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Discussion Forum : Welcome & Intro : HELP!

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olliewesley
Member



Joined: 2009/6/20
Posts: 12


 Re:

ok sorry i see what you meant. Sorry just a struggle iv been asking God for like three months to meet with me, just feel alone, like he turned away,

 2009/6/20 18:58Profile
HeartSong
Member



Joined: 2006/9/13
Posts: 3179


 Re:

Quote:
. . . just feel alone, like he turned away,


He has not turned away from you - you have turned away from Him. Do not let the enemy trick you into thinking that the Lord is not right there with you - for He was with you even when you had turned away. He is right beside you waiting for your return - but just as at the beginning, you must believe that He is there.

 2009/6/20 19:48Profile
HeartSong
Member



Joined: 2006/9/13
Posts: 3179


 Re:

[b]I Bless Your Name[/b]
[i]Words and Music by Elizabeth Goodine[/i]

In prisoners' chains
With bleeding stripes
Paul and Silas prayed that night
And in their pain began to sing
Their chains were loosed
And they were free

I bless Your Name
I bless Your Name
I give You honor, give You praise
You are the Life, the Truth, the Way
I bless Your Name
I bless Your Name

Some midnight hour
If you should find
You're in a prison in your mind
Reach out and praise
Defy those chains
And they will fall
In Jesus' Name

We bless Your Name
We bless Your Name
We give You honor, give You praise
You are the Life, the Truth, the Way
We bless Your Name
We bless Your Name

You are the Life, the Truth, the Way
We bless Your Name
We bless Your Name

 2009/6/20 20:03Profile
hmmhmm
Member



Joined: 2006/1/31
Posts: 4994
Sweden

 Re: HELP!

I want to recomend two books that might help you further, they have been an encuragement to me when i have failed, and just as the apostle peter denied the Lord three times and sinned, so can we fall. Your fall is not as great as the one the pillar of the church had, but even him God could restore. So there is hope for all christians that sin. Jesus prayed that after you have fallen that he would not lose his faith, he did not pray he should not fall, nor never sin, bu8t after he had repented he would not lose his faith.

Faith is the thing that overcomes, sin, the world and self.... satan and all his temptations and all trials can be overcome by faith.

these are two very short books that can be read in one sitting.

[url=http://www.cfcindia.com/web/mainpages/book_window.php?book=the_purpose_of_failure]Purpose of Failure by Zac Poonen[/url]

[url=http://www.cfcindia.com/web/mainpages/book_window.php?book=secrets_of_victory]Secrets of Victory by Zac Poonen[/url]


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CHRISTIAN

 2009/6/21 3:55Profile
hmmhmm
Member



Joined: 2006/1/31
Posts: 4994
Sweden

 Re:

here is an excerpt from one of the books,

[i]Here we read of Jesus warning Peter of a danger that lay ahead of him. He told him "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."

We all know that Peter denied the Lord three times that very night. In verse 34, we read that Jesus told Peter, "I say to you, Peter, the cock will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me."

What I want to share with you this morning is God’s purpose in man’s failure. This will encourage all of us who feel frustrated and discouraged because of our failures to have hope.

The question first of all is : Does God allow failure? Does He permit it? Is there a purpose in failure? Or is failure something that has no purpose at all in God’s perfect will and something that God cannot use to further his purposes!

When we read this passage, we see that God did not prevent Peter from denying Him. Why didn’t Jesus say "Simon I have prayed for you that you will not deny Me even once." Why did the Lord pray only that Peter’s faith may not fail, even if Peter himself fell?? Isn’t it interesting that the Lord did not pray that Peter might not fall?

Some of us would like the Lord to pray for us that we might never fall. We would like the Lord to say to us "My son, my daughter, I have prayed for you that you will never fall and never fail." But interestingly enough, our Lord doesn’t pray such a prayer for us.

What did Jesus pray for Simon? That when Satan tempted him, his faith would not fail. He didn’t pray that Peter should not fall in temptation, but that when he did fall, his faith in God’s perfect love would not fail him - so that even when Peter reached the bottom of the pit of failure, he would confess, "God still loves me".

That is faith – and that is the confession we must always have on our lips and in our hearts - no matter how low we may have sunk or fallen - that God still loves us, JUST AS WE ARE.

That was the confession of the prodigal son. When he had reached so low that he could not go any lower, he still believed that his father loved him. I can’t imagine anyone reaching any lower than the prodigal son had reached - eating what the pigs eat. That boy was at rock-bottom. But when he reached rock-bottom, he remembered one thing: That his father still loved him. Otherwise he would never have returned home. Supposing he’d heard that his father had died and that his elder brother was now running the house, do you think he would have come back home? No. He knew what his elder brother was like. And knowing that, he would never have come back. He came back only because he knew that his father loved him.

There are sinners who never come to some churches because they sense that the pastor or elders there are like that elder brother in the parable. You can’t blame those sinners then for not coming. If however the elders of a church are like that father, then the worst of sinners will come to that church seeking salvation, just like they came to Jesus. Our church must have such an image, that the worst of sinners feel free to come to us. If Jesus is really in our midst, the worst of sinners will definitely come and find salvation in our midst.

There’s hope for all who’ve failed thoroughly, who’ve made a mess of their lives, and who’ve reached rock bottom. From there the Lord can pick you up and take you to the heights of glory. His prayer for us is that our faith in God’s love should not fail at any time.

If you don’t need this message today, dear brother and sister, you’ll certainly need it one day in the future - when you hit rock bottom. Remember one thing in that day: that God still loves you, no matter where you are, or how low you have fallen. May your faith in God’s love not fail in that hour.

Faith is basically believing that God still loves us. He doesn’t love our sin, He doesn’t want us to continue in our sin. He’s like a father who sees his child’s diseases and hates those diseases, but loves his child. Think of a mother who sees her child full of leprosy or tuberculosis. That mother loves her child so much, but hates those diseases with all her heart. God loves sinners but He hates their sin.

We see God’s love for sinners and His hatred of sin on Calvary’s cross. His love for sinners is seen in that He allowed Jesus to die on the cross for us. His hatred of sin is seen in His turning His face away from Jesus when Jesus bore the sin of the world on the cross.

People sometimes ask how a God of love can send people to Hell. What is Hell like? Hell is a place that God has forsaken completely – a place where God cannot be found. This earth has not been forsaken by God. That’s why there’s still so much of goodness and beauty on this earth. Look at the beauty of creation, for example. Look at the decency and goodness there is in many human beings. Demons would like to possess ALL human beings, but they’re unable to, because God has put a restraining wall around people, so that demons can’t do what they like. It is God’s mercy also that gives man health, prosperity and many other comforts. All these blessings are bestowed by God on both good and evil people. All this proves that God has not forsaken this world. But Hell is not like that. In Hell there is no mercy at all – because Hell is a truly God-forsaken place.

There is goodness in many unconverted people in this world, because the influences of God are still over them. But once they go to Hell, those very same people will become as evil as the devil himself – because the mercy of God will no longer be over their lives.

In Hell, people will experience for the first time what it is like to be totally forsaken by God. That was what Jesus experienced on the cross. Jesus experienced Hell on the cross for those three hours of darkness, when God actually forsook Him. There we see how much God hates sin.

So what is the answer? Can a God of love send people to Hell? The answer to that lies in the answer to this other question: Could a God of love allow His own Son to face Hell on the cross, when the sin of the world was upon Him? If He could do that, He can send people to Hell too. A God of love will turn His face away from those who continue in sin, who say to God, "I am not going to listen to you. I have chosen my own way and I will continue along it forever."

The Bible says in Proverbs 29:1 (paraphrased) "A man who is corrected many times and refuses to accept correction will one day suddenly be destroyed and he will not have another chance". If a man keeps on refusing God’s loving invitations, he is in real danger.

Now I don’t want any of you over-sensitive brothers and sisters to feel condemned hearing that – because that verse was not written for those who fall into sin, but to warn those who love to sin and who want to continue in it. It was not written for those who try to live in purity but keep falling. It was written for rebels, who defy God and want to keep on sinning.

How can you know whether you are a rebel? That’s very easy to find out. Just ask yourself whether you have a desire to repent and to turn back to God? If there’s even the slightest desire within you to turn to God and to love Him, then that proves that the Holy Spirit is still working in your life and that God is seeking to draw you to Himself. You may be a failure, but you’re not a rebel. There’s a vast difference between one who is failing and one who is rebelling.

It was with a purpose that God allowed Peter to fail. That purpose was to sift Peter. What Satan really wanted was to destroy Peter altogether, but God would not allow him to do that. God does not allow us to be tested or tried beyond our ability. So Satan was allowed to sift Peter. As a result of his failure, Peter was cleansed of a whole lot of chaff in his life. [/i]


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 2009/6/21 3:57Profile
olliewesley
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Joined: 2009/6/20
Posts: 12


 Re:

thanks, very encouraging....:)

 2009/6/21 13:07Profile
olliewesley
Member



Joined: 2009/6/20
Posts: 12


 Re:

THanks i will look at these books. I really like Zac poonen, thanks for the encouragment

 2009/6/21 13:08Profile
darthvieder
Member



Joined: 2009/7/11
Posts: 1


 Re: HELP!

interesting.. im going to check this one out.. thanks a lot


[url=http://simulationassurancevie.com/][color=#FFFFFF][u]assurance vie[/u][/color][/url]

 2009/7/11 13:10Profile
poet
Member



Joined: 2007/2/16
Posts: 231
Longview WA

 Re:

Tozer made a great statement in a sermon about Hebrews 10:26 concerning this delimma.
He basically said the scripture is true but you cant count out the Prodigal Son scripture, so there needs to be ballance there.
I honestly believe it is impossible with us, but not with God, and IF God is calling you home then it would be a good time to receive his mercy.


_________________
howard

 2009/7/11 16:50Profile
Swinneyg
Member



Joined: 2006/1/9
Posts: 1


 Re: HELP!

Dear olliewesley,

I went through a similar struggle a few years ago. Several people tried to reassure me that the Lord would not reject me, but I was not able to receive it. I knew I had willfully practiced sin after knowing the truth. It was a terrifying, agonizing time.

In time, I spoke to a very godly man who told me that if the Holy Spirit had left me, I would not be experiencing conviction of sin. This made sense to me and I started to feel some hope. In addition, I came to a decision in my own heart by asking, and then answering this question: What if I were to know that from this moment on, that no matter what I did, I would have no chance of spending eternity with the Lord? Would I go back into the world, or would I still want to serve Him?

I determined that even if my ultimate destiny was eternal separation from the Lord, I would rather serve Him with the one life I have, than to live in all the indulgences of the world. I would trust in His ultimate goodness, knowing that whatever He determines about my fate will be completely righteous. Putting the matter back in His control has given me peace.

And just yesterday I found the following in an article by Jacob Prasch:

"Sometimes people go astray. Sometimes believers fall away. Sometimes young believers backslide. Sometimes, in times of crisis, they wrongly feel that the Lord has abandoned them and they wander off. But the Good Shepherd comes after them. He does not want to lose any. Jesus said, "My sheep will hear My voice" (John 10:27).

What a renewed hope in my heart! It literally brought tears to my eyes to read those words. If the sheep had not wandered off, there would be no reason for the Good Shepherd to go get him. Of course! Dear Jesus, You ARE the Good Shepherd who goes after His sheep, and I heard Your voice when You came to get me -- thank you, thank you, thank you!

There is a tension in the Scriptures. Peter was restored, Judas was not. David was restored, Saul was not. There are some things that are for the Lord alone to decide as he knows each of our hearts. I would strongly encourage you to walk with Him, fully trusting in all of His goodness. He is unquestionably worthy of it.

 2009/7/11 17:39Profile





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