Is it True......
Sat, 11/07/2009 - 14:30
Hello Everyone!!! It's been a while since I last posted haha.... Things have been going better for me but... I heard and was told that I couldn't stop my addictive behaivor because I didn't love Jesus enough.... I was also told since I kept sinning I wasn't really a Christian and wasn't living in the truth. I admit I was really hurt and put off by this, but I dont want to decieve myself.. So, is what i was told true?
Comments
Welcome back!! I'm glad to hear that you're doing better.
As far as the things you have heard, I don't know. Who told you those things? That sounds a bit harsh and judgmental to me.
I'm not sure what you mean by loving Jesus enough. Do any of us really love Jesus enough? Everybody falls short. How much we love Jesus isn't measured by our struggle with sin. Are you merely being tempted, and give in, or are you actively going out and seeking to rebel? Jesus tells us that if we love Him, that we will keep His commandments, so yes, obedience entails love, but it also doen't mean that you will be perfect, or not be tempted. If you are here, then that means that you are seeking to be obedient to Him. Would you say that you love Him?
As far as you not being a Christian because you keep sinning, well, that is simply not true. Like I said, are you activeley going out seeking to sin, or are there just areas where you fall short? I am not your judge, so I cannot determine whether you are saved or not, but if you are here seeking the truth, then I think that's indicative of the fact that you are saved, and do want to please Jesus.
Let me ask you a question -- do you feel that if you were to die right now, that you would go to heaven? If so, why...and if not, why not? I'm not trying to pry, just to give you some assurance.
Beloved Branch
Moderator
Pink Cross Forums
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Ps. 108:13 Through God we shall do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies
Though it may sound judgemental, I do think there's some truth to the idea that one who keeps sinning doesn't love Jesus enough. Think about it, people cheat on their spouses because they don't truly love them. I mean, how can you be unfaithful to someone you love? When you fall into habitual sin, you're essentially cheating on God. Your love for Him should keep you from sin. Jesus said himself "If you love me, obey my commandments." (John 14:15)
What else does the Bible say about sin and God's children? Let's look at 1 John 3:4-9, "Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 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. 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."
When the Bible talks about committing a sin, it's referring to unrepentant habitual sin, but it's pretty clear that you cannot know God and still fall into habitual sin. I learned personally that the only way to stay from sin is to stay in the presence of God because in Him there is no sin. That requires you to develop an intimate relationship with Him. It's a lot of hard work and committment, but it's definitely worth it.
Not saying this pertaining to anyone in particular, but I believe that when Christians continue in sin, many times it has to do with a lack of the fear of God.
GodzPrincess
Pink Cross Forum Admin
Do you love God or do you merely believe in him? Another thing, would you lay down your life for him or would you have to think about it for a bit or maybe even say no to him. That’s the type of questions that you must ask your self. Case in point, demons believe in God but they don't love God. Well of course not, duh because they are fallen angels and have already made their choice. So, to have a true relationship with God you must love Him with all of your heart. That means agape, which is the kind of love that can only be attained if you are a follower of Christ.
Porn is not glamorous; its soul robbing both for the performer and the viewer. It’s filled with nothing but degrading acts to women who off camera have to do drugs to survive and to cope with their lives they become zombies.
Indeed, that is another way of looking at it...do we love God or do we "believe" in Him. Would we lay our lives down for Him as Jesus did? Or not? True enough, the demons believe in God cuz they were once in heaven with Him! But they refuse to obey Him, therefore they do not love Him.
Do we love God enough to trust Him through all the good and most particularly the bad times in our lives? It's the bad times, the dark times, that reveal what we really believe in our hearts. His refining fires need to reveal the impurities, then we can see what is in our hearts that need to be removed...the fear, the anger, the resentments, bitterness, the distrust, the rebelliousness, hatred, unforgiveness...Do we KNOW God is good, and do we trust Him? Those are the ultimate questions in regards to our relationship with God.
Cry out to God and tell Him you want to truly KNOW Him, and that you need His grace and guidance to help you persist in seeking Him and drawing near to Him. Pray for a revelation of His love for you. Pray to truly KNOW and understand the depth of what Jesus suffered on the Cross for our forgiveness and redemption and reconciliation. Acknowledge that you struggle with sins and know that He has given us the ability thru the life of Jesus in us to live a holy life of obedience, and the Holy Spirit convicts us and guides us. It is something we must continually cry out for and persist in seeking God until we are changed by Him.
In our common struggles, may the Lord unite us into unity of Spirit with a bond of agape love for one another and especially for Him, who is worthy! And that we may continue to encourage and uplift one another.
Blessings,
Tonya
"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine!...I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;...You are precious and honored in my eyes, and I love you...do not be afraid, for I am with you." (Is.43:4-5)
I just recently finished a book called, "Passion for Jesus" by Mike Bickle. He talks about the issue of our inability to stop struggling with sin, our lack of desire/willingness to read the bible and pray and witness, etc, that he struggled with, and how God helped him to see the most important thing is to KNOW Him.
Not a head knowledge of Him thru just reading the Bible. The pharisees, religious teachers, and many Jewish did that and refused to come to Jesus. John 5:38-42, "You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me. But you are unwilling to COME TO ME so that you may have life...but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves."
Most of us "know about" God, but do not KNOW God. I grew up in the church pretty much my entire life and have not KNOW Him. I know ABOUT Him. So I am starting over from scratch and seeking to truly KNOW God like never before. Mike Bickle did an awesome job drawing my heart to know God in a new way in his book, "Passion for Jesus." I encourage you to stop your focus on your failures and struggles with sins, and focus on Jesus, truly seeking to KNOW Him more intimately, knowing who He really is, His heart, His compassion, His beauty in the way He acted and spoke. Because Jesus loved God so intimately and passionately and wanted to walk pleasing to God, He walked 100 percent obediently to what God called Him to do. He said He does nothing of Himself unless it is something He sees His Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son does in like manner (John 5: 19).
Whatever Jesus did, we get a picture of the heart of God. In the gospels, we see how Jesus showed compassion on those who were sick and suffering, those who were cast out by society (deaf, blind, lepers, etc), women were often treated unfairly, (and still are!), so on.
He was One with His Father, and we are called to be One (read John 17). Since Jesus lives in us thru the Holy Spirit, we have His indwelling Holy power in us empowering us to walk in His ways! We just need a revelation of this truth...which I am seeking. "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord!!"
Pray Ephesians 1:17-19, (personalize it) "God, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give me a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge (not head knowledge! heart knowledge; experience!) of You. I pray that the eyes of my heart may be enlightened, so that I will know the hope of Your calling, what are the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in the saints (believers), and what is the surpassing greatness of Your power toward us who believe..."
And, Ephesians 3:16-21, "God, grant me, according to the riches of Your glory, to be strengthened with power through Your Spirit in my inmost being, so that Christ will live in my heart through faith. And that I will be rooted and grounded in love, and be able to comprehend, together with all the saints (believers), what is the breadth, length, height and depth, to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that I may be filled up to all the fullness of God..."
Oh that we would truly KNOW God, and know Him intimately, passionately, we will come to a place of knowing the truth about Him and therefore trusting Him, then we can walk out obedience and stop the sin cycle so many of us struggle with.
I really liked "Passion for Jesus" by Mike Bickle, but it needs to be balanced out with a book like "A Heart Ablaze" by John Bevere, cuz he talks more about the holiness of God and how we need to understand His holiness and have honor and respect and fear for Him instead of treating Him like a common man. Too many of us Christians here in America have lost our reverence for Him. Lack of reverence for God causes us to minimize our sins and therefore not be truly repentant.
Blessings,
Tonya
"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine!...I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;...You are precious and honored in my eyes, and I love you...do not be afraid, for I am with you." (Is.43:4-5)
Thanks guys for responding! A lot of what ya'll said made much sense but what's the difference between knowing god and knowing ABOUT Him? and loving god and being in love with him(if there's a difference at all) ?
I understand that intellectually that there is a huge difference between knowing ABOUT God and KNOWING God, but since I have yet to experience it fully, I will have to go with what ransomedbyjesus said, we know ABOUT each other by talking with each other here, but since we are not face to face and spending lots of time together getting to ask each other more intimate, personal questions, etc, we don't really know you very well, and you don't know us very well.
Likewise, I know about God...in that I know the same old thing I've heard since I was a kid..."God loves me", "Jesus died for me", "God is good"...etc,etc. But to truly KNOW these things to be true, we have to EXPERIENCE them. We have to go beyond just hearing and reading these words, and we need to cry out to God and saying, "I want to KNOW You. I need You. Reveal Yourself to me." He will touch us in unmistakable ways.
For example, last year, I went to a retreat with my teenage son. I felt God was dealing me with, gently, about my relationship with my father. I felt like I had a wall in my heart up, a self-protective wall, because he did not call me but once in blue moon, he has only visited me 3 times in my adult life that I can remember (in the last 19 years), when he lives only about 3 and 1/2 hrs away. When I do see him or call to talk to him, conversations are short. He mostly talks about his dogs. So, when the speaker at the retreat gave everyone an opportunity to take time to write letters of forgiveness to people in our lives, my first one was to my father. I didn't mail it to him because I was afraid it would hurt him more than help bridge our relationship. I felt impressed by God to reach out to my father. I did try to call him more often even if he didn't change. I stuck with it for several months, but now finding myself back in the same place again. I no doubt need to go deeper and allow God to do a deeper work in me.
I noticed I tend to see God the same way I see my father. My dad doesn't connect with me intimately, but will give me gifts or money. The money/gifts don't mean much to me cuz of the lack of relationship. The same with God...when some stranger sent me this huge box full of new winter clothes and a winter coat, I was surprised and amazed, but at the same time, found myself a bit critical of some of the clothes ("not my style") and becuz I'm still struggling with my relationship with God, I felt like my heart was hard and I couldn't really receive it with the gratitude that I should have.
Ideally, when God touches our hearts with something, we are changed. But I would think for many of us who have backgrounds of abuse/assault/neglect etc, it may take more time for God to penetrate the layers of fear, hurt, anger, distrust that we have built up over the years. Shelley said it took her 8 years of hard work to persevere in seeking God to be healed of her past. The most important aspect is to know God is good and loving and trustworthy, that He is not a distant, angry, vengeful God who loves to punish us.
A huge part of knowing God is having our minds be transformed by the renewing of our minds (knowing truth thru God's word), like many use the word "epiphany"--which we Christians say the Holy Spirit reveals/opens our eyes and we finally see. The more we finally "see" truth in our minds and hearts...to know God's heart, His nature, His character, His ways...the more we know how He works in our lives, orchestrating the events in our lives for our good, the more we trust Him and are changed by His love. It's all about Him.
If I can just stop running/avoiding God, and actually sit down long enough for Him to speak with me...I'll try to keep ya'll posted on my journey!! :)
Lord, help me to stop running and avoiding you! Your word says that You have loved me with an everlasting love, and You have drawn me with loving-kindness. I am precious and honored in Your eyes...and You are a compassionate God, slow to anger and rich in love.
Blessings,
Tonya
"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine!...I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;...You are precious and honored in my eyes, and I love you...do not be afraid, for I am with you." (Is.43:4-5)
I agree with everything that Tonya and RansomedforJesus have said. They both make excellent, valid points.
A person can know about God, but knowing God involves a certain level of intimacy. The more you seek God, the more of Himself He will reveal to you. James 4:8 says:
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.
A person can have a lot of knowledge about God, but a person won't have true understanding unless that person knows God on an intimate level.
1 Cor. 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned
When a person knows God, that person is indwelt with the Holy Spirit, and it's that Holy Spirit that allows that person to understand the things that he/she reads from the Bible. Without the Holy Spirit, a person cannot really know about God on a profound level. A person can read the Bible day and night, but unless the Holy Spirit is there, guiding you into all truth, you can neither know God, nor know about God on a profound level. You can know the basics, but you will never understand things like God's justice and love, sovereignity, etc., because we need the Holy Spirit to teach us those things.
So, then, I guess what it all boils down to is that a person can know all sorts of things about God and the Bible, etc., what it says, but unless that person truly knows God, that person can never really understand the things of God.
Beloved Branch
Moderator
Pink Cross Forums
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Ps. 108:13 Through God we shall do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies
Great posts to think about. I guess the difference is like night and day, literally. Like, for instance, I know ABOUT you because you posted but I don't know you intimately and personally.
Our conscience knows about God but He gave us the ability to actually know Him- intimately and personally- through the real life person of Jesus Christ and in the same way He knows us. He wants us to know Him, not just for Him to know us... In a two-way relationship. I think He must get awfully lonely being the only one who cares. I bet He gets pretty excited when we want to get to KNOW Him- WHO He really is and not who we think He is. It's one thing to believe "in" God, it's another thing to actually believe what He says to DO them. That takes faith. The other doesn't. That's why believing in God isn't enough but believing God is everything. The only way anyone can really know God is to do the things He does and think the things He thinks. That's how we become one with God. He's a cool God to even WANT to bother with us!
Well said Beloved_Branch! I agree with everything you just shared. There is a world of difference between if a person willingly chooses to sin against God as oppose to someone makes a mistake but they seek to turn away from that sin. Agreed, if we are to live a life in Christ as a Christian then we must fight the good fight and strive to turn from sin, call out to Christ for strength to overcome temptation. A tool that the devil loves to use is trying to make a person believe that they are not good enough or they have no hope. Continue to seek the Lord in all areas of life and remember that God knows our hearts.