hi everyone
i need your thoughts and prayers, seriously!!!
I have been getting to know God for a couple of years now and only recently become amember of Christs church after a very long struggle!!!
Prior to knowing God and Christ Jesus in my life I lived a life of deep sin, alcohol a drug misuse, lying, cheating, manipulating and most importantly living a homosexual lifestyle, which i know from scriptures is so very wrong - but since coming to Christ I have been releaved of desires as such, but am alone and struggling to find the strength to come to fellowship with fellow followers of Christ as i am so scared of opening up to people, but yet I know that finding fellowship with fellow Christians will help!!!
I feel so lost and need help!!!
Dalan-ranna,
My hope is that your feeling of being alone or somehow not part of the body of believers is due to having to explain your sins which have been wiped clean.
1 Cor 6:11 “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Heb 10:22 “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”
2 Pe 1:9 “But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.”
Heb 8:12 “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Jer 31:34 “…....For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
Isa 43:25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.”
Like me and many believers, who can attest to, if asked, in honesty and knowledge of scripture. We have been breakers of probably every commandment at one time or another before repenting and accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. Being born again, doesn’t mean we continue to rehash old news. Now unless you’re attending an AA meeting where you need to stand up and say “hi my name is Dalan-ranna and I used to be a homosexual”. Do you think that fellowshipping with other believers requires you to say “Hi, I’m Christ4Ever, and I’m a lying, adultery, thieving, idolater”, “want to fellowship?” Why allow yourself to cling to a sin that is yours no longer? Do you think you need to “come clean” (confess) to me or any believer your past transgressions, just so you feel like you’ve been fully honest to folks before breaking bread? If so then read again the above scriptures. Why hold on to something that God does not? Satan works on you that way. Sins of the flesh are particularly difficult to put behind us, because the minute we feel that we’ve put it behind us, Satan will present a situation where you’ll be reminded of it! That does not mean you can’t use your experiences to help others when you see the need, but that’s not a prerequisite to fellowshipping. When it becomes such a burden to you, remember, you turn to the one who can protect you, that is your tower to run to (Prov 18:10), who will do battle for you! Psalm 143 provides a comfort to me, for it shows that I can come to God when beset by enemies. Romans Chapter 8 can help you with some understanding of Life through the Spirit, Future Glory, and that we’re more than Conquerors!
I pray that you may be comforted in the knowledge, truth of His word and that you are not alone! If not only by His word, then believe by the words of brothers & sisters who have posted here in answer to your plea. Praying for you bro.