In need of some suggestions

I am in need of some suggestions on how to get the truth across to my sister. Her son once knew the Lord, attended church, prayed and helped out in church. He met a worldly woman, married her and left the church. He no longer attends any church. When she sends him scriptures or links to biblical testimonies he replies to her to stop sending him that "crap". He told my son that the things he prays for aren't given to him by the Lord so he he prays to Satan and asks for them. My sister and I got into a discussion over this and I made the comment that he is playing with fire and condemning himself to hell if he doesn't right himself. My sister believes that he will not get the things he prays to Satan for because the Lord will protect him from receiving them. I tried to tell her that Satan is a very deceptive influence and that he could possibly receive the things he asks Satan for so Satan can reel him in. She doesn't believe this. She feels that the Lord will protect him and not allow these things to happen. He knows right from wrong and he chooses to take the wrong path. How do I explain to her that the Lord does not force anyone to follow him and we all make our own choices and that Yes, Satan can reel him in even farther than he already has?

Like the old saying....You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make them drink! All you can do is pray, set a biblical example and minister the word when the opportunity presents itself......if you cram the word down his throat it will drive him further away.....sometimes....yea all the time, the best thing to do is let go and let God......if you catch my drift.

We sow the seed but only God gives the increase, we cannot
convince or convict anyone.

Pray, plant seed give testimony. But leave the rest to God.

By the way don’t underestimate the power of prayer it might not feel
like you are doing much but prayer is a powerful weapon.

Another powerful weapon is personal testimony of a life lived
with God at the helm. So pray have faith yourself, walk with
Jesus and move over so God can do His bit. It might take some
time, even years but it’s not your responsibility to save a person.
Only Jesus can do that.

Explain to her that God protects His sheep, even in the presence of evil.. Yeah, he may get burned but he'll also learn a lesson he won't soon forget either..

Hi Diane, has she stopped doing so since he asked her to stop? If not, I believe she needs to (as the Bible makes clear .. e.g. Matthew 7:6) and she should begin to pray for him instead.

The Bible is to be 1. believed or 2. not believed, not sullied, ridiculed or mocked, and whenever it is, we should both politely and abruptly stop the conversation we are having with the person(s) who are doing so (especially if, when asked, they do not stop doing so).

He sounds like an internet troll As such, I doubt he believes that Satan actually answers his prayers, rather, he sounds like someone who is making it his business to upset his mom (and perhaps you and other Christian family members, as well).

Unfortunately, the church is filled with "poser" Christians, both those who deceive others and/or those who are themselves deceived. I was such a person, in fact. I was baptized as an infant and grew up in the church, loved it (for the most part), and attended and participated regularly through college (when I headed out into the world ). I always 'thought' I was a Christian, of course (why wouldn't I have), until the day I actually became one, 2 months after my 30th birthday. That's when EVERYTHING changed

That said, the Lord makes it clear that there will be always be many "posers" in church, to the end of the age, in fact .. Matthew 7:22-23, 13:24-30, 36-43, and the Apostle also tells us what it means when someone leaves the faith like your nephew did .. 1 John 2:19.

So, my advice is, first and foremost, begin to pray daily for his (and her) salvation, and then secondly, to always be there for them as the best "Christians" you can be (in deed at least, as using words, for now, does not seem possible). This way, if/when the Lord presents you with the opportunity to speak again in the future, your words will carry much more weight with them than they do now.

~Deut

Hi Diane, the carnal mind does not 'get it'. For your nephew and perhaps your sister, the message of the Cross is still foolishness. I couldn't tell if you sister has faith in Christ in your original post. Here's the deal. I've seen the Holy Spirit work with the question "How do you know God hasn't brought you to this point in your life so you would turn to Him". Just a thought. Let the Holy Spirit work. Perhaps you nephew is too flesh-driven, too me-me-me, to get that we are all here to serve the will of the Father. From your message, it seems seeds have been planted in him. Perhaps you could find your nephew opportunities to serve and receive blessing. The greatest among you is the servant of the others. He will feel the blessing. Life is not for getting, it is for giving. Then there is JOY, and certainty of purpose.

People have free will and nobody can force another person to change or even force them to see the true light. All we can really do is witness. I find a lot of perople who go away from Yah do so because they don;t really beleive, so showing proof of Scriptual prophecy come true, proof t hatmiracolous events recorded in the Scriptre are true and the thoughts of how are we here and what comes after this... These to me are a few things that can shine ligth that He is real. But bottom line each has to make their own choice, in judgment we are responsible for the choices we make, none can make a choice for us.

@DianeM1965
If you've already shown her then drop it. A common issue with Christians is the need to make people see their views. Many Christians see only the moment and forget that life and growth is a journey.
Right now this is where your sisters at, maybe she'll change, maybe not. But even if she does it doesn't have to be on your time. Let her journey be hers. Not yours.

Hi Diane, your nephew reminds me of a portion of the life of the prophet Jonah:

Jonah decided that he was going to flee from God's direction. One can imagine the shoreline slowly receding and disappearing as Jonah was thinking that his plan to disregard God's plan was working. But suddenly, the weather changed. Strong winds churned up the sea into a nightmarish rage, with waves that might dwarf even modern-day vessels. Jonah later wrote—that “God himself hurled forth a great wind at the sea.” He saw, though, that the mariners began crying out to their various gods, and he knew that no help would come from that direction. His account says: “As for the ship, it was about to be wrecked.” (Jonah 1:4; Leviticus 19:4)

Feeling powerless to help, Jonah went below the deck of the ship and found a place to lie down. There, he went fast asleep. The captain found Jonah, woke him up, and urged him to pray to his god, as everyone else was doing. Convinced that there was something supernatural about this storm, the seamen cast lots to see which of the people on board might be the cause of their trouble. No doubt Jonah’s heart sank as the lots eliminated one man after another. Soon the truth was plain: God was directing the storm, as well as the lots, toward one man: Jonah!—Jonah 1:5-7.

Jonah told the sailors everything. He was a servant of the almighty God. This was the God he was running from and had offended, putting them all in this terrible danger. The men were aghast; Jonah could see the terror in their eyes. They asked him what they should do to him in order to save the ship and their lives. Jonah may have shuddered to think of himself drowning in that cold, wild sea. But how could he send all these men to such a death when he knew he could save them. So he said: “Lift me up and hurl me into the sea, and the sea will become still for you; because I am aware that it is on my account that this great tempest is upon you.”—Jonah 1:12.

We all know the ending of this Bible story and it is a happy one; may your nephew at some point also find spiritual restoration when he realizes that running away from God is not possible!

Dave

1 Peter 3:15 But set apart יהוה Elohim in your hearts, and always be ready to give an answer to everyone asking you a reason concerning the expectation that is in you, with meekness and fear,"

Thank you all for your words and suggestions. I truly appreciate each one. God bless you all.

Prayer. People still have free will but we can pray for them, and Yahshua is our High Priest, Yahshua is there to make intercession on our behalf;

Hebrews 7:24-25,"but He, because He remains forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save completely those who draw near to יהוה through Him, ever living to make intercession for them."

James 5:14-18,14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, having anointed him with oil in the Name of the Master."15 And the prayer of the belief shall save the sick, and the Master shall raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he shall be forgiven."16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, so that you are healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous one accomplishes much."17 Ěliyahu was a man with feelings like us, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain. And it did not rain on the land for three years and six months."18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the land brought forth its fruit."

Every good thing comes from the Father. The devil was a murderer from the beginning. All he seeks is to kill, steal and destroy. I pray this truth manifests itself sooner rather than later with your nephew.

I wouldn't take that road. You're asking the wrong questions.

Instead ask him with compassion what he prayed for but did not receive. obviously he's being immature about it, but he is in pain about something. He's using jokes and anger to cover it up.

He has cut off the family and won't speak to any of us anymore. My post expressed concerns for my sister also. She doesn't believe that the Lord will allow her son to be tempted by Satan. She says the Lord will protect him. I pray for them both. Both are lost at this time.

You need to pray that God will do what ever is necessary to bring them to a saving knowledge of Christ. Give them over to God to search them out and make them face their sinfulness.

Are you willing to give them over to God to bring great tribulation if that will bring them to Christ?

For the cause of Christ
Roger

I would suggest talking about faith as to where it comes from and who it is in respect to as the unseen.

Remember as it is written represent the beliefs of God that he reveals to us . The word it represents the key that the gates of hell could never prevail against.

When the Son of man was given a vison of all the kingdoms of this world .Three times he replied as it is written and the devil did flee.

Keep looking up, we can pray.

There is a story called the prodigal son.

The best thing for you to is to remain strong in your faith, loving, and hopeful.

Sometimes people turn away from Jesus, but he is waiting for their return after realizing that the end of the path that they have chosen leads to emptiness.

We must be ready to welcome them back with open arms as a loving father would.

Whether they return or not cannot be known.

But we must keep ourselves strong for them to have something to return to.

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