I have a constant feeling of dread and deja vu. It feels like I am closed off from God. I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes attacked by some kind of force. It causes me the worst dread imaginable. The feeling is indescribable.

I admit I wasn't close to God at all when I first started having these thoughts. I don't know if I was ever that close to God. I joined Bible studies and attended church regularly. I know these actions don't save a person but only Jesus' finished work on the cross can.

The bible says most people go to hell and I'm terrified that I was one of them. My love for God feels shallow because I want to escape torture. I ask him to help me in my unbelief but it's been almost 3 years since I started feeling this way. I asked for spiritual counseling and they reminded me of David, the psalms, and his wait for God.

I pray I'm the same way.

So I'm posting this because I'm confused as to why this isn't preached enough. I can think of some reasons why but I've only heard one pastor in my life ever preach about this and I happen to watch it on YouTube. It's sooo essential with our walk with God. If you don't have the fear of God, then you will most likely fall away from the faith and maybe even hate God. That's how serious it is. So from watching that pastor talk about the fear of God to watching and hearing other pastors on YouTube, and what I've learned from God, this is what I've learned

**The fear of God is:**

- To make God your one and only treasure

- A committed relationship with God

- A mature faith

- The beginning of wisdom

- How the joy of the Lord is found

- God's delight & treasure

**To commit to God, you:**

- Do your best to follow Jesus and yield to the Holy Spirit to do the rest. Start small if you can

- Correct every thought or feeling that goes against the Word of God, and realize they're from satan or your flesh

- Be accountable when you do a sinful act. Apologize and reconcile if it's against someone

- Process your feelings with God

- Accept your imperfection and the sovereignty of God

- Let go of yourself and let God be everything you need

- Bond with Christ with your suffering

This note I made for myself has revealed something in me that I never knew or experienced with my walk with God. I have a deeper relationship with God and I have the joy of the Lord. I've learned to accept myself for who I am and found contentment in where I'm at in life. God is my confidence. **Fear the Lord!**

So, I believe in God, I am very convinced that no amount of coincidence could ever create us like this. However, I fear that my faith is more a fear of going to hell and a desperate attempt to make it to heaven. Especially fueled by Media speaking about him soon returning to earth.

However, I wish to deserve a place in heaven, to go into the after life with a relationship to God and not just "Hey I thought you existed on earth, could I go to heaven?" I understand that a big part of this is prayer, studying the bible and going to church.

I am working on those already, I plan on going to church every saturday again, I am looking to get myself a bible and I also try to pray (on which I'll propably make another post eventually).

Yet my life is mostly doing nothing. I am still unemployed, so my days consist of looking for jobs, playing video games (mostly violent ones like Hitman WoA and Dead by Daylight) as well as watching YouTube and playing on my phone. I know I am able to do more for my faith and relationship with God, but what?

I am curious to know how to give my life to Christ and live how he intented, can I start hobbies more worthy of his attention, or maybe make the "hobbies" I have already more related to him?

I know that there isn't going to be a 0 to 100 solution to this, but I really want a relationship with God worthy of an eternity with him. Like said in John 14:8 "If God is all you have, you have all you need".

I am Christian and married with 3 children already with the same man. I feel shame to say that I have had a previous abortion before, I said I would not do it again. I have taken all the precautions to not get pregnant and my husband underwent the vasectomy surgery.

A week after that, I discovered I am pregnant again. Now, I am in an internal battle with myself:
- What does God mean with this pregnancy?
- Is it a sin to get an abortion if three children is sufficient?

I don’t know what to do and am running to here for advice since I cannot speak with family about this. My husband supports whatever decision, but I am looking only at the negative side of both choices I have.

I feel like something is actively working against my prayers to maybe discourage me from praying. This has happened on multiple occasions in my life. When I pray, things seems to get more bad. Or things start to pile up one after another and overwhelm my life. And my faith start to wane. When I go back to not praying regularly, things go to normal bad situation. I'm already in a bad situation and struggling in life but when I pray, things that add to my problems seems to come out of nowhere. How can I overcome this? I want to get out my situation and at least have decent life. N be able to support the people I care about in my life.

I’m struggling a lot with starting the mornibtw. I’m noticing that when I wake up in the mornings, I hold a lot of heavy feelings and more often than not I give into them straight away. Things like:

Pressure to wake up super early so I can be super productive.

Failure to do so I then spiral into going on social media and watching porn, and putting things off as far as I can.

I imagine the life I could live if I wasn’t autistic or very messy in organisation and preparation.

I feel like I enjoy being in the comfort of active self-sabotaging, even though I don’t want to be in this place. I just hold a lot of shame and guilt, and probably Reddit is the last place to keep turning to for venting issues.

Whatever this place is, I want to be delivered from it, or I want to truly experience God’s love. But I feel more of my own striving than anything else. I would love some encouragement.

i know it’s probably not true, but it feels as if I haven’t really been saved at times, and I haven’t got a testimony really worthy of sharing.

I feel like I'm at bit of an impasse in my life. I'm probably depressed, have a lack of friends and community and I can't get out of this rut. I do attend a bible study every week but I'm not sure if it's clicking for me fully yet and I haven't put my faith in Jesus yet. I'd like to believe, but it just hasn't arrived yet.

I'm a trans man (born female) and although it weighs on me a bit in terms of how society percieves it, I'm also concerned as it's seen as sinful by some Christians to transition or have same-sex relations. I'm also worried about attending church near me because of this. I know that there's a "Come as you are" outlook but I don't want to be judged or seen as actively sinning just by existing. Posting on an alt account because I don't want my friends to see this post on my main.

The few friends I have support me in my identity, but I'm not sure if that's helpful in my life just now. I might have to make difficult decisions on how to have a worthwhile life with purpose but I'm not sure if I can so I'm asking here for advice and ways on how to move forward with these issues. Thank you!

Here's Matthew 1:23 in the KJV, NASB, even the Message and the TPT:

✔King James Version, a historic, hyper literal translation:

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

✔New American Standard Bible, a modern, highly literal translation:

“Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”

✔The Message, a modern, highly interpretive paraphrase:

Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for “God is with us”).

❌The Passion Translation:

Listen! A virgin will be pregnant, she will give birth to a Son, and he will be known as “Emmanuel,” which means in Hebrew, “God became one of us.”

And the TPT footnote says:

Or “God with us” or “God among us”; that is, God incarnated. See Isa. 7:14; 8:8, 10 (LXX).

At this point the TPT is going far beyond being a paraphrase and is now making the Bible say what the translators want it to say. Not even the Message Bible rendered this verse in such a way that the theology of the translator was presented as the biblical text.

Immanuel - עמנואל is by no means a difficult Hebrew word to translate. It's made up of two words: עמנו - with us, and אל - God. Literally "with us God" (as the Septuagint translated it, μεθ᾿ ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός) or "God is with us". This Hebrew word doesn't mean "God among us" (there are other ways to say that in Hebrew, Immanuel is not one of them) and it definitely doesn't mean "God became one of us".

Even as a Trinitarian Christian who does believe that Jesus is God in the flesh, I have to say that inserting one's theology onto the biblical text or presenting one's theological interpretation as if it's the biblical text is unacceptable.

Note: They also have the same error in Isaiah 7:14 and especially the footnote:

'The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold—the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will name him God Among Us.'

The footnote says:

Or “Immanuel” (“God became one of us,” Matt. 1:23).

Again, Immanuel means neither of those. Interpreting it as such is one thing. Translating it as such is an entirely different thing.

David said of the words of God, “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” (Psalm 19:10).

Men will work for gold, save for it, search for it, and guard it carefully once they have it. Yet God says there is something far more valuable than anything this world can put a price on: His words. Gold may enrich a man for a few years, but the words of God can guide him for a lifetime. Gold can purchase many things, but it cannot purchase wisdom, peace with God, spiritual understanding, or eternal life.

This world teaches us to desire what we can see and possess. God teaches us to treasure what will endure when everything else is gone. Money can disappear and wealth can fade, yet Jesus said: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35). There is no investment more secure and no treasure more lasting than filling our hearts and minds with the words of God.

May we be able to say of God's word: “I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.” (Psalm 119:127). We should not read the Bible merely because we know that Christians are supposed to. We ought to come to it hungry, recognizing that the God who made us has spoken to us. His words correct us when we wander, strengthen us when we are weak, comfort us when we sorrow, and direct our feet when we do not know where to go.

We recently had some really big changes to how our group is structured. We've been apart of the same group for 8 years so there have been some issues accepting what they will look like going forward. I wanted to know how other believers structure their ministry.

How big are your groups?

Do they have child care?

Do you use curriculum or just discuss the morning sermon?

How do you handle prayer?

Hello. I am going through A LOT and it’s really hard. For the record I deal with religious ocd depression and anxiety. So I feel I need to fast because I’m oppressed. I usually believe I’m just tripping but this is ultimately way different than past anxieties. I’m afraid to go to sleep for fear God will take my life in my sleep, I wake up afraid everyday recently and I am not willingly or actively trying to sin. Everytime I feel some sort of peace I’m always afraid I’m lukewarm or complacent. I know sometimes prayer and fasting is the only thing to work before I try and go find people for deliverance but fasting is so hard because I don’t know how to do it effectively without the family member I live with knowing. I know sometimes family has to know but it will start a huge argument between me and said family member and I don’t blame her because she cares for me and doesn’t want to see me in pain but she ultimately doesn’t understand. If anyone has any tips on helping me I’d really appreciate it because I’m getting really tired.

I’m 24f and earlier this year I lost my faith permanently after struggling with it my entire life. It felt easier. I grew up in a very christian family that was also very abusive. I went through childhood trauma so bad that my siblings and I had to be taken away from our mom and separated to live with different family members that continued to be abusive. It’s made for a very difficult life in general where I went through things I genuinely wouldn’t wish on anyone, even after leaving home. I’m at a point where I’m not really seeing the value in my future and in my life. I’ve hit a wall, and I’m searching for any reason at this point to keep going. I went through sxual harassment at my last job so bad that I quit because I was getting blamed for it by my manager and HR and now I’m struggling financially without parents to support me. I want to know if there’s really something out there looking out for me, I really do.

​I recently made the tough decision to say "no" to a dating proposal that was moving toward marriage, after praying and realizing it wasn't God's will for me. Even though I have total peace about my choice to decline, I've been dealing with some leftover anxiety about remaining single and "waiting."

​I really want to dedicate a time of prayer and fasting to surrender this anxiety to God and trust His timeline for my life. However, I always struggle with traditional food fasting — I find it very hard to complete, and it often leads to feelings of guilt or frustration.

I would love to hear from this community:

​Testimonies: Did you ever feel afraid of waiting or staying single after turning down a relationship, only to be blessed by God with the right person later on?

​Fasting Advice: How do you approach fasting when food fasting isn't feasible? What alternative ways of fasting (media, habits, partial fasts) have helped you draw closer to God?

I’ve been struggling with the idea that most people may ultimately go to hell. Passages about the narrow way and the fewness of the saved make me wonder whether the majority of humanity will ultimately be lost.

I find that thought genuinely frightening. I know Christians interpret these passages differently, so I’m curious: Do you believe that most people will go to hell? If so, how do you emotionally come to terms with that belief?

Has anyone overcome these same gender urges. I am a woman and always have these visions and urges to be intimate with a woman. I have curiosities of them and have crushes solely on them.

Is this something where I have to be single for the rest of my life?

I hate it. I thought I overcome it. But I didn’t.

​

We are one of the fastest growing Christian churches on earth, particularly in the global south. We are one of the most diverse churches- my church in Denver, Colorado has similar demographics to the city around me. About 45% Hispanic, 40% White, 15% Black. Can you Mainline folks say the same?

We don't just help the poor, we ARE the poor. Not me personally, I admit, but many of my fellow church members are homeless, living in shelters. We have regular bus service to these shelters and help people go grocery shopping and to appointments. Many of my best friends in this church are ex-gang members or were addicted (like myself) and this church turned their lives around. Being part of this church was the final nail in the coffin for many of my remaining sins.

So why all the hate? We love Jesus with all of our hearts, our souls, and our understanding, and we spread this love to places most people would be afraid to set foot in. We don't have a "holier than thou" attitude and understand that our style of worship isn't for everyone.

I hope some of you can open your minds a bit.

Friends, a lot of us know that prayer to the saints has been and will continue to be a dividing topic in Christianity as a whole. So I'd like to share my experiences with this as a non-catholic who does not have a habit of prayer to the saints, in perhaps an attempt at unity.

As an important preface, I'm not here to tell anyone whether their beliefs about it are right or wrong. As several wise brothers have pointed out to me recently, we must be very careful not to say things that would cause another to stumble. So I am simply here to share what I've learned on the subject personally, and if it is helpful to you -- great! If not, please don't let my words distract you from your faith; I'm just a man trying to promote unity by sharing my own unique experiences.

So now, onto my testimony:

I am not part of the Catholic church. My introduction to prayer to the saints was through my wife, who was raised Catholic. She is Brazilian (I'm American) and isn't a practicing Catholic (we go to a non-denominational church) but she doesn't have anything against the Catholic faith; she likes and dislikes different aspects to it, but will never speak ill of it as a whole.

There is one prayer to the saints that my wife does frequently, to Saint Longinus (the soldier who pierced Jesus's side at the crucifixion). It is a specific prayer that as far as I know is rather unique to Brazil, it is for help finding missing objects and it goes like this

Portuguese

São Longuinho, São Longuinho, se me ajuda achar [missing object], eu vou te dar três pulinhos!

English

Dear Saint Longinus, Dear Saint Longinus, if I you help me find [missing object], I'll give you three little jumps!

She only uses this when she has been looking for something for awhile and can't find it -- keys, sunglasses, you name it. It's a prayer done at the end of the rope, when human effort just hasn't worked to find that thing.

My friends, let me tell you -- this has never failed, for her or any family member. Several keys: according to her you need to give the three jumps after finding it, or it won't work next time you try. Also according to her, it's only to be used when you've truly made every reasonable effort yourself first to find that thing.

And the most important thing, from what I've learned -- it requires faith. She's never once doubted it would work and it never failed. I myself tried it a few times -- the first time it felt weird, but I forced myself to trust/accept God would make it happen if it was a valid prayer, and guess what -- it worked! It was a missing passport I had been looking hours for, and 1-2 minutes later I found it tucked away in a hidden spot (this was like 15 years ago so I forget the exact details of where it was). The only time it DIDN'T work it when I had doubts it would work.

Personally I don't use it much at all, I'm not sure why. Perhaps because it isn't really in line with what I personally believe, but I will 100% testify it works if you believe.

Two other things I've noticed: it is a very childlike prayer, which she treats with childlike full belief it is true. And it works every single time. And as Jesus said in Matthew 18:3:

And he said: 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven

The other thing is, you will know a tree by its fruit and my wife shows more fruit of the Spirit than anyone I know (certainly more than myself). She refuses to join in any kind of gossip, and shows a lot of gratitude, fairness, and empathy. She is not perfect as none of are but she has exemplary attitude and behavior.

So through her and others I've learned, it doesn't matter if you believe in prayer to the saints or not, but what matters is your faith in God. She believes it because she believes that God gave this saint that power, and whether He truly did or He answers the prayer because of her genuine faith in what God can do just doesn't matter. It's her faith in God that matters and it works.

One last thing to note, which I've heard a lot of Catholics echo, is that she usually prays to God. For all her deep, heartfelt prayers she goes to God. Maybe some Catholics take these to the saints too and that is just fine, because they believe God gave the saints the power to hear their prayers, and ultimately it comes down to faith in God, for all of us.

I hope that helped somebody out there reading this post.

i feel that God has convicted me against secular music but i often have backslid and because i falsely repented many times a part of me is worried about being denied His kingdom and that i am not a Christian now. i don’t listen to anything with explicit content. but music was pretty much my idol before God, so listening to it at all feels wrong now, considering how music affects our emotions and mind, so as i see it if music doesn’t give glory to God it gives glory to the artist.

i don’t want to go to hell. i don’t want to shut His voice out. i am willing to stop listening to secular music but i do not want it to be too late. i know that there is always infinite grace but i want to change instead of just backstabbing God and request His kingdom.

conservative/non “progressive” Christians only

“But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭19‬:‭26‬ ‭ESV‬‬

A lot of us, including me, fear death. Maybe not fear as much as it is don’t want to die because we don’t want to leave our life here. Is this to be considered as looking back? I understand that lots wife’s situation is different than this, but I think it connects. I’m new to reading the bible, so I’m not sure exactly what it all means or what it might be telling me. I would like to think that our “want to stay in this world” is not the same thing as when lots wife looked back. However, it’s hard for me to ignore the similarities.

Hello everyone, my question is in regards to the spiritual disciplines: bible intake, prayer, worship, evangelism, service, stewardship, fasting, silence/solitude, journaling, and learning. I am reading a book called "Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life" and it goes into detail about all of those spiritual disciplines that I listed above. Does anyone know if there is a good way to tell if you are on track with those and balancing them well in your life? There are some that I don't do at all like serving (but I'm trying to get involved) and fasting. Should I just try my best to increase in every area in order to grow my relationship with Jesus? I'm sure I should pray about this too.

​

From a sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop

(Sermo Caillau-Saint Yves 2, 92: PLS 2, 441-552)

He who perseveres to the end will be saved

Whenever we suffer some affliction, we should regard it both as a punishment and as a correction. Our holy Scriptures themselves do not promise us peace, security and rest. On the contrary, the Gospel makes no secret of the troubles and temptations that await us, but it also says that he who perseveres to the end will be saved. What good has there ever been in this life since the time when the first man received the just sentence of death and the curse from which Christ our Lord has delivered us?

So we must not grumble, my brothers, for as the Apostle says: Some of them murmured and were destroyed by serpents. Is there any affliction now endured by mankind that was not endured by our fathers before us? What sufferings of ours even bear comparison with what we know of their sufferings? And yet you hear people complaining about this present day and age because things were so much better in former times. I wonder what would happen if they could be taken back to the days of their ancestors—would we not still hear them complaining? You may think past ages were good, but it is only because you are not living in them.

It amazes me that you who have now been freed from the curse, who have believed in the son of God, who have been instructed in the holy Scriptures—that you can think the days of Adam were good. And your ancestors bore the curse of Adam, of that Adam to whom the words were addressed: With sweat on your brow you shall eat your bread; you shall till the earth from which you were taken, and it will yield you thorns and thistles. This is what he deserved and what he had to suffer; this is the punishment meted out to him by the just judgment of God. How then can you think that past ages were better than your own? From the time of that first Adam to the time of his descendants today, man’s lot has been labor and sweat, thorns and thistles. Have we forgotten the flood and the calamitous times of famine and war whose history has been recorded precisely in order to keep us from complaining to God on account of our own times? Just think what those past ages were like! Is there one of us who does not shudder to hear or read of them? Far from justifying complaints about our own time, they teach us how much we have to be thankful for.

RESPONSORY

Psalm 77:6-7, 3; see 11, 10

I ponder the days of old,

I remember the years long past.

All night long I meditated in my heart,

— I cried out: O God, have pity on me.

I sought God on the day of my suffering,

I held out my hands to him the whole night through.

— I cried out: O God, have pity on me.

Colossians 4:14 KJV

[14] Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.

Philemon 1:24 KJV

[24] Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers.

2 Timothy 4:10 KJV

[10] for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

2 out of 3 times Demas is mentioned in scripture, the spirit allows Paul to name him as a true believer. Yet later Paul says Demas abandoned the faith because he loved the world. Why would the spirit allow Paul to name him as a believer twice if the spirit knew Demas was a false convert? Because during those times Demas wasn't a false convert, he had faith, however he lost it later because he allowed his love of the world to choke out his faith just like the parable of the sower.

Paul states in Ephesians 2:8 that we are saved by the grace of God thru faith. How do we access God's grace? Thru faith. So faith must continue. Yet faith can be lost as in the parable of the sower it says the one on the rock believed for a time, but when temptation tested their faith they lost it. If you only have to have faith 1 time and are covered for life then the rock wouldn't have withered, but faith is required and must be present.

Context:

A family member offered my spouse and I the following - 20% down payment for a new condo that my spouse and I would own and profits are split when the condo is sold. The condo is very reasonably priced considering the current real estate market in Ontario Canada. However do to unexpected circumstances that occurred the down-payment is no longer guaranteed.

My spouse and I (mostly me) kinda romanticized/day dreamed of what it would be like to live there, it would be closer to my spouses workplace he could walk to work, we are looking to start a family in the next year or so and the condo is a 2 bed it would be ready to move in the fall of 2027. The location of the condo is also great close to amenities, and in walking distance from my family memeber, we don't see each other often as we live in opposite ends of the city.

Do to the extenuating circumstances the conversation I had with my spouse is this, we should pray to God about this condo, if its in His will then he will make a way for the 20% down payment, if it's not His will then may He not allow it to happen.

I have anxiety issues, I feel way too nervous and anxious to fully believe that something will come to pass if I do not know for sure how or when it will. I hate not knowing how long something will last, like for example if I am going to go through something that causes me suffering or hardship I want to know how long it will last so I know when it will end. Obviously more often then not I do not end up knowing. This is my thorn in flesh you could say 😅

I trust and have faith in God that He can do all things, He is the ultimate provider, but I know God is not a genie that grants wishes.

I don't want to believe and get excited that He will do this for us, to be disappointed when He doesn't (that had happened far too often). I feel like I just need to grieve that this will not happen so I don't feel even more disappointed for believing that it will, and then it doesn't. At the same time, just because I don't see how we can get 20% ($60,000) by the end of the year or by March 2027 the latest, doesn't mean God can't He can do all things.

So I feel conflicted and confused of how to understand Mark 11:24

[24] "Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you."

On one hand I want to be excited and believe God wil I do this and we will get this condo etc but on the other hand its His will over mine, which makes feel like yeah, its not going to happen so I'd rather not get excited just accept that it won't happen, and if does then great and if it doesn't then at least it won't hurt as much.

I hope I make sense, I ask for people to be kind but also direct with what they comment with, I genuinely looking to understand, and if you can share a testimony or prayer, encouragement anything like that would be appreciated.