I Feel Like My Relationship With Christ Is Wavering

[April_Rose]

Love's the only good second-hand drug...

I would never be that intoxicated though.

I think @Mayflower had a good point and she's right. Proverbs 24:3, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." I would be using that ignore button a lot.

You really want to protect your faith and get into studying on your own, too. (If you're not already.) Take in what you can because it can't be taken from you. People can rob you of everything from your money to your time, but if you have to establish roots so that they can't take your faith from you.

"And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away." - Mark 4:17

So things will come and go but the basic message in Mark is get you some ROOTS! Strong ones. Be a tree.


Keep in mind, people forget that to get the level that they were at it probably took 10-15 years of practice and studying to see things the way they do, and then they want to just get everyone at their level. Well, if it took God 10-15 years to instill that in them, why do they think they can do it for someone else in five minutes through verbal abuse ? It took that long for a reason.

I actually do study on my own believe it or not lol and I actually believe that Satan might be testing me because I think he uses people just like God does and he's wanting to see if all the verbal abuse that I have been receiving will break me so I can't let him do that because it nearly almost did,.. but I can't leave Him. Not now, not after everything that He's done for me and the fact that He's always there for me and even when I can't trust anybody else, I can always trust Him.

 

[Mayflower]

Right, but I mean there's two different types of correction. Gentle and critical, but I don't mean things like murder as you stated. I mean about things that specifically exist on this forum.

And I don't mean you, @Wrangler, but generally on here and I'm addressing as a whole, in defense of @April_Rose , I do get what she's saying. I'm just going to be blunt in this area. There are times on here when people are too forward with their correction and it isn't encouraging or building someone up, and I can see where it would be more discouraging.

So to be clear in what she's talking about, she's saying that people are overly critical and it's clear that she isn't feeling loving correction or feeling motives of concern. She feels picked on. We can't just go with the idea that someone is "too soft." Sometimes people are too hard.

Paul writes in Corinthians, "I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready."

We see the same kind of theme in Hebrews 5:12, "In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!"

Paul was well aware that there are things that people just aren't ready for in their walk. Sometimes a person has to reach a certain stage in order to digest certain things. If a person hasn't reached an age for certain things, they'll choke! The expectation is sometimes way too high for a level that they're not ready for.

Someone years age gave me the example of the creation of a katana sword. In order to create the katana sword, when it enters the furnace, the heat can't be too high - it will destroy the sword. It has to be introduced slowly, then the heat increases, and later it is tested in the dark!

Holy Spirit only knows what temperature a person is ready for and what they need. Sometimes our attempt at being the furnace is just too hot. We don't know when we're being too hot or not enough. Sometimes prayer and letting the Holy Spirit take over is better, especially if we can't lovingly invite a person in and say, "Hey, I noticed you're going through X... I want to give you an example just to help you a bit so that you can chew on it and see how it is for you."

We can't just attack someone and expect them to shape up on command. That can be hurtful, discouraging, and damaging. And sometimes that isn't the fault of the other person, that's our fault for being too harsh. Some of the people here (in general) need to just step it back a little bit and just focus more on love than trying to "fix" everything.

LOVE this

 

[Mayflower]

I ask Holy Spirit to convict me of things I need to change to grow closer to God, and how to weed out words from others that are just their own personal convictions and have no bearing on my walk with God.

 

[Taken]

 

[April_Rose]

Besides if I left the forum who would bring all the fun and laughter around here? I'm definitely happy to call CB my online home.

 

[April_Rose]

I just made a spinoff thread for this.



Does Satan Ever Use People?

 

[Tone]

would never be that intoxicated though.

Yeah, I'm ready for that new wine of marital love.

 

[amadeus]

A little dig at me sir?
Snarkiness the best way to survive here is it?
Dear Lord, the amount of sin on this forum, just blows my mind.

Think how Jesus must have felt when he said this...

"From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?" John 6:66-67

 

[amadeus]

Sometimes, being in the right...just isn't enough, when others are being mistreated.

But then again there are some who at least some of the time act as if being right is always the most important thing. Of course it is not! Give God the glory!

 

[Nancy]

You do realize that nobody cares or believes what you have to say right? If you hate it here so badly then leave because trust me we will NOT miss you. That is my last response to you.

I'm tellin ya sister, one has to grow an alligator skin to rise above the "nasties" on here. After awhile, you just pray for them and move on down the road, amen!!!

 

[amadeus]

A little too much vinegar and not enough honey. Some people need more love than criticism and she is not the only one. There is gentle correction and there is just nitpicking and reading into things.

Someone said once not to use satirical humor on the internet through text, because there are people in the world who have satire blindness. They'll take it seriously. The same people who are blind to satirical humor are, in my opinion, the same ones to take everything seriously to an extreme level that it's not meant to be, or have a very odd ability to wind up whatever you said into some abstract impression in their own mind. It's likely not the reality but it's what they see.

When people get themselves tangled up in a net, I tend to let them do it. They can fight themselves. I didn't put them there. If they started it, they want to be there. They like it.

Maybe after a while they will figure out what the problem is or discover something really cool.

Communication problems! Sometimes we can hear what a person is really saying with his physical mouth by the tone of their voice, but how well are we able to hear or write so that any reader can hear us? If we were all writing experts and all wrote in the same language, perhaps... but really we are not. Too bad our English teacher left us a while back. She could have amplified on that a bit. We all write in English but your English is not precisely the same as mine so...???

 

[DuckieLady]

Communication problems! Sometimes we can hear what a person is really saying with his physical mouth by the tone of their voice, but how well are we able to hear or write so that any reader can hear us? If we were all writing experts and all wrote in the same language, perhaps... but really we are not. Too bad our English teacher left us a while back. She could have amplified on that a bit. We all write in English but your English is not precisely the same as mine so...???

this is a good point and a reason why couples don't text! no facial expression, no tone of voice, and its up to interpretation. now if I have a conversation long distance, I prefer the phone so neither person is misunderstood. but can't do that on a forum!

 

[April_Rose]

but can't do that on a forum!

Nope and it's too dangerous anyways.

 

[Tone]

this is a good point and a reason why couples don't text! no facial expression, no tone of voice, and its up to interpretation. now if I have a conversation long distance, I prefer the phone so neither person is misunderstood. but can't do that on a forum!

Yeah, I've had someone on another forum completely misinterpret some things I communicated and I think that my testimony I shared there may have contributed to their assumptions. So, I guess I learned too maybe rein in my forthright nature a bit. Then again, if they don't believe me when I make an attempt to clarify, then the trust level isn't there anyways...so moving on became necessary.

 

[Tone]

Nope and it's too dangerous anyways.

What is, exchanging phone numbers to another forum member?

Well, I have given my phone number out online and even my government name and address (someone on CF sent me art!), but I'm a guy so...

But, I haven't yet met someone online and then spoke to them over the phone (the person never called)...or any other platform for that matter.

 

[Wrangler]

And why people are allowed to do this is still beyond me. It's trolling and bullying people when all you do is nitpick and point out every flaw with them.

Well, the kite only take flight when meeting resistance (of air). I seldom delve into personal matters online because of experiences you are talking about. For instance, some years ago my wife was robbed in her car. I wrote online of the experience and the aftermath, including the psychological aspects that caused us to look into her getting different weapons. Many hard liners trashed me for not agreeing with (or submitting to) their weapon of choice for my wife (who did not want to use the weapon they were pushing).

They pushed this recommendation so hard, I announced that I was going to stop posting in the thread I started to talk about the experience.

Getting back to why it is allowed; some good may come of it, to the extent air is given to resist it.

 

[BarneyFife]

Judge not and thou shalt not be judged . That's always been my motto.

Love your user id. And your avatar. Welcome to the forum, in case I didn't get a chance to say so already.

 

[BarneyFife]

@April_Rose, I know I'm getting in a little late on this but, to be realistic, anyone who generates as much traffic as you do here is bound to meet up with some opposition. I don't know much of the details about the judgmental treatment you're experiencing but oftentimes I've found that much of what I feel like is judgmental behavior toward me is not really as bad as it seems to me in the heat of it. I hope I'm making sense. Many people who seem to be judgmental by nature actually mean well. Don't get me wrong: I don't mean in any way to cast doubt on any meanness you might have been subjected to, but it does happen to all of us who aren't downright mean ourselves.

As far as the more important issue--your fear of losing your faith--I can tell you that prayer and claiming the promises of God will protect you from anything spiritual in nature. It's just a fact. And don't forget, if God is allowing you to experience a fiery trial, it is because He has confidence in your ability to see it through. He will never leave you, nor forsake you (link). When we loosen our hold upon God, little do we realize how tight is His hold upon us. Psalms 91 is very comforting as well. All the promises God made to Israel are yours for the taking. Not to mention all of the personal promises of both Old and New Testaments. They have been purchased by the blood of The Lamb.

But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. (Deuteronomy 30:14)

A great writer once said:
All God's biddings are enablings.

Let no man steal thy crown, little sister.

 

[CadyandZoe]

And that is because a lot of you on here have been really judgmental with me and pushy. I've run into people like this in real life and it's caused me to backslide and turn into somebody that I don't really like. I am really afraid of being turned of Christianity again because I honestly don't want that to happen, but when you constantly have people judging you that have absolutely no business judging you in the first place you tend to want to run away. Currently watching this video to remind me to not let anybody come in-between me and Jesus.

Thanks for sharing this video April. Remember, we grow in confidence in the Lord as we walk in his gospel, trusting in his word, and seeing that he can be trusted. In my generation, we used to say that we were "keeping it real", which to me meant keeping the faith grounded in honesty and the core gospel. This is what China is saying in her own way. Keeping it real means keeping it focused on the eternal things that matter the most, and to take our cares to God himself, rather than looking to others for affirmation. The only one we need to please is God. Keeping it real means keeping the main thing the main thing as one of my friends likes to say.

 

[Heart2Soul]

And that is because a lot of you on here have been really judgmental with me and pushy. I've run into people like this in real life and it's caused me to backslide and turn into somebody that I don't really like. I am really afraid of being turned of Christianity again because I honestly don't want that to happen, but when you constantly have people judging you that have absolutely no business judging you in the first place you tend to want to run away. Currently watching this video to remind me to not let anybody come in-between me and Jesus. @Devin Wintch, @lforrest, @Heart2Soul, @JohnDB,.. you guys should see this thread.

April, we all get tested...we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness...
Ephesians 6 (KJV)
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
¹¹ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Satan uses people to cause all kinds of evil just like God uses people to spread love.
Recognize the real enemy and war with them and not your brethren.