Posted on 04/30/2006 5:01:22 PM PDT by DBeers
Yes. The so-called elites, leaders of society have mostly gone mad and are leading countless numbers off the cliff. Only some make it out alive. Almost always in the face of ridicule, bad advice, criticism, and even worse. Swimming upstream when all one's fellows are swimming downstream takes determination, courage, and some measure of spiritual vision.
My level? I see it from a distance. I read this analogy once.
When on the path to God, it's like a traveler returning home after a long painful journey to distant lands. Finally, he's turned around and starting home. He's still in the forest, but now and then reaches the top of a hill, from which he can see his home in the distance. He's happy, because he knows he's on his way home.
Thank you SoulMan for sharing with us the story of your struggles.
Don't think for a moment that you are alone in your struggle with sin. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We have all offended God and violated God's moral law - the Ten Commandments. And for our offenses, we are all condemned on the Day of Judgment to a lake of fire in Hell. And as long as we are in the flesh, we will all struggle with sinful temptations, but temptation is not sin. That is until the day that we are freed from the bonds of the flesh and join the Heavenly Father in spirit in eternity; if we will confess and repent of our sins, and put our faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation. Praise the Lord.
Since God is the creator of all the heavens and the earth, he can use all to his will; and he does. But it is the gravest of errors to think that it is by the devices of men that man is freed from the bonds of his sin. To do so is to say that some of man’s problems are too big for God; that the created is greater than the Creator.
Praying is important; it is our dialogue with God. Bible tells us to pray "unceasingly". One can't be a Christian unless he dialogues with God. That is how God directs and corrects us. He is the great Councilor. But praying is of no value if one is not obedient to what God direct us to do, through prayer. And that often, if not always, requires great faith in God to do. Because what God often directs us to do is the antithesis of the dictates of popular culture. So to be obedient to God requires great faith in God. We must trust in Him absolutely. If we truly trust Him with our life eternal, then we certainly can trust Him with our mortal lives.
Through our absolute trust in God and the Word of God, God bestows on us the blessing of the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit that God does His miraculous work in and through us. It is God’s power in us. It is not a power that we can use, but a power that uses us. And we must never forget that, that whereas we are children of the Almighty, we are also servants of Lord. All that we ask of the Father in His name and to His glory, He will give us. But to receive the Holy Spirit we must be Born Again into the Spirit. It is in this rebirth into Spirit that God gives us a new life, and we then become dead to who we once were in the flesh. We become a new creature in Christ. All things are made new in our rebirth into the Spirit.
No good ever comes from the minds of men, who have not first humbled themselves before and submitted their wills to God – who have been Born Again. The Bible tells us that there is none good, not one, save that of God. The differences between men who are in the Spirit and who are in the flesh, are like that of Thomas Jefferson and Joseph Stalin.
Do not put your faith in men or their devices. Put your absolute faith in God and let Him use men, and their devices, and you, to His glory. Through the Holy Spirit.
I will pray for your victory over sin and for the new purpose God has for you, to His glory. Feel free to PM me if you feel the need.
In Christ’s love. S4T.
Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
1 Timothy 1:8-11 But we know that the law is good, if a man uses it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For fornicators, for homosexuals, for slave traders, for liars, for perjurers, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
Psalms 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Galatians 3:24 Therefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.