Emptiness

[LoveAnna]

I am empty. The world is empty. Spending time with God in prayer and Bible reading/study is the only thing that gives me any peace. But when I leave that place of safety, it doesn't take long for the empty hopeless feeling to rush back.

I have a masters degree in pastoral counseling. I love what I studied. For 20 years I felt God calling me to be a pastor, and I had no idea how to do it. I never stay in a church very long. I see cold hearted people in churches. Most of the time they ask me to leave, because I fail in one way or another, or I am so empty and needy I expect them to love me like Christ does, and they just can't. As I just thought, I guess they can't. But we should be able to. If He lives in us, it is not we who are supposed to be doing the living, but Christ is to live in us.

I struggle with sin because I cannot walk the sinless life alone. Galatians 6:1 says (from memory so maybe one or 2 words are not exactly correct) "If any brother is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual, restore him, with a spirit of humility lest you also be taken." Verse 2 says it even better. "BEAR ONE ANOTHER'S BURDENS AND IN SO FULFILL THE LAW OF CHRIST." Not once in my life has a Christian ever practiced this verse. One Church told me that I didn't have a good arguement that they were not loving me, because that was my only problem with them.

You may have seen me in the lounge saying this. Love is dead in the Body of Christ. We are all lukewarm for Jesus. I know it. One strong point I have for this is... if you see that I say these things, why won't you walk with me?

One person here sent me to an online ministry that would help me stop my sin. Only after 2 days of posting to that course, I was told to enroll in another course. All this mentor would have had to do is offer to walk with me, but he would not. I guess I am to empty and hopeless for another christian to love. I am sorry for draining the "Body" of Christ. Please forgive me. I may post again or reply to someone else on this (equally loveless "Christian") system again occationally. I am completely confident that whoever you are who is reading this, you may feel some sort of compassion, and move on. Thanks for???

God bless you

 

[sandtigeress]

I am empty. The world is empty. Spending time with God in prayer and Bible reading/study is the only thing that gives me any peace. But when I leave that place of safety, it doesn't take long for the empty hopeless feeling to rush back.

Emptyness is regrettable sometimes part of our lives.
I do not know how we can best fill it. I sometimes fill it by coming here and listening (reading) and talking (posting) to you all.

I have a masters degree in pastoral counseling. I love what I studied. For 20 years I felt God calling me to be a pastor, and I had no idea how to do it. I never stay in a church very long. I see cold hearted people in churches. Most of the time they ask me to leave, because I fail in one way or another, or I am so empty and needy I expect them to love me like Christ does, and they just can't. As I just thought, I guess they can't. But we should be able to. If He lives in us, it is not we who are supposed to be doing the living, but Christ is to live in us.

I struggle with sin because I cannot walk the sinless life alone. Galatians 6:1 says (from memory so maybe one or 2 words are not exactly correct) "If any brother is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual, restore him, with a spirit of humility lest you also be taken." Verse 2 says it even better. "BEAR ONE ANOTHER'S BURDENS AND IN SO FULFILL THE LAW OF CHRIST." Not once in my life has a Christian ever practiced this verse. One Church told me that I didn't have a good arguement that they were not loving me, because that was my only problem with them.

Are you shure ? Not always we see when someone talkes on part of burden. Excpecially when that person(s) is/are shy and
may only pray. There are phases in our lives, where we do not see the love and friendship offered, because we
exspect it to come in a special understandable way.
For example I am shure that many here, will [only] pray for you and only some will think they may have answers for you.
We are all struggling in our lives and sometimes it is difficult to understand for some people, when the one struggling is the
pastor and that he needs as much help, love and encouragement, than anyone else.

As for the sin all I can say is : "Go forward and sin no more"
For the sin, it is always possible to go to god, and ask to be wiped clean. Excuses, no matter, how understandable are
not what god wants from us.

You may have seen me in the lounge saying this. Love is dead in the Body of Christ. We are all lukewarm for Jesus. I know it. One strong point I have for this is... if you see that I say these things, why won't you walk with me?

dear LoveAnna, we all walk with you, because we all walk together with jesus.
The obstaccales we face may differ, but the way, the way, where we are going, that we go together.

One person here sent me to an online ministry that would help me stop my sin. Only after 2 days of posting to that course, I was told to enroll in another course. All this mentor would have had to do is offer to walk with me, but he would not. I guess I am to empty and hopeless for another christian to love. I am sorry for draining the "Body" of Christ. Please forgive me. I may post again or reply to someone else on this (equally loveless "Christian") system again occationally. I am completely confident that whoever you are who is reading this, you may feel some sort of compassion, and move on. Thanks for???

I do not know, your kind of sin (having not read anything other posting of you). I do crtainly feel compassion
and I know that loveless christian is an oximoron. We are loved by our god unendlingly and we may give that love
on to our fellow persons.
Sometimes we are just too scared and heartbroken to fully emesh into that. But god can help, even in the
times, when we give up hope on our fellow man.

God bless you

Thank you for the Blessing

 

[Toska]

I am so sorry you are feeling this way. I am glad that you are still in the Word and that it brings peace to you. You are not too empty for other Christians to love. You are my brother in Christ and I love you. Most of all, Christ loves you more than any of us can even comprehend. I am a new Christian and I am not lukewarm for Him. He is my everything and I love Him so much. He has brought so many wonderful changes to my life. You are not alone. There are a lot of "red hot" Christians here who are bursting with love for Him and would love to be a friend to you, me included. I hope you post again, I will be looking for you. God Bless.

 

[Ecclesiastik]

I am empty. The world is empty. Spending time with God in prayer and Bible reading/study is the only thing that gives me any peace. But when I leave that place of safety, it doesn't take long for the empty hopeless feeling to rush back.

I have a masters degree in pastoral counseling. I love what I studied. For 20 years I felt God calling me to be a pastor, and I had no idea how to do it. I never stay in a church very long. I see cold hearted people in churches. Most of the time they ask me to leave, because I fail in one way or another, or I am so empty and needy I expect them to love me like Christ does, and they just can't. As I just thought, I guess they can't. But we should be able to. If He lives in us, it is not we who are supposed to be doing the living, but Christ is to live in us.

I struggle with sin because I cannot walk the sinless life alone. Galatians 6:1 says (from memory so maybe one or 2 words are not exactly correct) "If any brother is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual, restore him, with a spirit of humility lest you also be taken." Verse 2 says it even better. "BEAR ONE ANOTHER'S BURDENS AND IN SO FULFILL THE LAW OF CHRIST." Not once in my life has a Christian ever practiced this verse. One Church told me that I didn't have a good arguement that they were not loving me, because that was my only problem with them.

You may have seen me in the lounge saying this. Love is dead in the Body of Christ. We are all lukewarm for Jesus. I know it. One strong point I have for this is... if you see that I say these things, why won't you walk with me?

One person here sent me to an online ministry that would help me stop my sin. Only after 2 days of posting to that course, I was told to enroll in another course. All this mentor would have had to do is offer to walk with me, but he would not. I guess I am to empty and hopeless for another christian to love. I am sorry for draining the "Body" of Christ. Please forgive me. I may post again or reply to someone else on this (equally loveless "Christian") system again occationally. I am completely confident that whoever you are who is reading this, you may feel some sort of compassion, and move on. Thanks for???

God bless you

What is hindering you? Is it the sin?

 

[nimbus3852]

The stronger the emphasis on doctrine, the less love.

Consider the Willow Creek model, get involved in a non-teaching capacity.

I'm here if you want to talk more.

 

[Nancyer]

My prayers are with you, my friend. Let me assure you, everyone is not lukewarm for Christ, there are those who are on fire for Christ. I can't say I am on fire, but I am more than lukewarm. Real Christians do love you and so does God, which is the only one who really matters anyway.

I too feel the most peace when I'm in the Word but I don't let that peace leave me when I close my Bible. Reminders work well, keeping scriptures around you like signs, posters, notes, etc. of God's love.

Bless you, my friend, May God send you peace abundantly, the peace that surpasses all understanding.

 

[Simona25]

I am empty. The world is empty. Spending time with God in prayer and Bible reading/study is the only thing that gives me any peace. But when I leave that place of safety, it doesn't take long for the empty hopeless feeling to rush back.

The fact that the world seems empty is a conclusion to the fact that you feel empty. Something must be wrong in your zeal to read the Bible and pray and your lazyness in living your life (this applies to me also, please don`t feel judged). We overthink everything and we intelectualise faith, which makes our souls empty. We need faith to irrigate our hope and love for the others. If we only content ourselves to read the gospels and give beautiful speeches in order to compensate the lack of works, then our faith is dead. We need to pray to Jesus Christ to transform our hearts, to give us light and most important to love the otherone.

Let`s not forget that loving the otherone is not an advice, but a commendement; it means that it`s not something easy to do. We need hope and we must stop analysing the others, stop expecting the others to raise themselves to our self-imagined level of love. When Jesus Christ tell us that we must see ourselves like the worse sinners, He means that literally; we must come to the knowledge that we are sinners (not just imagining it because this is what we are supposed to do, but really feel it) and there is no criminal, no adulterer that is lower than us; we are lower than them.
Let`s cure our eyes, because this is where the newness beggins; let`s try to see the otherone just like Jesus Christ saw us. He had mercy on us and loved us in spite of us.

 

[RedTent]

You feel empty because you do not have a human to express the love your feel for God with.

I am in the same boat. Yet I still feel complete. I truly don't know why it is OK to have only God, but it is. Perhaps it is because of my advanced age. But I have lost my children and my husband, and still I feel complete, so it is possible.

When I have no human to communicate love with, I use scripture and listen on the net to others who feel God is that important to them, I go to bible study and listen to others who are trying to communicate with God. I give my trust in God as this is a period in my life that is the best for me.

I don't know how God is personally working in your life to give you all the blessings He wants for you, but if you listen, you will find the personal blessings meant just for you.

 

[Ariel82]

LoveAnna, why are you looking for other Christians to take on your burdens? why are you looking around you for someone to fill you up with God's love?

You should be looking UP to Jesus and asking Him to fill you up with His love and Light and Joy and Peace.

You will NOT find a church that can take the place of Jesus in your heart and fill that emptiness you are currently experiencing, because the big hole inside you is a Jesus sized hole and only HE can fill it.

From the sound of it you have the head knowledge of what God says in the Bible but your heart doesn't truly believe, your soul is not filled with the Holy Spirit

or you would not be able to utter that you are empty.

When someone has God's Holy Spirit, they do not wait around and focus on how much others are not giving THEM. Instead God teaches them to see those around them and LOVE them wholly and see what they can give to the world for the glory of His name.

You sound depressed, under spiritual attack from the enemy. Most likely my words and others will be twisted up in your mind as you read them and you will find another way to isolate yourself from others.

I pray that you don't use our words as excuses or justification to be alone and apart from the body of Christ.

Satan favorite tactic is to put unrealistic expectations upon people and then laugh as they struggle to bear burdens TOO heavy for them.

Don't expect others to pick up Satan's burdens and carry them for you. Instead listen and learn how to cast aside the chains of sin and GO TO JESUS for He says that His burdens are light and He will give you rest beside still waters.

You don't have to listen to my words, but hear my heart when i say we will pray with you.

We will ask that God open your eyes to the lies around you, help tear down the strongholds in your mind that keep you from the true knowledge of Christ and His joy and His freedom. We will pray that one day YOU will be a light unto this world and be able to speak clear life giving water that flow abundantly from a heart completely overflowing with God's love and joy.

May Jesus Christ who has redeemed you by His blood, watch over you and guide you in His ways and may you find compassion and forgiveness for the Christians who you encounter who have not yet been perfected in the image of Christ. May you learn what it truly means to love as Jesus did by being an example of love and forgiveness.

 

[38miles]

LoveAnna -- I am a follower of Christ going through a personal storm right now like no other; I have great empathy for you and I am already praying for your struggle with emptiness and hopelessness. You are not alone.