Confused...

[imoss]

All the replies are right on, but I will add just one thing that have been pointed to. Being a true son of God requires a relationship, not a religion. Get to know God and allow him to change you through the guidance of His Spirit.

DING, DING, DING!

God speaks to us in and through His Spirit and His Word so reading and meditating on scripture is a integral part of our relationship with God. In our earthly relationships we are not only spoken to... we speak. Yet with God we often ASSUME that since He is omnipresent and omnipotent there is no need to speak to Him about how we are feeling or the intricate details of what we are struggling with because... well.. He knows, right? Oh we might confess our transgressions and beg forgiveness (wash, rinse, repeat), but true and lasting forgiveness (ours not His) and victory over sin often seems just outside our grasp. Meanwhile Satan, the accuser, like a roaring lion is lying there waiting to pounce on all our doubt and insecurity. (1 Peter 5:8)

The missing relational ingredient in this case is not confession of concrete sins, but rather confession of the root cause of our inability... disobedience. In Mark chapter 9 Jesus tells us if our hand or foot offends us... cut it off, if eye offends... pluck it out! We do this not through violence to the members of our body, but through confession and supplication to the Spirit of God. While it may be easy to say "forgive others" or "repent"... performance is another matter entirely. As the apostle Paul observed "In my inner being I delight in Gods law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members." (Romans 7:22-23). Later Paul answers the question of HOW to perform by saying "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord..." (Romans 7:25a) There it is again... RELATIONSHIP!

You feel revived when you have been in the house of the Lord praising His Name because you have opened up a part of your heart and poured out your love and affection in song. Most believers feel free to do so because they see that part as beautiful. The ugliness however we generally try to bury, unwilling or unable to reveal it because of guilt and pride. Consequently we are often overwhelmed and overtaken as we return to a wicked and lawless world.

Our "relationship" (and subsequent victory) materializes when we truly open our hearts to God. All our dirty, hostile, violent, malicious, prideful, lustful disobedient thoughts can be openly expressed to God because the veil of access was torn in two by Christ. Are you angry with God? Tell Him! Unwilling to do what he is asking? Confess it! Doubt His promises? Tell Him! Many people recoil from doing so because they are either trying to hide it or because it seems irreverent to them to speak so freely... but God KNOWS our heart so it is foolish for us to try and keep ANY part of it from Him. Relationship not only involves studying God's Word and acknowledging our sin, but also the mechanizations of sin... the thoughts and imaginations that are at the root of it. (2 Corinthians 10:5). As each of these is confessed and confronted, we are corrected, restored and strengthened in and through the power of the Holy Spirit.

God Bless & Keep You!

Di66eR

DING DING DING... great post!

Edited April 7, 2011 by imoss