gerbilwoman
Member
Thank you, I really appreciate it.gerbilgirl, precious daughter of our Father and our precious sister.
I mentioned Jacob above and the following is from Genesis.
Genesis 32:24-29
Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”
But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”
So He said to him, “What is your name?”
He said, “Jacob.”
And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.”
And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there.
What is interesting is v30
Genesis 32:30
Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.”
Notice how Jacob admits that he saw God face to face and acknowledged that at any point in time God could have taken him out, yet he acknowledges that God spared him.
So there could be two equations here. One being that God went easy on Jacob and the other being that God actually gave him the strength to wrestle with him. God sets limits and will test us to those limits but he will never take us beyond those limits. He will give us the strength. I don't think he minds us wrestling with him, questioning him and his ways and what's going on in our life. When we do that he can deal with us, when we don't he can't.
You posted in prayers please. I won't quote it here but what I observed from your post is that you are struggling with something that you define as sinning, that you don't know how to stop and that you don't want God to hate you, that you don't want us to judge you and really want to stop.
Forgive me if I am wrong but I possibly think you are questioning your faith as a result of you acknowledging your sin, not being released from it, the fearing judgment from God and fellow believers. If we carry such a heavy burden it's no wonder we will question our faith, is God real, is Jesus who he has said he is.
Truth is you have already been judged. When Jesus died on the cross the world and sin was judged and laid on Jesus.
The Holy Spirit came to convict the world of its sin, that sin is unbelief in him.
John 16:8-9
And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.
I see from you that you have been convicted of your sin of unbelief and repented of that. Placed your faith in Jesus.
If you hadn't you wouldn't be posting here and asking for prayer.
When we placed our faith in Jesus the Holy Spirit came in and the purpose was as a deposit of our inheritance of everlasting life with God, who promised to remove our sins/lawless deeds as far as the East is from the West.
Furthermore he is our helper, he will help us overcome the flesh and give us hope in doing so. We can try to stop as much as we want and we won't be able to do it, we may be able to do so for a while but in doing so really struggle. This can make us question our faith.
My quick testimony. I struggled with a severe gambling problem for 30 odd years, I questioned whether God was real and Jesus who he says he is. I TRIED TO STOP TO PLEASE GOD.
When I realised that I was trying to please God who was already pleased with me, that because of my faith in Jesus but because I was trying to stop gambling on my own to please him then my focus was wrong.
Eventually I had to hold my hands up, say "I can't do it, I need you so much help me to give my burden up to you and give me your burden which is light"
When I realised that God loves me warts and all because of my faith in Jesus I was then able to be honest and honour God by asking for help.
That was 5 years ago and I've not gambled since, not even had an urge to.
I hope this helps.
I just want you to know the following.
God loves you as much as he loves Jesus.
He will never leave you or forsake you.
You are the apple of his eye.
Your sin has been judged.
He remembers your sins no more.
You have been given the Holy Spirit as a deposit of your inheritance, to help you and remind you of the 5 lines above.
Heavenly Father may our sister know the truth. The truth that sets us free. I pray her focus will be on you and not her sins as she sees them. I thank you for a conscious that knows right from wrong and we pray in the name of Jesus for freedom in her life. Reveal any lies and deception and replace it with truth.
