How long have you beleived

[Jay_7]

In God? Ive beleived ever since i was first told about it which i think i was 4/5 years old.

[SUGAAAAA]

since like the beggining of this October....

although I sort of went to church/believed in God as a kid, but strayed away...

[Silvertusk]

I have always had a notion of God - but didn't really pay any heed to it until a couple of years ago - for selfish reason I am sorry to say. Now I believe, and with Gods grace my faith is getting stronger every day. I got baptised about a month ago and it is one day I will remember for the rest of my life.

[missangel]

A year...

[lissy]

got saved about 15 years ago...

[Canuckster1127]

31 years

[bizzt]

February 1998

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

Born again since August 2001.

What a difference 5 years-in-the-Word make!

FL

[crmann]

Greeting, All.....

What a blessing to be able to read of your times and length of salvation.
And what a blessing that you all seem to be so young. So many years left to serve our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Not easy in this day.

Jesus came into my heart in 1945. I only wish I could have known Him all these past years as I do now.

Blessings,

Cleveland,
An old timer....

[bizzt]

Greeting, All.....

What a blessing to be able to read of your times and length of salvation.
And what a blessing that you all seem to be so young. So many years left to serve our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Not easy in this day.

Jesus came into my heart in 1945. I only wish I could have known Him all these past years as I do now.

Blessings,

Cleveland,
An old timer....

Welcome Cleavland! It is good to see you here.

Psa 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, That bringeth forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also doth not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

[Oriental]

Greetings,

I have believed in Him since 1993. It has been 13 years. I was baptized 8 months ago.

I have had a hard time to be a Christian in particular since the recent 5 years ago after I managed to have a look on the whole chapters of bible and have once kept trying to abide by it; retrospectively I found it's largely because the worldly matter does not happen in harmony with what I wish to be; I was rarely happy and I was often wrestling with ethical issues which have made me a peculiar guy socially with people who seem not to be perplexed at all about the same thing. My family have recently been trying to dissuade me from reading the bible any longer; I often feel fable, tempted to give up, in particular I am becoming less outspoke when I am grown up and thinking too much about it; however, I still stick to it because I don't want to face the situation possibly emerging if I give up on reading bible and attending church service. Giving it up is a worse alternative to holding on to it.

Hope the sharing of this help encourage our fellows here.

[Canuckster1127]

Greetings,

I have believed in Him since 1993. It has been 13 years. I was baptized 8 months ago.

I have had a hard time to be a Christian in particular since the recent 5 years ago after I managed to have a look on the whole chapters of bible and have once kept trying to abide by it; retrospectively I found it's largely because the worldly matter does not happen in harmony with what I wish to be; I was rarely happy and I was often wrestling with ethical issues which have made me a peculiar guy socially with people who seem not to be perplexed at all about the same thing. My family have recently been trying to dissuade me from reading the bible any longer; I often feel fable, tempted to give up, in particular I am becoming less outspoke when I am grown up and thinking too much about it; however, I still stick to it because I don't want to face the situation possibly emerging if I give up on reading bible and attending church service. Giving it up is a worse alternative to holding on to it.

Hope the sharing of this help encourage our fellows here.

Oriental,

Thanks for being so transparent and honest. There are times when we have to persevere and hold onto it.

What do you think comes first for a Christian.

Peace and Joy or perfect obedience to His Word?

Bart

[Oriental]

Oriental,

Thanks for being so transparent and honest. There are times when we have to persevere and hold onto it.

What do you think comes first for a Christian.

Peace and Joy or perfect obedience to His Word?

Bart

Bart,

It is nice to hear your reply. I feel uneasy often; I find that a lot of people do not think the same way I do. It makes me like a weird guy and people find difficult to get along with me easily.

Last night I chat with my sister. We quarreled quite much. What caused it might sound strange to you all. It was the manner that I complained about she didn't live up to my expectation of her loving properly her younger brother and I complained of her self-centerness.

She replied that all members of family had trouble to talk to me because what I complained about made them inferior; I have spoken some words that come from scriptural wisdom which sounds novel to them all; in fact, I follow scriptural words as best as I can but I often find others never treat me the same way back. I am quite frustrated.

Yes it is peace and joy that our relationship with God can make me feel serene in morning prayers and church service; as long as I step out of the church, I find myself pretty weird guy among the world in which everybody seems to care about himself only and altruism is entirely something once in blue moon everywhere. The loneliness is dreadful.


Oriental.

[FFC]

Oriental,

Thanks for being so transparent and honest. There are times when we have to persevere and hold onto it.

What do you think comes first for a Christian.

Peace and Joy or perfect obedience to His Word?

Bart

Bart,

It is nice to hear your reply. I feel uneasy often; I find that a lot of people do not think the same way I do. It makes me like a weird guy and people find difficult to get along with me easily.

Last night I chat with my sister. We quarreled quite much. What caused it might sound strange to you all. It was the manner that I complained about she didn't live up to my expectation of her loving properly her younger brother and I complained of her self-centeredness.

She replied that all members of family had trouble to talk to me because what I complained about made them inferior; I have spoken some words that come from scriptural wisdom which sounds novel to them all; in fact, I follow scriptural words as best as I can but I often find others never treat me the same way back. I am quite frustrated.

Yes it is peace and joy that our relationship with God can make me feel serene in morning prayers and church service; as long as I step out of the church, I find myself pretty weird guy among the world in which everybody seems to care about himself only and altruism is entirely something once in blue moon everywhere. The loneliness is dreadful.


Oriental.

Oriental,
You are not weird. What you are experiencing as a Christian is unfortunately normal. Our unsaved family and friends do generally think we are strange in what we believe. Even Jesus ran into the same thing when he tried to preach in his hometown and His message was rejected because they all knew Him as a child and found it hard to believe that this same person they grew up with was the Messiah. Mark 6:4

Also keep in mind what Paul said in 1Cor 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

You are in good company. The message we share is a strange one indeed to unbelievers, and rightfully so, because it is given to us by the Spirit of God and cannot be understood by those who have not had the born again experience that we had.

Oriental, as a Christian your only duty is to love the Lord your God with all your heart mind soul and spirit and to love your neighbor as yourself…everything else will fall into place as you put Christ first in your life.

Keep sharing the word of God in love and truth with your family and friends as God leads you. Be loving and patient as you share, but remember that you were where they are once and that God can open their hearts just as He opened yours.

God bless
FFC

[Judah]

Oriental, I am sorry to hear that you are feeling lonely and finding it difficult being a Christian among those who are not. Perhaps you will be encouraged by knowing that Jesus already understands what you are experiencing.

John 15:18-20 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

I am another Christian living in a family who is not. In my situation I find it is better to live in obedience to Christ and show His love through my own life rather than by telling others how they should behave. Remember that if someone is not a Christian, then they have made no committment to behaving as a Christian would. You must not judge them by the same standard that you would another Christian.

Here are some more words of Jesus to consider.

Matthew 7:1-5 Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

It is so tempting to be telling others how they are to behave and to be correcting them. This does not go down at all well with lots of folk and will make you unpopular very quickly. I would encourage you in your situation to put your efforts into living the Christian life and showing others by your own actions how Jesus would behave. I find that works best for me, and eventually it does have people ask me how it is I can be so patient, or helpful, or kind, or generous, or whatever. Then when they ask I have the opportunity to tell them about Jesus and how He wants me to be that way, and how He helps me to be so.

Here are some more words to remember:

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

It sounds as though you could do with a few Christian friends to share with, and maybe the pastor of your church would be able to help you find some.

Meanwhile, I hope these words will be of some help and encouragement to you.