Was making huge progress with God... hit a brick wall. Is this the enemy?

[Debbie]

I have been studying the word everyday, some day's in excess of 12 hours. I can't get enough because I "thought" things were starting to make sense, and I've learned things I could have never imagined. There was a light that came on and a peace I have never felt. I was always quick to say I had read the Bible, however this is the first time I have actually studied the word. But yesterday I read a post that left me feeling "in the dark again". Is this the enemy or for a lack of a better term "am I fooling myself"? I've failed in so many ways, can God use me, does God love me...or have I failed "too" many times?
Debbie

[Charlene]

Yes Debbie God loves you soo much, more than you can even understand,

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths. 7 Don't be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn your back on evil.

and you can never fail to many times, its the fact that you keep getting up to do Gods work that matters, you want to be better and i can assure you God sees your efforts!!!

Isaiah 54:10 For the mountains may depart and the hills disappear, but even then I will remain loyal to you. My covenant of blessing will never be broken," says the LORD, who has mercy on you

I am a babe in Christ debbie, but i can assure you the Lord loves you and wants you Romans 8:38-39 say, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Nothing can separate a child of God from their Father.

Romans 10:13. Let us also be secure in knowing that "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved"


I hope this helps, also take it up in prayer, and pray that you hear the Lord clearly, He promised if you seek Him with all your heart you will find Him, and i am sure He is still with you debbie, dont let the enemy lie to you, God loves you, God can use you and Gods love covers a multitude of sins, you have no sins in Him, no body is perfect, no one on this earth and we all have the same struggles and even all feel alone sometime, i kno i do, but God is there always watching and guiding. May i ask what book you were reading when this came on you?

[Debbie]

Dear Charlene,
Thank you so much for your words of encouragement. There is something I am not proud of....perfectionism, and it's only with myself, I'm not like that with other people. God has been helping me with that and I believe the Holy Spirit has been working over time with me. If I feel God is telling me to do something, I am happy and I'm excited, however right before the final step...I will feel "it's just not perfect", "I can't do it". I do have to say for over a week now I've been doing great with that! This time has been a blessing in many ways and have been very grateful to the Lord and those he has put in my path that have helped me find my way.
What happened was I read a post about being Thankful...someone posted Romans 1 18-32 and immediately when I read it I felt like there really is no hope for me, the way I read it...just what was wrote (nothing before or after)...I immediately felt doomed to hell. I do believe the enemy is trying to creep in any which way he can...I've been praying about this for a while. I finally said, "you need to go, you've tried for long enough, Jesus loves me, you've failed got it failed, In Jesus Name Go!
You did help thank you so much, this battle has to stop! Fellowship and prayer make it possible. I'm a babe in Christ too, I gave my life over in 1988...however I completely surrender recently. God Bless You, you have been a blessing to me today!
Love in Christ
Debbie

[Debbie]

Hello Dear Friend,
Here we are again:) My "not good enough" attitude crept back in! As I said above I read something on a forum post and condemned myself. It was about being thankful I replied, with the thought "too many people take things for granted". But then I read a reply from someone else and thought...I haven't lived to that standard, now what?

I have spent some time now praying and reading, I do believe it's the enemy, I want to say maybe I felt that way out of habit, however I haven't had that feeling in quite a while, and it wasn't like a negative thought it was a feeling of darkness.

Carla...sweetheart, thanks for sticking with me. I'm making some sacrifices and studying the bible 12-14 hours a day. It is a pleasure...I can't stop! I think that is why that hit me so hard too, because I haven't felt better than this in....??? And being brought down like that was hard. I gave it to the Lord. You and your mom have had a huge impact on me. I am so thankful to the Lord for putting you two in my path. The support on here is amazing...I feel extremely blessed.
Love in Christ
Debbie

[Carla]

Hi Debbie....Hang in there, you are doing great!

I had a beautiful dream...off topic I know....but I'll share it with you.

'I was on a beach at the shore. Waves kept just about knocking me over, they were way too strong for me to stand against them (the waves of life--very rocky). Then, all of the sudden a HUGE tidel wave was coming up to me....It could have done me in...BUT GOD..... Somehow...I knew the wave was just going to go over top of me and not knock me down, Blessed assurance!...It circled over me with Awesome Power. It was so Awesome that I could not hold my face up against it. But as it covered and circled around me, I knew I was being protected and keep safe in a profound way. I was right in the centre of it totally peaceful staring in AWE at the profound power and strength....'

I now know in a profound and very real way of God's protection. I had been crying out to Him the night before...and HE gave me that beautiful dream.

The next day when I was telling my mom about it on the phone, one of my pictures came up on my computer of my screen saver...guess what it was just as I was telling the story to mom..

Be Encouraged! Love in Christ, Carla

[Debbie]

Carla,
Praise the Lord, I immediately got that "peaceful warm chill" (I refer to as "Burning Bush Moments") when I read that (and wow that picture is beautiful) I can see now what I thought were "strange happenings" or coincidences are indeed the moments that I need to pay attention to what God is telling me. As you have done, thank you for sharing this with me.

What a beautiful way the Lord chose to show you his protection and deep love for you not to mention the depth of your faith. You knew it was going to knock you down, but you stood right there and didn't panic...and you were not touched by it...what faith! The confirmation of it all with that picture is absolutely amazing, you my dear are blessed and chosen.

John 10:27-30 "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."

Matthew 11:27 "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son 'chooses' to reveal him."
I love that scripture...Jesus chooses...what a blessing.

Thank you again for sharing that, Christ works through you in a wonderful way. I will have to share with you some of the experiences I have had...awe, is the right word!
God Bless You Dear Sister In Christ,
Debbie

[Sara]

The enemy wants us to doubt. Fear and despair is the only way he can get to us, trust in God and read his word when troublesome thoughts start. That is when you will get back your peace.

[Debbie]

Dear Patience,
Thank you for your response, what a blessing you are. One big obstacle I just realized is patience, (the irony: when I saw your name the thought came to me). The Lord is always trying to get me to slow down and listen, while the enemy wants me all riled up and confused. I would have to describe myself as high energy, anxious, on the "gogogo". My prayer to the Lord isn't to take that away but to use it for his good, I'm leaning on Him for direction. He made me this way for a reason, but the enemy has definately taken advantage of that. I "think" too quickly and I've noticed when I do that the enemy uses it against me. You are so right when that happens I have to go straight to the word...what he means for my harm, God means for my good.
Thank you so much. May God Bless you abundantly.
Love in Christ
Debbie

[Marshall]

Gods love for you is unconditional. He love's you no matter what. I felt the same way as I was coming up in the word but He has always been there for me at the exact moment I needed Him, this is His way of showing me that it came from Him and that it is His Glory no one else.

[Debbie]

Dear Marshall,
Thank you for your kind words. So thought provoking: I would have to say with the exception of a two people, Love has always been conditional (worldly). Unless "you're perfect" your not good enough, or something was always attached to the love (a condition). The only way of feeling unconditional love is by faith...I have to believe God (who I have never seen) loves me reguardless. I do have faith and I know God loves me, the enemy wants me to question that.

What the enemy doesn't know or maybe does (I don't really care because he means nothing to me), The Lord is progressivly taking me out of the darkness and into the light. Praise The Lord!
Thank's again.
Love in Christ
Debbie

[Marshall]

Gods love for you is unconditional. He love's you no matter what. I felt the same way as I was coming up in the word but He has always been there for me at the exact moment I needed Him, this is His way of showing me that it came from Him and that it is His Glory no one else.

[Greg, TheNET Coordinator]

Hi Debbie,

It is great to see how you are getting into the Word of God and really studying it. That's wonderful, keep it up. I know God will show you great and wonderful things as you get to know Him better through your studies.

Your post caught my attention because I used to have similar thoughts all the time, Even though I received Christ as my Savior in my teens, it took about 20 years until I really had consistent assurance that I was saved. Lot of thoughts used to come along that I was condemned for one reason or another. Some of this was from the enemy, but I think a lot of it was from being steeped in a perfectionistic environment. Nothing I did as a child was ever good enough and I carried that over into my relationship with my Heavenly Father. I always thought there was something more I had to do to please God.

Finally, I came the realization is that there was nothing more I had to do in order to please God. Jesus had pleased God and had done it all for me. All I had to do was trust in what Jesus had done. These were some of the verses that after meditating on long and hard helped me a great deal:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? (Galatians 3:2-4).

Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent" (John 6:28-29)

The proper response then, when you encounter something in Scripture that convicts you of sin or makes you feel guilty is to confess, "Yes, God, I agree with you that I'm guilty of that, but thank you for the blood of your Son that cleanses me from that sin and removes my guilt!" Don't try to deny your sin or double your efforts to "be better". The law is fulfilling its purpose of convicting you of sin. But the remedy for your sin is not more good work, but TRUST in what Jesus has done for you.

If, God forbid, you were in an accident and ended up a quadraplegic, how much WORK could you do for God? Probably less than you could now, but it doesn't matter. God will love you no less then than he does now. And he will love you no more even if you could do 10 times what you are doing now or were 10 times more "perfect and holy" than you are today.

Sometimes it takes a very long time to overcome old habits of thinking. So be patient with yourself and others in the process.

REST in what Jesus has done for you , BELIEVE in Him, not in your own goodness or effort, and be at peace.

Greg

[Bev]

Some things need to be refreshed and renewed in our hearts and minds....some things can never be said too many times nor can we be reminded too many times of God's promises and lessons. This post, the information here from you Greg, is a refreshment. We all may know it, or have heard it but need reminding of it from time to time.

Thank you for this.....

Bev