Feeling vs. Knowing

Why do I feel far from God? Why doesn’t God answer me? How do i become a better Christian? How do you develop a desire to worship God? How do you start and build a strong walk with God? I pray to God when temptations come, or I feel depressed why? How do you know if you are being the person God wants you to be? How do you know you are not just going through the motions of being a Christian? What if you hate going to church? What if your hatred for church is not just a stage? Why do people cut themselves to “resolve” their problems? Are they trying to get attention? Why are we here, what is the purpose of living? What reason do i have to LIVE? I know I am supposed to serve God, but is that why I am here? Why do I have to live and suffer instead of skipping to the same outcome?

 First question we have to answer is, am I truly a Christian?
You are a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17
Romans 5:8, Romans 6:11, Romans 8:5-11

Do I hate my sin?
Romans 6:1-2, Romans 7:15, Romans 12:9-21,

Are we being pruned?
Matthew 7:16, Matthew 12:33, Matthew 21:43, Mark 4:20, Romans 6:21-23
Romans 8:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Colossians 3:1-17

What does my fruit look like?
Test ourselves. 2 Corinthians 13:5-8
James 2:14-26

God’s voice.
John 10:27

Go back to the source.
In Christ we find who we really are. See scriptures above.

Poem for the end.
I hear the moans of pain crying out in shame of what they have done. why feel shame, not only guilt, but ready to end their life. this deep dark doom they feel can never be explained by man or understood in the dark. lost forever, gone for now, why trust, why let go, everyone doubts no one looks, all turn their heads in fear. only shame and difficult times lie ahead, mirrors broken, bleeding dry on the floor lost in pain. blackened eyes, long cut hair with an orange handled pair. they ask. why so bleak? never any color. their response in a blood stained letter. I Am. hear to free you, give me your pain and shame, allow me to save you from their fear. I Am. have been abandoned. I Am. will never abandon you. I Am. been in the darkest and triumphed for you. I Am. rest in me. _pastor tim

Romans 8:35-39

You are loved

_pastor tim

Religion
Exodus 20:1-6

 1 Then God gave the people all these instructions 2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. 6 But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. 

James 1:19-27 Listening and Doing
19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. 22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. 26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.  

Hebrews 13 Sacrifice pleasing to God
1 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." 6 So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?" 7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

_pastor tim