My faith can be shaken so easily

JF -
Try any local Christian book store - they have worship CDs.

If no Christian book stores then - you can go to GOOGLE on the web and type in "Music" and then "The River of Life" for example. They will show you where to purchase the CD online.

The point is not whether "you can sing" - so someone else will enjoy it. It is what you can do in your heart and in your mind while the song is playing - humm if nothing else.

If you come to God in high-frustration-mode but don't stay long enough to confess sin - express doubt - pray-through a few psalms and meditate in silence -- you will be missing the blessing of peace that is so necessary. There is no substitute for spending quality time with God.

In Christ,

Bob

 

JesusFreak, the point of the stories above was:

YOU'RE GETTING ANSWERS ALL THE TIME. You're just not listening and/or paying attention.

If that sounds harsh, I sincerely apologize; but look at those stories again, and then start looking around you.

Here's one more for you: Back in 1995, I had just finished my bacheler's degree, and was thinking about going to Officer Training School, but not sure if I should. I had just been saved, and was a brand new babe in Christ, so didn't understand a lot. I asked God what I should do, and then I went out with my wife. Since we were already living on base, we went to one of the base stores, where all of a sudden I saw a headline on one of the military newspapers: "1,100 selected for promotion to captain". Normally, I didn't even look at the military newspapers because they're little more than propaganda rags. This time, it immediately hit me that if there were 1,100 first lieutenants being promoted to captain, that meant there were 1,100 second lieutenants being promoted to first lieutenant, which meant there were 1,100 slots opening up for people to be commissioned as second lieutenants.

Strange logic, I know; but God works in ways we don't understand. I took it as the answer I had asked for, and submitted my paperwork. Let me tell you: At that time, prior enlisteds like myself did NOT get selected on the first round, especially with multiple waivers like I had (I had to submit 4 waivers for age, a speeding ticket when I was 16, etc.). Except that I did get picked up on the first round.

Start listening, JesusFreak. Start paying attention. You're getting answers, they're just not in the form that you want them to be in. Remember that God doesn't work by YOUR standards, He works by His.

 

Jesus Freak,
There's nothing in the Bible that says that we won't ever doubt. Thomas doubted, and knew Christ face to face! We are human. It is a hard thing to believe in a God that we cannot see. The evidence of God is not seen by 'signs' and 'feelings'.

True faith is not 'tangible', it is not a feeling, or emotion.

Do not let the world decide for you what is real. You are right that trusting Christ for the answers is easier said than done, but it is not impossible!

Faith IS the evidence. Faith is given to you BY God!

We are all given a portion of Faith. If you feel that your faith is so small that it is easy to shake, ask God for more!!

I'm praying for you, as I'm sure the rest of us here are.

God Bless,
Kelly

PS, Vinyard worship hurts my ears too. Tell me what kind of music you like, and maybe I can make some suggestions! I have been closely involved in the CCM curcuit for all of my adult life, and most of my childhood (my parents were involved in starting Air1 radio). Let me know!

 

JF -

Worship and meditation music has to be easy on the ears - slow and meditative so that you can pray with the music.

There are also "happy-clappy" style songs that are good for exercise - but they don't work for the "listening" and meditative section of worship.

If you want to "hear God speak to you" here is a simple exercise.. As mentioned above - Go to God in prayer - start with praise and then confession. Pray through a psalms or two and then try this. Ask that God open your heart to anything in your life that He wants you to address. Have a notebook with you.

In John 16 the work of the Holy Spirit is to "Convict of sin and righteousness and judgment".

I guarantee that no matter how "cold and frozen" you "think" your relationship with God is - you will hear the "still small voice".

In Christ,

Bob

 

JesusFreak, I'm going to be honest and tell you I'm very concerned about you.

Now, did you wake up this morning? Did you just breathe? Thank God you're alive! Do you have a warm home? A family who loves you? Thank God for these gifts! How's your health? Were you born without major birth defects or do you have any health problems? Wow, God is good! Did you see a butterfly, a bird, rainbow, a kitten that purred? God created these for us to enjoy and to bring us joy!

Okay. Do you, every minute of every day, feel your mother's love? You know she loves you. Does she have to prove it every second? Doesn't the things she does for you show love? God showed you in the MOST amazing way!

Christianity is more than a bunch of 'feel good' emotions! Faith is more than 'prove it God'! Salvation is a free gift and we have to believe and accept that free gift. We have it in writing. We have God's promise. It's all right in that book you keep saying you don't really need to read.

I came to Jesus as a tiny child. I have the faith of a tiny child. God doesn't have to prove anything to me or explain HIS plan, HIS ways or HIS methods. He's the boss! He's the creator! He's my Father.

I wish I knew what to say to help you through this but my true feeling is that you're not yeilding, praying and reading enough. Ask God to increase your faith! Ask God to let you feel Him with you. Remember, God was not in the fire or the wind. God spoke in the 'still small voice'. Sometimes we have to Be Still (QUIET) and KNOW that He is God.

Diane

 

Hi! I used to be very bad at this, too, so I did a little exercise that I would suggest. It is a very common, down-to-earth exercise -- no big deal.

Get a piece of paper, number the lines, and write down the things in your life that you are thankful for. Believe me, you will come up with all kinds of things to be thankful for and to praise our God for.

I have also listed the things in my life I am thankful for, then made a sheet of things I am not thankful for -- things I wish were not, wish would change, wish had never happened. Every time, my "Thankful For" list comes out WAAAAAYYYYY longer! Then I am praising all over again!

I think all people should do this on occasion -- perhaps even once a month! Then tack the list up on the board behind your monitor, where you will see it. You will be far more thankful and do a lot more praising of our God for what He has done in your life.

1. My family and how loving they are.
2. For my Lord, His sacrifice for me, for the Father.
3. For my synagogue.
4. My little house and yard.
5. My car and my husband's van.
6. That we have work and are not unemployed.
7. For my health holding out.
8. For being able to work out.
9. For my computer, that works!
10. That I could get up this morning when so many cannot.
11. That I can eat and digest food.
12. For the beautiful salmon-rose sunrise I saw.
13. That I am no longer in that old miserable church I once belonged to, and that many of my family are also out.
14. For safety so far, while many neighbors' homes are being broken into.
15. . . . .

 

Abiyah,

Thanks for bringing to our attention the things we take for granted. Too often we look for the big issues that are earth shattering and fail to realize the blessings in the smile of a grandchild, the enjoyment of performing or listening to music, faithfulness of a pet, a cool drink of water, the marital bed, a sunset, newly fallen snow, the sight of a newborn calf, a hug, satisfaction in a job well done etc.

I could go on and on. Salvation is something to be thankful for daily and the small things we've brought up are the icing on the cake.

God blesses us and we mistakedly only refer to it as "Life".

Singer

 

Read Matthew 6:44-45 and notice that God sends blessings to both the just and the unjust for "God so loved the World" that He gave His son.

So "yes" when the atheist reaps those blessings - he does not thank God - but he gets the blessings (at least some blessings)anyway.

If Adam had never sinned - then there would be no suffering or death or disease. But as it is - Satan is now called "the god of this world" 2 Corinthian 4:4 and he blinds the minds of the lost hoping that they will not turn to God and be saved.

In Job 1 and 2 - Satan comes before God - representing "Earth".

In Ephesians 2:1-4 his is the prince of the power of the air enslaving the lost.

Peter's warning is that Satan is a "roaring lion seeking whom he may devour" 1 Peter 5:8-9.

Safety is "in Christ" not just for forgiveness of sin and eternal life - but also for safe passage through a sinful world where God is given control of your life- by an act of your choosing to accept Christ as your savior.

In Christ,

Bob

 

Whether someone is abled or disabled, imo, is relative. If no one on the planet had legs, and we all had to get around in wheelchairs, no one would know the difference. If everyone was blind, no one would think of it as a disability (in fact, there are some species of animal that are completely blind, completely deaf, etc, and this is "normal" for them). To a lesser degree, some people are tall, short, nearsighted, farsighted, hard of hearing, pale, tanned, etc etc.

Generally, I believe that the conditions of a person's physical traits are a matter of happenstance: Two people happened to mix their chromosomes, and be in a certain environment, and I'm the result. Now, that aside, I also believe that God knows beforehand what we are and will be, and gives us the ability to use our physical differences as an opportinuty to grow and achieve as human beings.

A few weeks ago, a 13yo girl was the victim of a shark attack on the western coast of the US. She was a surfer Recently, she returned to the water to resume surfing. With part of her arm missing, she's a better surfer than I am. So who's the disabled? Her, because she's missing an arm, or me, because I lack the ability to surf?

 

God said he makes it rain on the good AND the evil alike.

Apostle Paul used his "thorn in the flesh" for the promotion of God's gospel.

Disabilities can be used for good when applied.
Joni Eareckson Tada is a good example of how her weakness makes her strong. She is stong in spirit and will be whole in the next life. Those people are examples of God's grace.

We should even be thankful for the questions we have that seem unsurmountable.....then we know God is working in us.

The bible even says to count it as gain concerning tribulations.

 

God "knows it all" but He does not "cause" the one who is born blind to "be" born blind.

As a result of sin - we all get old and die - but God does not "make us get old and die".

So what you have then is God "intervening" at times in the sin and decay process through which we are going in this life.

In Christ,

Bob

 

Hi JF,

Did you also ever doubted that Jesus died for you? And that God loves you enough that He gave His best for you, His only Son. Is this Gift of God not enough to convince you that He loved you and cared for you?

I believe this is enough to know that Jesus died for me. No other proof or sign can be better than that. Please don't forget the cross, it speak about God's all.

As the Hymn says:

I found no other argument
I found no other plea,
It is enough that JESUS DIED
AND THAT HE DIED FOR ME.

Apostle Paul says, He doesn't glory in anything
save in the cross of JESUS CHRIST.