I'm sorry to have offended you, shittim and Scribe. I never intended to be a problem to anyone. Unless someone says something to the contrary, I am going to leave the site, since, as it is now, I am not doing either myself or, more importantly, anyone else, any good.
Hi Forlorn!
Obviously, you were affected by what that mentor told you regarding not seeing any fruits of the Spirit in you, which was wrong of him to do so. If anything, he was a stumbling block! You need to understand that He had no right to sit in the seat of the Holy Spirit.
As I made known to you, bearing fruit is a life-long process. It is the believer taking on the characteristics/nature of God as we continue from faith to faith. If you were to give up now, you would be doing exactly what Satan wanted by sending that man to you, which is to turn you away from your faith. Just fyi, neither you nor any other believer is worthy of salvation or eternal life. We were chosen by God to be made holy and to inherit eternal life through His Son, before the world even began. So, if you are basing your worthiness on your own efforts, then you are correct in that, you are not worthy. But if you are trusting in Christ as your righteousness, then you are worthy, because Christ is worthy whom you are believing in.
When God sees believers, He sees them through the spectacles of Christ. The Father sees the fulfillment of the law, His wrath for sin against us has been satisfied and righteous blood has been shed on our behalf. For scripture states that unless there is a shedding of blood there is no forgiveness for sins. Christ satisfied all of God's requirements, which is applied to those who believe in Him.
All that said, instead of leaving this site, you ought to stay for the fellowship and support. Things are going to take place in our lives that are going to try and knock us off our stand in faith. Always be on your guard for this, because these attempts may come through financial or physical or other life problems and all that to get you to stop trusting in Christ. We who are in Christ are to be prepared to be persecuted and even put to death while keeping our testimony of Christ. Therefore, everything else is less. Think about all that Job went through when His faith was being tested. Or Paul and the other disciples. Paul received 39 lashes five different times, beat with rods, stoned, ship wrecked, imprisoned. Was this because God was angry with him? No! It was because he was suffering for his faith in Christ. And we should always be prepared to do the same. So now, make up your mind to do the following:
"take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
Don't let what that man said or your own feelings knock you off your stand in faith, but be even more strengthened
