Ever feel like an outsider?

[gray wolf]

I usually attended mass with my wife until recently when she lost her faith.  I decided to go it alone and went to a new church today.  Everyone sang and mentioned their relationships with the Lord.  I felt like a stranger and outsider.  I don't have a faith like that.  I was saved once, but I can honestly say I have no relationship with Christ that I can feel.  I believe in Him and all the right things, but I'm hardly a new creation.  I have doubts and struggles with sin of course, but that is not the main issue.  Is this just a phase?

[alphaparticle]

I don't always have the right feelings in place. Maybe most of the time I don't. And I'd say, I have the sense of not really fitting into the body of believers very often. My approach is different, my way of speaking is even different. It can be hard to relate. I think there is a difference between 'Christian culture' in which you know the right key phrases, throw your arms up in the air at the right times, love group singing lol... and being a genuine believer. My concern is that those lines get blurred so readily it makes it difficult on some.

 

Do you pray? Do you think you are changing and becoming more Christlike with time? Do you see the Spirit doing stuff in your life?

[OneLight]

Romans 10:17 tells us "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

When this was spoken, nobody had a bible to read from, only the hand written copies from scribes. The truth of scripture was passed by word of mouth, so hearing was the only way they would know. Today, we have the bible and can engulf ourselves with His word, building the faith needed for a closer relationship. People cannot do this for you by gathering together. Only He can as you seek the truth. Sharing with others and encouraging others comes later. Build that relationship in Christ and grow in Him!

Once you are in Christ as you know you should be, it will not matter how others treat you.

[gray wolf]

I don't feel I'm growing.  My prayers are not very good and I see no evidence of the Spirit working.  I'm not sure if I ever have over the past 34 years.  The people didn't mistreat me.  I just felt a longing, being there, yet not there according to an inner voice.

[Guest P_W]

I think it is very important that we remember feelings have nothing to do with salvation.  We are not saved because we feel any certain way.  We are saved because Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sin on the cross and when we accepted Him as our Lord and Savior we went from death to life eternal with Him. How you, or I feel has nothing to do with what Jesus did.  The only response needed is to believe in what He did and accept Him as the Lord and Savior of your life.  

 

You only have to ask yourself this question/s:  Do you truly believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, who died, was buried and rose again from the grave?  Do you believe with all of your heart that you are redeemed from the curse of the law by the precious Blood He shed for you, that all of your sins are forgiven, and you are now a part of the family of God?  Then you are saved.

 

 

Romans 10:8-10

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

 

Now, you can go jump a few pews, roll around in the aisles, raise your hands in praise, or sit quietly in awesome wonder that God so loved you and I that He sent His only Son to save us from sin, because how we express outwardly depends more on what type of person we are and does not depend on who Jesus is and what He has done for us.

 

Are you changed?  Maybe yes, maybe no, in your own mind, but Jesus says you are.  You are a new creation in Him, for the sinful nature cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, but He says we will because He made the way possible for this to happen.  We will not, cannot, go to heaven on what we have done.  This is only possible because of what Jesus did for us.

 

We live by grace, for those who do not change as quickly as others.  But, whether you "feel" the change or not, whether or not you see a different person is irrelevant, because God does.  His Word is true and He says you have changed.  He looks upon the heart, we do not.  He knows the changes that have taken place inwardly.  From a stone cold heart that did not believe, you now have a heart for God.  The biggest transformation took place inside where no man can see, nor judge.

 

We live by faith which comes from hearing the Word of God.  Read your bible often, which I think you already do, and take the words to heart.  The more you feed your faith, the more you will grow.

 

 

Romans 1:16-18

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

 

Read all of Romans over and over again.  Memorize it!  You are now the righteousness of Jesus Christ!  He reconciled you to God through His work on the cross.  Feed your faith!  Just as you have confessed Jesus Christ with your mouth, now confess His righteousness.  Confess that you are now a new creation in Christ Jesus.  Does not matter if you feel that way or not, the Bible says you are.

 

The longer we confess we feel like an outsider, or confess anything according to those fickle feelings, the farther away from God we too shall feel.  The Word says to "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you..."  that is an action you take to draw nearer to Him.  Remind yourself daily that you are now a member of God's family.  I think it is the devil who is trying to convince you that you are an outsider and probably always will be.  Tell him differently!  Tell the devil, yourself, and the world exactly who you are in Jesus Christ!  Amen!

 

I am redeemed!  Washed in the Blood of Jesus Christ and reconciled to God!  I once was lost, but not now, not any longer!  I am saved and I will spend eternity in heaven with my Lord, my God, and my Savior!  Now that makes me happy!!!

 

Anybody want to dance?

 

Always in His care, washed in His blood, not all that I am going to be, but no longer what I was, born again, Spirit filled, child of the mighty King, Amen!

PrairWarur

 

 

[gray wolf]

Thanks Prair

[Guest P_W]

Matthew 5:6

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

 

You appear to me as someone who desperately hungers and thirsts for righteousness!  You will be filled, amen.  I looked up the word righteousness on biblegateway.com and found so many wonderful Scriptures.  Among those are the 23rd Psalm, a favorite for many people.  Notice the words to this verse;

I memorized them this way;  "He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake...."  It is all about Jesus!  It is all about what He did for us.  Even when He leads us in righteousness, it is still for Him.

 

Psalm 23:3

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

3 He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

 

Isaiah 53: 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.

 

Isaiah confessed that we have all gone astray.  Peter denied Christ 3 times.  Would I?  Probably, if it came down to it.  I'd like to think I would stand firm, stay strong, and never deny Him, but I have not been tested like that.  Why would I think I could be any stronger than Peter was in the face of fear?

 

It's all about Jesus and what He did.  He said, "It is finished...." and I believe Him.

 

I do not believe my doubts, my fears, or the accusations of the devil and others.  I believe Jesus.  I may have to remind myself daily that I am His righteousness, but I can do that.  I may feel badly when I mess up and think I'll never get this right, I'll never be good enough, but the truth is that none of us can be good enough, because if we could be, then He would not have had to go to the Cross.

 

So, I am just thankful that He did and I will never take that gift for granted ...........  I hope!

 

Stay strong in the Lord and the power of His might .... put on the full armor of God and fight the good fight!  Just like we all have to do.

 

I'm praying,

PrairWarur

[Guest]

I don't feel I'm growing.  My prayers are not very good and I see no evidence of the Spirit working.  I'm not sure if I ever have over the past 34 years.  The people didn't mistreat me.  I just felt a longing, being there, yet not there according to an inner voice.

 

 

Praying For You

 

Love, Your Brother Joe

[desi2007]

yea, a person can't live in sin and know Christ. Just give it all to Him. We can't change on our own. Only He can change you.

[gray wolf]

Of course not. But sin isn't really the issue. Thanks everyone for your gracious input. I'll figure something out one way or the other.