Feeling really complicated

[SweetRain]

I don't have much time right now (library computer) i'll post more later, but in brief: I was wondering if its normal to have periods when your not really motivated to go to church anymore. not saying I lost my faith in God or anything. Actually its kinda the opposite. I just find myself kind of just not fully myself when I go. I spend more time talking to God than really listening to what is being said at church. Or I feel more interested in staying home and just waiting for him to talk to me than really going. Its kinda like i'm wanting specific stuff to talk to God and so I really just daydream in church. So I kinda skip...

[joi]

I have been there, and perhaps most of us feel that way at times, but then there is this;

Hebrews 10:25

25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

[Matthitjah]

Worshipping God has nothing to do with how we feel. Emotions are tricky at best. We Worship God because He is Worthy. The emotions of Great Joy that follow are the benefit.

Meanwhile, don't seperate yourself from where you know you need to be. That's the deceipt of the enemy. The enemy wants you cut off, disconnected, disillusioned, and alone.

Peace,

Dave

[nebula]

Well, I'm going to be the odd man out. I've come to learn that we can become in bondage to the "church routine" - "churchianity" as some call it.

While the fellowship of believers is important, there is a place for seeking God alone in the desert. It's not cutting yourself off from the Body. But the church program can and does get in the way of drawing near to God in intimacy.

Not everyone is meant for the road of isolation this way, but there are examples in Scripture of people needing to get away and spending time alone with God for extended periods.

Ask the Lord about this. That is, ask Him if He wants you in church this Sunday, or if He wants you to stay home and spend time with Him.

[OneLight]

I find nothing wrong with separating yourself from any body of believers if you truly spend this time seeking Gods will in your life. Like Neb, I also feel that church can bring on religious bondage when it becomes a religious act and not from the heart. I know that most of my personal growth in Him come from times where I separated myself to seek His will, understanding and changes in my life. The downside is if you become a lone ranger and balk if God calls you back to a certain church.

[Matthitjah]

Why can't you do both? Church is only 1 hour a week.

Isolation can occur even while you're surrounded by many people at work. I often feel isolated amidst the din. It's because I am focused on the Lord. Mind you I didn't say disengaged from the world. I said isolated.

[Floatingaxe]

I don't have much time right now (library computer) i'll post more later, but in brief: I was wondering if its normal to have periods when your not really motivated to go to church anymore. not saying I lost my faith in God or anything. Actually its kinda the opposite. I just find myself kind of just not fully myself when I go. I spend more time talking to God than really listening to what is being said at church. Or I feel more interested in staying home and just waiting for him to talk to me than really going. Its kinda like i'm wanting specific stuff to talk to God and so I really just daydream in church. So I kinda skip...

This is really all about self-discipline or self-control, which is a spiritual fruit, isn't it? It is something we have all been given by Holy Spirit when we become Christians. It is up to us to develop that fruit, and the beginning of success in that endeavour is to embrace the knowledge that we are not to allow our feelings to govern us. We are to press into Christ, no matter how we feel, and that means adopting an outward focus, as opposed to the me-oriented inward focus. Assembling with other believers is something we not only do for ourselves, but we do for our brethren. Ultimately, we do it in obedience to Father.

If Jesus, the Son of God Himself could present Himself regularly in the synagogue, why do any of us think we don't have to be just as faithful?

[nebula]

Assembling with other believers is something we not only do for ourselves, but we do for our brethren.

That would depend on what ones' church is like. If your church truly is a family unit, this would be true. But in too many churches, the service is about the service and not about the Body. People come in and say not much more than, "Hi, how are you," to each other - and that with only a few members of the congregation - sit in their seats or pews, participate in the routines of the service, and then leave still without any real interaction with each other.

Where is the life in this?

[Floatingaxe]

Assembling with other believers is something we not only do for ourselves, but we do for our brethren.

That would depend on what ones' church is like. If your church truly is a family unit, this would be true. But in too many churches, the service is about the service and not about the Body. People come in and say not much more than, "Hi, how are you," to each other - and that with only a few members of the congregation - sit in their seats or pews, participate in the routines of the service, and then leave still without any real interaction with each other.

Where is the life in this?

I have been blessed all my life to have been a member of two churches that take seriously the truth that we are a family under God. If any of us desire to belong in this way, which is the way it is supposed to be, then all that is needed is to talk to God and to ask Him to lead to where He wants one to be planted. It is important where we fellowship, as that is where we receive from God all that He has to give us: friendship, teaching, correction, gifting, ministry, training in ministry, and the list goes on. If we aren't participating in these things in both delivery and in receiving, then in some way, our lives are experiencing some kind of hunger.

We did move out of the city we lived in all our lives and we asked the Lord to take us to where He wants us to belong and to grow, and within a month, we found the phenomenal church we are members of now. We didn't find it. God provided it.

That said, every church has its little contingent of pew-warmers, but with the right leadership, these types do as our pastor often says: "They either grow or they go!" In our church, they usually go, because they become uncomfortable with regular exhortation to be all that we can be for God, and the challenges to actually live out our faith every day in our community.

[mizzdy]

I don't have much time right now (library computer) i'll post more later, but in brief: I was wondering if its normal to have periods when your not really motivated to go to church anymore. not saying I lost my faith in God or anything. Actually its kinda the opposite. I just find myself kind of just not fully myself when I go. I spend more time talking to God than really listening to what is being said at church. Or I feel more interested in staying home and just waiting for him to talk to me than really going. Its kinda like i'm wanting specific stuff to talk to God and so I really just daydream in church. So I kinda skip...

Taking a day off every so often isn't so bad really but...its always best to give yourself that time in fellowship with others. After being away from a fellowship for many years I love being with other like minded family and I sure miss it when I can't get there. I do think that sometimes we are called by Him to reflect over what He is teaching and showing us, sometimes when I find myself stretched a bit thin I feel a tug at my spirit to sit quietly put down the books, yes even the bible and listen. We are called to have a personal relationship with Him yet we are also called into a corportate one also, the body is just that a body that works well when each member is present and active, working together. Don't beat yourself up for taking a day once in awhile for you and Him alone just don't make a habit of it and fall away from your family in Him.

shalom,

Mizz