought, steeling, adultry, murder, lying, they all started as a thought. A good reason to work at bringing our minds under Chrsit's control.

 

Colossians 3:5
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

Romans 8:13
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

We are what we eat. God tells us to pray not to be led into temptation. We can have victory over the flesh by consuming God's Word. If we pray, read our bible and immerse ourselves in service to God we can grow spiritually stronger than our flesh.

If you are a babe in Christ and don't get fed, your flesh will continue to overtake you. People say that the flesh is weak. It is the strongest adversary we will ever come up against.

We must feed the spirit with Godly things so that it will grow stronger than our flesh. We must make a concious decision not to serve our flesh. God points the way. It is not for a man to direct his own path.

Psalm 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

God won't force us to do anything. He will show us the way. He clearly teaches us that we can have victory if we will adhere to the principles of scripture.

Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

 

Well I know where Benz is coming from. I've been a Christan for 35 years but I still deal with a overpowing sin, and I'm about to believe that it will never leave, it hasn't in 40+ years.Now I'm starting to think that it will keep me from Heaven,because in Rev. 20-17 I think it is, it says that no unwholesome thing will enter that city.If I can't go because this can't seem to be controled,then it doesn't leave much hope.Today in Sunday School we were talking about predestination,maybe I'm not one.

 

Brother we all sin it's in our nature, anyone who say's that they dont struggle with some type of sin (well lets just say there wrong), you see when we trust christ and him alone to save us he does just that, He covers us with his blood, so when the Father looks on us He dosent see our sin, what He see the rightnessous of Christ that coves us by His blood.We are forgiven, so when you struggle just keep fighting and asking the Lord for help, remember He will not put anything on us we cannot handle.

 

MArk d1299,

Oh the last part of your post hurt my heart. I also have felt that my only choice was to give in to sin and live that way, but one day I realized I wasnt willing to pay the price to get rid of it my life. I asked God to help me want to pay the price. He did, and I will pray that for you, too.

 

I've just prayed about this so much, and try so hard,and then it seems like what Paul said,The good I know to do... I believe all the Word, and I know it's hard to make all of it fit together sometimes,like I believe I'm forgiven because 1 john 1:9, but then there is Rev 20:17, and my sin is called an abomination,which alot are,but the 20:17 says that no abomination shall enter.I know it has to be Grace,cause I can't live with out some mistake,but what happens if I don't get my last slip confessed before I die.