I feel like dying...

Should Christians feel like they want to die?

Can you clarify what you are saying here?

Are you talking about dying to self and the world, or are you talking about leaving this world and going to be with the Father - or are you saying that you are depressed?

I am talking about mortal death? Leaving the body? Not wanting to be in the flesh and deal with sin and repentance and the world and the battle and all things that contradict the things of God.

Jonah got discouraged and ready to give up
after he preached to Nineveh and they believed
and repented. Elijah ran and hid after the
great victory over the priests of Baal; he
lost heart and lost hope. You know where
to find the courage and strength you need to
stand in this evil day: IN CHRIST who has
overcome the world!~!

The love of the Father compels us to stay and fight the battle that He has set before us.

Not wanting to be in the flesh and deal with sin and repentance and the world and the battle and all things that contradict the things of God

Brother, I don't know if I am understanding exactly what you are saying here . . . but if you are struggling with the "old man", THERE IS HOPE! I don't know how you were taught when you came to know Christ, but the moment that you look with eyes of faith and see Romans 6:6 in reality . . . see your "old man" DEAD . . . take the scripture at its word, and truly BELIEVE that your "old man" is dead . . . that is when the cycle of "sin and "repent"" is broken.

When a person sins and "repents", and repeats the same sin, there is not a full repentance . . . but when there is FULL faith in Christ's finished work, there is victory over the "old man".

Watchman Nee has some good reading on the subject:

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Now how can a man be delivered from sin? Some theorize that since sin is the first cause we must annihilate it in order to attain victory; accordingly they advocate "the eradication of sin." Once the root of sin is pulled out, think these, we never shall sin again and are obviously sanctified. Others argue that we must subdue our body if we desire to overcome sin, for is it not our body, they ask, which practices sin? So there arises in Christendom a group of people who promote asceticism. They use many techniques to suppress themselves for they anticipate that once they overcome the demands of their bodies they shall be holy. None of these is God's way. Romans 6.6 is transparent as to His way. He neither eradicates the root of sin- within nor suppresses the body without. Rather, God deals with the old man in between.

GOD'S FACT

The Lord Jesus in going to the cross took with Him not only our sins but also our beings. Paul enunciates this fact by proclaiming "that our old man has been crucified with him." The verb "crucified" in the original is in the aorist tense, connoting that our old man was once and forever crucified with Him. As the cross of Christ is a fact accomplished, so our being crucified with Him is additionally an accomplished fact. Whoever questions the reality of the crucifixion of Christ? Why, then, should we doubt the reality of the crucifixion of our old man?

Many saints, upon hearing the truth of co-death, immediately assume that they ought to die, and so they try their best to crucify themselves. Either lack of God's revelation or lack of faith accounts for this attitude. They not only do this themselves; they teach others so to do as well. The results are too obvious: no

power is theirs to be freed from sin and their old man they feel will not die.

This is a grievous misjudgment. The Bible never instructs us to crucify ourselves. Precisely the opposite are we told! We are taught that when Christ went to Calvary He took us there and had us crucified. We are not instructed to begin crucifying ourselves now; instead the Scriptures assure us that our old man was dealt with at the time Christ went to the cross. Romans 6.6 alone is sufficient to substantiate this. There is not the remotest idea conveyed of desiring to crucify ourselves, nor does the Word in the slightest sense imply that our crucifixion awaits realization. The verse in Romans 6 permits no room for doubt when it categorically pronounces that we were crucified with Christ, a fact already accomplished. This is truly the effect of the most precious phrase in the Bible-"in Christ." It is because we are in Him and are united with Him that we can say that when Christ went to the cross we went there. in Him, that when Christ was crucified we too were crucified in Him. What a wonderful reality that we are in Christ!

Mere mental assimilation of these truths cannot withstand temptation, however. The revelation of God is positively essential. The Spirit of God must reveal how we are in Christ and how we are united with Him in one. He must also show us distinctly bow our old man was crucified with Christ for the simple reason that we are in Christ. This cannot be simply a mental comprehension; it must be a disclosure of the Holy Spirit. When a truth is unfolded by God it most naturally becomes a power in man, who then finds himself able to believe. Faith comes through revelation. Without the latter the former is impossible. This explains why many do not have faith, for though they mentally understand they do not have God's revelation. Therefore, brethren pray until God gives us revelation so that "knowing this" in our spirit we may truly confess "that our old man has been crucified with him."

What is the consequence of the crucifixion of our old man? Again the answer comes to us unequivocally-"that the body of sin might be annulled." "Annulled" should be rendered 11 withered" or "unemployed." Beforehand when sin stirred, our old man responded and consequently the body practiced sin. With the crucifixion of the old man and its replacement by the new man, sin may still stir within and attempt to exert its pressure, but it fails to find the consent of the old man in driving the body to sin. Sin can no longer tempt the believer for he is a new man; the old has died. The body's occupation was formerly that of sinning but this body of sin is now unemployed because the old man was set aside. It is not able to sin and hence has been denied its job. Praise the Lord, this is what He has furnished us.

Why does God crucify our old man with Christ and render our body jobless? His purpose is that "we should no longer serve sin." What God has done in this regard makes it possible for us not to yield thereafter to the pressure of sin or to be bound by its power. Sin will exercise no dominion over us. Hallelujah! We must praise God for this deliverance.

THE TWO ESSENTIALS

How shall we enter into such blessing? Two elements are indispensable. First, "reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 6.11 Darby). This is the essential of faith. When God avows that our old man was crucified with Christ we believe His Word and "reckon ourselves as dead." How then do we die? "We reckon ourselves as dead to sin." When God affirms that we are resurrected with Christ we again trust His Word and "reckon ourselves alive." How then do we live? "We reckon ourselves as alive to God." This reckoning is none other than believing God according to His Word, When God says our old man was crucified, we account ourselves dead; when He insists we are made alive, we reckon ourselves as alive. The failure of many lies in the desire to feel, to see and to experience this crucifixion and resurrection before trusting in the Word of God. These do not realize God has done it already in Christ and that if only they would believe His Word by reckoning that what He has done is true, His Holy Spirit would give them the experience. His Spirit would communicate to them what is in Christ.

Second, "neither yield your members instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but yield yourselves to God as alive from among the dead and your members instruments of righteousness to God" (Rom. 6.13 Darby). This is the essential of consecration. If we persist in holding on to something which God wants us to relinquish, sin shall have dominion over us, and our reckoning shall be futile. If we fail to yield our members as godly instruments of righteousness to speak and do what He desires and go where He directs, should we be surprised we are not yet delivered from sin Whenever we refuse to relinquish or we offer resistance to God, sin shall return to its dominion. Under such circumstances we naturally lose the power to reckon, that is, to believe God's Word. In our ceasing to exercise faith and to reckon, can we still be said to be positionally in Christ? Yes, but we are living no longer in Him according to the sense of the "abide in me" of John 15. Accordingly we are unqualified to experience what is factual in Christ, even our crucifixion.

Now we may infer from any defeat of ours that it is due either to lack of faith or failure to obey. No other reason can suffice. Conceivably a defeat could flow from both these reasons; if not from both, then from one or the other. We ought to learn how to live in Christ by faith, never seeing or thinking of ourselves outside of Him. Learn to believe daily that we are in Christ and that whatever is true of Him is true of us. Likewise, through the power of God we must learn daily to keep our consecration unspotted. Count all things as refuse, for there is nothing in the world we cannot relinquish for the Lord and nothing that we should want to keep for ourselves. Let us be disposed to respond positively to God's demands, however difficult or contrary to the flesh they may be. For God no cost is too high. Anything can be sacrificed if only we may please Him. Let us daily learn to be obedient children.

Had we so reckoned and so yielded, we would now be enjoying what the Word of God has manifestly declared: "sin will have no domino over you."

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There is more at this link . . .I only copied part of it:

http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/nee/sprtmnv1/1968v1c10.htm

Have you ever slapped a dead man in the face? Did he come back with his fists clenched?

Romans 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Galatians 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

I am talking about mortal death? Leaving the body? Not wanting to be in the flesh and deal with sin and repentance and the world and the battle and all things that contradict the things of God.
_______________________________

One word: Endurance.

I had to endure my stand with Christ today with my father - my sister had him contact me to 'get me straight' but I 'endured' hold the ground (The Rock) from whence I was born again.

Endure, friend. Having done all, Stand therefore,...... See Ephesians 6.

Should Christians feel like they want to die?

Oh, yeah. Christians can and do at times wish they could just die for any number of reasons. But should they feel like dying?

Well, here is the word 'feel' again...don't you know feeling is fleeting? unreliable? not to be trusted? feel good today, bad tomorrow, and sometimes it depends on the weather or other circumstances. So, we just feel like dying; now, what else is new? Nothing.

Since feelings are so fickle, not to be trusted one must learn what can be trusted and allow it to permeate your being. And it all begins by learning to depend on the ROCK which is Jesus Christ.

I do not know how old you are but it might interest you to know that old, infirm folks oftentimes wish they could die. They may have limited vision, hearing and feel so useless and they wish they could die but would never take their own life. Now how would you handle this? How would you counsel them? How does this stack up with your feelings of dying?

Something to think about...

ginnyrose

there's a good word you said Ginnyrose "Trust":

It is Written:
Prov 3:5-6

5 Trust in---------> the LORD lean not>------ unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways------> acknowledge him, he shall

Hello warrior...

I think that every believer gets "homesick" from time to time. Paul wrestled with this in Philippians 1:21-26. He was looking forward to death -- because it was gain. However, he also reminded us that..."to live is Christ."

While Eternity is something to look forward to, we have received a "down payment" (so to speak) from God which can provide us with a "joy unspeakable and full of glory" (I Peter 1:6-9). This passage speaks about joy in the midst of trials and tribulations. When the world around us crumbles, we can still laugh in the face of suffering, because we have a "joy" set before us -- even as Christ endured the cross (Hebrews 12:1-3).

Why do we remain? Like Paul, we still have a work to do while here on this Earth. We are tasked with being a "fisher of men." There are over six billion people living on this planet (more people than at any point of history), and the vast majority do not know Jesus Christ. We have a noble and daunting task...but I am convinced that we have been chosen for such a time as this.

Now, this longing for Eternity with our Lord is not the same as "depression." I have known men who walk around with a "woe is me" attitude. Instead of the "light of the world" or the "salt of the earth" they walk around like their life and calling is an unequivocal failure. It is like they have allowed the darkness to extinguish the light of their faith. They've given up...and their grief is almost contagious. While Jesus was a man of sorrow, he realized the ultimate victory in the task that He set out to accomplish.

I know a man who used to walk around and preach the Gospel on the streets. He was a great encouragement because he always went to those who seemingly had little hope...who most people in this world would ignore. He lived as a pauper...unmarried...but satisfied with the task of winning souls to Christ. However, the Lord tarried in His coming. This good brother grew tired. Eventually, he started noticing those things that weren't such a big deal to him before (the food he ate, the house he lived in, and the fact that he had no wife).

The local congregation with which he fellowshipped seemed to have grown tired of him too (or so it seemed). This man used to give "prophetic words" often and told people about his "dreams" and "visions." After a while, many people called into question the validity of some of his "words," "dreams" and "visions." This lack of respect merely added to his list of seemingly disparaging life events. Unfortunately, instead of these things prompting this man to spend even more time with God, he turned back to the life and addictions he had before he came to Christ. He began doing drinking and doing drugs...and turning to women for comfort.

Of course, this man knew that only Christ would offer him the comfort that he was seeking. This made him even more miserable. Each time I would find this man and bring him food or share something that was on my heart, he would weep. He would explain how miserable he had become. Unfortunately, he didn't know if he could find his way back...even if he already knows the way. Deep inside, he realized that he had broken fellowship with the Lord and brought embarrassment to the Name of Christ. He explained that he has bought drugs from some of the very men he used to tell about Christ. He couldn't see past this.

I tried to offer encouragement to this man. I explained that the last chapter of this man's life has yet to be written. This man could allow our Lord (the Author and Finisher of our faith) to write an epic and glorious ending! Even as far as this man has fallen, I told him that it would make the final victory all the more sweet! He admitted that he wanted this...and prayed with me several times in the streets. I tried to hook him up with a Teen Challenge ministry. I am currently trying to found out about how he is doing.

There is a difference in the reasons that we want to "die." As believers, we are already "dead" to this present world. "This world has nothing for me...but this world has everything" (or so the song goes). There is nothing that I want in this world...except for that which can bring joy to our Lord. Like Paul, I desire to leave this world and join those who have gone before us into Eternity (like Paul, Peter, James, John...and including GaryE and Pastorfrin). Yet it is with a cheerful heart that I realize that God has appointed us to an unbelievably noble task! We are "called" to be a good husband, father, brother, believer, etc... -- a good example as the "salt of the earth" or "light of the world" (Matthew 5:12-16). Yes, we are called to be a light in a very dark time. We are a living epistle to men who refuse to read or hear the Word of God.

Let me encourage you! It is good to be homesick for Eternity. However, we can still spend time with God while still here in this fallen world. What an awesome thought! We can go before God in our "prayer closet"...and shut out this world. Then we can come down from the mountain and live as a lover of Christ before a world that desperately needs such an example. We are certainly pilgrims passing through the "wilderness of this world," but we should view this as a very high calling. Be encouraged! "[i]To live is Christ[/i]..."

21 years ago, I lay across a little round table in the upstairs classrooms of the church that I had attended all my life crying out to God begging Him to let me die: “Lord, if You can’t use me on this earth to help someone find you, and if all I’m going to see is people falling away from you, until the end, I don’t want to stay on this earth”.

In January of that year, a drama team had come to our church with a very moving drama that almost all of the church was involved in. Judgment Morning Drama depicted scenes of people being thrown into hell, and people triumphantly going into heaven. Several people came and got saved. After that, for several weeks we saw people kneel and pray for salvation, and then get baptized the next week. Everything seemed glorious there for a couple of months, and then little by little, they started leaving. All of the “progress” for the kingdom of God that we saw went “down the tubes”, and even some who had been coming to church long before that went back to the world.

I became convinced that we are in the “great falling away”, and that we would probably not see any more conversions, but only people leaving God until the end. At the time I was living in a small travel trailer, working only part time, and I rarely had the opportunity to share Christ with anybody.

Little did I realize while I lay across that little round table in May of 1988 that millions have never even heard the message of Christ for the first time. All that I was focusing on was the many who were rejecting the message and my own feeling of uselessness in the Kingdom.

A couple of weeks after that very sincere intercession, God put me through a training session that I’ll never forget. Severe abdominal pain put me in the emergency room. At first, the muscles of my abdomen were so tight that the doctor couldn’t even examine me. After a few hours of IV drip, I was diagnosed with gastroenteritis and sent home. To make a LONG story short, 5 weeks went by mostly in the hospital under examination . . . [u]extreme[/u] weight loss . . . constant high fever . . . pleural effusion . . . after 5 weeks of not being able to determine the cause, and supposing that I had lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes) they performed exploratory surgery of my abdomen.

What did they find? Not cancer! Five weeks earlier, my appendix had ruptured, and had started healing up on its own. Normally when your appendix ruptures, you are dead within 48 hours unless emergency surgery is performed. During those 5 weeks while doctors were pointing toward the cancer diagnosis, I was peacefully saying “Lord I’m ready to come on home, if You are ready to take me”. During my stay I got more opportunities to share Christ with sinners than I had gotten in months prior to that.

What was that training session about? “Son, I heard your sincere prayer to me, but I’m not finished with you down there on earth!” Since then, I’ve come to understand as brother ccchhhrrriiisss stated “we are called to be a light in a very dark time” . The planting and watering process must go on so that God can give the increase until the end of time. The harvest is truly plenteous, and there is work for everyone to do . . . even if years go by when very little increase is seen. God may be preparing us for one final great sweeping harvest just before the end . . . if not in our home countries maybe in other countries as we continue to pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest.

Ditto: “Be encouraged! "To live is Christ..."” AMEN! AMEN!

Take Brother Paul’s words to a young warrior in his day:

2 Timothy 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
6 The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.
7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

Brother Michael

thank you so very much for that brother Michael, it was worth printing out what you said and read with more quality of time.

God bless you, Brother Michael (Lorddoitagain)