Newbie Seeking Support

[farouk]

On 5/13/2025 at 11:16 PM, Angelazachary828 said:

I'm not really sure I'm kind of an open-minded Christian. II got saved about 3 and a 1/2 years ago. However, I've struggled for a long time with worldly things, but I have a lot of questions about sin and struggle. And when you know or, how do you know that you're really saved or How do you know that you're really going to heaven? I have a lot of questions. I don't know if anybody really has the answers to it. But church, people, I don't really fit in with, and I don't really fit in with secular people, I'm kind of in the middle. I don't have any family left and I just feel really lonely. I don't really have a support system. And I know that probably that's where God has me, but sometimes I just need to, that's someone to talk to

Hi @Angelazachary828 Good to see you.

Re. assurance, do read John's First Epistle (its five chapters won't take long) and Romans chapter 8: in relatively short passages there is a lot about assurance. These are passages worth going back to again and again.

[Who me]

On 5/14/2025 at 4:16 AM, Angelazachary828 said:

but I have a lot of questions about sin and struggle.

MKay I make a suggestion.

 

Check out the Christianityexplored web site for churches in your area that are or have run this course and get in touch with the nearest church. ditto the Alpha course.

I suggest this simple so you can attend a course on Christianity where questions can be asked and where one can get to know some people from the church running the course. It is a way of getting familiar with people before attending the church.

[lrs68]

On 5/13/2025 at 11:16 PM, Angelazachary828 said:

I'm not really sure I'm kind of an open-minded Christian. II got saved about 3 and a 1/2 years ago. However, I've struggled for a long time with worldly things, but I have a lot of questions about sin and struggle. And when you know or, how do you know that you're really saved or How do you know that you're really going to heaven? I have a lot of questions. I don't know if anybody really has the answers to it. But church, people, I don't really fit in with, and I don't really fit in with secular people, I'm kind of in the middle. I don't have any family left and I just feel really lonely. I don't really have a support system. And I know that probably that's where God has me, but sometimes I just need to, that's someone to talk to

The fact that you are concerned and reaching out is a very good thing.  It means God is dealing with you and trying to help you with your unanswered questions.  Just keep asking away and read your Bible and ask God to reveal His truth to you.

 

I've always believed whenever a person reaches out like you are doing that it won't be long until you will know that you are a part of the family and kingdom of God.

 

You are in my prayers.

[farouk]

2 hours ago, lrs68 said:

Just keep asking away and read your Bible and ask God to reveal His truth to you.

@lrs68 Excellent advice, indeed............

[warrior12]

When you say, you are in the middle, this shows the truths of the biblical narrative of the two worlds that we live in. First recognize that you were in satan kingdom before you got saved, and now you have the Holy spirit with you to teach and guide you along the new found journey.   

See, satan does not want to see you in the kingdome of God and wants you back into his kingdom of darkness and worldliness, hence the middle stance.  The Holy spirit is working in you to mature you and to see the lies of satan empire and that of the Lord Jesus Christ teachings and salvation for eternity.  Now you are wrestling, cause satan is tugging at you to come back and the spirit of truth in you is telling you that Jesus is the truth the way and life.  

The books of Romans,Galatians and Ephesians is a good reinforcement of what the Lord has outlined for us and the behaviours we are to emulate.  Words like righteousness, Holiness and meekness should be explored in depths as to their meaning and to live life pleasing to God.  keep asking your questions, no matter what they are and the folks here would answer as the spirit lead.    

A good book , which is essentially an analogy of a believer on his journey and all the pitfalls and traps set for him. He also has helpers who guides him and show him the way of the right, straight and narrow pathway to the final destination.   

Title   " The pilgrim Progress " by John Bunyan.   Just google it with pdf at the end search and you can download . 

 

analogy -------drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity

Edited May 17 by warrior12

[Angelazachary828]

On 5/16/2025 at 9:37 AM, lrs68 said:

The fact that you are concerned and reaching out is a very good thing.  It means God is dealing with you and trying to help you with your unanswered questions.  Just keep asking away and read your Bible and ask God to reveal His truth to you.

 

I've always believed whenever a person reaches out like you are doing that it won't be long until you will know that you are a part of the family and kingdom of God.

 

You are in my prayers.

Thank you 

[Angelazachary828]

On 5/14/2025 at 12:59 AM, kwikphilly said:

My old social circles I was referencing,I believe I called them " cliques"

No,they don't speak profanity at church,not the ones I've been to anyway

No I understand exactly what you meant. Exactly 

[JohnD]

4 hours ago, Angelazachary828 said:

No I understand exactly what you meant. Exactly 

Howdy. I hope you feel welcomed here, and at the same time not being covered like a Dallas fumble...

Cowboys haven't been the same since Jimmy Johnson left...

Anyway, it's not unreasonable for one to feel a bit strange in Church settings. While I believe most are sincere, though some are pretentious, most tend to go along to get along.

There's nothing wrong with being like-minded. But in Church (the sanctuary for truth) that like-mindedness should be based more on biblical truth than most Churches are.

The tendency is to follow traditions (usually long established traditions) according to what the particular group agrees to believe (Baptist, Methodist, etc.).

Jesus prayed in his High Priestly prayer (John 17) no less than three times that we in the Church be one as the Father and He are one.

This hasn't been the case for many centuries.

Bottom line, all the answers you seek come from the Holy Spirit who:

1. alone interprets the Bible He wrote through the writing prophets (2 Peter 1:20-21)

2. leads us to all truth (John 14:26 / John 16:13)

3. assuring us that our faith is in the genuine Jesus Christ and that our salvation is secure (2 Corinthians 1:22)

It's all about Jesus and our believing Him (John 3:16-18). 

It's not about piety, lofty words, and the long list of bad things we don't do. It's about trusting God to make up the difference in our natural short comings while we

strive (out of love for God) to do better. Knowing we are going to fail but in the effort we avoid lots of pitfalls and pain for God, for ourself and for others.

Moses was a murderer.

David was a warrior and adulterer / murderer.

Jacob was a thief and a con artist.

Rahab was a prostitute as was one of the Marys.

The longer you are a believer the more transformation you will experience in your life and walk with the LORD.

But none of us are perfect. We all have troubles as well as joys.

Don't allow the devil to trick you into thinking you are alone in your struggles and intentions.

Seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in your life and in your Bible reading and study. Learn about God there. In the book God wrote to save us and to help us and to teach us

about Him and about ourselves. Trust God not man.

[AnOrangeCat]

On 5/13/2025 at 10:16 PM, Angelazachary828 said:

I'm not really sure I'm kind of an open-minded Christian. II got saved about 3 and a 1/2 years ago. However, I've struggled for a long time with worldly things, but I have a lot of questions about sin and struggle. And when you know or, how do you know that you're really saved or How do you know that you're really going to heaven? I have a lot of questions. I don't know if anybody really has the answers to it. But church, people, I don't really fit in with, and I don't really fit in with secular people, I'm kind of in the middle. I don't have any family left and I just feel really lonely. I don't really have a support system. And I know that probably that's where God has me, but sometimes I just need to, that's someone to talk to

I find this relatable. On a surface level I've always been pretty good at integrating. But on a deeper level there's not so much. What I'd share with you is the following.

1: Jesus told us if we love Him we'll keep His commandments (John 14:15). Similarly he cited the two great commandments (love God with all we've got and love our neighbors as ourselves). That's the very basic stuff, and I find that it meshes well with the famous statement in the book of James that "faith without works is dead". What that means is your actions should back up your faith.

2: Regarding sin and struggle God knows we're not perfect. We're works in progress that will eventually be completed (Philippians 1:6). Keep striving toward that. If you fail at times keep at it. The struggle against sin is important. It shows you're fighting it rather than simply wallowing and accepting it.

3: On not fitting in, it can help to identify why you don't fit in, and from there, what you can do about it. It's often going to stem from a variety of factors, some of which you can do something about and others maybe not so much.

4: As kwikphilly pointed out be wary of your feelings. They can lead you astray. The good news is when you act and live as God would have you act despite your feelings that's a way of showing faith. Feelings and circumstances might tell you something contrary to the Bible. When you do what the Bible instructs instead you're affirming your beliefs through your actions. For a long portion of my life I struggled with some very ugly intrusive thoughts that were very hateful and honestly blasphemous toward God. There was no basis for them, they'd just pop up out of nowhere and persist. Weirdly there was no basis for them. I didn't feel any anger toward God or attribute my problems to Him. Anyway it eventually prompted me to do more for Him. Since that time it's barely there anymore, and a lot of my other insecurities about my standing with God have melted away a long with it. My feeling there is that God let me suffer from that as a stimulus to bring me closer to Him, and now that the problem is gone it's largely removed. What I learned from it is that a lot of our insecurities are emotionally based, so trying to counter them with facts doesn't do the job so much. Stepping up in my Christian walk has certainly made me feel better about my standing with God, and because of that it counteracts the emotions that fueled my own uncertainties about whether or not I even qualified as a Christian.