Dealing with Feelings

Question:



How do I overcome feelings of being worthless? There's this guy and we've had a past relationship. We try to talk now but I can't help but get these feelings of hurt and worthlessness. I just don't understand why God keeps bringing him in my life if all he does is bring me pain.



Answer:



In answering this question you have to take a look at how God views you. 2 Timothy 1:7 says that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind. The source of those feelings that you are experiencing do not come from God. In first understanding what does not come from Him you can embrace what does come from Him. One of the great truths about God is that He loves you and had a great plan for your life long before you were even born. Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;"

It's important to understand as well that He does not make mistakes but we do. Luke 17:1 says that it's impossible for us to live this life without offenses coming. Because of that there is no such thing as a perfect relationship no matter how hard both sides try. We experience hurt because we make mistakes and receive hurt from other people's mistakes. Sometimes things just don't turn out. It may very well be that the Lord is using your constant running into this guy so that you can work out the situation for closure. It first starts with recognizing that these feelings don't come from God and that He will take care of you. 1 Peter 5:6 says that we need to give Him all of our cares because of His care for us. In giving these cares to Him those feelings will not have power over you anymore. Then you will freely walk and enjoy what God has for you in your life as you look to Him.


Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.

I Have Your App.

Question:



Hi, lately I have been very confused and lonely so I decided to see if there was a free app on my iPod for teens that helped them in their walk. I was reading your 'Give up?' story and saw that I could email you if I had any questions.
First I would like to say thank you and from what I have read you have helped me. But I still need help. I feel so lonely and empty. I know that God is always with me and that He will never leave me but I can't help but feel this way. I've been crying a lot at night because of how empty I am. I pray very often but it seems like He isn't answering.

The Bible tells me that isn't true and I believe it, but it gets hard at times making me feel confused and worse about myself for not trusting in Him.
If you could give me some verses or any advice that would be great.



Answer:



That's something that a lot of people actually experience. I'm glad to hear that you know that the Lord is always with you and it sounds like you have a good foundation of knowledge of Scripture. What you are describing is the tugging of the heart for more of Christ. He doesn't want to be just a part of your life. He created you so that you can enjoy Him in ALL of your life. He made you for His purposes and for His glory. He laid out the plans of your life before you were even born just like in Jeremiah 1:4.

"That He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with His might through the Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you , being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the width and length and depth an height and to know the love of Christ that passes all knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-19.

What you are describing is what your heart desires, and what your heart desires is for the Lord to be your passion and to live for His purposes. Know that this is a lifelong journey of being filled with Him and living in His purposes. But it starts with you setting your mind and affections on Him as Colossians 3:1-3 says.

Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.

Wondering About Forgiveness

Question:



I'm not sure what to do about forgiving my uncle. A few days ago, my mom, brother, and I went over to a relative's for lunch. Later, my mom mentioned that a certain uncle was supposed to have been there also. I froze in horror for a moment, because I would never have gone if I knew he was going to come. I am dreadfully afraid of this uncle, and I do not want to see him or have contact with him. This is due to things that happened about eight years ago, and events that continue to happen and remind me of that time. There was no physical or sexual abuse, but my uncle did something that was incredibly damaging to me emotionally, though he probably had no idea he was doing it. My parents did not protect me from him when I was young. They did not understand how devastated and terrified I was as well. After another traumatic event with this uncle at a wedding this spring, I finally told my parents about my fear of this uncle. Now that they know, I don't think they would ever force me to be in his presence again. But in harboring these feelings of fear and panic whenever I think of him, and avoiding him for reasons that he does not even know about. Am I being unforgiving? What is the Christian response to this situation? I want to forgive, and yet I know that true forgiveness is not a quick or cheap gift- it was painful for Christ to forgive us through the cross. I believe that forgiveness means really looking at the event, acknowledging the harm done, and then releasing the guilty party from guilt and oneself from anger. How can I go about forgiving this uncle? Can I do that if I am scared of even facing him? And if I forgive him, does that mean I need to go to family functions where he is present? Will forgiving him take away the intense and petrifying fear I feel when I am around him? Could you give me some guidance in how to handle this?



Answer:



You have a very solid view on what forgiveness looks like and it's awesome to see that you're not afraid of forgiving him. Forgiving your uncle for what it is that he did is not done through your focused effort to overcome this difficulty because forgiveness is not something that you have the ability to do in your own self. Jesus said in Mark 9:23 "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Since you are His child what I believe He wants is for you to be sensitive to being connected to Him as the vine is to the branches as John 15:5 says. John 15:2 shows that as you are connected to Him, HE will do the pruning. He will allow forgiveness to flow through you for your uncle. By all means you have to make the choice to forgive but your ability to forgive comes from being connected to Christ.

Forgiving your uncle has to do with you setting your focus on Christ. He doesn't expect you to do something to earn His forgiveness because He offers it freely to you. As you embrace His forgiveness and His love, He will cast out that fear that has held you frozen (check 2 Timothy 1:7). In Him you can walk freely. Don't try to figure out how it is that He wants you to forgive. Instead focus on Him and allow Him to impart forgiveness and then let Him lead you in how to flesh that out with your uncle.

Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.

Keeping My Faith

Question:



I am having some personal issues in life right now. Sometimes it is hard to stay faithful to the Lord. What can i do in order to not let myself fall away from God and to keep trusting Him in all I do?



Answer:




That's definitely a struggle that we all have in our walk with the Lord. You're not alone my friend. I'd like to share a passage with you. Luke 10:41-21 says, "And Jesus answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But ONE THING is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken away from her.'" In this passage Jesus was invited to some women's house. Martha was trying her best to be the hospitable host in the house and Mary wanted to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him. Martha was upset that Mary wasn't helping her and asked Jesus to tell her to help. Jesus replied those words to her.

Especially in hard times it's easy to get worried about the things in our lives that go in many different directions and we want so badly to control those things that they would turn out well. The last thing we naturally want to do is settle down and listen to Christ. But the truth is that we are made to only have one master and when we get worried we scatter our attention in many different directions and are not settled in anything. Christ is saying is that He wants us focused on that ONE THING (staying close to Him) despite the many things that pull for our attention. This is what we are made for, and those things cannot take away what we have in Christ because HE is greater than those things and will have them fall in place as we focus on Him.

Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.

Question:



My friend is Mormon, and we talk about religion a lot. I learned from a guy on youtube that Mormons believe in Gethsemane being the place where the atonement for our sins was paid. Some people have said that Luke 22:44 says that Jesus ACTUALLY sweated blood, whereas others say that His blood was LIKE sweat. I personally believe the latter. What is your opinion? If the latter is true, then there is truly no atonement for our sins (according to the Mormoms), which means Jesus never saved us of our sins.

On another view, if the atonement for us was through Gethsemane, then what was the cross for? If Jesus did not have to die, then there is no resurrection of the dead, and if there is no resurrection of the dead, then sin has not been conquered. Am I right in saying that?

If there is time, can you also check the credibility of this youtube user? He was once an ex-occult and a goth, but what he talks about seems to be the truth. I don't know if watching this guy's videos overall is worth the time, and if the truth is correct.




Answer:



What you have to remember in sharing Christ with those who are indoctrinated in false teaching is that it is dangerous grounds to get into debates. You have to know that they will come a lot of times not with the intention of having an honest discussion but with attacking the foundation of what you believe. You have to address these discussions from the foundation of what you believe then let that trickle down to the details. It first starts with lifting Him up and allowing Him to draw men to Him as John 12:32 says. You have to come from the standpoint of what you believe and allowing His light to shine on the darkness instead of trying to dispute the darkness to win them to the Light.



You have to ask yourself, “What are they saying isn’t true?” The answer to that question is that they’re saying Jesus didn’t have to die for our sins. The answer to that dispute can be found in the garden. Jesus prayed in Mark 14:35-36 that if there was any possible way that the Lord could redeem man other than through the cross that He would do so. Yet He knew that this was not possible and said, “Not My will but what You will.” His obedience to the Father and His death was physical proof that there was no other way. Jesus confirmed Himself that no one can get to the Father except through Him in John 14:6.



Now understand that I’m not trying to give you the words to say in discussing with your friend. What I am trying to do is show you the approach that I believe the Lord has called us to take. He has called us to study His Word and rightly interpret and apply His Word as 2 Timothy 2:15 says. Through knowing Him and His Word we will be able to shine His light more brightly on what is not true. Now I’m not saying that you shouldn’t study what it is that they believe. But do so from credible sources and be careful to do so knowing the Truth and what Christ has revealed as true from His Word first.

Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.

Going Your Own Way

Question:



I completely agree with todays message. I have a friend who is struggling with the whole topic of choosing God or going ones own way. Do you have some day to day examples of how God brings the lost back to Him? I've always been taught that God does not chasten or discipline the lost as he does His own. So how does He? I also believe that one of the greatest ways He draws people to Him is by the placement of godly individuals in their lives. But is there more? Is God stern with the lost, or does he gently prod them to Him? Does He save His wrath for Judgement Day? As I write this I understand that in God's wisdom He works on each person perfectly. But so many nonbelievers see other nonbelievers "living the good life" and don't see God's "foot". How does His foot work today?




Answer:




Those are some good questions. The focus of the devotional that we sent out today had to do with understanding that the Lord was going to receive glory from our lives. We also know from 2 Peter 3:9 that He is not willing that any should die in sin. We should also know that Jesus said in Luke 9:50 that all those who are not for the Lord are against Him. Those who attempt to bring the Lord dishonor to His Name by either trying to stop His Work or sabotage His working through His people will face humiliation in this life as Psalm 2 shows and experience a taste of Christ's conquering. But know that the Lord does this to declare Himself right in their eyes and that they might see the error of their way and repent. For those who do not belong to Him but are simply going their own way, the Lord will use any means necessary to reach their hearts. The most effective way that the Lord intended for the lost to be reached was through those who were created in His image and have His Spirit changing them to be like Him. The Lord is merciful with everyone. As long as they have breath He will reach out to them. Yet if they die in sin they will have to face the consequences at the Day of Judgment. So know that He is not just waiting for those who don't have Him to mess up. They will receive the consequences for the wrong choices they make just like us believers. But His mercy will continually give them the opportunity to turn to Him.


Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.

Question from the Bible Studies

Question:



I had a question regarding a recent Bible Study that I received from Free Our Family. I was curious about the middle statement "Those who embrace Christ but don't live surrendered to Him will suffer loss in that day of the judgment for their conduct." Can you explain to me who you are talking about and what loss they will suffer and what conduct? Thank you for your time.



Answer:



The judgment that I was referring to specifically in this study was the Judgment Seat of Christ. This is the judgment where Christians are going to be examined not for their sins but for their stewardship with Christ. Matthew 16:24 says, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Jesus calls out to all of His children to follow Him daily. Whether through our obedience to Him or our not choosing to follow Him on His terms we build and invest our lives on the foundation of Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 is the Scripture that I was referring to when I made the statement that believers will suffer loss. If they build on the foundation of Christ that which is not of Him then it will be burnt up, but because our identity is in Him we will be saved. That is why it is important that we as believers are sensitive to allowing the Lord to examine us and show us those areas that we are investing in our lives that are in Him and those areas that are not of Him. When we find those areas that are not of Him, we must deny ourselves and allow Him to unlearn us in a sense and teach us what it is He wants us to invest there instead.

Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.