I'm not without hope by any means.

[indianabob]

Rick,

Being led by the spirit of God is like following a man (Christ) down a path but at a distance.
We may not know where he is headed or what the path ahead will be like, smooth or hard, but we have confidence that if we keep Christ in sight and keep listening to his words as he encourages us, that we shall arrive at our destination safely and accepted.

Along the way, as we follow Christ, we shall be challenged by attractions along the way, we shall be tempted, just as Christ was during his earthly journey and we shall give in to many of these temptations and if we then are sorry for stumbling and falling short, we shall confess our error and get up on our feet and begin to follow Christ once more.

We can expect these errors or difficulties to plague us almost every day of the rest of our lives in order to keep us humble. The apostle Paul had the need to confess and pray for forgiveness for 30 years of his ministry and he dealt with this "thorn in the flesh" even though he prayed earnestly to have it removed. We are no better, no stronger than Paul.

We continue getting up and binding our wounds every day because we know and understand the reward that awaits us at the end of the journey. We have confidence that we shall receive a reward, because the God of Christ and the God of all of us has promised that we shall receive it if so be that we continue to strive and continue to keep getting up and trying again; however many times it may take, even millions of times.

So please do not lose heart. If our Lord Jesus had to suffer those many things that he did endure, then we who are his younger brothers and sisters may expect the same.

Kindly offered, Indiana bob

[cjwood]

dear brother rick.  who ever told you that you were not converted, and who ever said that once converted one never, ever sins?  we will be in this stinking flesh until we are dead.  walking by the Spirit is a moment by moment experience of being made into His image.  but, as we strive to continue to walk by the Spirit, we learn that we cannot do that of our own will.  God will give you just the amount of light you need to see the path in front of your feet so that you keep from stumbling.  that Light is His Word.  and His Word is Jesus.  Christ our Saviour.  go to His Word, go to His Word, go to His Word.  His Spirit will guide you.

claudia

[Kat]

This is the new King James Version.
Rom 4:6  just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
v. 7  "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
       And whose sins are covered;
v. 8  Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin."

Now this is the New Living Translation that I think helps with the understanding of this.

Rom 4:6  King David spoke of this (Psalms 32:1-2), describing the happiness of an undeserving sinner who is declared to be righteous:
v. 7  "Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven,
       whose sins are put out of sight.
v. 8  Yes, what joy for those
       whose sin is no longer counted against them by the Lord."

Rom 1:17  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." (NKJV)

Rom 1:17  This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life." (NLT)

1Co 1:30  But of Him (the Father) you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption-- (NKJV)

1Co 1:30  God alone made it possible for you to be in Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Christ to be wisdom itself. He is the one who made us acceptable to God. He made us pure and holy, and He gave Himself to purchase our freedom. (NLT)

2Pe 1:1  Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: (NKJV)

2Pe 1:1  This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to all of you who share the same precious faith we have, faith given to us by Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, who makes us right with God.
v. 2  May God bless you with his special favor and wonderful peace as you come to know Jesus, our God and Lord, better and better. (NLT)

I hope you can see through these Scripture what this is saying... there is no possible way that we can become pure and clean and holy of ourselves, we are carnal and hopelessly dead in our sins. Our salvation is only possible by grace "through the faith of Christ" (Php 3:9 CLV) and that faith is given, undeserving, to us from God.

Eph 2:1  And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
v. 2  in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
v. 3  among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
v. 4  But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
v 5  even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
v. 6  and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
v. 7  that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
v. 8  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
v. 9  not of works, lest anyone should boast.
v. 10  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Eph 2:1  Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins.
v. 2  You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.
v. 3  All of us used to live that way, following the passions and desires of our evil nature. We were born with an evil nature, and we were under God's anger just like everyone else.
v. 4  But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much,
v. 5  that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's special favor that you have been saved!)
v. 6  For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with Him in the heavenly realms--all because we are one with Christ Jesus.
v. 7  And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of His favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all He has done for us through Christ Jesus.
v. 8  God saved you by His special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
v. 9  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
v. 10  For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. (NLT)

mercy, peace and love
Kat

[rick]

Of all of life's uncertainties I am quite certain God is fully in control of His creation. I am certain that God will save all who ever was, is and will come into existence.

I'm certain there is no place of eternal damnation waiting for anyone because Christ came to save that which is lost and I believe wholeheartedly its impossible for God to fail at anything.

I've learned that there is a gospel within the gospel that can only be understood by those who's eyes have been open by God.

I see that Christendom has taken the good news of God and turned into a mockery, something that was meant for everyone was cut down to only a few according to Christendom.

This I do know, God is good, but where I stand with God in this age I do not know. I cannot love God on my terms, I must love God on His terms and God says if you love me you will obey me.

The problem I find is that I was made in vanity to weak to obey God, in fact I find its impossible to obey God.

I tried to change this about me or that about me so God would be pleased with me, but I discovered nothing but failure after failure, I never was successful at changing me.

I have not lost hope , what I have lost is the silly notion I can bring any change to myself. I'm fully convince if any change takes place in me then it was brought by God.

I give up, I surrender, God has brought me to the point to where I understanding as wonderful and as sophisticated as He made me to be according to His design I do not have the ability to live up to the standards of God.

Maybe now I'm ready for Gods next lesson but that's up to God to decide not me. I'm truly just the pot, nothing more nothing less..........just the pot in the hands of the potter who I call God.   

[Rene]

I tried to change this about me or that about me so God would be pleased with me, but I discovered nothing but failure after failure, I never was successful at changing me.

I understand because I feel the same sense of devastation when my behavior or attitude falls short of being a righteous person.

It is good that you recognize the failure in your effort to change yourself.  Each time you fail, you are being humbled (crushed), and reminded that our Creator (the Potter) is the only One Who can change our hearts and make us anew.

Jeremiah 18:3-4 - " Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay, was broken in the hand of the potter, so he returned, and made it another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it." (GNV)

Psalms 34:18 - "Near is Yahweh, to the broken in heart, And, the crushed in spirit, will he save." (Rotherham)

Humbling is a necessary part of the process to salvation.

René

[AwesomeSavior]

Rick:

I understand everything you have written. Repentance is one of those "strange" works of God. I am going through the spiritual weeping and gnashing of teeth. It can feel absolutely maddening at times. God has brought me to a place where I am much better at this issue, but not perfect either. Sometimes when I am tempted by the most subtle creature of all, God causes me to say, "Praise the Lord" quietly, and the temptation subsides. But I don't always remember, due to the "sin which so easily besets us". He is grinding us to powder, day by day, and it hurts... But there is also the "joy that cometh in the morning", and His mercies are fresh every day. Keep the faith (hang in there).

Dean

[theophilus]

This is what kills me! I can spend weeks without giving in to a particular temptation and then one day, BAM!, I sin! Afterwards, I feel rotten because I failed God AGAIN! I ask for His forgiveness over and over again and tell Him that I do not want or desire to live like this, that He should cause me to overcome my temptation. I'm helpless! As much as I would like to stand firm when this temptation comes, I succumb. 

This is when I become more convinced that ain't no way I'm gonna make it to the First Resurrection. There are others that are more devoted and strong in the faith. I think even the weakest evil spirit has succeeded in tempting me and causing me to sin. Could it be that I am a laughing stock to these my enemies?

[Kat]

It is my thinking that as long as we sincerely love this Truth/God and striving to obey, even when we stumble, we are in good standing. It would seem if we came to a point where we 'thought' we were doing everything right and good, then that would be a problem. God will keep us humble and one way that is done is when we realize 'we' cannot make ourselves obey.

We humans are tedious creatures, always wanting to slide back into our old ways and habits, often without even realizing it... but God is on top of this by always reminding us of exactly what we are in this flesh, beasts. Even Paul could not conquer his flesh, strong in the spirit, yes, but he was always complaining about the weakness of his flesh.

It is just the nature of our carnal flesh to want to be something, to think we are able to do something good... God will continuously remove this attitude when we exhibit it.

Luke 14:11  For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

It is not easy being made into His image, but it is a very good thing and there is the hope that one day we can be exalted, perfected into His image and leave this carnal flesh behind.

mercy, peace and love
Kat

[cjwood]

Jeremiah 18:3-4 - " Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay, was broken in the hand of the potter, so he returned, and made it another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it." (GNV)




our Father used the scripture above, which you posted rené, to show me something very simple that i have missed every time i have heard or read these verses.  i underlined the two words in the scripture which the Spirit hit me over the head with.  He, the Potter, uses the very same broken pieces of clay to rework them into another vessel.  He doesn't start over with new clay, He uses the same pieces that were broken shards.
amazing.  just totally amazing how wonderful His Word is.

thanks for sharing that scripture sweet sister.

claudia

[Rene]

He, the Potter, uses the very same broken pieces of clay to rework them into another vessel.  He doesn't start over with new clay, He uses the same pieces that were broken shards. amazing.  just totally amazing how wonderful His Word is.

Amazing, indeed. We can also take comfort in knowing that the "broken vessel" is in the Potter's hand.

René

[walt123]

Hello,folks

Here is a visual.

Warren's perception of being a potter,I find interesting,I think so anyway.
Don't forget ,we all go through the fire.
http://youtu.be/S5Nhi_23Eyk

Walt.

[Dave in Tenn]

Just great, Walt.  Thanks.

[cjwood]

interesting video walt.  especially enjoyed watching the potter's hands as he worked the clay.  the gentleness of his touch, the different tools he uses, and the adding of just the right amount of water.  such a beautiful picture of our Father, the Potter of all mankind. 

claudia

[Dave in Tenn]

Just thought I'd drop this off here.

http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,5368.0.html