Please Pray for Me. Please read.

It has been almost a year since I last posted anything here. I ask that you saints of God please pray for me because I just joined the Navy as an HM(hospital corpsman). My ship-out date for "boot camp" is set for December 13,2010. I am not totally sure that this is what God would have wanted me to do, I fear I may not have seeked his guidence as thoroughly as perhaps I should have. There are several toughts that are making me feel uneassy. My mother and father both think that I have just made the bigest mistake of my life, one that could probably end my life. I am not saying with this that I plan on not showing up the day I am schedule to ship out; but to be honest It does frighten me. Reason why is because most likely I will be assigned to Fleet Marine Force, in which case I will be with a Marine unit. Some other time ago I would not have this fear of being so close to getting shot at, but I simply feel confused about where it is that I stand in God's sight. My faith is not as strong as it once was, perhaps all I have left is just a shell of what once was. Several things have occured with me and the congregation where I attend that have really discoureged me. I know it should not have affected my relationship with God, but somehow I allowed myself to feel anger towards people because of their hypocrisy. I feel deceptioned and fustrated. I know that I should probably keep trying to show them with my example and be quiet and ignore their hypocrisy, but i simply can't. Now i am looked upon as a bitter person, as the bad guy, as the one who has lost his relationship with God. Try to put yourself in my shoes and you may understand why i fell the way I feel. Anyhow, all I ask of God is that if I have offended him to please forgive me. Sometimes I just feel like this bitternes is eating me away and making me even more angry at religion, and religious people. I choose to enlist with that rating because in my "child like mind", that's what my family calls it, I belive that God can use me tremendously not only to show them God's path, but to even have the privilage of saving their lives in case of a medical emergency, to allow them to return back home safe, to allow them to life here on earth to the fullest, as a true follower of Christ. I trully want God to use me, but I know there are things in me that have to change. Please Pray for me as I try to seek God once again; I really really want to stop this bitterness and just learn to forgive, to let things go. Please pray for me, will you? Thank you

Praying for you, brother. You are not alone. The Lord sees you, knows you and longs to spend time with you wherever you are.

Matthew 11:28-30
I Peter 5:7
Isaiah 43
Jeremiah 29:11-13

I will be praying for you. I will pray for protection and God to remove the bitterness in your heart.

I would suggest listening to Zac Poonen The Way of Cain if you haven't already.

God Bless,
Matthew

Praise God, it sounds like you have jumped our of the box of man made religion. God wants to make of you, the image of His Son. He can only do this when you are unencumbered by what man has chosen to make himself feel good and think that he is pleasing to God. There is only One that is pleasing to God and that is the Christ in you, whom God has birthed in you by the Incorruptable Seed of His Son, who is the Word.

1 Peter 1:22-25 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

"by the Word of God", who is this?

John 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.

This is the Christ in you, the Seed of the Father who is our only Glory.

Colossians 1:25-28 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

"The image of His Son", every man perfect in Him.

You are no longer your own, the churches, even your families, you are Gods, chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. Not chosen to salvation, but chosen in Christ.

Ephesians 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

This is God's will for us. Galatians 2:16-21 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 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 do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

We no longer live, "the life we now live we live in the flesh by the faith Son of God."

This is how all bitterness and trouble with the world is forgiven and no longer has a hold on us, we can forgive all, even as God has forgiven us in Christ. Then we can love the brothers and sisters that are against us and put them in God's most capable hands, that they might come to the same truth God is revealing in you. Christ in you the hope of Glory.

In Christ, Your Brother, by Him, through Him, and in Him.
These are my prayers for you, that the Christ that is in you be so completely revealed that He is all that matters and all the things of this world will grow strangely dim.

1Pe 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
1Jo 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1Jo 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

Seek all of Paul's writings for the revelation of the Christ that is in you.

Phillip

In 1910 a young man named William
Borden heard the call of Christ to
minister the gospel in China. He
left behind a life of privilege
and wealth. While still on the
journey in Egypt; he grew sick with
meningitus and died.
This is what he said concerning his
decision to follow Jesus;
"NO RESERVATIONS, NO RETREAT, NO REGRETS!!"

I will pray for you bro. I don't think I have anything against you, or you against me, but whatever debt there was is discharged :)

It's great that you have a desire to forgive, and God is going to give you ability. He's more willing to give than you are to ask. Could this recognition of the problem possibly be a firstfruits of something that God intends to do in your life? To learn to forgive is to learn to see people with the same love that God does. You are asking God for a great thing.

I wish I had wisdom to tell you about your career decision, though I don't. However, it's convicting to see someone put their life on the line for the cause of telling others about Christ, and giving them a shot at serving Him. That comes from God. I don't know whether to tell you this was the way you were supposed to go, but we do know that God allowed you to go this way; He knew about it, and prepared the good works ahead of time for you to walk in (Ephesians 2:10). I don't have an answer on whether you sought God sufficiently on this, though God has allowed even evil things to happen to bring good, like with Joseph (not saying this was a mistake). You have eight months until deportation, and plenty of time to pray and seek God, and He will answer you. Be encouraged. You might be more in the will of God than you think you are. :)

Keep us posted, because I want to know what God does with this.