Can an alcoholic be a Christian?

[suray2]

Thank you all for your response.  I would like to respond to each and every post because they are so heartfelt and thought provoking...but that would take much time and space....SOOO...thank you all!  I would like to say that I do believe that when we truly accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, really repent, and trust Him with our life.....we cannot be lost, or in other words He will not and cannot lose us.  I do wonder sometimes though.....what about the seed that grows,and then the plant is strangled by worldly cares and this could be the situation of some people that are alcoholics that try to self medicate to help them cope in life.  Were these individuals not sincere enough when they first accepted Christ or were they actually saved and God will bring them back into obedience?  I guess it could be either way........All I know is...PRAISE THE LORD AND THANK HIM FOR LOVING US!!!  Because I know I could not make it a step without Him, or even live without Him!

I will be seeing my brother this coming weekend and these posts made me even more determined to show him patience and love......the love of Jesus Christ.

Edited March 2, 2016 by suray2

[suray2]

8 hours ago, RustyAngeL said:

We also have a chat room you might like to visit too. That way we can talk one on one.

I would love to go to the chat room but I think fairly slowly and examine everything I'm going to type.  Some one would have to wait all day to get my response....it would be all over Worthy....who is that person in chat that takes an hour to say hi.

[suray2]

10 hours ago, Greg Bradley said:

Can an alcoholic be a Christian?  If a Christian is defined as a follower of Jesus, then anyone who is in bondage to this world can follow Jesus.  The sins in our lives hurt us more than anything else.  Our sins prevent us from connecting with God as He wants connection.  If someone is addicted to alcohol and he is making progress to overcome the alcoholism, then his heart has a real love for the Lord, more so than for the alcohol which is a physical addiction.  Do we have to become perfect before we can follow Jesus, or is it that our Lord is at work perfecting us with daily little steps?  If we confess our daily sins before Him, He is faithful to forgive us our sins.  The purpose of this forgiveness is to set us free to hopefully move closer in our hearts toward our Creator who created us not for destruction, but for life.  So, look to what progress you are making and don't get utterly discouraged when you fall.  Everyday has a new beginning with God, a fresh new start with Him, that you might become the loving person that is His design for all of us.

This means so much to me.  I will be seeing my brother this weekend and this post makes me want to be even more loving and patient toward him....really let him see the love of Jesus Christ.

[angels4u]

3 hours ago, suray2 said:

I would love to go to the chat room but I think fairly slowly and examine everything I'm going to type.  Some one would have to wait all day to get my response....it would be all over Worthy....who is that person in chat that takes an hour to say hi.

Don't be silly ,we love to see you in chat!

It's a nice place to make new friends and talk about the Lord!!

[suray2]

2 minutes ago, angels4u said:

Don't be silly ,we love to see you in chat!

It's a nice place to make new friends and talk about the Lord!!

Thanks for the encouragement!  I'm a retired school teacher...used to talk all the time.  Now I'm at home, all I talk to now is my husband and dogs....and they don't say much..haha..!.but I hope they enjoy listening.  I will try the chat room soon.

[angels4u]

3 hours ago, suray2 said:

Thank you all for your response.  I would like to respond to each and every post because they are so heartfelt and thought provoking...but that would take much time and space....SOOO...thank you all!  I would like to say that I do believe that when we truly accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, really repent, and trust Him with our life.....we cannot be lost, or in other words He will not and cannot lose us.  I do wonder sometimes though.....what about the seed that grows,and then the plant is strangled by worldly cares and this could be the situation of some people that are alcoholics that try to self medicate to help them cope in life.  Were these individuals not sincere enough when they first accepted Christ or were they actually saved and God will bring them back into obedience?  I guess it could be either way........All I know is...PRAISE THE LORD AND THANK HIM FOR LOVING US!!!  Because I know I could not make it a step without Him, or even live without Him!

I will be seeing my brother this coming weekend and these posts made me even more determined to show him patience and love......the love of Jesus Christ.

The people who heard the Word but didn't really know what it meant and who didn't commit their life to the Lord are the seeds who heard the Word but it didn't grow roots, they think they might  be  Christians but they are not,we do have to come to the understanding that we are sinners who need the Lord.

"You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17"So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.… Matt.7:16

[angels4u]

1 minute ago, suray2 said:

Thanks for the encouragement!  I'm a retired school teacher...used to talk all the time.  Now I'm at home, all I talk to now is my husband and dogs....and they don't say much..haha..!.but I hope they enjoy listening.  I will try the chat room soon.

Hi surry,

L love to meet you soon , I'm looking forward to meet you in chat!

Is your husband a chatter? lol

[suray2]

56 minutes ago, angels4u said:

Hi surry,

L love to meet you soon , I'm looking forward to meet you in chat!

Is your husband a chatter? lol

I would love to meet you in chat sometime too.  And no, my husband is not much of a chatter, except when it comes to fuel pumps, haha, which is his line of work.  Matter of fact he travels to Canada 2 or 3 times a year for this.....maybe I can go someday.  But I have been really blessed, because God sent me a wonderful believer( husband), who does seem to like to listen to me...and I do like to talk!  I had to take an early retirement because of rheumatoid arthritis and I am really having a hard time without the interaction I had daily with the children.  The Lord is certainly teaching me a lot right now, but it is so hard adjusting emotionally....not having the daily interaction.  

Edited March 2, 2016 by suray2

[Ezra]

On 01/03/2016 at 10:31 PM, Rick_Parker said:

Once again, we are saved by what we believe, not how we behave.

True. But once we believe, we must behave differently. Saul of Tarsus is a good example.  He was preaching Christ within days of his conversion.

[1to3]

God finds you where you are.

Our  relationship with God truly begins when we ask God into our hearts.

If you are have fallen into the deepest of depths where not even man can help, God can and will if He were called upon.

God is the great salvager, He comes for those who are sick and in need of a physician.

The bible say we ALL are sick in one way or another and in need of His salvaging us from our ills, whatever they may be.

Every person written in the bible except for Christ Jesus, suffered with their own load of sin that needed salvation from.

 

When sin goes untreated, it can take on a life of its own where we almost become a slave to the calling of that particular sin.

Any form of sins is not good for the well being of our soul and our relationship with God.

God loves the sinner but not the sin.

 

As we seek a relationship with God, it should follow that we seek to do His will and follow His Word as a way to live.

When we truly ask for repentance and have accepted Gods plan of Mercy and Grace through His only begotten Son Christ Jesus who came to buy us back from sins hold on us, we have begun a new way of life, that is a life with God in and involved in it

God through His Plan of Mercy and Grace, Christ Jesus took all the sins of the world on Him and by the shedding of His blood for us, He became the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world for anybody who asks Him and He welcomes us with open arms and desires to have a relationship with us always.The redeeming Blood of Christ Jesus covers over our repented sins, washes them away , so we can be become new creations in Him and acceptable to one day re-unite with God in heaven.

When we have repented through Gods plan of Mercy and Grace and have asked the Holy Spirit of God to come and make a home in our hearts, He comes into our hearts and begins the salvaging process, convicting our spirits to align with His and make us truly not want to go into the ways that lead us away from God.

When one becomes saved, we still need the Holy Spirit of God to help heal, guide and clean us up.After repenting through the blood of Christ Jesus, we need to ask the Holy Spirit of God to come and make His home in our hearts.

We all are babes in Christ when we first truly understand that we have sin in us that needs deliverance and repentance through Gods plan of salvation.

By seeking a daily relationship with God, we receive His daily Word, His daily bread and grow up. For some the growing up is faster, for others its slower.

The growing up process depends on how much we are trusting in God and his Word to be truth and trusting less and less in the ways of the world and the ways of our temptations.

It very much becomes a two way relationship we need to cultivate with God,  in order for this relationship to work.

We need to keep communication lines open with Him always.

God is always there to receive, but sometimes we choose to close down from God when our will takes precedence over Gods will.

Surrendering to Gods will over our own will is a daily practice Gods desires for us to have with Him.

His word says that He will never give us more than we can endure, and will always show us a way out of our temptations,

if we seek Him in those times of temptation and place our trust in Him to see us passed those times of temptation, He will give us the strength we need to overcome what we need to overcome.

Just we have to trust enough in Him to allow ourselves to let go of holding on to our temptations.

 

There is such a thing as oppressive spirits that can linger on in us after we have become saved through Gods plan of Mercy and Grace.

God can deliver us from these oppressive spirits, but we need to ask God to help remove them from us.

Understanding Gods will for us, comes to reality in proportion to how much we are willing to let go and follow Him.

Never give up asking God to deliver you from what you believe to be going against Gods true will for your life.

If any of our behaviors are not aligning with Gods will for us, we need to keep asking God to help us with overcoming those behaviors.

God does not want us in a state of sins, He wants us in a state of peace of mind that aligns with His Will and Word.

With every deliverance from a particular sin we have had to deal with, a new peace from God comes into us with also a greater understanding once that sin has been properly overcome.

We can have more than one sin in us to overcome and some are strongholds, but God is willing to help us always to find the way out of the struggle and into His peace.

Do you believe this?

Some say they believe but their trusting in God is week.

Christ Jesus could not heal some from his home town, not because He could not, but rather because they could not believe in Him to be able to help and heal them.

A willing heart toward God is what is required for God to be able to help us, help and free us from the bondage's of sin.

How  much are we truly willing to place our faith=faithfulness in Him and His Word, and trust that He can and will take care of us and deliver us from any particular situation in our lives that is troubling us .

Step by step, trusting in Him and never ever giving up on trusting in Him is the way out of all those sin bondages , whose sole purpose is to keep us away from Gods Understanding, Peace and full Will for our lives.

I am not writing words at you I am writing words with you and me in mind to Gods Love and Mercy and Grace and deliverance for us all.

The clean up in my life has been a long and at times slow process, but God has delivered me from certain sin bondage's and with every deliverance has come a greater understanding, a kind of waking up.

Once you become woken up from the sin that had a hold on you, you see that sin for what it is,  the desire to go back to that sin becomes less and less until it becomes something foreign to you.

Never give up on trusting God and His love and healing that He wants so very much for your life.

John 10:10

"The thief only comes to steal, kill and destroy,

God wants that we have life and life more abundantly"   =  that means more free from sin and more aligned to His word.

 

God Bless and keep you in Christ Jesus;

1to3