Sometimes wonder if I'm saved...

[Figure of eighty]

Deep down I know. I'm very sure... But.. even though I have been baptized and have his Spirit. 

 

I'm completely drag to God, 

Don't feel or hear him. I don't feel his leadings.... Don't feel transformed..  

It's been this was for years and I'm close to giving up. In a way...I already have bc I feel there's no... Line of communication.

I don't know what God wants from me or expects...

 

 But I feel I'm getting nowhere, nothing is clicking, I just feel alone with out God's presence of guidance. 

 

I feel after I got saved I was just on my own. Just been nothing but silence and just feel like I'm figuring things out on my own.

Edited January 13, 2019 by Figure of eighty

[Hands On]

3 hours ago, Abdicate said:

This is the same for everyone sometimes in their lives. God wants you to go through the desert to see if you really want Him. That is, that will you still seek Him and His ways. Pray and study without "feeling" Him. He wants you to graduate from the level of maturity you're at right now on to the next level. It's about the journey to see if you'll live in faith (in strong conviction). Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness. Hang in there, seek and you shall find.

I think Rick Warren prescribes the right medicine in harmony with the above. It's not about a constant "happy experience". Sure enough one feels "at peace" when we have Christ in our hearts part of the Church or Body of Christ (T.E.V.Col 3:15). The question is are you active in your church in the service of God? If so great !Secondly even the "Biblical Greats" also felt that God had left them. Rick Warren comes to the rescue with, "To mature your friendship, God will test it with periods of seeming separation-times when it feels as if he has abandoned or forgotten you...A.W.Tozer called them  'the ministry of the night.' Others refer to 'the winter of the heart.'

Besides Jesus, David probably had the closest friendship with God of anyone. God took pleasure in calling him 'a man after my own heart."( New Century Version.Ps 116:10)Yet David frequently complained of God's apparent absence.: 'Lord, why are you standing aloof and far away? Why do you hide when I need you the most.? (Living Bible.Ps 10:1)' Why have you forsaken me? (New Living Translation Ps 22:1)"(Warren. Purpose Driven Life 108)The main question we must clarify is, is God to serve us; or are we here to serve God; no matter what the world throws at us?

As already said above, the study of the Scriptures brings us close to God and His will as revealed to us.

[Wade8888]

4 hours ago, Figure of eighty said:

Deep down I know. I'm very sure... But.. even though I have been baptized and have his Spirit. 

 

I'm completely drag to God, 

Don't feel or hear him. I don't feel his leadings.... Don't feel transformed..  

It's been this was for years and I'm close to giving up. In a way...I already have bc I feel there's no... Line of communication.

I don't know what God wants from me or expects...

 

 But I feel I'm getting nowhere, nothing is clicking, I just feel alone with out God's presence of guidance. 

 

I feel after I got saved I was just on my own. Just been nothing but silence and just feel like I'm figuring things out on my own.

Read the first 3 chapters of John's Gospel, and then read chapters 5 through 8 of Romans. Not a magic pill, but it can't hurt, because the message here is the message of the Cross. The way believers end up in a wilderness of sin is through placing faith in something other than the death and resurrection of Jesus. Believers must balance good works with faith in Christ crucified: Proper faith produces proper works (Fruit of the Spirit).

 

If you've never received the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" then you should pray about that too; It can't hurt.

 

So you are in the wilderness; Trust me, I've been there. I'm 38 years old and still wondering where my wife and ministry are; All I normally do for ministry is debate with people on the internet, or sometimes discuss God and religion with people if they bring up the topic first.

 

Don't worry, you're going to fail. God lets us fail so he can teach us Humility.

 

Besides, if you're worried about whether you're saved or not, you're probably saved, you're just letting worry get the better of you.

 

Salvation comes through the Cross of Christ. If you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, and that Jesus was the Only Begotten Son of God, and you confess that with your mouth, then you are saved...As John wrote that nobody can confess that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Spirit. "For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord (Jesus) shall be saved."

[Michael37]

 

7 hours ago, Figure of eighty said:

Deep down I know. I'm very sure... But.. even though I have been baptized and have his Spirit. 

I'm completely drag to God, 

Don't feel or hear him. I don't feel his leadings.... Don't feel transformed..  

It's been this was for years and I'm close to giving up. In a way...I already have bc I feel there's no... Line of communication.

I don't know what God wants from me or expects...

 But I feel I'm getting nowhere, nothing is clicking, I just feel alone with out God's presence of guidance.

I feel after I got saved I was just on my own. Just been nothing but silence and just feel like I'm figuring things out on my own.

Hi Figure of Eighty. Your post put me in mind of Hebrews 12. I won't post all 29 verses but they address our situation as disciples of Christ who, as the name suggests, are to be disciplined in both senses of the word, keeping our lives in order, and accepting corrective training. Verse 11 speaks of the end result of discipline, which is well worth aiming for. See how you go with God's Word for You Today...

Heb 12:1-6 (ESV)
(1)  Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
(2)  looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
(3)  Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
(4)  In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
(5)  And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.
(6)  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives."
Heb 12:1-6 (KJV)
(1)  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
(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.
(3)  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
(4)  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
(5)  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
(6)  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Heb 12:11 (ESV)
(11)  For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Heb 12:11 (KJV)
(11)  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

[Willa]

Tell us more about what happened that brought about your salvation.  Were you convicted of sin?  What happened to lead you to believe you were saved?

[Hands On]

1 hour ago, Abdicate said:

Rick Warren is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Beware of him. Stick to the word of God without Ricky's interpretation.

Thank you I will bear that in mind. However, the fact remains, no matter how Rick Warren is branded for whatever reason, is his opinion and verses referred to here, relevant or helpful to the topic posted. How has he not stuck to the word of God in this particular instance?

 

[Figure of eighty]

14 hours ago, Willa said:

Tell us more about what happened that brought about your salvation.  Were you convicted of sin?  What happened to lead you to believe you were saved?

Because I was baptized. The patsor explained throughly what happened. It wasn't a  spur of the moment thing I fully understood.

[GandalfTheWise]

@Figure of eighty ,   there are the things we can do, and there are the things that only God can do.    When we try to approach God purely from our own actions, we can do good and noble things, but it does not produce a spiritual change inside of us.   We can join a church, give to the poor, do good deeds, read the Bible, pray, be baptized, and do many other things, but those actions in themselves do not produce the spiritual change.   When God does make a spiritual change in us, we are aware of it because it changes us.  I've heard hundreds of testimonies from a wide range of Christians over the years.  One thing that most of them emphasized is that there was a time that God reached out and touched them in a way that they were aware of.  Now, the details, emotions, feelings, and reactions were of course unique to the individual.   Some testimonies give the impression that the heavens opened and others were more subdued and related to a sudden sense of peace and comfort.

In a few sentences, I first encountered God when I was 11.  We had a guest speaker at a Wednesday Lent service in our mainline protestant church.  I forget most of what he talked about.  I just remember at the end that he stopped and asked a question, "how do you know you're going to heaven?"  I remember suddenly being aware of the difference that I *hoped* God was there, and that heaven existed, and that I was going there, but I really didn't have a good reason for that.  Afterwards, I went up and he lead me in a brief prayer.  It was just something like "God please forgive me and come into my life."  In that moment, I suddenly felt different.  There had been no big emotional push ahead of this, I was just going along, repeating words, in one sense wondering why I was doing it, and just suddenly things changed.  The best words I can use are that I just felt a warm peaceful comforting presence inside of me.  I went from hoping God was there as a distant powerful figure I couldn't see to just having this strong sense He was now inside me.   It was a "wow, what was that?!?" type of moment I was not expecting.   Now, in the years before that, I'm sure I'd prayed similar prayers as part of liturgies or other services, but this time was different.  It was because God was drawing me toward Him, I responded, and He came into my life.   Over the years, I've heard many similar testimonies.  Again, the exact details are unique to the individual, but the general pattern of feeling somehow drawn toward God and spiritual things followed by a sudden sense of God's spiritual working in their life is common.

Over the years, I've observed that when people talk about *not* having a sense of God's presence, it usually fits into two categories.  The first is when people have not yet had that life-changing encounter yet.  They follow all the recipes someone tells them to follow, but God has not yet actually done anything that they are aware of.  The second is when people have had that life-changing encounter and it does not continue to feel the same as time goes on.  They go through spiritual peaks and valleys.  On a day by day basis, what is happening around them can distract them and make their spiritual feelings feel different, but over months and years, there is a consistent sense of God's presence that is there though on a day by day basis it maybe sometimes doesn't feel like it.

Using standard Christian jargon, when God saves us, two things happen.  The first is that we are forgiven.  God doesn't take into account anything we'd done and what we are like and hold that against us anymore.  The second is that He causes us to become a new creation;  His Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us and change us.  Being a Christian is primarily about this spiritual transformation that God does within us.   It is not simply about trying harder, making more new year's resolutions to be a better person, hoping the good we do outweighs the bad, and being forgiven if it doesn't.  It is primarily that as humans, we are simply incapable of doing everything we think is good.  We can do part of what we think is good, but there remains things that we are in bondage and addicted to, and things that we cannot change no matter what we try.  If being a Christian was simply about following some rules, anyone could do it if they tried hard enough.  However, the issue is that all of us as humans have a fallen nature.  There are some parts of ourselves we simply cannot control.  This is why God puts a new nature inside of us that takes us beyond that bondage to a place of freedom and liberty.  My sense of things is that most testimonies are about people's unique reactions and awareness of when God's Holy Spirit comes within and starts to change us.   Those things that characterize Christian behavior such as fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, etc.  See Galatians 5:22-23) are things that then start to naturally grow inside of us.

[JohnD]

On 1/13/2019 at 8:32 AM, Figure of eighty said:

Deep down I know. I'm very sure... But.. even though I have been baptized and have his Spirit. 

 

I'm completely drag to God, 

Don't feel or hear him. I don't feel his leadings.... Don't feel transformed..  

It's been this was for years and I'm close to giving up. In a way...I already have bc I feel there's no... Line of communication.

I don't know what God wants from me or expects...

 

 But I feel I'm getting nowhere, nothing is clicking, I just feel alone with out God's presence of guidance. 

 

I feel after I got saved I was just on my own. Just been nothing but silence and just feel like I'm figuring things out on my own.

Ever think this could be a time of Bible study? Familiarizing yourself with his word?

In it you will find...

1 John 5:13 (AV)
13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

[Figure of eighty]

13 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

@Figure of eighty ,   there are the things we can do, and there are the things that only God can do.    When we try to approach God purely from our own actions, we can do good and noble things, but it does not produce a spiritual change inside of us.   We can join a church, give to the poor, do good deeds, read the Bible, pray, be baptized, and do many other things, but those actions in themselves do not produce the spiritual change.   When God does make a spiritual change in us, we are aware of it because it changes us.  I've heard hundreds of testimonies from a wide range of Christians over the years.  One thing that most of them emphasized is that there was a time that God reached out and touched them in a way that they were aware of.  Now, the details, emotions, feelings, and reactions were of course unique to the individual.   Some testimonies give the impression that the heavens opened and others were more subdued and related to a sudden sense of peace and comfort.

In a few sentences, I first encountered God when I was 11.  We had a guest speaker at a Wednesday Lent service in our mainline protestant church.  I forget most of what he talked about.  I just remember at the end that he stopped and asked a question, "how do you know you're going to heaven?"  I remember suddenly being aware of the difference that I *hoped* God was there, and that heaven existed, and that I was going there, but I really didn't have a good reason for that.  Afterwards, I went up and he lead me in a brief prayer.  It was just something like "God please forgive me and come into my life."  In that moment, I suddenly felt different.  There had been no big emotional push ahead of this, I was just going along, repeating words, in one sense wondering why I was doing it, and just suddenly things changed.  The best words I can use are that I just felt a warm peaceful comforting presence inside of me.  I went from hoping God was there as a distant powerful figure I couldn't see to just having this strong sense He was now inside me.   It was a "wow, what was that?!?" type of moment I was not expecting.   Now, in the years before that, I'm sure I'd prayed similar prayers as part of liturgies or other services, but this time was different.  It was because God was drawing me toward Him, I responded, and He came into my life.   Over the years, I've heard many similar testimonies.  Again, the exact details are unique to the individual, but the general pattern of feeling somehow drawn toward God and spiritual things followed by a sudden sense of God's spiritual working in their life is common.

Over the years, I've observed that when people talk about *not* having a sense of God's presence, it usually fits into two categories.  The first is when people have not yet had that life-changing encounter yet.  They follow all the recipes someone tells them to follow, but God has not yet actually done anything that they are aware of.  The second is when people have had that life-changing encounter and it does not continue to feel the same as time goes on.  They go through spiritual peaks and valleys.  On a day by day basis, what is happening around them can distract them and make their spiritual feelings feel different, but over months and years, there is a consistent sense of God's presence that is there though on a day by day basis it maybe sometimes doesn't feel like it.

Using standard Christian jargon, when God saves us, two things happen.  The first is that we are forgiven.  God doesn't take into account anything we'd done and what we are like and hold that against us anymore.  The second is that He causes us to become a new creation;  His Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us and change us.  Being a Christian is primarily about this spiritual transformation that God does within us.   It is not simply about trying harder, making more new year's resolutions to be a better person, hoping the good we do outweighs the bad, and being forgiven if it doesn't.  It is primarily that as humans, we are simply incapable of doing everything we think is good.  We can do part of what we think is good, but there remains things that we are in bondage and addicted to, and things that we cannot change no matter what we try.  If being a Christian was simply about following some rules, anyone could do it if they tried hard enough.  However, the issue is that all of us as humans have a fallen nature.  There are some parts of ourselves we simply cannot control.  This is why God puts a new nature inside of us that takes us beyond that bondage to a place of freedom and liberty.  My sense of things is that most testimonies are about people's unique reactions and awareness of when God's Holy Spirit comes within and starts to change us.   Those things that characterize Christian behavior such as fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, etc.  See Galatians 5:22-23) are things that then start to naturally grow inside of us.

Hmm. I feel I've definitely experienced some of God but I can count it ok one hand  like maybe 3 times idk.

 

I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. I don't know of maybe this is normal for me.... I don't know if I in particular am supposed to feel good presence and comfort on the daily basis... as everyone's relationship with God is different. 

 

I know I truly believe in God bc my parents weren't saved so they didn't push me to go. 

I feel I went on my own... 

Idk I just don't know..I feel it's not normal to be a Christian and not hear God or feel led .. and not have any fruit despite being saved for years. Something has to be wrong

 

I just don't know what.

 

When I got the HS I didn't feel anything...I just spoke in tongues. 

 

I just wonder if I'm doing everything wrong 

Edited January 15, 2019 by Figure of eighty