My response to Claire from the other thread. Page 1.
Hi Claire. We're glad to help with some advice as we know you're in a difficult situation & struggling with Church, etc. To your points:
a. When a person is saved (born again), it means that God does a special work in that person's life after she comes to the point of realizing that her life of sin or rejection of God is weighing heavily on her heart & there is nothing she can do to clean herself up & so is cast upon God for His mercies. Without that conviction of sin, there can be no salvation, otherwise we end up being like some in Churches: going regularly to feel good or try to make God feel good about them. This is not re-birth. So after acknowledging our sin & realizing that only Jesus Christ, God's Son can pay the price of your sin which you couldn't, then you run to the Cross & cling onto Jesus asking for forgiveness (not a physical cross but from your heart).
If you have truly come for the sake of the burden of your sinful life & not for any other motive, then God receives your repentance, forgives you your past sins, gives you His Spirit to be in you to give you a new life in Christ. The old sinful nature still remains, to which Satan appeals & causes us to stumble, but God's Nature (Spirit) will always work against the Old nature, which is when you immediately know when you stumble into sin (e.g. when the carpet salesman asked you about giving you an earlier quote & you lied - you immediately knew you had done wrong as the Spirit convicted you).
Jesus referred to His Spirit as the Comforter ( John 16:7). The Spirit's Work in the believer is to comfort, teach, convict of sin, encourage, help in praying, becoming more Christ-like, help to gain victory over sin ( 2 Corinthians 10:2-6), loving God & others with godly love ("agape"), etc. So you always have God in you as He has sealed you as belonging to Him for all eternity ( Ephesians 1:13, 14).
b. How do you know if you're saved? If you've come to God through Jesus for forgiveness of your sins, then He saves you & never rejects any who He draws to Himself. The gift of the Holy Spirit is proof of the changed life, also new joy in being redeemed rather than the gloom you had while living without God, a hunger for the things of God as you're showing here, to be like your Saviour & share Him with others. You will see God doing new & wonderful things in your life, even getting you a cheaper carpet, answering prayer, strength to face difficult times with a sure hope - all things to show you His Love & evidence of being His child. The thing that God always looks for is our faith to trust Him for the impossible or when things get bad. Spending time in His Word & just talking to Him & praising Him for Who He is, helps us to love & trust Him more.
c. What your pastor is seeking. When he's wanting your salvation testimony, he wants to know whether you have come to Jesus in the way I mentioned above. He wants to make sure that your testimony towards water baptism is real & enduring. What should happen is the person who leads you to the Lord should be the one to baptize you or testify of your change of heart. But this doesn't usually happen, as people get baptized months or years after they were saved. So the pastor really needs to know what experience you have had & you're not coming for baptism for some wrong reason or motive. So your Testimonies 1 & 2 really show how God has helped you to find peace & sense conviction after salvation. These are good testimonies, but you need to share with your pastor what took place in your life to bring you to salvation & the sense of joy & peace you received after you repented & laid your sins at the Cross. But, these are my words - I don't know your story - yet I can see your love for the Lord. Hope some of this helps. Sara J. has also share some good things, so she may want to help you with this also.
As you see more of God's Hand at work in your life & in people around you, I pray that it will be for the increasing of your faith & love - not only towards the Lord but to others as well. It is difficult to love others when they despise you, but we can still love them for the Lord's sake & do good to them ( Matthew 5:44). Your life will be enriched & blessed. Hope you have a blessed day, Claire.
Thank you for your encouragement, support & your prayers. I already see God's Hand at work in my life just by chatting to people on here & having things validated by people. I'm sure that I will start to notice more positive things in people around me too now I'm feeling more positive about my of situation.
You say that you want to forgive them & you have done so. Now just let God handle them & continue His work in you & heal you. You can't erase the past but you can cover it with your forgiving spirit & Christ's love & life in you. Read Philippians chapter 4 carefully when you have time. The Apostle Paul was writing to the Church at Philippi & gave them some important advice. Two ladies, Euodias & Syntyche (v2) were at odds with each other & Paul wanted them to 'forgive & forget'. He goes on to give the qualities that Christians should be pursuing for healthy minds & relationships: rejoice in all circumstances (v4); don't be anxious but cast your concerns onto the Lord & leave them with Him - His Peace will then come to you (vv 6,7); remove the sad & ugly thoughts you have & replace them with thoughts that engender purity & loveliness in others - try to see the good in others rather than focussing on the bad (v8); be content with who you are & what you have - God is in control (v11); Paul testified that he could all things & be all things that God wanted him to be only because of Jesus, Who gave him the 'strength' = the will, desire & enabling to override his circumstances, which often were quite terrible. Was Paul perfect in his life? No. Even he confessed that he was weak & could only find his strength in Christ's Grace & Power in his life: 2 Corinthians 12:9, "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." He actually welcomed 'problems', so that he could prove the power & enabling of the risen Christ in his life!
I believe that God is already dealing with situation & that He will continue His work in me & heal me. I know I can't erase the past, but God is helping me to deal with it through Christ's love & life in me.
I feel like the Holy Spirit is working on me to have a healthy mind & healthy relationships. My relationship with my daughter & my mum is a lot better lately & I don't feel like I'm preaching to them as much, because this is what caused the problems. My circumstances haven't changed, in fact, my finances have got worse lately, but I trust the Holy Spirit is in the process of dealing with it because I have peace about it. I also believe my negative thoughts are being removed & being replaced with positive ones too. I am beginning to see more good in others rather than focussing on the bad. I know that God is in control & I believe that He works all things for good. I believe that we can do all things through Christ & that God's grace is sufficient for us & He is making all my imperfections perfect one by one that I couldn't do on my own. I wouldn't say that I'm at the point where I welcome problems, but I am definitely more content about them nowadays. Praise God !!!
Hi Claire. Thanks for sharing that personal & hurtful part of your early years. Sadly, we hear of such experiences much too often & so many young people are scarred for life, sometimes even replicating their pain to others. So I am, & no doubt others reading what you've shared, are saddened by this & really, if it wasn't for the Lord's intervention, we would lead totally miserable & disjointed lives. It may be that because of these events in your life, that the Lord has worked in your heart to point you to him for comfort & direction. If this is so (or something on those lines), then that could be included in the first part of your testimony (without the specifics of course) declaring your sadness & hopelessness which might have been the grounds for the Spirit to reveal Jesus to you & draw you to the Cross.
I can understand the difficulty you're in with emotionally dealing with your father & his girlfriend. What has happened in the past, sadly will always remain in the back of our minds, but when we are 'in Christ', then His healing touches all those points of mental & emotional pain. You can't change how people feel or perceive things about you, but you can focus on the One Who can help & change YOU. Forgiveness is the first key element in one's healing because an unforgiving heart not only brings a disconnection with the Lord but continues to eat away in the person bringing on both spiritual & physical problems.
I believe that God is already working on the things from my early years because it doesn't feel painful anymore & as you said, if it wasn't for the Lord's intervention, we would be miserable, which I'm not anymore. Praise God !!! It was my depression & anxiety that brought me to God, but I feel like He has worked on other areas of my life also as they're all connected to one another. I believe that declaring my sadness & hopelessness & asking God for peace was the grounds for the Spirit to reveal Jesus to me & draw me to the Cross.
I feel even though it is still in the back of our mind, it doesn't seem to bother me anymore. I believe that God is healing or has healed all those points of mental & emotional pain. I know I can't change how people feel or perceive things about me, & I'm just trying to focus on the One Who can help & change me. I feel like I have forgiven them because I feel a lot happier & content about the situation.
Hi Claire. We're glad to help with some advice as we know you're in a difficult situation & struggling with Church, etc. To your points:
a. When a person is saved (born again), it means that God does a special work in that person's life after she comes to the point of realizing that her life of sin or rejection of God is weighing heavily on her heart & there is nothing she can do to clean herself up & so is cast upon God for His mercies. Without that conviction of sin, there can be no salvation, otherwise we end up being like some in Churches: going regularly to feel good or try to make God feel good about them. This is not re-birth. So after acknowledging our sin & realizing that only Jesus Christ, God's Son can pay the price of your sin which you couldn't, then you run to the Cross & cling onto Jesus asking for forgiveness (not a physical cross but from your heart).
If you have truly come for the sake of the burden of your sinful life & not for any other motive, then God receives your repentance, forgives you your past sins, gives you His Spirit to be in you to give you a new life in Christ. The old sinful nature still remains, to which Satan appeals & causes us to stumble, but God's Nature (Spirit) will always work against the Old nature, which is when you immediately know when you stumble into sin (e.g. when the carpet salesman asked you about giving you an earlier quote & you lied - you immediately knew you had done wrong as the Spirit convicted you).
Jesus referred to His Spirit as the Comforter ( John 16:7). The Spirit's Work in the believer is to comfort, teach, convict of sin, encourage, help in praying, becoming more Christ-like, help to gain victory over sin ( 2 Corinthians 10:2-6), loving God & others with godly love ("agape"), etc. So you always have God in you as He has sealed you as belonging to Him for all eternity ( Ephesians 1:13, 14).
b. How do you know if you're saved? If you've come to God through Jesus for forgiveness of your sins, then He saves you & never rejects any who He draws to Himself. The gift of the Holy Spirit is proof of the changed life, also new joy in being redeemed rather than the gloom you had while living without God, a hunger for the things of God as you're showing here, to be like your Saviour & share Him with others. You will see God doing new & wonderful things in your life, even getting you a cheaper carpet, answering prayer, strength to face difficult times with a sure hope - all things to show you His Love & evidence of being His child. The thing that God always looks for is our faith to trust Him for the impossible or when things get bad. Spending time in His Word & just talking to Him & praising Him for Who He is, helps us to love & trust Him more.
c. What your pastor is seeking. When he's wanting your salvation testimony, he wants to know whether you have come to Jesus in the way I mentioned above. He wants to make sure that your testimony towards water baptism is real & enduring. What should happen is the person who leads you to the Lord should be the one to baptize you or testify of your change of heart. But this doesn't usually happen, as people get baptized months or years after they were saved. So the pastor really needs to know what experience you have had & you're not coming for baptism for some wrong reason or motive. So your Testimonies 1 & 2 really show how God has helped you to find peace & sense conviction after salvation. These are good testimonies, but you need to share with your pastor what took place in your life to bring you to salvation & the sense of joy & peace you received after you repented & laid your sins at the Cross. But, these are my words - I don't know your story - yet I can see your love for the Lord. Hope some of this helps. Sara J. has also share some good things, so she may want to help you with this also.
As you see more of God's Hand at work in your life & in people around you, I pray that it will be for the increasing of your faith & love - not only towards the Lord but to others as well. It is difficult to love others when they despise you, but we can still love them for the Lord's sake & do good to them ( Matthew 5:44). Your life will be enriched & blessed. Hope you have a blessed day, Claire.
Thank you for your encouragement, support & your prayers. I already see God's Hand at work in my life just by chatting to people on here & having things validated by people. I'm sure that I will start to notice more positive things in people around me too now I'm feeling more positive about my of situation.
God bless you & your family.
Kind Regards
Claire
You say that you want to forgive them & you have done so. Now just let God handle them & continue His work in you & heal you. You can't erase the past but you can cover it with your forgiving spirit & Christ's love & life in you. Read Philippians chapter 4 carefully when you have time. The Apostle Paul was writing to the Church at Philippi & gave them some important advice. Two ladies, Euodias & Syntyche (v2) were at odds with each other & Paul wanted them to 'forgive & forget'. He goes on to give the qualities that Christians should be pursuing for healthy minds & relationships: rejoice in all circumstances (v4); don't be anxious but cast your concerns onto the Lord & leave them with Him - His Peace will then come to you (vv 6,7); remove the sad & ugly thoughts you have & replace them with thoughts that engender purity & loveliness in others - try to see the good in others rather than focussing on the bad (v8); be content with who you are & what you have - God is in control (v11); Paul testified that he could all things & be all things that God wanted him to be only because of Jesus, Who gave him the 'strength' = the will, desire & enabling to override his circumstances, which often were quite terrible. Was Paul perfect in his life? No. Even he confessed that he was weak & could only find his strength in Christ's Grace & Power in his life: 2 Corinthians 12:9, "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." He actually welcomed 'problems', so that he could prove the power & enabling of the risen Christ in his life!
I believe that God is already dealing with situation & that He will continue His work in me & heal me. I know I can't erase the past, but God is helping me to deal with it through Christ's love & life in me.
I feel like the Holy Spirit is working on me to have a healthy mind & healthy relationships. My relationship with my daughter & my mum is a lot better lately & I don't feel like I'm preaching to them as much, because this is what caused the problems. My circumstances haven't changed, in fact, my finances have got worse lately, but I trust the Holy Spirit is in the process of dealing with it because I have peace about it. I also believe my negative thoughts are being removed & being replaced with positive ones too. I am beginning to see more good in others rather than focussing on the bad. I know that God is in control & I believe that He works all things for good. I believe that we can do all things through Christ & that God's grace is sufficient for us & He is making all my imperfections perfect one by one that I couldn't do on my own. I wouldn't say that I'm at the point where I welcome problems, but I am definitely more content about them nowadays. Praise God !!!
Hi Claire. Thanks for sharing that personal & hurtful part of your early years. Sadly, we hear of such experiences much too often & so many young people are scarred for life, sometimes even replicating their pain to others. So I am, & no doubt others reading what you've shared, are saddened by this & really, if it wasn't for the Lord's intervention, we would lead totally miserable & disjointed lives. It may be that because of these events in your life, that the Lord has worked in your heart to point you to him for comfort & direction. If this is so (or something on those lines), then that could be included in the first part of your testimony (without the specifics of course) declaring your sadness & hopelessness which might have been the grounds for the Spirit to reveal Jesus to you & draw you to the Cross.
I can understand the difficulty you're in with emotionally dealing with your father & his girlfriend. What has happened in the past, sadly will always remain in the back of our minds, but when we are 'in Christ', then His healing touches all those points of mental & emotional pain. You can't change how people feel or perceive things about you, but you can focus on the One Who can help & change YOU. Forgiveness is the first key element in one's healing because an unforgiving heart not only brings a disconnection with the Lord but continues to eat away in the person bringing on both spiritual & physical problems.
Page 1 to my last comment.
I believe that God is already working on the things from my early years because it doesn't feel painful anymore & as you said, if it wasn't for the Lord's intervention, we would be miserable, which I'm not anymore. Praise God !!! It was my depression & anxiety that brought me to God, but I feel like He has worked on other areas of my life also as they're all connected to one another. I believe that declaring my sadness & hopelessness & asking God for peace was the grounds for the Spirit to reveal Jesus to me & draw me to the Cross.
I feel even though it is still in the back of our mind, it doesn't seem to bother me anymore. I believe that God is healing or has healed all those points of mental & emotional pain. I know I can't change how people feel or perceive things about me, & I'm just trying to focus on the One Who can help & change me. I feel like I have forgiven them because I feel a lot happier & content about the situation.
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