Trying to find my way..

[aimlesslyguided]

Hello all,

I just joined this community as I thought this could be a good place for guidance. In short, I’m struggling with my faith. I feel a pull toward Christ. I was raised in a semi-religious household. I say semi, because we were Christian and I was raised Catholic. We did not strictly follow the Bible though. I also attended a Catholic school for a good portion of my childhood. I consider myself Christian when brought up in conversation. I attend church, albeit not as often as I should. I try to guide my children toward the word of God and teach them about Christ.

I’ve read the bible, at least portions of it. I have a perspective of what it takes to follow the word. With that being said, it could be wrong and misguided. I struggle with some of the lessons in the bible. The primary struggle I have is what’s written against what I perceive to be realistic from a scientific or biological perspective. For example, in Genesis with the incredibly long lifespans of the early patriarchs. This is just one specific example, there are others.

I want to be a good Christian. I want to be a true believer in the word of God. I also don’t want to feel like I’m faking my belief. That feels like a betrayal to my faith and God.

Has anyone struggled with this?

Thanks
Jeff

 

[GRACE_ambassador]

I just joined this community as I thought this could be a good place for guidance.

Precious friend Jeff, A Very Warm Welcome to 'Chat.' I will pray for you.

Please check the comment your profile page = may be the "guidance" you are seeking.

Grace And Peace!

ChrisE

 

[faithlife]

Hi aimlesslyguided glad you are joining us, welcome to the fellowship at CC! To your point, there are many things in the Bible that can be explained by this Isaiah 55:8-9, where God declares, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways... As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts," emphasizing His infinite wisdom and plans are far beyond human understanding, a core message for trusting divine guidance. I found that excerpt and think it's pretty good. We trust in His Love and thus trust in His ways, He is a good good Father. Have a blessed New Year, God bless you and yours

 

[aimlesslyguided]

Precious friend Jeff, A Very Warm Welcome to 'Chat.' I will pray for you.

Please check the comment your profile page = may be the "guidance" you are seeking.

Grace And Peace!

ChrisE

Thank you. It appears I have much to learn on my journey. I appreciate you taking the time to catalogue this and sharing it with me. I found value in this knowledge.

Hi aimlesslyguided glad you are joining us, welcome to the fellowship at CC! To your point, there are many things in the Bible that can be explained by this Isaiah 55:8-9, where God declares, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways... As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts," emphasizing His infinite wisdom and plans are far beyond human understanding, a core message for trusting divine guidance. I found that excerpt and think it's pretty good. We trust in His Love and thus trust in His ways, He is a good good Father. Have a blessed New Year, God bless you and yours

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate this comment.

 

[Bingo]

Each shall find their own path, and likely no two shall be alike.
Spiritual discipline is a daily challenge, and this I have learned over the past two-plus decades.

 

[JPPT1974]

Praying for you to really grow in your walk with Christ. BTW welcome to the forums. Feel free to post!

 

[Gideon300]

Hello all,

I just joined this community as I thought this could be a good place for guidance. In short, I’m struggling with my faith. I feel a pull toward Christ. I was raised in a semi-religious household. I say semi, because we were Christian and I was raised Catholic. We did not strictly follow the Bible though. I also attended a Catholic school for a good portion of my childhood. I consider myself Christian when brought up in conversation. I attend church, albeit not as often as I should. I try to guide my children toward the word of God and teach them about Christ.

I’ve read the bible, at least portions of it. I have a perspective of what it takes to follow the word. With that being said, it could be wrong and misguided. I struggle with some of the lessons in the bible. The primary struggle I have is what’s written against what I perceive to be realistic from a scientific or biological perspective. For example, in Genesis with the incredibly long lifespans of the early patriarchs. This is just one specific example, there are others.

I want to be a good Christian. I want to be a true believer in the word of God. I also don’t want to feel like I’m faking my belief. That feels like a betrayal to my faith and God.

Has anyone struggled with this?

Thanks
Jeff

There is a vast amount of information that can help with intellectual issues. For example, exceptionally long lifespans. This was true of the first people. This changed after the world wide flood that transformed the world totally, and not for the better. It is reasonably clear that there was no rain before the flood. According to some scholars, this meant that there was a lot more water vapour in the atmosphere that reduced the intensity of cosmic radiation. It may be that the ozone layer was denser and offered more protection.

Radiation is destructive to living cells. I'm 74 and I've had a couple of small skin cancers removed. I'm paying the price for my younger days where I loved the sun.

God is not to be known merely by intellect. I've had many discussions with unbelievers, answering their objections. It does not matter to them. There is always one more objection.

Stay with what we do know. Jesus was a real Person who lived on this earth 2,000 years ago or so. He did amazing miracles He was crucified by his enemies, buried in a tomb and rose from the dead. You can go to Israel and see the places where these events took place. The question is, why did Jesus die and rise again?

My suggestion is that you read the gospel of John. It was written so that we might believe. We need to be born again before we can truly comprehend the things of God. For example, if you look at chapter 3, you will find a conversation between Jesus and a leading Jew of the time, Nicodemus. Nicodemus was blown away. And often we also struggle to understand. But God knows that. So He gives us His truth so that we can believe.

Ask God to help you. He's more than happy to reveal Himself to those who genuinely want to know.

 

[HealthAndHappiness]

Hello all,

I just joined this community as I thought this could be a good place for guidance. In short, I’m struggling with my faith. I feel a pull toward Christ. I was raised in a semi-religious household. I say semi, because we were Christian and I was raised Catholic. We did not strictly follow the Bible though. I also attended a Catholic school for a good portion of my childhood. I consider myself Christian when brought up in conversation. I attend church, albeit not as often as I should. I try to guide my children toward the word of God and teach them about Christ.

I’ve read the bible, at least portions of it. I have a perspective of what it takes to follow the word. With that being said, it could be wrong and misguided. I struggle with some of the lessons in the bible. The primary struggle I have is what’s written against what I perceive to be realistic from a scientific or biological perspective. For example, in Genesis with the incredibly long lifespans of the early patriarchs. This is just one specific example, there are others.

I want to be a good Christian. I want to be a true believer in the word of God. I also don’t want to feel like I’m faking my belief. That feels like a betrayal to my faith and God.

Has anyone struggled with this?

Thanks
Jeff

Hello Jeff,

Seek and ye shall find.
Ask and it shall be given you.

This is your special day because I have the answer as described simply in God's Word.
We share a similar background. My Mom was my Sunday School teacher at the local RC church.
Feel free to ask if you have a question.
I hope you receive the blessing Jeff.

 

[Levib]

Hello all,

I just joined this community as I thought this could be a good place for guidance. In short, I’m struggling with my faith. I feel a pull toward Christ. I was raised in a semi-religious household. I say semi, because we were Christian and I was raised Catholic. We did not strictly follow the Bible though. I also attended a Catholic school for a good portion of my childhood. I consider myself Christian when brought up in conversation. I attend church, albeit not as often as I should. I try to guide my children toward the word of God and teach them about Christ.

I’ve read the bible, at least portions of it. I have a perspective of what it takes to follow the word. With that being said, it could be wrong and misguided. I struggle with some of the lessons in the bible. The primary struggle I have is what’s written against what I perceive to be realistic from a scientific or biological perspective. For example, in Genesis with the incredibly long lifespans of the early patriarchs. This is just one specific example, there are others.

I want to be a good Christian. I want to be a true believer in the word of God. I also don’t want to feel like I’m faking my belief. That feels like a betrayal to my faith and God.

Has anyone struggled with this?

Thanks
Jeff

Increase your knowledge of God or Science. They both point to the same source - Truth.

 

[lisatanner]

welcome.

 

[aimlesslyguided]

I want to thank you all for the wisdom. God bless.

 

[Magenta]

Welcome!

 

[Magenta]

I just joined this community as I thought this could be a good place for guidance. In short, I’m struggling with my faith.

^ Gospel of John is often recommended as a great place to start reading the Bible.
This movie is a word-for-Word portrayal of John's gospel.

Also, please check out the Alpha Course.

There are 10 videos total, answering a lot of questions about faith, Christianity historically and in the modern
world, the estate of man, and God's design for humans. I hope you watch them. They could benefit you greatly .

 

[Tex_MidwesternerNW]

Dear sister in Christ,

Your story is moving and relatable. Being that I have struggled with committing to worship, I can empathize about making considerations in terms of a prayer life.

I would like to encourage your faith in scripture, dear sister! The Holy Bible is always trustworthy, always and eternally near you, and will not lead you to question your loyalty to the Father.

The Word of Christ is especially, profoundly important. I read the New Living Translation when I need Jesus to talk to me very slowly and clearly. His Word is inscribed using the red ink, so that the characters leap off the page. And when I need to understand the Lord even more carefully, I read the King James Version.

My background is Confessional Lutheran, though I was a member of a Presbyterian church for some years when I lived in Texas. I am giving careful attention to the cost of following Jesus in my own life, since he requires me to live righteously in faith.

Grace and peace

 

[ResidentAlien]

Hello all,

I just joined this community as I thought this could be a good place for guidance. In short, I’m struggling with my faith. I feel a pull toward Christ. I was raised in a semi-religious household. I say semi, because we were Christian and I was raised Catholic. We did not strictly follow the Bible though. I also attended a Catholic school for a good portion of my childhood. I consider myself Christian when brought up in conversation. I attend church, albeit not as often as I should. I try to guide my children toward the word of God and teach them about Christ.

I’ve read the bible, at least portions of it. I have a perspective of what it takes to follow the word. With that being said, it could be wrong and misguided. I struggle with some of the lessons in the bible. The primary struggle I have is what’s written against what I perceive to be realistic from a scientific or biological perspective. For example, in Genesis with the incredibly long lifespans of the early patriarchs. This is just one specific example, there are others.

I want to be a good Christian. I want to be a true believer in the word of God. I also don’t want to feel like I’m faking my belief. That feels like a betrayal to my faith and God.

Has anyone struggled with this?

Thanks
Jeff

Hi, welcome to the forum. Don't overthink things; you don't have to understand everything in the Bible to have a solid faith. What's really necessary is to trust in the Lord. He'll reveal things to you when you're ready. Just concentrate on doing those things that are simple to understand: loving God and loving your neighbors, for example.

"Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3

 

[andy700700]

2 Corinthians 5:7
New International Version
7 For we live by faith, not by sight.

2 Timothy 3:16-17
New International Version
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Matthew 13
New International Version
13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[a]
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

 

[Adstar]

Hello all,

I just joined this community as I thought this could be a good place for guidance. In short, I’m struggling with my faith. I feel a pull toward Christ. I was raised in a semi-religious household. I say semi, because we were Christian and I was raised Catholic. We did not strictly follow the Bible though. I also attended a Catholic school for a good portion of my childhood. I consider myself Christian when brought up in conversation. I attend church, albeit not as often as I should. I try to guide my children toward the word of God and teach them about Christ.

I’ve read the bible, at least portions of it. I have a perspective of what it takes to follow the word. With that being said, it could be wrong and misguided. I struggle with some of the lessons in the bible. The primary struggle I have is what’s written against what I perceive to be realistic from a scientific or biological perspective. For example, in Genesis with the incredibly long lifespans of the early patriarchs. This is just one specific example, there are others.

I want to be a good Christian. I want to be a true believer in the word of God. I also don’t want to feel like I’m faking my belief. That feels like a betrayal to my faith and God.

Has anyone struggled with this?

Thanks
Jeff

Hello and welcome to CC..

I was born into a catholic family, a very devout one.. But as a result of having some discussions on religion with a work friend i received a Bible and for the first time in my life i read it.. All of it.. In the end i became a Bible believing Christian and i left the catholic church..

I would encourage you to get a Bible and spend time going through it.. New Testament First and then the Old Testament.. I suggest you get a New King James Bible..

As for the long life spans of the first humans i have no problems with that.. And as far as i can see the spans of their lives slowly reduced over time.. I wonder why you have problems with the longevity of the early human beings.. if God wanted a rapid increase in population then causing humans to live much longer ( meaning they would be physically younger for longer thus fertile for longer to have more children ) is logical..

In any case. I am always happy to get down to specifics on any Biblical issue you wish to talk about..

 

[Tex_MidwesternerNW]

Are Catholics generally considered all to be Gentiles? Are most Catholic members from the tribe of Abraham? I wonder. Do these ideas conflict?

 

[Gideon300]

Are Catholics generally considered all to be Gentiles? Are most Catholic members from the tribe of Abraham? I wonder. Do these ideas conflict?

Abraham was Chaldean. God made him the founder of the nation of Israel and the 12 tribes. Catholicism has nothing to do with it.

 

[Tex_MidwesternerNW]

Abraham was Chaldean. God made him the founder of the nation of Israel and the 12 tribes. Catholicism has nothing to do with it.

As a Gentile descendant, I would say that being part of Abraham's lineage would be known to me and I would know that I am not from a Gentile lineage. I cannot say my understanding of Romans permits me to be judged accountable only to the Law given to Moses, but that His Word intercedes for me by the holy Catholic Church.