BK1110

If it's not too late to add on, just a reminder that the goal of any man/woman relationship is marriage (not life-long boyfriend/girlfriend/partner etc.) and the marriage relationship is described in the Bible with the term "one flesh." So ask yourself if she is treating you (and you are treating her) with a one flesh mindset. Would she find it acceptable if you were treating her and her goals and pursuit of God's calling in the same way that she is treating yours? It may be telling that her reasoning for you to stop is not "because I think God is leading you elsewhere" or "because I think God might want you to serve Him in this way more" or something. It seems to be about her fear that you will not meet her needs. It sounds self-focused (all about her), rather than other-focused (both you and God).

Let's look at the context a bit more: "At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, 'Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'" -- Matthew 18:1-4 I notice that this started because the disciples wanted to know who was the greatest; I.E. the most honored, the most important, etc. It was a pride issue with them. Jesus said we need to be humble like a child. A child, even in their sinful pride, is well aware that they are no match physically for an adult. We need to recognize that we are not great, we are not strong, we are not worthy, we cannot save ourselves. We come to our Father humbly admitting that it is only by his power that we can be saved. Only by receiving grace from him as a gift (as every child must receive everything they have from adults) can we obtain it. Because it is all a gift and nothing we can earn, we have no ability to boast. It is foolish pride to ask which of us will be greater in God's kingdom; we will all be there because of an invitation and gift we did nothing to earn. Life application? Be humble. Recognize your weakness. Live praising God for your salvation each day. Desire God to get all the glory He richly deserves for his gift of salvation, and let this desire lead you to do your part in sharing the Gospel with others, so that more people will turn to God and give Him that glory.

Looking forward to meeting him on the new earth and making some things with him!

Thoughts from a 30-something unmarried man (the complete opposite of those you requested advice from, so take it for whatever it may seem worth! ) I've said before that dad's decades of hard work and frugality have set my mom up well. If she does not get unwisely spendy, she will be well cared for financially the rest of her days. But there have been struggles in day-to-day needs that dad used to handle, work around the house, car repairs, etc. But God has provided. It's amazing how now there always seems to be a stranger in just the right place at just the right time to help get groceries in the car or some such thing. Give yourself a break and take things one day at a time. Remember that the Bible commands your adult children to look after you in your advanced years; you don't need to be or feel pushy or whiny, but do be honest with them about your problems and issues, and let them reap the earthly growth and heavenly rewards that come from them honoring God's commands to look well after you. Above all, if you're still alive on this earth, God isn't finished with you yet, whether it be your personal sanctification, or him using you to reach/teach others (probably both, of course). Just start each day asking for his will to be done in and through you, however small or even imperceptible it may be to you. And do ask our Father to bring those people into your path.

I had what some jokingly (and others not-so-jokingly) refer to as the hand plane epiphany a few years back, when using the tool and getting proper results for the first time. I can remember saying aloud "this is what I want to do the rest of my life" in that moment. It has been a joy and blessing to pursue woodworking since then, if in a limited way due to physical disability.

Personally, they should respond with the Gospel. Believe in Jesus, repent of wrongdoing, dedicate your life to God and sharing with others. Every honest pastor I've heard preach on end times etc. admits they do not know for sure that they are right and it has no effect on salvation and winning people to Christ. Why, then, use your Sunday morning service on it? If people are interested in these secondary issues, let them investigate the professors and scholars writings on their own time. Many people, out of obligation or tradition or whatever other motive, give God just one or two hours per week on Sunday mornings. They need to hear their pastor cry out to them to change their ways and come to God, not a discussion on pre-trib or post-trib or whatever else. Has anyone ever answered an alter call at the end of a message on what the number of the beast might actually be?

"The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord." -- Proverbs 16:33

So glad to hear it, sister! You and your husband are in my prayers. Just remember in those moments that we have infinite spiritual credit, because Jesus' credit is counted as our own! So many try to qualify the promise that I've made To twist the gift into some kind of trade But grace bears no allowance For your works to make your way Be not afraid Your price is paid -from "Around the World and Back" by Theocracy

I think the first question to ask during any crisis of faith is do you still believe it is true? The Bible, God, Christianity, etc. I mean this in the plainest, most emotionally-distant kind of way; are you at the place of doubting it on a pure intellectual basis? Because the answers and approach to that would be very different. The rest of the post will assume that it is not just a factual/intellectual doubt/battle you are going through but you can correct that assumption after some thinking if you feel it appropriate... I felt and saw a lot of similarities in your post, and because of that I will just tell you a little of my own story and you can decide if it is of any help. I have no church home or Christian friends (or really any friends other than a few people I occasionally still converse with online), my remaining family is not saved now that Dad has passed (though in my case at least are nominal and therefore not antagonistic about it). And I am a very poor evangelist. There is scarcely a dad without some level of exhaustion, shame, and sadness about it all. But there is hope and there is joy, and it has almost all come from Bible study. The more you understand the truth, the better able you are to survive each day and glorify God. The truth that all our sufferings, big and small, visible and invisible, are leading to spectacular rewards (2 Corinthians 4:17), oh yes, that above all, but also that those sufferings are working for us in this life (2 Corinthians 12:8-9) is amazing. I think some may disagree, but I do not try to follow any "read the Bible in a year" plans. I rarely even read the Bible just on my own. I spent many years as a nominal (false) Christian reading a chapter or two a day. Just...reading the words. I knew what they said. I checked the box, ding, did that chore for the day. Dead inside. Since actually becoming a Christian, good devotionals have been indescribably more effective and fruitful than just reading on my own as a rote habit. For me it is John Piper's works primarily, but there are certainly many others. I think of Philip and the Ethiopian. The Ethiopian had the scriptures, but he needed God to send him Philip to teach and guide him in their reading. Perhaps I am the Ethiopian. I am now six-and-a-half years in after being saved, but it's interesting to look back on the kind of stages there have been, from the initial period of confusion and fear, to a period of dealing with obvious sins and just beginning to lay the foundations of any sort of study or devotional activity, then a period of more subtle changes in attitudes and desires (desiring to change rather than merely changing out of obligation), and then things really got going as God used dad's ultimately-fatal cancer to change, grow, and build me than I can describe or think of here. And that's ongoing. And that is what I would say more than anything else; it is a slow, on-going process, to the point of being like aging where you just don't see or realize it day to day, and it's only looking back years later when you can actually see the change that was mostly imperceptible all along. I find myself having to constantly remind myself to quit being impatient with God and myself; He is at work in His way and His timing in my heart and life. The right amount of pressure to change and grow is a good thing that spurs the growth, but ultimately the power for it comes from God. (1 Corinthians 15:10) I saw a lot in your post about your failings, and I wonder if you are like me in forgetting that I am not the one who saves. What I mean by that is there is always this creeping feeling of "why didn't you say more, or differently, or better? Why didn't you fight this battle or that battle? Why didn't you have a better answer to this, or react differently? Shouldn't you have shared the gospel, or better? Shouldn't you have told them more? Shouldn't you have stopped them from doing or saying that, or corrected them on this point? DON'T YOU KNOW THEIR SOULS ARE ON THE LINE? AREN'T YOU A REAL CHRISTIAN? DON'T YOU CARE? IF YOU DON'T, YOU MUST NOT BE A REAL CHRISTIAN! YOU'RE A SHAM!" and so on. That voice of perfectionism that is constantly telling me I have to thrust the Bible into every single sentence of every single conversation of every single person I meet, or else their blood is forever on my soul. Why didn't I say "God bless you!" instead of just the "thank you!" to that person? When the waitress brings the water, why didn't I tell her about the Living Water? You can drive yourself mad thinking that way, and the more you fail to say what you think is the perfect thing, and the more you see people not respond when you do say something good, the more you just get broken down. I must constantly remind myself that it is God who grants people repentance (2 Timothy 2:25, Acts 5:31, Acts 11:18). God saves. God opens eyes. It is God, it is His power. And His power is infinite, and it is perfected in my weakness! Whoa! So even when I say the right thing and it seems like people don't respond, God can save them. When I don't say the right thing, God can still use that as a piece of the puzzle. When all I can manage is a kind word or a good attitude or letting someone know I am praying for them, or just posting a Bible verse or a quote from a wise theologian on Facebook that they end up stumbling across, God can use that to chip away a small bit of their heart of stone so that, somewhere down the line, maybe even through contact with a different Christian, God can finally bring them to the truth. What a freeing and glorious truth it is. This has gotten too long and we are all different so none of it may have even been what you needed to hear, so I will simply end this imperfect post by a poorly-evangelizing, still pretty new Christian by saying I am praying for you that God would renew the simple, pure hope and joy of your faith. I pray that you would be less-encumbered by the loneliness of your current situation and that God will continue to grow you to be more like His beloved son, who died to raise you again to be his beloved child as well for all eternity, and that the remembrance of that joyous truth would empower you to live confidently undergirded by God's power each day. And with the hopes that this ramble of a post has made you feel, if for only a moment, a teensy-bit less lonely!

Praying for you! I pray that God would guide you in your response to the mockers, enabling you to show them God's love, that the Holy Spirit might move and change them!

The husband is to lead his family sacrificially, as Christ did, loving the church even to the point of death (Ephesians 5:25). Your husband won't know about your needs if you don't express them, though. Perhaps God is using this to bring the breakdown of closeness and communication between you to the fore. If the breakdown in communication has bothered him, then he may be associating your distance with him to your Christian faith. You might want to start with discussing your concerns that you may have caused communication to be difficult recently, and ask him what he thinks about it. When you get to the point of the issue at hand (sleep), start by reminding him how much you appreciate his good work ethic, that he doesn't slack off with that or with the kids and housework, but then also tell him that you're burning out and need just a little extra help until the baby is past this early stage. Also from that same passage in Ephesians: "In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the Church, because we are members of his body." -- Ephesians 5:28-30 The needs of your body are to be considered by him in the same way as he would consider the needs of his body, and vice versa. I know he is not a believer, so I'm not suggesting you try to use this line of reasoning to convince him, but just pointing out that his unbelief doesn't change the facts; God designed marriage to be this way, and the solution to follow God's design for marriage is the only one that works, regardless of someone believing or not. Praying for you!

Hard to know, we're likely missing context. Maybe the customer has been there with his wife in the past and the cashier took notice of them, or something like that?

I'm not sure what the point here is. This is all in response to a question about people who claim that God has removed His presence from their lives, and I'm saying there is a need to define what is meant by God removing his presence. I'm pointing out that lots of people consider (correctly or not) suffering in their lives and the world at large to be synonymous with "evil." Natural disasters, the death of children, famine etc. People talk about these things as being evil, asking why God made a world in which there are such things. I'm simply trying to point out that lots of people refer to "bad stuff" as suffering and/or evil in general.

Good post. In my defense, I did say "usually," and followed up with a discussion about what we mean about God removing his presence. Job is indeed a notable exception (in that God Himself pointed out that Job was "blameless and upright")... if, of course, by God removing His presence we simply mean "God allows evil/suffering to come into one's life." Did God remove his presence from Job's life, or was he still there with Job as Job moved through those terrible trials? I might be inclined to say the latter, but it's all based on how I or someone else defines God removing His presence from someone. God bless, sister!

Amen! We must be people who are willing to step outside our comfort zone and help others!

Doing so in the Bible is usually a sign that they weren't really following Him or at least were in rebellion of some kind. It also depends on what you mean by saying God withdrew His presence from them, and what those people meant when they claimed it happened to them. A lot of people think that suffering is a sign that God has withdrawn from them or abandoned them, because surely He would be protecting them if He were still present in their lives. But that is not Biblical. Even the likely oldest book in the Bible, Job, is all about how God allowing suffering to come into our lives is not necessarily a sign of punishment or His anger with us.

It sounds like the Holy Spirit is convicting you. This means God is at work to change and grow you. This does not happen to people who God is not moving in their hearts to bring them to repentance; those people are hardened and darkened, they do not see any need for change. Since you have been given this understanding, your response should be change. Cry out to God and ask Him to make the change possible. Ask Him to grant you the insight to understand and the strength to actually follow through on what He shows you.

I would say it's indeed possible. I would place myself in the first category for many years, until I was roughly 30 years old and God opened the eyes of my heart to be able to truly understand and receive the gospel. I would say to think about the implications of it if they are "set for life" categories; that would mean that anyone who does not truly and fully receive the gospel and experience true saving faith the very first time they hear a gospel presentation are doomed to never be able to receive it ever. Surely we know this is not true and that many people who initially reject it for whatever reason or reasons do eventually come to know the truth and give their lives to God.

I would point out first and foremost that Jesus ate with his disciples multiple times after his resurrection with his glorified, perfected, physical human body. Also, Jesus said "Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God" at Passover (Mark 14:25). Ultimately we do not know. But since the question stemmed from a general sense of "I love doing this thing and I'm concerned we may not be able to do it for eternity," the real point in all of this is that, if there is anything that we love in this life, it will either be present in the next life, or it will be replaced by things so much better and more wonderful that we would not want to participate in it anymore anyway.

It's clear that he's being targeted, at least in large part, because the liberal establishment hates and wants to destroy him. It's clear he is an unrepentant sinner and needs salvation, as we all were and did once. It's clear many on the left ignore that he was good for many policy decisions, hate him too much, can't get over it and move on, and have an unhealthy obsession with him. It's clear many on the right ignore or even embrace his character flaws and sinful tongue, love him too much, can't get over it and move on, and have an unhealthy obsession with him. I pray for his salvation, pray for true justice to be done (whether that leads to charges or not), and pray for healing for this nation. And then I move on with my day without getting hot and bothered by it. We wrestle not with flesh and blood.

"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" -- 2 Corinthians 13:5 This one verse would be my response to those who think, or just wonder, if it's possible for a truly saved Christian to doubt their salvation (I.E. if doubting is itself a sign that you are not saved). There is no need to test something that you are already assured of. Paul does not say "do not examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Do not test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you do not realize this, showing that Jesus Christ was never in you!" It would be nonsensical for Paul to tell professing Christians to examine and test themselves to determine if they are real Christians, and to indicate that it is possible to either meet or fail the test, if the very act of this testing itself is an indication that you fail.

An extension is more like a supplementary feature for an app or program. This might help: https://darkreader.org/blog/mobile/

I don't know if it or something like it exists for phone browsers, but I get on Worthy mostly on my desktop PC, and I use an extension called Dark Reader, which works on most sites and lets you have a dark mode for them.

Call animal control and see if they can do something. It's almost certainly a violation of local laws to allow dogs to roam free like that, and if one is especially dangerous and aggressive they should be able to capture it and put it down.

Bible memorization is important, but not the most important. Don't just read, but study. Read commentaries. Pray for wisdom and understanding as you keep it up. I'm watching one episode of "Look at the Book" on Youtube each day.