confused

[mojo38]

Does anybody ever feel like a failure as a christian? I've been a christian for about 8 yrs. but floundered around at first and about 4 yrs ago found a good bible teaching church. I was at my bible study last night and we were talking about knowing when God is speaking to you, and I said sometimes I have a hard time knowing. The women sort of looked at me all :wacko. I mean I know God's direction in the major areas but sometimes don't feel lead in the everyday things. Do you always know when God is speaking to you? I'm I doing something wrong?

I also feel like a failure in the sin department. If your saved, your supposed to repent and change! Well doesn't repent mean ask for forgiveness and change your ways? I feel like I keep asking for forgiveness for the same things over and over. Not behaviors so much as thoughts. Especially when someone makes me mad I have a hard time keeping it to myself. I like to "express myself" to friends and then feel bad later. Why can't I stop that!! Anyway, I know I'm a believer but lately I've been having this nagging feeling like if I'm truly a christian why is this so hard? Does anyone else feel this way? :cry

Mojo

[SusanM]

:hug You're certainly not alone! Until we die or are raptured, we have to deal with our sin nature. We have to die to ourselves daily (hourly?):doh so that Christ can live through us. Some behavior patterns are more difficult to break than others. But you just keep repenting, reading the word and praying. Paul says to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Run the race with diligence. It sounds like that's what you're trying to do. The old sin nature sure gets tiresome and frustrating. Just keep on! :nod

[Awakened]

Quote:
I was at my bible study last night and we were talking about knowing when God is speaking to you, and I said sometimes I have a hard time knowing. The women sort of looked at me all . I mean I know God's direction in the major areas but sometimes don't feel lead in the everyday things. Do you always know when God is speaking to you? I'm I doing something wrong?


Those women should not have looked at you weird. It takes time and patience to really learn to hear God's voice. May I recommend a book that I recently purchased? http://www.cwgministries.org/1-How-to-Hear-Gods-Voice.htm This book/journal, has helped me tremendously in being able to hear God's voice whenever I ask him to speak to me. Perhaps it will help you too.

[deafnc77]

Does anybody ever feel like a failure as a christian? I've been a christian for about 8 yrs. but floundered around at first and about 4 yrs ago found a good bible teaching church. I was at my bible study last night and we were talking about knowing when God is speaking to you, and I said sometimes I have a hard time knowing. The women sort of looked at me all :wacko. I mean I know God's direction in the major areas but sometimes don't feel lead in the everyday things. Do you always know when God is speaking to you? I'm I doing something wrong?

I also feel like a failure in the sin department. If your saved, your supposed to repent and change! Well doesn't repent mean ask for forgiveness and change your ways? I feel like I keep asking for forgiveness for the same things over and over. Not behaviors so much as thoughts. Especially when someone makes me mad I have a hard time keeping it to myself. I like to "express myself" to friends and then feel bad later. Why can't I stop that!! Anyway, I know I'm a believer but lately I've been having this nagging feeling like if I'm truly a christian why is this so hard? Does anyone else feel this way? :cry

Mojo


What you need is the comfort of the Lord's loving arms, and all you have to do is ask for it. He will take care of you. As your relationship with the Lord grow stronger over the time, your sin problems will slowly diminish away with the Lord's strength. Don't worry about what to expect as a christian.

[yellowbo]

Does anybody ever feel like a failure as a christian? I've been a christian for about 8 yrs. but floundered around at first and about 4 yrs ago found a good bible teaching church. I was at my bible study last night and we were talking about knowing when God is speaking to you, and I said sometimes I have a hard time knowing. The women sort of looked at me all :wacko. I mean I know God's direction in the major areas but sometimes don't feel lead in the everyday things. Do you always know when God is speaking to you? I'm I doing something wrong?

I also feel like a failure in the sin department. If your saved, your supposed to repent and change! Well doesn't repent mean ask for forgiveness and change your ways? I feel like I keep asking for forgiveness for the same things over and over. Not behaviors so much as thoughts. Especially when someone makes me mad I have a hard time keeping it to myself. I like to "express myself" to friends and then feel bad later. Why can't I stop that!! Anyway, I know I'm a believer but lately I've been having this nagging feeling like if I'm truly a christian why is this so hard? Does anyone else feel this way? :cry

Mojo

Oh gosh! Welcome to my world!! LOL!

Hang in there. Pray. God knows your heart and your desire not to sin. Remember that Paul said his heart was willing but his flesh was weak. Gosh, IF PAUL STRUGGLED, we know that it's something we all have to battle!

And the good news is, that some day soon, we wont sin anymore, we wont have the desire for it. Praise God!

Read my blog on myspace (link at the bottom) I just posted about sin a week ago!

Hang in there!:):

[My Abba's Child]

I went through a discipleship study called Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby. It REALLY helped me to know when God is guiding me, to feel when He is leading me and to hear when He is speaking to me. See if your church offers this discipleship course or if you can get a small group who would like to do it with you. It takes, I seem to recall, 13 weeks (could be a tad more or less, it's been awhile), but it's REALLY awesome! It shows how God never shows Himself to different people the same way. (No one else has ever experienced God as a burning bush, etc...). So, how He shows Himself to YOU may be COMPLETELY different than the lady at church who likes to give people wierd looks. :lol

In His love,

[mojo38]

Thank you all so much for your encouraging words. I needed to hear them.:): My Abba's Child -- that is too funny you mentioned Experiencing God study because that is the study I am in right now. Just started and I think it's going to be a good one. :thumb

Take care,
Mojo

[OwnedByJesus]

Does anybody ever feel like a failure as a christian? I've been a christian for about 8 yrs. but floundered around at first and about 4 yrs ago found a good bible teaching church. I was at my bible study last night and we were talking about knowing when God is speaking to you, and I said sometimes I have a hard time knowing. The women sort of looked at me all :wacko. I mean I know God's direction in the major areas but sometimes don't feel lead in the everyday things. Do you always know when God is speaking to you? I'm I doing something wrong?

I also feel like a failure in the sin department. If your saved, your supposed to repent and change! Well doesn't repent mean ask for forgiveness and change your ways? I feel like I keep asking for forgiveness for the same things over and over. Not behaviors so much as thoughts. Especially when someone makes me mad I have a hard time keeping it to myself. I like to "express myself" to friends and then feel bad later. Why can't I stop that!! Anyway, I know I'm a believer but lately I've been having this nagging feeling like if I'm truly a christian why is this so hard? Does anyone else feel this way? :cry

Mojo
Uh, isn't that, in a way, how you know your a Christian? God's Spirit working in us? I'm no expert but what comes to mind is the battle within until we lose the corruptable and are given incorruptable bodies.
1 Corinthians 15:50-54 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

Until then we fight our sinful nature.
Romans 7:18-25 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

The fact you are fighting the flesh is good.

To relate; last night I was trying to get my 18 month old to sleep around 9pm and two houses down some kids where playing their guitars outside. All I could hear was their playing, though not too bad, just too loud. Even prior to putting Noah down to sleep I heard them playing. I prayed I would handle the situation in a good way. Well, I'm not sure I did. I let myself get worked up by thinking how inconsiderate they were, disturbing me and my son. I nearly ran over there and said 'are you hard of hearing?' one said 'huh?' so I replied 'Then use head phones. I live over there and if my son wakes up I'll be back.' So one kid says they will turn it down and I thank them and say the play pretty well.
It was my thoughts that I sinned, I was very angry and was thinking of where I could put those guitars. :redface :tsk

Your not alone in the fight, it is hard to bend our knees and submit to Him our all. We want to please our Father, but at the same time our best is just filthy rags to Him. He is so wonderful and gracious to us, we deserve nothing.

[OwnedByJesus]

Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (reading this in one of Joel's threads...very good BTW Joel.)

Realizing it is this command given/summed up by Jesus that I disregarded last night. :doh :doh :doh :doh :tsk

See, I want to please Him, yet I fail.

Guidance anyone?
...funny, I post to encourage only to see more of my own faults...

Praise the Lord, for He is faithful and true. He is forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to Him.

[PeaceOfChrist]

Mojo38,
When I saw your post, I had to reply. I just want to encourage you by saying, "Me too!" :):

I have a hard time hearing when God speaks to me. I mean when He really speaks to me; not when I sit and dream up things that He may have spoken to me. I really want to get better at discerning His voice, and I will...but it takes time.

I, too, am completing the Experiencing God workbook written by Henry Blackaby. It is very helpful and practical -- I highly recommend it.

However, please try not to be discouraged. Don't let other "better" Christians get you down. Your relationship with God is between you and Him; it doesn't involve others.

Just think, one day soon we'll be in Heaven, and we won't have to worry anymore. We'll be in the constant presence of the Almighty. Hang in there, it does get better than this!

YSIC,

[Lexie]

Quote:
I was at my bible study last night and we were talking about knowing when God is speaking to you, and I said sometimes I have a hard time knowing. The women sort of looked at me all . I mean I know God's direction in the major areas but sometimes don't feel lead in the everyday things. Do you always know when God is speaking to you? I'm I doing something wrong?


Those women should not have looked at you weird. It takes time and patience to really learn to hear God's voice. May I recommend a book that I recently purchased? http://www.cwgministries.org/1-How-to-Hear-Gods-Voice.htm This book/journal, has helped me tremendously in being able to hear God's voice whenever I ask him to speak to me. Perhaps it will help you too.



I'm sorry but that school being suggested, on teaching people how to experince god, needs to be avoided. Thousands of these schools are poping up since Peter Wagner and John Wimber started these prophets schools. Do we really need to be taught how to experience or hear God, tell prophesy, interpret dreams, like the new agers.

John Arnott is a teacher in this school, he is from the Toronto Vineyard movement. All these movements Hinn, Copeland, Warren, Wagner, Universalists teach worshiping God has something to do with setting a mood with music.

http://cwgministries.org/LEGs/?clunav :faint