No124get1952

"Stretchers" is a new term for me. And while I believe in the "inerrancy of Scripture", I also believe in the individual nature of the relationship between each believer and their Savior. What I have discovered from personal experience is that when a believer interacts with the Word of God, often the Holy Spirit leads that individual to an understanding or an experience that is totally unique. It is a personal thing between God and the individual and that is not necessarily "preachable" to others. It is when we have a personal revelation of God to ourselves, for our application, that we begin to represent as "doctrine" that we begin to "stretch" the Word of God. While God is no respecter of persons, we need to be careful what we impute to God or His Word because it worked once for us. God set this pattern Himself when he flooded the world in judgement....He only did it once. Sometimes singular experiences are just that...one time faith builders to get us past a difficult place. To count on that for EVERY problem becomes presumptuous and religious because it means that we are not continuing to listen to God. It cost Moses the promised land because God told him to strike the rock only one time to get water. Because Moses had success one time, the next time he didn't hear God to "speak" to the rock, so he struck the rock again and that became the sin that kept him out of the Promised Land. Had Moses been obedient and spoken to the rock, the water would still have poured out, but God would have been glorified instead of Moses' act of striking the rock. Scripture does not record how many Israelites ascribed to the belief that striking rocks could produce water. We just have to be careful when applying Scripture and interpreting it to others.

Faith is kind of a funny commodity. Without faith, we cannot please God, according to Hebrews. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. That's Hebrews 11:1 and it's kind of an enigma wrapped in a mystery. Faith goes beyond belief; it extends our belief in Jesus into action. I can "say" I have faith (or believe) in anything; it is only when I act upon my belief that I truly demonstrate my faith. So, if I have faith but have not acted upon it, that faith is "dead" because there is essentially no external proof that faith has made any difference in my life. We do not do "works" for selfish reasons or even because the Bible tells us that good works are good things. We do works as a form of worship to God to demonstrate our belief in Him. We do them for Him. We do them because He commands us to love our enemies. By our obedient works, we demonstrate the love of God for others (especially unbelievers). The interesting thing is, that when we do works that activate our faith, mysteriously, our faith becomes stronger. So while we are not OBLIGATED to do works, we do them in service to God and to others because it shows that faith is more than just a commodity...it is action!!!

I am so sorry to hear your tale. It breaks my heart for you and the children to see a marriage broken so willfully. Corinthians says that the believing wife sanctifies the husband and children. That is a very high and holy function for you. Yet, the other party to the marriage has openly (and secretly) denied the very covenant he committed to. According to Scripture, you are free to end the marriage. Unfortunately, and you are realizing this, ending the marriage is going to cause all manner of negative things, all of them including the children and yourself and very few of them representing a godly, Christian life. First, because of the current state of things, you are already in a relationship that does not glorify God. Whose fault the situation is, is not the real question. The real question is, "how can I glorify and serve God in this mess?" Either way you go, staying in the marriage, or ending the marriage, is going to be slow and painful to get through. Both options are rife with opportunities for anger, bitterness, sarcasm, loneliness, etc. Having been through two divorces myself, the pain goes on for years, but the emotional and spiritual devastation does not...that's good news. Your most important asset now, is your grateful heart. Be thankful to God for your children; the current provision for your needs; for His Holy Spirit to act as a guide and Comforter through this trial...and it IS a huge trial. At every opportunity, thank God for your salvation and for the prayers of those that love you. Keeping your heart free from bitterness is key. Bitterness will defile you, your children, your parents, your church; as Hebrews says, the root of bitterness springing up defiles many. You will have plenty of opportunity to be bitter; you have that "right" to be so because of what your husband has done, and is doing. But the battle for your heart is now between God and Satan. If Satan wins, you will pass on bitterness to your children and that will ultimately cause you much more pain. As much as this hurts, and I know that pain can literally make you crazy....been there, got the merit badge. You must develop a "superactive" prayer life. Not the "now I lay me down to sleep.." kind of prayer, but the "God, I can't take this .." kind of prayer where you get really honest and really real with God. He can handle it. You must allow yourself to "let go" with God and speak out the hurt and devastation you are feeling. If you must blame God, go ahead and let Him have it. The important thing is to let it all out to God (in private). Squeeze yourself like you would a wet sponge. Get all of the poison out....THEN....stick around and listen as God sends comfort, peace, love and encouragement. When a sponge is empty, then it is ready to soak up more stuff. In your case, once you have all the emotional poison out, stick around and let God fill you up with the good stuff. It may not make you feel better for very long, but the more you make a habit of doing this with God, the more often He will fill you with good stuff. And you will begin to enjoy those filling times and it will put your entire life in a place of peace, even though you still hurt. Next, you must learn how to forgive. Forgiveness is NOT for your husband, it is for you. If you don't forgive him, God cannot forgive you. Now, what is forgiveness? It is NOT approval of anything your husband has done. It is NOT forgetting what he has done. God would never ask that of you. Forgiveness is an act of choice (despite how you feel). You choose to allow God to hold your husband accountable for his sin, because you choose NOT to take on the burden of being responsible for what he has done or its effects on you and the children. This is a hard thing to understand and even harder to do because forgiveness is NOT a one-time action...it is a process. You must choose to forgive him over and over until you can bless him without reservation (as a child of God). That is why Jesus told Peter he must forgive 7 times 70. Forgiveness is the process that frees our heart from responsibility for those who hurt us. This is not a short process; it took me 11 years to forgive my ex-wife completely. But it IS necessary. Remember, choose to forgive and keep choosing until your heart is totally free. Find a group of solid, praying Christians who will love you no matter how emotionally disgusting you get. I have been crazy in pain and bitterness, yet my friends prayed for me and loved on me when I was totally disgusting. They kept loving me until God was able to heal me enough to become normal again. This is vital because if you don't have it, you will "go off the rails" believing nobody loves you and you will warp your children. Get them into a good church with a good teaching program or youth program to give them what they are missing by having a "missing" father. Because he has been "carrying on", he has already been absent, so you are operating from a bit of a deficit already. Take heart, give your children to Jesus, sanctify them as holy, and let Him minister to them. Now, as to the marriage itself. IF he comes to his senses and wants to return, you get to dictate conditions. First, he only moves back in AFTER several sessions with a Christian counselor. Second, whether he believes or not, he will accompany the family to church every week. Third, you will have unfettered access to all of his email, social media, text accounts OR he will have an accountability partner that does. These are tall orders. But they are necessary if you are ever going to be able to trust him again. As to physical intimacy, that is something you will have to pray about and get counsel about because that part of your marriage is necessary to the marriage but not the highest priority at present. Yet without it, the temptation for him (and you) to stray will always be there. You have my prayers. I actually wrote a book called, "The Marriage Triangle, God's Geometry for a Healthy Marriage". It's on amazon if you want some reading.

You have a tall order to fill. My questions for you are few. First, do you attend church regularly? My reason for asking is practical. Going to a church allows you to fellowship with other believers. This is good because it is a controlled environment to allow you to grow socially. It also allows others to pray for you so that others become involved and invested in your healing. It also allows you to invest yourself in praying for others. The combination here is designed to "bear one another's burdens" so that you do not have to bear them all by yourself. Yes, it is a process and can be a long process, but at least you should not be so alone. Second, in order to be accepted, you are going to have to accept other people. Again, a church fellowship is handy because you are all "supposed" to be accepting because of Jesus. This is largely a matter of choosing to forgive others of their "weirdness" so they will forgive me of my "weirdness". There will be fits and starts and mistakes, but that is what grace and forgiveness are for. Joining a Bible study is a good step, because you are involving the Word of God and other people, so change should occur. At some point, what happens in Bible studies is someone puts on a potluck dinner or the group decides to go bowling or to a ball game....voila, another of your wishes comes true. I am not saying this will be easy. There are parts of it that will scare you to death. But if you will pray about the hard parts, grit your teeth and put up with others' foolishness, over time you will become socially skilled. In addition, when others "put up" with your ADD, etc. and accept you as you are and stick with you...you will find that it gradually fades away until it's no longer noticeable....that's a whole lot like healing...and God has used you and others to do it!!!!! Finally, be thankful. I know you are frustrated because your prayers haven't been answered as expected. But start by thanking God that you have a computer; thanking God that He has chosen several people to answer your questions...even if they miss the mark. I trust they are all praying for you as I am. That IS a blessing. Thank God you have most of your basic needs met. Begin to be thankful in the midst of trial and tribulation and I think you will find more Holy Spirit guidance and more peace. Blessings.

I have very good news for you my friend....if you are asking if you have blasphemed the Holy Spirit, then you have a conscience and you HAVE NOT committed the unpardonable sin. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is a willful, depraved assignment of evil specifically to the Holy Spirit. For example, if someone claimed that the Holy Spirit told them to kill their spouse and eat them...that would be an example of something close to blasphemy. Or perhaps just saying the Holy Spirit is Satan. Those are two examples I can think of and I don't want to go any further because that kind of thinking is not healthy. The Bibles says to think on things that are good and holy....blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the opposite of Holy. So, if you are unconvicted of sin, that just means you have a hard heart. To continue in this fashion may lead you someday to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. But since you are worried about that sin, that means your heart still has sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and there is hope that someday the Love of God will chase you down and apprehend you for Christ. "No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for his friend".... Jesus voluntarily laid down His life for you for the sole purpose of restoring fellowship between you and God, the Father. God sent His Holy Spirit as a Comforter and as a guide to all truth. Hopefully, someday soon, you will recognize the love of the Father and come home to a peaceful, fulfilling (but challenging) life. As for "feeling" guilt, that is not always a reliable evidence of how we really are. While "feeling" convicted is a good way to measure our guilt, those in Christ are supposed to act on faith. That faith is based upon the Word of God which says, " that all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God". If we first allow that the Bible is THE authority on sin, then we simply believe that particular scripture and then repent (apologize and change direction) and ask God for forgiveness. Likewise, when we pray for forgiveness, we may not "feel" forgiveness but again must trust the Bible in 1 John 1:9 which says the He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins AND to cleanse us from unrighteousness". So I begin to exercise my faith by believing what the Bible says and then, when I have done what the Bible tells me to do, I find that I "sense" a peacefulness in my heart. The things that worry me don't seem to be so important and I begin to see a change in my heart which results in a feeling of peace and rightness. While that is hard to describe, imagine the feeling you get when you help an old lady across the street, doing something just to be a blessing. It's that feeling (on steroids) you get when you are right with God. The more we exercise our faith, the more the proper feelings will follow. There will come a time when you will feel God's pain when you do something wrong...THAT IS CONVICTION. In the mean time. Get a Bible and begin reading. Start with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John because they tell the story of Jesus. See if you can find something in Jesus to relate to. Blessings

Pamelasv, Having sunk quite a bit in my life, I know what it feels like and kind of what it looks like...though when I am the one doing the sinking, I could really care less about what I look like...only that I'm sinking. When one is sinking, their attitude changes. At first one might not notice it. They begin to complain that something hasn't gone quite right and they don't understand why. Then they might act as if they are confused; they don't know which of the options available is the best one. Then they begin to be double-minded, not being able to make a decision. Inside they know they are flailing, but on the outside they are trying to maintain a good front. We can see they are struggling. When we try to assist, they may insist they don't need help...yet. So it's a matter of degrees; the more they sink, the more they flail. The more I sink, the more I try to find a solution on my own....until I almost drown and finally give up and give in to what God has been trying to say all the time. Hope this helps.

One other possibility is that "sabbath" is a concept God put in place at creation. Remember, He created the world in 6 days and rested the 7th to consider all that He had done. I think it important for us to follow God's example and allow ourselves a "sabbath day" of rest, consideration and worship for all He has done. I am pretty sure that no matter what name we give that day (Saturday, Sunday or broccoli day), God will honor the faithful, heart-felt attempt to rest in Him and to honor Him. I also agree that Christ is our Sabbath and we really need to read and understand Hebrews 4 about entering into His rest...it's not about the Sunday afternoon nap......

Hail, O Picker of Nits!!!! Matthew 23:24 24 Ye blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! I use this scripture with the recognition that another version of this scripture might totally imply something different.....NOT!!! My real point is that changing "lion and the lamb" to "wolf and the lamb" has not really altered the meaning of this particular verse. Both lions and wolves are predators and both enjoy juicy, succulent lamb for dinner. The verse implies there will be a time where the predator/prey relationship will be suspended for a "better way". To focus upon the details, in this case, detracts from the larger message that things will be different in the Messiah's kingdom. After all, the Bible IS about the Messiah...isn't it?

Gerbil Woman, In this day and age, with all the technology we have, you should be able to find a pastor who will minister to you without you being able to be "in" church. I run an informal ministry called "The Oasis" from my facebook page (stephen george). I say informal because I have about 7 or 8 people who fellowship online whenever they have needs or want to tell about victories. The most important part is that when someone posts a prayer request, they get prayer until we hear that God has answered. Jesus wants you in fellowship with the Body of Christ. That way we get the benefit of how He has blessed and gifted you and you get the benefit of our prayers and corporate worship. The important thing is that we not allow ourselves to be separated and singled out by that old rascal, the devil. There IS healing available for you. We just have to figure out together how to get you into Jesus' presence in order to "love you to abundant life". This forum is a blessing and I hope His presence is blessing you here.

LPTSTR, Thank you for your response. I will do my best to answer your requests, but I ask a bit of leeway in doing so. I am going to start in a place you probably don't expect me to start. First, Deuteronomy 28:1-14 is God Himself telling the children of Israel what He will do for them. As you read the long list, it is an impressive array of blessings that indicate material prosperity here on earth in the present. In addition, there are sections that indicate prosperity in mental, emotional and spiritual ways as well. To be honest, I have not yet attained all these blessings...but in that admission lies my true condition..that I have failed to maintain my part of this covenant that God obligated Himself to: I have not fully listened to and obeyed the commandments of the Lord my God. If I am truly honest with myself, there have been too many times when I talked a good talk about obeying God, yet I did not DO what He said. In every area where I have fallen short, God was not obligated to bless me....or even answer my prayers. If you have been praying for 5 years, I commend you. But I do not believe that God has not answered a single one of your prayers. Others in this forum have suggested you prayed selfishly or prayed in the wrong fashion. I do not make that assumption, but I DO know this: God always answers prayer. What I have discovered for myself is that I do not always hear God or recognize His answers. Yes, I have been in dire straits, waiting for money to pay my rent. And it seemed that God did not answer my prayer...He didn't tell me to go fishing and get a coin out of a fishes' mouth like He did with Peter; He didn't have me use the last of my flour to bake a loaf of bread for the prophet. When I got under such pressure, instead of trusting God and asking for help from His people, I tried to figure it out on my own. It has cost me bankrupcy, indebtedness, embarrassment, shame and a whole host of other negative things. It has almost cost me my marriage that a "man of faith" should suffer so. The point I am trying to make here is that the fault for unanswered prayer is NOT God's. In the past 40 or so years of serving God, I have never gone hungry for a long period of time. Though there have been financially hard times, in the aftermath I discovered it was mostly my own stinkin' thinkin' that caused me to make bad decisions at crucial times. Those bad decisions caused more stress, which led to a greater "spiritual deafness" to what God was speaking through the Bible; through His Holy Spirit; and through Christians who were attempting to love me. At times I felt so rejected because I was so needy that it was hard for others to relate to me. But when I finally got sick of wallowing in my own self pity and ugliness, I began to understand that through it all, Jesus still loved me. Nothing I was going through had altered Jesus' decision to die for me. I believe that night in Gethsemane, Jesus sweat great drops of blood because He saw every face of every desperate soul who needed Him, and He chose to be crucified anyway!!! The Bible records that He looked with joy to the cross in Hebrews 12:2, " 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." That means, he saw YOUR face that night and still decided to go to the cross. Now let me continue about the covenant of salvation. Covenants are like contracts. When you sign your cell phone contract, they agree to provide you with phone service...and you agree to give them money every month. You both have obligations. If they do not live up to their end of the bargain, you can sue them. If you don't pay your bill, they cut off your phone. However, God made a much more excellent covenant with us because the down payment is our confession of belief in Jesus Christ. And our part to activate the blessings is simply to be obedient to God's Word. I said "simple" not "easy". We are fallible humans and sometimes we get messed up because we want things a certain way...and it doesn't happen to be God's way...so we can't expect the benefits of the covenant when we break it. Thank God for Jesus, because His blood allows us to repent and be forgiven. That repentance/forgiveness process re-activates the covenant and we are again in good standing with God. At this point, I must tell you though, that one of the biggest hindrances to answer prayer, receiving blessings, or even feeling good about myself is my ungrateful attitude. If I am not thankful to God for the life He has given me, it corrodes my attitude about God and ultimately de-activates the covenant from providing me blessings. A few years ago, God showed me that I had been thankless towards Him and it was a very hard time for me because I had not intentionally decided to do that....but it was true. Very few blessings came my way; not because God had not sent them; but because my ungrateful spirit did not recognize them as blessings and I had actually turned them away...thus rejecting God's blessings....and thus rejecting Him. I was so distraught that I thought I was lost and undone. Thank God that Jesus loves me enough to love me when I was despicable. Now I find, that the more I thank Him, even (and especially) when it looks like my prayers have gone unanswered, that God's favor and grace become more bountiful to me. I suspect that you have not been totally grateful for all that God HAS done for you. If you are on this forum and able to respond, God has blessed you with a computer and enough resources to afford internet access. Moses didn't have that. If you have been praying for 5 years, God has given you the spiritual stubbornness to "pray it through". That really is a blessing, because after 5 years you still have not given up. That speaks of a basic spiritual strength that very few people have. If you are not thankful for that, I am. I am impressed. As you begin a ruthless evaluation of your life and how you have made it through, I think you will find evidence of God in every area. Perhaps God has not answered you in the way you wanted. But God is sovereign and He will answer according to how He wants to answer. It may well be that your prayers have been answered in a way that you cannot see. In other words, God may have been moving resources, people, situations, etc. in your favor in a way that you could not see. It may also have been that God answered your prayers in a way that you have had to go through some trials. Guess what? James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this: that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing. God wants you to be perfect and entire....LACKING NOTHING. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to go through lack in order to be worthy of the abundance God wants for us. And since I am nearly 65, let me tell you, not every trial can be solved in a month or two. I have personally suffered (mostly because of my own disobedience and ignorance) through periods of trial as long as 10 years. No, it hasn't been pretty and I have NOT enjoyed it. BUT: God has given me grace to endure and joy IN every situation so that I can honestly thank Him for preserving me. Part of our basic issue as humans is that we do NOT acknowledge the spiritual side of life and how important and fulfilling it is. It is for this side of our lives that Jesus sent us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. We sometimes only believe in what we see. If we look beyond the natural, we begin to recognize that God operates in many more dimensions than we realize. If we don't see into those dimensions, we will become very frustrated that God does not answer our prayers. Please forgive me if I have offended. It is not my intent to do so. But I know God answers prayer and I know He has answered yours. My prayer is that your heart will begin to recognize how much you are loved and cherished by God and that His blessings will soon begin to "show up" as visible in your life. You are a treasured child of the Most High God. Blessings

Dearest gerbilwoman, I feel you. Sometimes your own brain and body betray you and the only thing that feels right or pleasing is violence. That is a problem when the violence is visited upon others...or even yourself. For now, I think you would like a practical solution to directing your violence in a safe direction. And I have some ideas. First, you seem to be aware of when this happens, so that is a good thing. There are not too many authorized or legal ways to deal with violence. However, depending on what your urges are, you may be able to direct them safely. If you feel the need to hit things, perhaps you should go to a driving range and hit golf balls. You can hit those as hard as you want and if you need to hit 2 buckets instead of one bucket, you can swing until you can't lift the club anymore. Bowling is another good option...the only thing is, you can't be worried about your score. You could hit your pillow or go into your closet and cuss and hit your pillow until your violent urges pass. Then you need to sit down and read some Bible and pray. Once you have your violent urges expressed, you need to make progress by some reading and prayer to get God into you now that the violence is out. It's like a trade. You get out the bad stuff and then allow God to put into the good stuff. But the key is to develop the habit of following the bad with the good. Over time you will begin to enjoy the good stuff so much that the desire to be violent will diminish. Either that or you will become a professional golfer and earn enough to hire a therapist....LOL. Blessings

It is obvious to me that God is pursuing you in a very determined fashion. Trust IS a big deal, but trust is NOT what it takes to give your heart to Jesus. Romans 10:9,10 says, " 9 For if you tell others with your own mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord and believe in your own heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in his heart that a man becomes right with God; and with his mouth he tells others of his faith, confirming his salvation. " This is the Living Bible. So with your mouth, you confess that you believe Jesus to be your Lord and then believe that confession as a fact in your heart. So, on the inside, you make a choice to believe in Jesus, then on the outside you confess that belief in prayer....preferably in front of a kind witness just to confirm what you have done (so the devil can't come back later and say you didn't do it). Now, the BIG ISSUE of trust. When you do this, the Bible says you have entered into a relationship with God. When God enters into relationships with people, He does so from a legal perspective...we generally call that a covenant. This New Covenant with God gives you legal rights with God to talk to Him, to make requests of Him and to receive from Him. It obligates God to prove Himself to you through answered prayer; through fellowship with other Christians; and through His Word, the Bible. So your first step after confessing Him, should be to read the Bible. Start with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, commonly called the Gospels because they actually tell about the life and works of Jesus. As you begin to see what He did for those He ministered to, you will desire for Him to do the same for you and you will begin to talk to Him...that is called prayer. But prayer is supposed to be a conversation with both parties saying things. God will speak to you through His Bible, through your Christian friends and pastor, and directly through His Holy Spirit. If you doubt anything you hear, you just search it out in the Bible. Day by day, as you grow, you will experience answered prayer; you will experience the desire to be more like Jesus. And whenever you tell somebody that you serve Jesus, you will feel good about that...even though you are a new believer. Think of it as a new adventure. Only now, God is sharing responsibility for your life. When you mess up (and you will), the Bible says you can be forgiven. Please note that it does not say you will always feel forgiven....forgiveness is guaranteed if you believe in Jesus. So even on those days when you feel like God could never forgive; could never love you....according to the Bible, Jesus loves you and died for you anyway...when you weren't His and you were still caught up in your own misery. Jesus made that choice just for you....willingly...eternally. He placed a great value on you...your job is to accept His evaluation of you and not listen to your own or others (because they really don't know what you are worth and God does). Once you accept that God loves you more than you love yourself, it is easier to trust...there we go with the "t" word again. It does take practice, but you will get used to it and your heart will feel peace at last. Blessings.

Paradoxdown, From your post, I gather you are asking a practical question. I do not disagree with the responses so far, but they have lacked a "practical" tone, which I think is what you are asking. Having the mental condition that you have, is a real thing that produces real effects. And in that lies the crux of the problems, how do you trust anything you seem to be getting from God. First, let us realize that you have a different relationship with reality than most people. It is not wrong or sinful, it's just different. Consider the x-y axes in geometry. The x axis is always horizontal and the y-axis is always vertical. Normal people start at the origin of (0,0). Because of your brain, you don't necessarily start at the origin. So if we consider the xy axis as the reference point to faith in Christ, you don't begin where everyone else does. However, Jesus died for ALL...even people who are mentally challenged or have conditions such as yours. So the goal for you is to relate to Jesus in a way that you can understand Him that brings peace to your heart. That feeling of peace is important for you because things that upset you tend to cause your mind to race or get out of control until you see and hear things that are not real. Jesus always brings peace to the individual, so in this case, a peaceful feeling should help you to determine those things that are of God and those that are not. If you have any doubts, you can enlist the help of a solid, Christian friend to double check you and hold you accountable. Not just anybody will do, but someone who understands you and how you are with your condition. You need someone who will love you no matter if you sort of "go off the deep end" for a bit. Someone who can speak the Word to you and love you and pray for you until you can feel peace in your heart again. God has a special place for you in His Kingdom and He will heal you. Reading the Scriptures is a way to "program" your mind against false images. The more you read, the less room your mind will have to contain the false and the more peace you will achieve. It is a process and sometimes a slow process taking years. But think of it this way, if you could insure yourself to be healed of schizophrenia, would it really matter how long it took? I will pray for you because I KNOW that God wants to heal you and will heal you. In fact, Jesus accomplished your healing on the cross...now all we have to do is accept it and exercise our faith in God to manifest that healing. God will restore you completely because He has a plan for your life. Read Jeremiah 29:11-14 and see if God doesn't have something magnificent for you. blessings

You are very astute. Thank you for your emphasis upon the Word of God. It IS God in written form. As for your toxic relative, I think you are "on track" in how to deal with her. The long term goal, of course, is to get her to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. In the short term, however, we have to walk out the daily nature of our faith. This "toxic" individual needs to be held (gently) at arms length. Meanwhile, when you have the option, you should encourage your family to read chapters of the Bible together. I raised 9 children and they are all very bright because they grew up reading the Word (now if they would only live by it). Reading the Bible often imparts spiritual life to the readers. So while we may not "see" improvement, their spirits are growing and someday it will come out openly. The last thing I have to say is to combine your Bible reading with prayer, so the Holy Spirit can speak to you and give you practical strategies for dealing with "difficult" people...even family. Blessings

There have been lots of excellent replies to your question. Yes, you are adults and you can do anything you want. Yet, you are sensitive to the "honor your parents" commandment (expecially since it's the first commandment with a promise...long life). What I see is that God is leading you both to be a testimony to your parents. While there is no need to flaunt your faith, go to both parents ( a great idea would be for you both to take them to dinner; kind of a triple date) and let them know your desires. Then open the floor for suggestions so that everyone becomes a part of the process. I think it is wisdom to let the mothers participate with the understanding you will only complain if things get too "out of hand". That way "everyone" feels good; you get a great start; and you get to represent Jesus. I agree about not living together before marriage; even if you weren't Christians, I think that sort of thing is up to the couple. But I do believe it is wisdom to let your parents help with the wedding (especially since they are paying). That way they feel they have done their part and you both have honored your parents without denying your faith. Paul said, "inasmuch as it is possible, live in peace with all men". Having been married myself, family peace is a treasured commodity and it goes a loooooong way to leading unbelievers into the faith. Blessings

While the Bible has much to say on alcohol, much of it negative, I think the point here is more "avoiding the appearance of evil". Sure, we all have constitutional free speech rights (to include the right to be stupid). But the Bible says "we were bought with a price"...and it cost Jesus His life. So we really don't even belong to ourselves, having become like Paul, a bondservant to Jesus Christ. I think that taking a video of yourself drinking and posting it in a public forum is the appearance of evil because Paul did specifically call us to be separate from the world. If we look exactly like the world, why should they change? Those who have to "gain self esteem" by getting lots of people to "like them" on social media, have a very basic deficiency because they deny the very salvation Jesus purchased for them on the cross. Come on, John 3:16 clearly states, "that God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son." If God values each one of us enough to sacrifice His own Son, it is sin bordering on heresy for us to value ourselves any less. God did not send His Son to condemn the world but to save it from eternal death and hell. No matter what our circumstances, He loves us and places great value upon us. Who else in this world places ANY value on us? Whoever you can name, I can prove God loves you more than that. So, no, I don't agree that this is appropriate.

I agree with kwikphilly's answer. But let me come from a more personal position. I have read the Bible from cover to cover over 60 times in my life. I have read it in at least 5 different versions. For me, the Bible is THE ONE BOOK in all the world that provides the most complete presentation of how to live a holy life pleasing to God. While there are other books such as the Q'uran, the Boob of Mormon and others, none of them provide the consistency and completeness that the Bible does. Part of the reason why there are so many versions comes from the differences in various sects, cults and divisions of Christianity. Some have given credence to other texts other than the standard 66 that most of the Protestant Church recognizes. Some have "translated" the original texts with the idea of adhering to some specific doctrine. What I look for is a version that faithfully translates the original texts. While I am not a King James Version only believer, I have studied the effort that went into that translation and that story is truly impressive. Even though it was done in the 1600's, it remains one of the most accurate translations, even today. My personal reason for not worrying about translations is because different translations offer different "hues" to the scriptures, which provide me with an expanded perspective. Whatever expands my perspective concerning understanding what God is saying, is good. God is infinite and has an infinite number of aspects to consider. I am only human and haven't even considered many of the aspects of God because my mind is not infinite. So, if you are seeking truth, study the different versions until you feel comfortable with one...then read it and study it. Eventually, you will find a question that another version may answer and you will then see that the different versions of the Bible will assist in discovering understanding instead of preventing it.

My precious brother, I hope my answer will assist in providing you some form of peace. Having read your post several times, I have noticed that you have not mentioned God's Word very much. My first counsel to you is to begin to read the Bible in large quantities when you see that "dark figure". Hebrews 4:12 says God's Word is quick and powerful (some translations say living and powerful). This is important for you because the Enemy (the devil and his minions) HATES the Bible. In fact, remember Jesus was tempted by Satan directly and Jesus kept quoting the Word back to that old rascal, the devil. You are under demonic oppression and are quite right not to even trust your own mind. However, the Word of God, since it is living and powerful, is your best defense against such oppression that you are experiencing. It is NOT and easy or quick battle, but the more the Word of God occupies your mind, the less the enemy will...the two cannot co-exist. Start by reading the Gospels over and over at least 4 times. They contain words about Jesus, who has already done the work for your deliverance. The devil cannot argue against Jesus' work on the cross because it is history, not fable. You are actually winning because you recognize that the devil is lying to you...so take heart, the battle has just begun, but you need to fight until your faith catches up and you realize the Jesus has already won!!!! I do not condemn or criticize you because what you are going through is a real battle. Remember, in John 10, Jesus said the devil only comes to steal, to kill and to destroy. He is in the process of trying to steal your salvation, kill your faith and destroy your soul. Fortunately, the Bible says that if we will resist the devil, he will flee from us. Right now, however, you have been battered and discouraged to an extreme point. What you need is people who will pray for you and love you unconditionally, even if they do not understand what you are going through. So do NOT quit going to church. You have a lot of power, but you do NOT have the power to steal their salvation. You need to identify one prayer partner who will intercede for you and do spiritual warfare over you until you can actually sense the presence of God. The truth is, that Jesus never leaves or forsakes you...so He has been witnessing this trial. the good news is...that because you posted here, He has sent me to answer your prayers and pray for you until you get better. He is also working behind the scenes in your church because there are already people who are praying for you. So, simply put, your first defense is to read the Bible every time you feel oppressed. Just read. If you find something that you question write it down and ask God to explain it. His Holy Spirit will either give you guidance or God will send someone to you to answer the question. All of this 'dark figure's' threats are just that.....mindless, ineffective threats. Hold on to the Bible and begin to rebuild your faith around the Word of God. I truly hope this helps. Let me know if you need more.

While the topic of binaural beats is one of scientific interest, and therefore a topic of study for the Christian, we must return to our source document, The Bible, for the proper assignment of significance. When the Bible was written, science had not discovered binaural beats, even though such things had been created by God from the foundation of the world. The real question is not, whether binaural beats of "of God". The real question is why a Christian might consider them necessary for Christian life...that leads to a deeper question of "what does a Christian need to do to live a better or deeper Christian life?" That question is loaded, because there are a lot of things one can do. However, let me share what has been effective for me. First, read the Bible. Find a version you can understand and read the Bible from cover to cover. Keep a journal and write down questions and discoveries. This will form the basis of a consistent and deep study of what God says in His Word to us, believers. When you have finished, do it again...then again...and again. I have done it over 60 times in my lifetime. The Bible is the ONLY book I have read and studied that many times because I keep finding more and more out about God. And THAT is what God wants....His children to fellowship and study Him so that we know Him better and better every day. We soon find out that when we combine our knowledge of the world (secular) with our knowledge of the Bible, God speaks to us and shows us things that are good for us personally...and our intimate relationship with God grows. We discover that, by and large, all of the scientific trappings and recommendations go beyond what God requires of us. We become enamoured of God Himself and our desire becomes to be more and more like Him all the time...and THAT is one of the outcomes of the Christian faith clearly outlined in the Bible. Blessings