Help for new Christians, like me.

[Matthew]

Ok, this is hard for me… I must confess, I am still new to the faith… I’ve known Christ most my life, and I use to go to Church all the time. Before I could remember, I was in a church, up until I was about 7…



My mom and the church had a difference of opinion and we stopped going… And for 8 years I was with out a church, no teaching of the gospel, no learning the basics of prayer… I didn’t even know what ‘Devotions’ were…

But, by the Grace of God Almighty, I was Re-saved if ever there was such a thing. Almost two years ago, in July, there was a small tent in the park behind my house (Less then 30 yards off my back porch) so I went to see what was going on. Lo and behold, they were part of a back yard bible school program for youngsters. I took my sisters down to listen (I wanted my sisters to at least come to Christ). They kept coming back all that week and each day I would be ready for them, help them set up- take down, and I’d listen, and on that Wednesday I was invited to there weekly youth meeting. My life has never been better! On there last day there they invited me to Sunday serves, they arranged transportation, and I’ve been going ever since.

Last year, a very kind couple sponsored me for the youth mission to Boston.

God has never, NEVER been more in my life! 6 months ago my entire filmily started coming to church, Praise God!



Here’s the hard part…



I am getting stronger in the faith, but I need some help… You see, that time away from the Church has weakened me mentally and internally, I struggle with Sin, and I want it to stop!

But I can’t do it alone…

Well any of you help me? I don’t mean ‘Come and Disciple me’ (although I need that too). I would like to know how you guys do it. How do you pray, do your devotions, how do you resist Satan, and most important, worship Jesus?

[font='Times New Roman']Please, any help would be very, very appreciated.[/font]
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[font='Times New Roman']Ps: I thought this could help any other new Chrisian as well, not only me.[/font]
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[font='Times New Roman']Pss: If any of the Mods want to move this go on ahead, I just didn't know where to put this...[/font]

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I will pray for you! Many christians i know, as well as CAA members, dont really go to church.

I dont go to church on sundays, well i actually I dont want to ^_^ but I do go to my youth group meetings on Friday, and in a spiritual rating, its much better than sunday church!

One method, And this WORKS. TRUST ME. Is to read the Bible. Especially the letters in the new testament. I definately recommend James, 1st Peter, 2nd Peter. Phillipians, 1/2/3 John And Revelations. Heck ALL the new testament! MANY writings in the new testament are so hope filled, and encouraging. And makes me feel all warm inside ^_^ I almost cried in religion class in school once because I was reading James.

So try it out! It may help you!

[GhostontheNet]

Glad to hear it. Though if I may please make a request; could you please stick to the standard font? You made me wonder if my browser is acting up.

Trifles aside, Mr. Smartypants is right about the New Testament, however, I will comment that the Old Testament is also quite filled with hope, although often also filled with judgment and justice (there is no mercy without justice). Also, I feel I should cite a passage by William Barclay in The Parables of Jesus (an excellent mixture of scholarship, moral lessons, and contemporary applications; by these criteria the only work I've ever seen that does all of these well is Ben Witherington's Revelation: The New Cambridge Commentary) which comments upon Matthew 12:43-45, which reads;

"When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation

Setting aside the main application to Christ's ministry and His own generation, for these purposes, he also notes;

What did Jesus mean by this weird story? He meant that it is no good clensing a man of evil things without putting good things in their place. It is not possible to leave man's heart or mind empty. We must go on to put good things in or evil things will come back with more force than ever.

Jesus was thinking of the Pharisees. All their religion was built upon the commandments which start, "Thou shalt not..." It was a religion of not doing things. It tried to empty men of all evil things but it did not tell them what the good things were. It is never enough to say, "Thou shalt not..." and to stop there. Let us take this simple analogy. [Heh, a parable within a parable commentary -Ghost] Suppose a man enters into posession of a garden which has run wild. He digs it, takes it out of the weeds, and clenses the whole place. But if he leaves it like that the weeds will come back and cover the soil again. He cannot leave it empty; he must go on to plant so many flowers that there is no room for weeds.

Let us see how this works in human nature. Take the case of an athlete. He does not drink or smoke; he lives a clean, healthy life; and he does it without any real difficulty. Why? Because the desire to excell as an athlete has quite thrown out of his mind the desire for self-indulgence. A man who had no athletic desires might well have fallen into temptations because he had nothing else to put in their place. It is never enough to try to erect a good life on, "Thou shalt not...." We must not merely hate evil; we must love goodness.

This has some very practical consequences. It means that if we want to beat a bad habit the best way is to acquire a good one. Psychologists tell how our thoughts work. The substance of that part of the brain with which we think is soft. If we think a thought, it leaves an infintismal scratch; if we think the thought twice the scratch is deepened; and if we go on thinking that thought, it literally runs on a groove and we cannot get it out. If we find a questionable interest gaining too strong a grip on our minds and lives, the way to conquer it is to acquire another interest which will be enough to drive it out.

This is particularly true of thoughts. Often we think the wrong things. If we say to ourselves, "I will not think about this," the only effect is to fix our thoughts upon it. The real way of escape is to think of other things, to plunge into other activities, to gain other interests. We cannot simply drive out badness; we must eject what is bad by the power of what is good.

(William Barclay, The Parables of Jesus p. 196-197)

Remember this discourse by our Lord Yeshua Christ on what is the greatest commandment;

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

(Mark 12:28-34 English Standard Version)

You should spend your energy on bringing the two greatest commandments about in your life; the others become easier to bring into play, for true love does not breed the desire for spitting others, be it YHWH our God, or our fellow man, but rather the desire to do well to both.

[skynes]

Your time away from Christ may not be such a bad thing.
I don't know how it is with everyone else, but of the majority of Christian's I have met (in person), those who spent time away from Christ end up being stronger Christians than those who never left at all.

I don't know why that is, it just seems to be the way it goes...

Maybe cause the time you spent away showed you the other side of the fence. You can now relate to people there better, you understand them better, cause you were there! And this experience makes the love and Grace of God and sacrifice of Christ oh so more precious. (That's sorta how it works for me, I didn't get saved till I was 16 and I wasn't raised in a Christian family.)

I am getting stronger in the faith, but I need some help… You see, that time away from the Church has weakened me mentally and internally, I struggle with Sin, and I want it to stop!

This begs the question - What makes you think that if you never left the Church you would be any better?

Here's the Good news and Bad News.

Bad News: You will always struggle with sin for the rest of your life.

Good News: God's Grace is sufficient, whether you fall into sin or not, you are already forgiven.

[termyt]

I am getting stronger in the faith, but I need some help… You see, that time away from the Church has weakened me mentally and internally, I struggle with Sin, and I want it to stop!

It is not your time away that has weakened you, I'm sad to say. You would likely struggle with whatever this sin of yours is regardless. So, my advise to you is the same to everyone.

1) You must get to know our Lord better. The best way to do that is to be in His Word. Read it daily and work to understand what the words mean. Ask yourself questions like:

Who was this written to? Christians or non-Christians, Jews or Gentiles?
Why was it written?

Answering these two questions will help you put the passage in context and, thus, help you understand it's meaning. Sometimes the answer to these questions is obvious, sometimes it may not be easy, which is why a good Bible study is important, or even just a good Bible commentary.

After you get some understanding as to who and why the passage was, it will be easier to figure out what the passage means to you and how to correctly apply it to your life.

2) Pray. A lot. Don't pray for an easier time or for temptation to disappear. It isn't going to. Temptation is a necessary part of our learning experience and God is faithful, He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can withstand – be we will be tempted. Instead, pray for strength and wisdom. Wisdom to understand what God is saying to you – through His Word and through His saints (the disciples around you) and the strength and courage to implement that will in your life.

Now, these are examples, guidelines if you will, and not rules or a recipe to guarantee success. It will not be easy. You will struggle, but keep fighting. It’s worth the effort.

[Peanut]

Another thing that really seems to help people who are stuggling with sin is to get an accountability partner. Usually you want a close christian firend whose not afraid to ask you the tough questions week in and week out who will also pray for you every night. Also, make sure this person is someone you trust.

[Swordguy]

james 1:
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

the storms are part of the Christian walk...if they aren't i would recomend looking at your walk...but He is also your strength and will never let you go anywhere without Him

[Mave]

Welcome to the group, Matthew (sorry for the late greeting).

My only advise for you is fellowship. No Christian should ever be a lone ranger or a man on an island for that is not Jesus's intention for His followers. Feel free to disagree with me but I speak from experience.

So do join a small group and attend Sunday service at a church. Maybe you had a disagreement with your previous church but I highly encourage you to check out other churches and find a home there. I've been churchless before by choice and I just made things harder for myself. Apart from that, just stick around in CAA. Fellowshipping here (along with offline fellowships) have blessed my spiritual life greatly.

[Yamato145]

I agree with Mave ... it's like the good book says
"wherever 2 or more gather in my name the holy spirit will ..."
okay so i dont remember the exact words ... but you get the idea!
perhaps have prayer meetings with some friends every morning at school!!!
and as for resisiting Satan ... you can't ... you have to have God do it for you! always remember Satan is above you as he is a spiritual being! So pray to a higher spiritual being to protect (You know who I'm talking about lol) He can push back Satan anytime. If your having lustful feelings for example, stop and pray!!! It works!
Stay strong brother
-Yamz