I've been a Christian for a little over a year. Previously, I was an atheist. I experienced things that proved to me personally that there had to be SOMETHING higher out there.
I also realize that becoming a Christian does not mean you will not suffer, and that The Bible tells us that we will suffer because Jesus suffered. I understand that suffering in this life is inevitable, but when does the happiness begin? This has been the worst year of my entire life.
I've devoted myself to my relationship with God and prayed for closeness and understanding. I don't feel any comfort. I've been told that God can deliver us from anything, but when does this happen? I don't want to hear that I should ';pray about it'; or just accept that its part of God's plan. I want some real answers to my real questions!I need spiritual advice, please!?
Go back to being an atheist, you'll have less disappointment in ';God';I need spiritual advice, please!?
Well, all I can say is to become even closer to God, read the bible, follow his laws and rules, and you might become happier. Go here, www.ucg.org, and you may find some things there interesting. It also explains prophecies and other things. I know that you don't want to hear this, but pray every night, dedicate at least 10 minutes every day to study the bible, and try to look at life with an optimistic look. I hope you will be feeling better soon.
He is stripping away the lies and wickness from your life. Your ';lucifer'; side (the side that loves money, cars, homes, clothes etc) is who is crying out.
It seems hard, I know. I have walked similar shoes as yours but you have me beat hands down on losing a child. For that I am very sorry.
I use to have a huge shop, really high tech, big in business, etc. Then almost in a blink of an eye it was taken from me due to evil do'rs. Its been a few yrs now and I have realized He was removing that stuff from me for I was not on the path I should of been on. At times He has to get tough on us to get us over to the right path.
I know as each day goes on it seems like there are no answers. But trust me, over time you will look back and see the reasoning for it all.
I would bet your child was brought here as an angel to bring you to G_D. Since their mission was done, they got to go home.
The trials of life (the cops, friends blaming you, etc) is all making you tough, to be able to handle being a christian, to handle spreading his word, to take the abuse you will recieve.
I had a hard hard life for 25 yrs till the business had gotten big. Today I can easily look back in my life and see every hurtle, every job, every learning experience was a path, a path that led me to exactly where I am today. Being on HIS path.
Some tips on talking to Him....call Him by name, it helps alot. HIS name is YHWH, YAHWEH (sounds like it is). That is G_Ds real name. God, Lord, Allah, Elohim are just words for god.
HE has a mission for you, this I know. For I too was an atheist for a good 30 yrs, and I was given proof or witness to items I could not explain but of a higher power. From my studies over the past year.....we are what the OT calls ';his prophets';. We are the calling, the special, the choosen ones by HIM. For HE only gives sight of himself to those that are choosen. The rest are left up to faith.
Here is the real bible, redone back to original with His name in it. http://www.eliyah.com/Scripture/ . The short hebrew letters yo see is His name, YHWH, YAHWEH. The long hebrew words you see is Yahushua (Jesus).
Here are some videos also about His name:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WcXvT5Kz…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfP-MxEjK…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfP-MxEjK…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DqCAy1lE…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-uq-rv4u…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4W_vEmQ0…
Care for more info, have questions, my email is on my profile. I am a child of YHWH for HE, Himself called me direct. Still working on getting onto the complete path to know my mission in full. Know part of it now.
(sorry for the long posting)
PS - on the prophet part....we are not alone. I am finding many just like us that walked as an atheist, a good one, but out of no where given divine gifts of sight. HE is up to something....I believe He is preparing his armies for the end times. And we are the teachers of those soldiers to come.
I cannot answer this question by merely my words alone because who am I to tell you what's good and bad. But since this is a religious question, I will answer it using the words of the fathers of the church - the same people who are responsible for any Christian faith's understanding of the Bible and the true church.
';Why'; do you ask, do we see evil doers thriving and healthy and enjoying great prosperity? Let us weep for them, because their not having to suffer in this world is a guarantee of greater punishment in the next! To show this, St. Paul said, ';But when we are judged, we are being chastised by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with this world.'; Afflictions here are a form of reproof, while those in the other world are a form of punishment for those who were evil in their lives.
-St. John Chrysostom
The greater our trials in this life, the greater our rewards in the next.
-Tertullian
Let all torments of hell come upon me, for I suffer for the love of Christ.
-St. Ignatius of Antioch
Let us therefore become imitators of Christ's endurance... for He made this suffering an example for us.
-St. Polycarp
The rain does fall on the just and the unjust..the comfort should come in knowing greater is he that is us than he who is in the world and all things work together for the good of those that love God and are called according to his purpose. The world is the same sinful place for those of us that love God as those who do not and we seek comfort from God in prayer and have the understanding of knowing there is a greater life after this one.. God bless you my sister you are in my prayers and I do pray that God will bless and comfort you.
Your sufferings have been greater than most will experience in a lifetime.
God allows suffering in the world for many reasons. Perhaps some of these will give you encouragement and hope.
First suffering can be a test of faith such as described in
1Pe 1:7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Second, suffering can be a sanctifying experience. Joseph saw how an apparent evil towards him was meant for a greater good by God:
Gen 50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Third, suffering could be a chastisement as the result of sin in a person’s life. Chastisement does not mean complete and total rejection by God, only that our souls may be cleansed from the malady of sin. Paul spoke of this chastisement:
1Co 11:29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
1Co 11:30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
1Co 11:31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.
1Co 11:32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
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Yet, not all illnesses or sickness is the result of sin. Christ clearly said as much:
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Joh 9:1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.
Joh 9:2 And his disciples asked him, ';Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?';
Joh 9:3 Jesus answered, ';It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
Jesus did not imply that the man or his parents had not sinned. He meant that the man’s blindness was not a direct result of sin in their lives. God had allowed this man to be born blind in order that the man might become a means of displaying the mighty works of God. Before the man was born, the Lord Jesus knew He would give sight to those blind eyes.
Fourth, suffering can sometimes be considered a means by which we display the sympathy of Christ in a practical manner, thus proving our faith through works. The Apostle Paul notes:
Col 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,
The afflictions endured by Paul in his flesh were for the sake of Christ's body, namely, the church. The sufferings of non-believing people are, in one sense, purposeless. There is no high dignity attached to these sufferings. They are only a foretaste of the torment of hell to be endured forever. But the suffering of the believer is not the same. When believers suffer for Christ, Christ in a very real way suffers with them.
Fifth, suffering can be a means by which we are tempered (strengthened) for the eventualities to come. Christ, when speaking to Peter of his eventual death stated:
Joh 21:18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.
Like the old saying, “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”, suffering can build us up so that we are better prepared for the future and its travails.
Sixth, suffering can be used as a witness to others of God’s grace. Our attitude towards an illness, accident, etc. and our reception of the same speak volumes when our spoken testimony is rejected.
Seventh, suffering is sometimes a means of weaning us from the things of this world to cause us to draw nearer to God. Suffering should be a means of educating us to the prospect of heaven. This earthly world is not the home of the believer. We are pilgrims and strangers whose citizenship is in another place. Our minds should be focused on things invisible and not in the temporal things of this life.
We must remember that with the fall of mankind in Eden sin entered the world, corrupting earth and all its inhabitants. Thus we have sin directly causing suffering when sinful people commit sinful acts. We have sin causing suffering indirectly by the deteriorating earth and all its natural disasters.
Some people argue that since God made everything, He made evil too. But an omnipotent God could not have created a morally free creature incapable of choosing evil. That does not mean God made evil.
Yes, God is the author of everything in the created universe. But evil is not a thing or a substance; it is a privation or lack in things (blindness is lack of sight, pain is lack of health, hate or murder is lack of love). Therefore God did not create evil.
Christ told us that we would suffer in this world:
Joh 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
But why doesn’t God just stop evil actions that cause innocent people to suffer?
Why doesn’t God intervene to stop evil if He is all-loving and all-powerful? Why doesn’t He stop the drunk driver’s car that is going to crash into a bus? Why doesn’t He deflect the murderer’s bullets? The person asking doesn’t really want God to stop all their evil actions. They don’t want to be invisibly gagged every time they’re about to say something hurtful; they don’t want to stub their toe when they try to kick the dog. They just think it would be good if God stopped certain evil acts or just the evil acts of others. But that would make life impossible. There would be no freedoms, no regularity and no personal responsibility.
Having said that, never forget that God is not indifferent to our sufferings. God restrains sin and sinners so that we can appreciate mercy and grace in light of sin. If He did not our streets would be running with blood drawn by the lost, hell bound, and sin bent.
Hey, I am so sorry! That is all so horrible and I can only imagine how confusing that must have been for you right after becoming a Christian. I don't want to preach at you and tell you all the basic things like ';wait on the Lord';(although this is true and necessary) , because you seem to realize you need to do that. He does love you, I promise, and these things that are happening to you are not a punishment from Him. God uses evil in our lives to draw us to Him, and while it may not seem worth it right now, I promise that when you are in Heaven with Him, you will realize His love even in this. I will be praying for you! Hold onto Him...the peace and strength will come.
Wow, that's horrible. I feel for you dude. My mom died and then a couple months later one of my cats died, and then a couple months after that my kitten got hit by a car. I became an Atheist for a year and a half after that.
I personally don't think of God as a dude in the sky that punishes us or answers our prayers. I definitly feel higher powers, I personally see them as nature forces, but the important thing is I don't think the divine is something that changes things. I think we need to find peace ourselves. But I do strongly believe you can draw strength from the divine to do this.
If you want understanding and to feel one with something, sitting alone on a beach, or in the forest might help you. Doing that has made me feel connected and strong.
We do make our own plans, but we have to go with ourselves and who we are instead of what the world wants of us. I know I'm babbling. If you ever want to talk you can email me.
Being a Christian is not about ';losing everything'; but it IS about GIVING everything. You will have your good times and your bad times and God is with you through all of them. It's more than praying. You should realize that accepting Christ means giving your life to Him and letting Him do with you what He wants with the knowledge that the ';world'; will do everything to make you give up. Christ will win. You will win. It's not about you, or how much you pray, or how good you are, or anything like that. It's about God and what He would want you to do in your situations. Don't give up on Him... instead accept Him and thank Him for being with you through this. This too shall pass...
I hope everything works out for you soon. It can be very hard to go through all the things you are saying. I can't even believe that is all in one year! I'll be praying for you too. If you would like to vent or ask more (I can tell you about how He pulled through in certain situations in my life), just email me.
Be blessed... He loves you.
Wow! You really have been through a lot! When you say that you've devoted yourself to your relationship with God do you mean that you look forward to spending time with him each day more than you look forward to anything else in the day? That you talk to him daily and praise him daily, yes, even in the midst of all this tragedy. Do you read your Bible every day and really learn from it? The reason I ask all these questions is that I know first hand that God will do whatever it takes to get our attention if we don't put him first in our lives. If it means losing everything, then we might. If you look in your Bible you will find that you're in good company. Most of God's most beloved followers were put through the ringer. The good news is that if you can keep your faith and your relationship with God all through these trials and if you can keep believing, he will bring you out of this better than you ever imagined. ';All things work together for the good of those that love him.'; ';Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.'; Words from the Bible and God does not lie. I know it's hard to believe right now but just keep holding on, keep praying, keep asking God for strength, keep reading your Bible. Make God your focal point and I believe things will begin to change. Like I said...I know cause I've been there. God Bless You!!
I'm sorry that you have been through so much this year, especially with the loss of your daughter. Some of these awful things may have been the devil trying to undermine your new faith. Some may have been the result of the life you lived before. (God forgives our sins when we believe in Jesus, but we still can have earthly consequences.) And some may have no reason behind them. We live in a fallen world, and -- as they say -- ';stuff'; happens.
You ask when the happiness begins. If you mean the emotion you feel when everything is going great in your life, then I can't say. However, you can right now experience the JOY of knowing that Jesus has paid for your sins, that they were forgiven as you believe in him, and, no matter what happens to you in this life, you will spend eternity with him in heaven. I know it's hard to keep the perspective that this earthly life is just a drop in the ocean of our entire infinite existence, but having the assurance that eventually everything will be alright FOREVER affects how we live our lives now.
Think of going to a movie and accidentally sitting in on the last 10 minutes of the previous showing. Now you know how it ends. And knowing that will affect how you view the movie. You know who turns out to be the bad guy, so you won't be fooled by his pretending to be noble. You know the heroine is alive, so you won't be scared or sad when it seems she is killed in a car accident.
This is the ';positive'; of being a Christian during this life. And, ';No';, you don't have to lose everything that is important to you to experience it. You already have it. [However, if there are things in your life which are more important to you than God, so that they endanger your relationship with him, he may decide to remove the competition.]
It sounds like you are kind of going it alone. At least, some of your friends and family are not the support you need right now. If you don't have anyone to talk to who listens and accepts you non-judgementally, I urge you to seek out a minister or Christian counselor. You have been through a lot. Any one of these things could trigger a crisis in faith even in someone who has been a lifetime believer.
It's important to understand the difference between happiness and pleasure. Pleasure depends on things. Happiness does not.
Fortunately, we may have happiness even in the absence of pleasure. You do not need a reason to be happy. Happiness is your nature.
What may be the case is that the difficulties and trials which you have had to endure are serving to illuminate how pleasure is not the key to happiness. Happiness comes when we recognize the purpose that we are serving in God's will for mankind.
No doubt, all the anxiety and difficulty which you have gone through has made the world extremely fertile with opportunities to grow. Crisis is often the thing that leads us to our greatest periods of growth.
...as an excersize you might sit, take a few deep breaths, and simply imagine happiness itself...see how close it is...available for you to experience whenever you would step back and simply hold it in mind.
Trust that God Loves you...because you ARE loved by God.
Once you realize that you are already delivered from your suffering(happiness is yours NOW, not conditionally), and once you accept and trust that God loves you, truly, then you will see that your suffering is only an experience...it is not a reflection on who you are. Once you realize that it's not you, then you'll be free of it. The shell of suffering that you identify so closely with now will fall away like a loose garment.
-Rob
';Suffering'; is not something like this in the Scripture. The suffering that every believer will experience is also the same suffering that Christ experienced - to lose one's life for the sake of the gospel. I hope you follow.
When people starts persecuting you for the sake of the gospel - that's suffering. I suspect that these things happening to you right now are only product of previous mistakes - product of not believing. Now, you said you believed - started experiencing negative things - why have these things connected on your ';convertion';? NO. it's not that way. God never plans like this for His TRUE followers.
Happiness starts once you FOLLOW the TRUTH. However, just be glad - the worst things are yet to come for those who refuses the TRUTH.
Remember, anything you do in this life is still your choice. God is - always the last resort. TOO BAD.....
You do need to pray ask God for his knowledge wisdom and understanding on this issue and ask God were to read at in the Bible and read what he places on your heart and see what happens.PS i will pray for you also.Paul was a religous man and killed alot of Gods people then one day Jesus came to him in a vision when he was on the road to damascus and saved him but he told him that he would suffer alot for what he did and he did suffer, but God used him ahole lot for his people.
It's difficult to know how to answer you when I don't know you or the specific problems you are having. I do know, from scanning your ';best answers';, that you are intelligent and that you know a great deal about medicine. From one answer three months ago, you were 33 weeks pregnant and confined to your bed. It appears you have had some real challenges in your life very recently.
I don't really understand why we have to go through pain and suffering, but I think it has to do with soul development. I remember a time 25 years ago when all I did was cry. Looking back on the horrible experiences I've had in my life, when I was finally able to get through them, they gave me a depth of perspective I had never known before. The pain of the difficulties finally left me, and I was able to use my recollection of events to help people going through similar problems. I believe I appreciate life more as a result of the bad times I have had in the past. Please don't give up. Keep going, realizing that better times are ahead. Reach out to others for help, as you are doing, and find other people who have experienced the same difficulties you are now going through. People who give answers that seem ';too easy'; may mean well, but may not have endured the suffering you are enduring. Keep looking, and you will find people who can understand and help you. When you find these people, look on them as Jesus Christ Himself, who is reaching out to touch you.
Please don't give up. Keep reaching out and praying. Jesus Christ knows exactly what you are going through, and He is with you now. I pray that you will feel his presence.
Addendum. You added details about your life while I was composing this letter. You have been betrayed by many people and have suffered many losses. Your story reminds me of mine about 25 years ago. I won't bore you with the details, but I found new relationships, and everything is wonderful now. It will be for you as well. Being a Christian did not cause these things to happen. There are awful people in the world who do awful things, and you got a boat load of it all at once. Keep on trying. Never give up.
God is the only one who has the answers to these questions, you must wait on God for these things to happen
just leave it to God... he is looking over you!!
Stay in the word. Read your Bible everyday. I know that might seem like a meaningless mantra, but it's going to bring the word of God into your lifestyle. Believe me when I say that it will grow on you. Read aloud when you can.
The Bible says that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Here, let me introduce you to a few pastors that can be heard on the internet:
http://twft.com/?page=C2000
http://www.drgenescott.org/live_internet…
Just listen to them while you are on the internet, or doing certain chores near your computer.
Dr. Scott is the best Bible teacher I've even heard of, and met.
EDIT: It MIGHT mean that you have to lose everything. But for you, that's a part of the trip. You are being tested, trust Him. You have to trust God in order to be a Christian. That's what makes you a Christian in the first place.
You will learn to pick a promise out of the Bible, a promise that God spoke, and trust it no matter what the consequences.
You can e-mail me if you want to talk about anything, okay?
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