PLEASE ADVISE


I received this mail from a young lady and decided to share it with you. I believe it would be nice for you, my kind readers to give her some guidance or advice. 

 

 

I am xxxxxx from xxxxx and I want to ask advice from you because at 24 years old I see my self in darkness and I don't know what to do in my life to go on. I have been christian for 2 years, preaching the gospel after have heard of Jesus. I was so happy and full of Spirit. But at one point some situations of my life put me in fear and unbelief to the point that I wasn't beliving anymore in what I was doing. I went to church but the Word wasn't really abaiding in me and I was so closed in myself that I even didn't talk with my Pastor. During this time, the father of a friend of mine became sick and after some months he died. I was the one supposed to bring Salvation to him but I didn't and when i Knew he died I felt teremendously guilty and depressed. 

And it is not finished, because this depression affected my life so much that while i was planning to go to preach to one guy ,that I knew was sick too, he died, bringing me again in a terrible state. Jesus saved me and gave me the responsability to save others and I didn't do His most important work. When I think to myself I can only be disgusted because of what happened and I don't know how to go on or change it. I am even worryed about my own Salvation I really don't know what to do. 

I spent my days thinking about hell, and people there or about the fact that I am the most terrible christian on the earth beacuse is not possible doing so many mistakes like these in 2 years of christianity. I cannot even think about Jesus because of the shame of this terrible facts. There is no hope or love in my life because when you realized you have totally missed the plan of God for your life  is very hard to deal with this kind of faliure.
Thank you for the opportunity to write to you and I apologize for my english.

Please advise!

Comments

C
Chizy
Take your time and study the word of God. There is this joy that comes from reading the Holy bible. Breath in forgiveness and positivity and allow the joy of the Holy ghost overwhelm you. He is your comforter. The world needs you, cheer up!
H
Hama1
Hie my sister, l will be as short as l possibly can. Firstly, you dont really need to feel God's love, you have to be fully pursuaded he loves you. Secondly, trust in his love, trust that him who did not spare his own son can never withhold any good thing from you. Thirdly, ask for forgiveness and forgive yourself, the Word says He is faithful and just to forgive us, he is God, he does not change or repent of his promises. Fourthly, understand the doctrine of righteosness, it is a gift from our father, he gave us His own righteousness, because our own righteousness is like filthy rags to him. This righteousness enables you to stand before the master of the universe without guilt or shame, it empowers you to live above sin and sickness. As a child in the faith, you can fall a couple of times, while you learn to walk, but you get stronger and better, and keep getting better until the day of Jesus christ. Fifthly, renew your mind. Phillipians 4 Vs 8 guides us on what to think on. Whatsoever things are good, true, pure lovely. . . . Sixth, work out your own salvation with Godly reverence. Dont let the devil keep you in bondage, trust what God has said in his Word about himself. Christianity is a life of faith, so get up, stop the Pity party ( coz no one is coming) and Win. Do you know why?? Because God loves you. All the BEST!
J
John
My dear, Whatever happens take consolation from 1 John 2:1. We have an advocate called Jesus the righteous one. You would only go on your knees and ask for forgiveness and you would be forgiven. What you need to do now is continue winning souls as I can make out from your write up that you are a great soul winner. May the good Lord be with you.
F
Frau Glauben
Pastor, thank you for forwarding this letter. My response to the person is this-Our Christianity is based on what Jesus did for us. Not what we do for him. Whatever we do for God is out of our love for him and a result of our relationship with him. Whatever we do, cannot add to what Jesus already did to secure our salvation. All I can advise this person is that she ( just for reference-it may be he or she) needs counselling and to spend time studying the word. I advise that she talk with her Pastor and also listen to christian teaching on channels like The GOD channel or TBN. This is because you hear from various ministers - the Lord has used this to help me when I went through some challenges. This is because the word is unbiased- cos they don't know you, so when a word touches your heart, you know it is from God using a neutral party. She needs to change her environment from gloomy, depressing to joyful and peaceful- play praise-worship music- I like William Murphy, William McDowell, PlanetShakers, Darlene Zcech, Chris Tomlin, Lauren Daigle, etc- artists that are sincere Christ worshippers. The devil is trying to mess withyour mind. He is trying to place the blame of those peoples death on you- but the devil is a liar. You must believe that Jesus loves you and he saved you. Your salvation does not depend on whether you saved a life- it depends on what the Lord already did for you. You need to develop your faith in God- based on his word- not based on negative imaginations that the enemy is trying to plant in your mind. You said you spent days thinking about hell- that is what the devil wants you to think- he is trying to re-program your mind to be hell-focused instead of Christ & heaven focused. What you need to do is change that by surrounding yourself with the word, books and music that is Christ -focused. You can play audio bible in your home, car or phone. Listen to the gospels, Acts, Corinthians etc. Do the exact reverse of what you are doing now. Find a Christ- based church to attend - because you need encouragement from the brethren. Church is Gods idea, not mans idea- God knows that there are times we need to be encouraged by one another. When you focus on you and your spiritual accomplishments or failures- that is recipe for depression & disaster- because you will always find something imperfect, incomplete & wanting in yourself. The bible says fix your eyes on JESUS. He is the author & the finisher (fine-tuner, perfecter) of our faith. The bible says when we behold the beauty & glory of the Lord, we ourselves are being transformed by the Spirit of God into that same image.2 Corinthians 3 v18. The devil lied to you that you have missed the plan of God for your life!! And you believed him???! The devil is & always is a liar. Jesus warned us that the devil is the father of lies. The only way he can get you is to drop these poisonous thoughts in your mind. If you take those thoughts & ingest them, you give him a loophole. But it is not too late. All you need to do is rush to Jesus- pour out your heart to the father- spend more time studying Gods word & meditate on Gods word. Stop meditating on the evil thoughts of defeat etc. Who told you that you have missed Gods plan for your life ? How did you know ? Did God say so in his word - did God tell you that? I know God did not tell you that because in the presence of the Lord there is always fullness of JOY. God can never give you thoughts of depression.God tells us the type of thoughts to think- see Pillipians 4v8-As far as you are alive on this earth, you are available to fulfill Gods plan. The devil saw how committed you were in evangelism, so he devised a plan to stop you from telling people about Jesus by deceiving you- to make you doubt your credibility. Our credentials come from God. Its about what God thinks about us- not what we think about ourselves- Jer 29 v 11. God always thinks lovely thoughts about us his children. Yes Jesus gave us the responsibility to preach, teach, make disciples, heal etc- as far as you do that, leave the rest to God., If you pray for someone & they dont appear to get healed, or preach & they dont seem to get saved- it is up to God. What matters is you do your part. Trust the Holy Spirit irrespective of what you see. sometimes you may preach to someone & they dont receive Christ right away- but that does not mean the seed has not been sown. The person may become born again many years after that- you may never know. All you do is keep encouraging the person- if you are still in touch with the person- but most importantly, pray for the person & leave the rest to God. There are different reasons why sometimes people dont get healed- most times- only God knows. Sometimes it is unbelief, sometimes surprisingly the person may just want to go home but ultimately, God knows why. So we leave it to God. Every person in life has hope- whether you are a christian or not. As a christian, to say that you do not have hope means one has given up on Jesus. The scriptures recall instances where Jesus disciples could not cast out a demon. I dont remember Jesus ever telling them that they missed Gods plan for their lives. The bible also tell us where Jesus could not heal some people because of their unbelief- as we know, Jesus very much fulfilled Gods plan. You are not a failure. The bible says in all these things you are more than a conqueror. Truth is you need to go back into the word & spend time alone with God in prayer, praise & worship. I would recommend that you listen to Joseph Prince teachings, Joel Osteen, Fred Price, Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Meyer, Billy Graham & Jentezen Franklin teachings- their ministries are all available for free on Youtube & their websites. If you call or write them, they will send you free materials The one you spend most time with is the one you will trust. Spend time with Jesus.You need to believe in the Jesus you are preaching about. You need to trust Jesus before you can get anyone else to trust him. Remember- There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus - see Romans 8 v 1 . God bless you & I will pray for you. God loves you and God has plans for you. You will fulfill al God has for you in Jesus name. Amen. The bible says that the expectations of the righteous shall not be cut short. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and that is the truth.
G
Grace O
STOP!! God is not an author of confusion. Remember He has not given us the Spirit of fear, but of Boldness and Sound mind. Any thing that brings fear and torment is a foul spirit. Once you confess your sins to HIM, He is faithful and Just to forgive... If you still feel this heavy, just rebuke that demon of depression and guilt, it'll flee from you, then ask Christ to fill you with Joy. Remember out of belle shall flow rivers of living waters... Also, Take time to listen to worship songs, they help to lift up the spirit. God bless you. Your hunger and thirst for righteousness will surely be filled in Jesus name. Amen.
S
Sonia
Hello Dear, Guilt is one of satan's biggest weapons against us. It tears us down, it makes us feel dirty, it robs off our faith and confidence in Christ Jesus. Remember that Jesus not only came to save us from our sins, but also to set us free from the guilt of our sins. If you want to live a life of joy & fulfilment, you need to have a conscience freed from the guilt of your past. Please do not let guilt deprive you of the glorious life you should be living as a child of God but rather, let it drive you to seek forgiveness and when you ask God for forgiveness, believe He has forgiven you. If guilt still plagues you, even after you 've confessed and forsaken your sins, then those feelings are false guilt. Remember that God has been true to His promise and has forgiven you; you are now fully justified in His eyes. So, always meditate on Bible passages that reiterate God's promise to forgive, like Psalm 103:8-12. And also pray that God would make you deaf to satan's accusations. Ask Him to restore your joy and give you freedom from guilt (Psalm 51:12, Psalm 32).. Remember, there are many other souls to be won in the world today - the mistake of not leading the other people to Christ before they died is now in the past and cannot be changed - you got to move on and look for ways to fulfil the purpose by which God created you. Finally, if sin has been confessed, repented of, and forgiven, it is time to move on. Don't let guilt derail you. I pray that God will help you get through this in Jesus Name. Amen!
P
Peculiar
Hello Pastor, I think she is beating herself up too much. As Christians, we are not perfect, but we are transformed to be better and better the more we listen to God's word and increase in understanding.. 2 Corinthians 3:18, Psalm 138:8, Ephesians 4:11-12 Everyday, we live and learn. She should learn from her mistakes and keep working at improving in what God has called her to do. If she stops now, then she will not be bringing increase to the body of Christ. Each one of us is supplying daily to increase the body of Christ, Ron Kenolly sang ' We fall down and we get up...' I pray for her that she comes out of this depressed mindset. No need. She should jump out and move on. Thank you for sharing.
L
Leroy
As I read your story I'm reminded of Martha telling Jesus to tell Mary to come help her in preparing food...but Jesus commended Mary for sitting at His feet listening to His word instead of being in the kitchen helping Martha.Religion is about doing(behavior modification) but the gospel(the good news) is about heart transformation.We see how mary's heart was so transformed that out of love she worshipped Jesus her most expensive oil perfume before His crucifixion,And we see her again at the cross with Him before His death. Beloved:) One thing is indeed needful and Mary had chosen that good part,sitting at His feet hearing His word.Do like wise:) Beloved:) Learn to see yourself the way the Father sees you-as one with Christ.You are more pleasing to God as Jesus is,even if you do something wrong,His warm breath of love is always toward your direction.Jesus is not 'mad' AT you,He is 'mad' ABOUT you.Now enter into His rest confidently,knowing that you're HIGHLY favoured & DEEPLY loved by the almighty God(Your Daddy). P.S: Please listen to these songs by Jason Upton called 'Father Son Spirit' & 'Whisper'.They'll greatly bless you:)
F
Felix
I think she needs to understand first of all, that Christ secures those who belong to Him. That's why he said, no one can pluck from His hands those the father has given Him. That means if one is truly born of God he should not contemplate loosing his salvation because it is not dependent on our ability to keep ourselves saved or doing the 'right' things . As a matter of fact, it is absurd for us to think that God can loose hold of his own to the devil - it is a sin to think God is so inconsistent and incapable of sustaining and protecting His own unto the end. Secondly, although God has saved us and made us ministers of reconciliation, we are never to derive our joy from our ability of leading others to Christ or doing any good works. Our joy is to be rooted in Him who loved us and washed us while we were still enemies. So how can our works be the reason for our joy? Romans 5:1-12 still comes handy concerning where we derive our joy from. I think this lady has been indoctrinated - she needs to understand the Gospel and that it is a gift to be saved now and to enjoy eternity with our father only by faith and trust in His ability to sustain us. There are times we may grieve that our love ones died without Christ, but it shouldn't be to a point where we doubt our salvation, because He saved us of His own will and we are forever His. Peace!
D
Disciple
Dear xxxx With all you've said, I jst have few things that are in my mind, First and foremost, I am not condemning u, for the Scriptures tell us, "Who are you to judge another man's servant? to his own master he STANDETH or FAILETH. Yea, he shall be holden up. For God is ABLE to make him stand."- (Romans 14:4) ..a Servant of God, attimes May Fail in carrying out his responsibilities,..but there's Hope, ".?;For God is able to make you stand." Secondly, U said situations in Life instilled fear + Doubt,..Well this is expected at One point or another, My Only recipe is that You revise the Foundations of Your Faith,..The Gospel we preach primarily addresses Situations Of Life,...It's da Hope of This World,..It's Of Power,..It's Of Life From the Dead,..It's Of a Resurrected Christ. Review and Revise your Convictions, Your personal salvation is Very important, It doesn't matter how many souls you lead to Christ,..You still have the responsibility to buttress your precious Faith.
U
Uche
Pastor Anita, I quite like the title for this post, Religion. That's clearly what was expressed in the letter in my own solemn opinion. For a long time I had struggled with similar thoughts, allowing the devil to build negative strongholds in my mind for past responsibilities I ignorantly didn't take. This is prevalent among many newbie christians and even leaders, today I'm free from such thoughts having found that God's love for me overrides whatever wrong or amiss I had done in the past. In fact, everyday is fresh and brand new day if we truly understand Christ's concept of "forgiveness" and apply it on a daily basis, it's so amazing! One advice I would have for that sister is simply, move on.. stop judging yourself God is not, He loves you so so much notwithstanding.
P
Princess
1. Your love for Jesus and his children is remarkable and very inspiring.

2. There is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. Yes you have been a Christian for two years but that does not mean that you will always get it right give yourself time to learn and grow.

3. Most important Jesus loves you and does not condemn you. His love for you is irrespective of anything.

4. The bible says "it is not by might nor by power but my Spirit". Just let the Holy Spirit lead and perform what only him can perform through you. Don't be hard on yourself when the physical does not look like what you expect. Just trust the Holy Spirit and depend on for he knows best.

5. Talk to the Holy Spirit make him a best friend, an advisor, a shoulder to cry on, a rock, a father etc. Trust me only him can walk you through the journey of your life.

Stay blessed and despair not. God loves you