I wish i was a better christian

[Bella]

First -sorry again for my bad english,but i will try to explain so you will understand me

I was saved as a 14 year old as we had christian children group and camps .i joined first as a member,later as a leader at these camps (for younger children). i was much better than. i withness at school etc..
I never lost my faith,but later i lived as the lord ment nothing to me- until now..
I have done thing im not very proud of,i know im forgiven

last 10 years i have had M.e, Chronic fatigue syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ,i had to stop working and it sort of makes me numb..

i have no energy to go to church( my illness makes it difficoult to be around people,and loud sounds and noise makes me sick) am a coward to withness,feel i bear no fruit

For a lot of reasons my feelings are flat, coz i often had to hide them, i have asked the lord in to my heart and prayed to learn to love.

All i know is that i want to be with the lord,and i pray so i hope the lord will forgive me

[soundingthealarm]

Before You were even born, Christ had already paid your price....All Your Sins were future Tense and He Loved You Anyway

He Loves You soooo much that if He died for no one else He Died for YOU!!!! sometimes it's easier to believe He Hung on that Cross for someone else ....but He Had US in Mind!!!

His Love for YOU ...propelled him to willingly lay down his life...That's How Much He Loves BELLA

"For God so loved Bella that He gave His Only Begotten Son" Hear it that way!!!

Therefore there is Now NO CONDEMNATION to those Who are In Christ Jesus"

[mikhen7]

Bella,

By what standards do you wish you were a better Christian? The true gospel message does not bring one's countenance down, but rather it lifts one up. You seem to be down. Do you realize that when you gave your life to Christ that He was aware of all your shortcomings? Do you realize He knew that that there would be times you would struggle and not live as He desires?

I have posted this before but read this passage:

Luke 22:31-34,
31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.
32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me strengthen your brethren.”
33 But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.”
34 Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.”

Notice that even though Peter was an Apostle and a devout follower of Christ, Jesus still knew he would fail. Jesus knew he would deny Him 3 times. But He also knew Peter would return to Him. That is what marks the difference between a true believer and one who simply went through the motions. The fact that you feel sorrow in your heart about your past defections tells me you truly belong to Jesus; for you feel the sorrow that leads to repentance:

2 Corinthians 7:10
"For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation.."

Please read John. 21:7-19, in that passage you will see Jesus asking Peter 3 times if he loves Him. Just as Peter denied Christ 3 times, so Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him 3 times. I hope you can see the parallel.

You also need to realize your position, in Christ, as a believer. Please read below:

Eph. 1:3:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ."

Eph. 2:6:
"and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,"

Heb. 12:22:
"But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,"

The salvation you possess is something even Gods angels desire to look into,
1Pet. 1:12:
To them [the prophets of old] it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into."

2 Pet. 2:2-4;
"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

Paul was so excited about the relationship he had with Jesus that he was compelled or Constrained to teach the truth, like Jeremiah, he had a fire shut up in his bones, and he had to proclaim the liberating truth that results in our salvation,
2 Cor. 5:13-15:
For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
Remember you have been crucified with Christ it is Christ who lives in you,

Gal. 2:20:
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

Practice memorizing the truths in Gods promises.

Bella, God loves you very much. All you need to do is pray for His guidance and wait for Him to show you the purpose He has for your life. It does not make any difference to God the physical capacity we live with, what matters is our simple trusting faith.

Already, God has bestowed upon you His redeeming love.
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10).

Poiema is the Greek word used for workmanship. We get the word Poem from it.
Bella, You are a Poem to God. He has written the verses of your Christian life. They are being played out at this very moment. All you need to do is seek Him and He will give you the melody.

Do not let Satan get you down. Everyday is a new day with the Lord. We all start out the same. Bless God this day, by trusting in His promises.

God Bless.

[Bella]

Before You were even born, Christ had already paid your price....All Your Sins were future Tense and He Loved You Anyway

He Loves You soooo much that if He died for no one else He Died for YOU!!!! sometimes it's easier to believe He Hung on that Cross for someone else ....but He Had US in Mind!!!

His Love for YOU ...propelled him to willingly lay down his life...That's How Much He Loves BELLA

"For God so loved Bella that He gave His Only Begotten Son" Hear it that way!!!

Therefore there is Now NO CONDEMNATION to those Who are In Christ Jesus"

I know , thank you for reminding me ,How wonderful our lord is who gave us this gift even if we not deserve it

[Bella]

Bella,

By what standards do you wish you were a better Christian? The true gospel message does not bring one's countenance down, but rather it lifts one up. You seem to be down. Do you realize that when you gave your life to Christ that He was aware of all your shortcomings? Do you realize He knew that that there would be times you would struggle and not live as He desires?

I have posted this before but read this passage:

Luke 22:31-34,
31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.
32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me strengthen your brethren.”
33 But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.”
34 Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.”

Notice that even though Peter was an Apostle and a devout follower of Christ, Jesus still knew he would fail. Jesus knew he would deny Him 3 times. But He also knew Peter would return to Him. That is what marks the difference between a true believer and one who simply went through the motions. The fact that you feel sorrow in your heart about your past defections tells me you truly belong to Jesus; for you feel the sorrow that leads to repentance:

2 Corinthians 7:10
"For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation.."

Please read John. 21:7-19, in that passage you will see Jesus asking Peter 3 times if he loves Him. Just as Peter denied Christ 3 times, so Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him 3 times. I hope you can see the parallel.

You also need to realize your position, in Christ, as a believer. Please read below:

Eph. 1:3:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ."

Eph. 2:6:
"and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,"

Heb. 12:22:
"But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,"

The salvation you possess is something even Gods angels desire to look into,
1Pet. 1:12:
To them [the prophets of old] it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into."

2 Pet. 2:2-4;
"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

Paul was so excited about the relationship he had with Jesus that he was compelled or Constrained to teach the truth, like Jeremiah, he had a fire shut up in his bones, and he had to proclaim the liberating truth that results in our salvation,
2 Cor. 5:13-15:
For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
Remember you have been crucified with Christ it is Christ who lives in you,

Gal. 2:20:
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

Practice memorizing the truths in Gods promises.

Bella, God loves you very much. All you need to do is pray for His guidance and wait for Him to show you the purpose He has for your life. It does not make any difference to God the physical capacity we live with, what matters is our simple trusting faith.

Already, God has bestowed upon you His redeeming love.
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10).

Poiema is the Greek word used for workmanship. We get the word Poem from it.
Bella, You are a Poem to God. He has written the verses of your Christian life. They are being played out at this very moment. All you need to do is seek Him and He will give you the melody.

Do not let Satan get you down. Everyday is a new day with the Lord. We all start out the same. Bless God this day, by trusting in His promises.

God Bless.

thank you :) God bless you

[Andrei]

You know, Bella, sometimes I feel the same. Sometimes I feel like I don't live up to my Lord's expectations. There have been times when I could have witnessed to people, or given them a tract, but I didn't. I was either frightened to speak up, I couldn't find my words, or it just happened that I left my tracts at home.

Some time ago I thought about it, and then it hit me: I can make websites; why don't I make a website that presents the Gospel message? Perhaps the Lord will use it to bring people to salvation. So I made it and published it, but so far it doesn't have many visitors, if any (I'm not very good at making my websites searchable by search engines).

Maybe you could do the same, if you're skilled with the computer? Or just give away tracts! I usually leave a few in the shopping cart after doing groceries. I even left some in my neighbors' mailboxes - some of them got read, others got trashed, but what's important is I was faithful to the Lord and provided people His salvation message. It's not my fault if they rejected it, and it's not my merit if they accepted it.

We're instruments in God's hands, and He knows how to use us better than we do. I suggest you should pray about it, and wait for Him to open some doors for you.

*warm hug*

[Bella]

You know, Bella, sometimes I feel the same. Sometimes I feel like I don't live up to my Lord's expectations. There have been times when I could have witnessed to people, or given them a tract, but I didn't. I was either frightened to speak up, I couldn't find my words, or it just happened that I left my tracts at home.

Some time ago I thought about it, and then it hit me: I can make websites; why don't I make a website that presents the Gospel message? Perhaps the Lord will use it to bring people to salvation. So I made it and published it, but so far it doesn't have many visitors, if any (I'm not very good at making my websites searchable by search engines).

Maybe you could do the same, if you're skilled with the computer? Or just give away tracts! I usually leave a few in the shopping cart after doing groceries. I even left some in my neighbors' mailboxes - some of them got read, others got trashed, but what's important is I was faithful to the Lord and provided people His salvation message. It's not my fault if they rejected it, and it's not my merit if they accepted it.

We're instruments in God's hands, and He knows how to use us better than we do. I suggest you should pray about it, and wait for Him to open some doors for you.

*warm hug*

HI. thank you for great ideas . A web site or a blog might be something i could do,im often housebound and have lot of time to do it :) The lord can use us in different ways ,im sure hwe will show me his will

[mattfivefour]

Yes, Bella, soundingthealarm is correct. You are saved not by what YOU have done, but by what CHRIST has done.

Now, paradoxically, the fact that you so strongly feel yourself a failure and want so badly to be a better Christian is proof that you indeed belong to Christ. Those desires in you are the working of the Holy Spirit within you. As I have pointed out many times before on this site, Philippians 2:13 tells us that God is the One who works in us both to create the will to please Him and then to actually do the work of pleasing Him. Now this may confuse you and leave you wondering just what part YOU play. The answer is very simple. Your role is to submit to Him when He shows you things that are wrong. It is to sincerely and continually pray for God to change those things in yourself and to reckon in your mind that He will indeed change those things in answer to your prayers.

Too many people think that the Christian life is one you live by self-will and self-effort. It is not! Self-will and self-effort are of our self, not of the Spirit. As Paul said to the Galatian believers: "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit are you now made perfect by the Flesh? (Galatians 3:3) In other words, he is telling them (and the Holy Spirit is telling us) that just as we become Christians by the power of the Holy Spirit acting through the finished work of Christ on the Cross, so too we live as Christians. It is ALL of Him, and nothing of us.

If you want to become a better Christian, you will never become one by self-effort. You will only become one by surrendering every ability you have to Him and asking HIM to do the work in you. The more you prayerfully read His Word, the more you begin each day be prayerfully giving it to Him, telling Him that you know you are dead to self and alive in Christ, by asking Him to form a new heart in you, by asking Him to transform your mind, by asking Him to conform your will to His, then the closer you will find yourself drawing to Him. The closer you draw, the more the Holy Spirit is free to work His will in you, which in turn draws you closer, which in turn gives the Holy Spirit more freedom in you, etcetera etcetera. And it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit (not the fruit of your self effort which is a product of what we call "the flesh", or the "old man", or "old nature") ... it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit that brings forth the likeness of Christ in you— the fruit which manifests itself as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

So take this wonderful gift of unworthiness that the Holy Spirit has produced in you, recognize that it is there to encourage you to draw closer, and then seek to draw closer by daily reckoning yourself to be dead to all your own efforts, desires, and dreams and ask Him every day to work out His will in you. It is this alone that will bring to pass the true Christian walk. Any thing else will only produce failure or false piety. Self effort can only ever produce self-righteousness ... never the righteousness of God.

I hope this helps.

[Bella]

Yes, Bella, soundingthealarm is correct. You are saved not by what YOU have done, but by what CHRIST has done.

Now, paradoxically, the fact that you so strongly feel yourself a failure and want so badly to be a better Christian is proof that you indeed belong to Christ. Those desires in you are the working of the Holy Spirit within you. As I have pointed out many times before on this site, Philippians 2:13 tells us that God is the One who works in us both to create the will to please Him and then to actually do the work of pleasing Him. Now this may confuse you and leave you wondering just what part YOU play. The answer is very simple. Your role is to submit to Him when He shows you things that are wrong. It is to sincerely and continually pray for God to change those things in yourself and to reckon in your mind that He will indeed change those things in answer to your prayers.

Too many people think that the Christian life is one you live by self-will and self-effort. It is not! Self-will and self-effort are of our self, not of the Spirit. As Paul said to the Galatian believers: "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit are you now made perfect by the Flesh? (Galatians 3:3) In other words, he is telling them (and the Holy Spirit is telling us) that just as we become Christians by the power of the Holy Spirit acting through the finished work of Christ on the Cross, so too we live as Christians. It is ALL of Him, and nothing of us.

If you want to become a better Christian, you will never become one by self-effort. You will only become one by surrendering every ability you have to Him and asking HIM to do the work in you. The more you prayerfully read His Word, the more you begin each day be prayerfully giving it to Him, telling Him that you know you are dead to self and alive in Christ, by asking Him to form a new heart in you, by asking Him to transform your mind, by asking Him to conform your will to His, then the closer you will find yourself drawing to Him. The closer you draw, the more the Holy Spirit is free to work His will in you, which in turn draws you closer, which in turn gives the Holy Spirit more freedom in you, etcetera etcetera. And it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit (not the fruit of your self effort which is a product of what we call "the flesh", or the "old man", or "old nature") ... it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit that brings forth the likeness of Christ in you— the fruit which manifests itself as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

So take this wonderful gift of unworthiness that the Holy Spirit has produced in you, recognize that it is there to encourage you to draw closer, and then seek to draw closer by daily reckoning yourself to be dead to all your own efforts, desires, and dreams and ask Him every day to work out His will in you. It is this alone that will bring to pass the true Christian walk. Any thing else will only produce failure or false piety. Self effort can only ever produce self-righteousness ... never the righteousness of God.

I hope this helps.

thank you so much

[Zeblade]

AMEN soundingthealarm!.... God is trying to tell YOU something right there!

[anath]

It truly is ALL about Him. We are His vessels in which He works through us even with all our weaknesses and frailties. All we have to do is be willing, the Lord does the rest.

[Bella]

It truly is ALL about Him. We are His vessels in which He works through us even with all our weaknesses and frailties. All we have to do is be willing, the Lord does the rest.

Amen

[Meg]

To Bella, thank you for starting this thread. Your question brought out some really good answers.

To Mikhen7, this made a lot of sense to me:

That is what marks the difference between a true believer and one who simply went through the motions. The fact that you feel sorrow in your heart about your past defections tells me you truly belong to Jesus; for you feel the sorrow that leads to repentance:

2 Corinthians 7:10
"For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation.."

To Adrian, what you said makes a lot of sense too. I know I should know, but... I guess I got badly shaken by the truth about Beth Moore, Rick Warren, I hear John Piper has gone down, doubt has been credibly cast on one or two others I really used to respect. That kind of thing makes me wonder, really wonder how easy or possible is it to make a mess of things, and would I know if i was really blowing it?

[mattfivefour]

I think the problem with Warren et al is that pride took over. They began to be confident in themselves and their abilityiy to teach and preach. They had "heard from God" for so long that they began to imagine they walked in a special way before Him. I know. It is a very easy thing to slide into. It is one of the ways that Satan maneuvers a man of God into compomising or heretical situations. I myself am conscious that everything I post has to be right. And I am ever conscious that I am so inadequate in myself. I am terrified to teach error and I live in fear of overstepping what He has led me to. I constantly pray for His wisdom and His direction and constantly both question my own understandings and exercise faith that He will give me to teach what I am to teach. I further trust that only as He clearly gives me something and only as I ensure it is from Him by the fact that it matches ALL scripture do I dare open my mouth to speak.

Indeed there are times when I have begun to write an article—sometimes even completing an article—and the Holy Spirit says "No, that is not what I want you to say. That is not of Me." I instantly erase the whole thing ... even if I have spent hours of study in researching it and hours of writing explaining it.

It is a terrifying thing to say "Thus sayeth the Lord." He had better have said it ... or you are in serious trouble.

[Meg]

So they can start out good, and get seduced by their own fame? That makes more sense than denouncing everything some of them once said... Some people (Warren actually was one with the book we don't talk about...), and there have been a few others now on the apostasy list... Some of those guys preached sermons that really helped me get it together...

[myinnuendo999]

Bella, I can tell you from my walk with Christ that I'm sure I've disappointed Jesus and hurt our(with Jesus) --relationship more than you. I've struggled very deeply and painfully to return to my first love in Christ. I have destroyed areas in my life that make me weap bitterly because I WISH I knew then what I know NOW.

But Jesus is FAITHFUL and His Love is not earned merited or favored by us but it is HIS GRACE and His MERCY and it is ALL and I mean ALL because of JESUS whom we see redemption and value and HOPE. Why? because He loves US with HIS unfailing love.

I've learned one thing that I still have a hard time with. He loves us so much that In His great love he wants us to be more like His precious son and so he sees our wicked hearts all the way open-everything. WE don't. When we are saved, we think that we will never ever do anything wrong to Jesus. Little do we know that our hearts are so wicked and deceitful. If God were to reveal to us ALL that is there, I believe we could not stand it and be destroyed and crushed in a moment.

In order for us not to be crushed, in His wisdom he doesn't make us sinless but allows this to remain to mold us. And, in his tenderness and love he works with spiritual surgical hands of precision to remove what is called dross or impurities that are deeply engraved in our character which we are unaware of in our Christian walk. He slowly works it to the surface in His timing. Sometimes He allows us to make some decisions that cause us to drift away from Him. Sometimes for weeks, months or even years like the Prodical Son. He knows and this is called sanctification. We have to be weaned off some sinful impurities because they are very VERY painful and have many tentacles

When that dross is worked to the surface I believe that is when we are attacked by the devil and of course if we are weak and don't know God's word- the truth, we will be very susceptible to succumb to beating ourselves up as unworthy, no good and even question our faith in Christ -

This is the time to cling onto GOD and the TRUTH and to GROW in Christ who loves you so much and this is a huge test of our FAITH in the furnace because YOU are His Child and in order to prove you are indeed HIS Child, he turns up the heat in the form of various circumstances that draw you back to him --discipline. . HE Is ABLE----2Cr 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
This abounding is a result of God who is ABLE--working IN you and THROUGH YOU that proves YOU are indeed saved because there is no way you would have endured and come back to Christ if you were not saved.Why? Because Christ is living in YOU the Solid Anchor and Firm Foundation of your very soul-----When we see this we see that it IS God and that HOPE makes SURE that our faith IS genuine. May not see right now cause of mistaking all the pain you're going through with His loving arms drawing you back. Remember that His love is way above our level of love

True worship comes from a contrite and broken heart Lord you will not despise. Why because we LEARN who really loves us and who really is faithful and who is worthy--Jesus our King and Lord and Savior who is so gentle and humble in heart. He loves you more than you could possibly know. it takes God the Father's discipline and great knowledge to orchestrate this great pearl that started from that irritating grain of sand. Remember the truth--"WE LOVE BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US"


sorry if I've miss worded or misunderstood anything as sometimes I get caught up on substance over style

[Robert]

Dunno if I can add to all of the wise, godly counsel already posted here, Bella. But I'll try...


The things in our lives that we consider "disabilities" and "impairments" are not allowed in our lives by the Lord to hinder our service. Rather, they are allowed in our lives to demonstrate His glory and power as he works in us despite those limitations. They hinder our service FOR him, but NOT our service IN him.

Allow me to qualify that last sentence.

When we try to "serve" the Lord, we do so in our own power and we fail, because it is of our own will. We are trusting in our perceptions and skills, rather than his wisdom and strength that he gives us when we lean on Him alone. I am not saying we should not desire to serve him, but we should wait on him to move us before we embark, not stand there after the fact and listen for his approval.

Bella, NONE of us have it "all together" as christians; we all have areas that need improvement and areas that we are weak in. But God isn't looking for the most powerful, the most well-spoken, or the best looking. He is not seeking the agile, the clever or the glib.

He is seeking the humble, the willing and the trusting.

If I may share some scripture with you:

"When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:1-12, NASB, emphasis mine)

It isn't what you can offer the Lord, but that you are willing to follow him. God is looking for hearts, and you gave him yours.

[soundingthealarm]

"it's NOT Golden Vessels but rather Yielded or Willing Vessels"

"Here I am Lord, Send Me"

don't look at the gifts you don't have, but rather look at what you do have

I heard this story and it speaks to me so very loudly

there was this bible conference

and on the first day, there were three speaker's scheduled and the theme of the first day of the conference was the 23rd Psalms

each speaker was suppose to share "their take" on the passage

well the first minister was fresh out of bible college and had written the Psalm into a "cool hip hop" version and as he ministered his version through song an rap...all those in attendance..stood to their feet and and clapped and danced along

BUT following this young man's take of the psalm

they NEXT introduced a 90 year old ...."old time preacher"

he SLOWLY walked out ..with the aid of a cane and took the microphone ....

"Da Lord has always been my Shepherd, and even when I didn't have a nickel to change...I've never had to want....

when those hated me cuz the color of my skin, and a drink of water was afforded me not.. he calmed my soul for His name's sake"

the Church of God in Christ, Black Pentecostal preacher..shared his first hand account of what the 23rd Psalms had meant to his life

as he spoke, there was NOT a dry eye in the place

after he finished....he slowly walked ....cane in hand...off the stage

greeting him behind public view...was that young bible school graduate....."Pastor?........when I rapped the crowd broke into dance and jubilation, but you spoke and all the people broke....what was the difference?

"Young Man...you do know the Song....but how well do you really Know the Shepherd?"

[Bella]

Just want to say thank you to all of you,i feel much better now

[Meg]

And you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free. Truth defines our lives, defines our spirituality, defines ourselves.

It is a joy and a very deep privilege, first to be in Christ, and by extension, to be among other people who are also very genuinely in Christ as well. To every single person who contributed to this very important thread in particular, and to this precious forum in general, it is a great relief and a great privilege to share this journey with all of you. And it is the most stellar hope to look forward to entering Eternity among you.

In 2005, I was so hurt and so depressed that I was having trouble accepting the idea of living forever. It has taken a great expression of the Holy Spirit to finally bring me to a place where I can look forward to tomorrow's dawn with hope and anticipation. For the last several months, I hoped to be excused from the burden of opening my eyes to greet yet another dawn... I doubt most people realized that... To those who have prayed for me, I can't thank you enough. To those who have put up with me, I can't thank you enough. To Jesus Christ, deepest thanks of all. You people are the best, because you encourage the rest of us together to keep asking the deep questions and keep sharing the stunning answers we find in Jesus Christ, so that we all may make it through these incredibly difficult times together. Peace and deepest blessings to all then.

Thank you so much...