On bended knee...

Personally I am glad to see 2014 go. It was a rough year for the wife and me. It's hard sometimes to figure out what God wants you to do. You just gotta keep praying and hoping for brighter days though.

 

Made time to do some reading.

1 Corinthians 13:2 ESV

And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

 

So good to see something like this pop up. I do enjoy my new Taco (still need to actually put it in 4WD for more than a little snow), but I know who gave it to me (God) and thank him for it just about every day. Was excited that the first thing I got to use the "truck" for was moving a stove for the church.

 

That's awesome Louis!
Yes, I am thankful each and every day.
Welcome to TW....there are a lot of great people on here and are always willing to help. Enjoy that truck and thanks for posting up in here.

 

Hey guy's....
Matthew 5:16 KJV

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

 

Thanks for this!

 

Good morning... Few for the day to chew on.
Isaiah 40:31 GNB

But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.
Have a good day.

 

I am currently in a small group and we are studying Romans 8.... What a chapter!

 

subbed

 

Good to see you here!

 

Good to see here you as we'll man. Haha I can't believe in a year I will start seminary.

 

Treat this thread as your own! Thanks for stopping by. Phillip

 

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." - Jeremiah 29:11

This is one of my favorite verses and I do hold it close but, sometimes (like now) I have a hard time believing it. I could post a book giving my testimony and story but I'll save everyone the boredom. I'm blessed in a lot of ways and for that I'm grateful and thankful. While I fail everyday I live and lean on the Grace of my Lord and my Savior Jesus Christ.

I'm just having a hard time right now with the one thing that I've wanted the most in my adult life. I think that God actually said it best. "Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”" - Genesis 2:18 I'm 35 and I have no prospects and even the online thing has left me feeling rejected and depressed. I see people 10 and more years younger than me blessed with families and I can't help but mourn the good years that I've lost that I could have had that too.

I don't mean to dump on everyone but, would ya'll please lift me up even if it's just for God to help me be contented and to lift this horrible loneliness and depression that I fight over this?

-Jonathan

 

Amen.......glad to find you guys!

 

Praying for you brother.

 

Jonathan,
Welcome and thanks for posting. I also will not write my book here( lol). Me being honest I believe you are already on the right path and know the answer. Brother you could have spent your last 10 years(that you mentioned) in the worst relationship you could imagine.
He knows, and he has your path laid out. I know you have went over all the saying's time and time again, but I truly believe when you finally put your heart and mind on cruise control it will happen.
I met my wife at a shoe store that was fixing to close for the night , and she was not happy with me when I walked in. I went in only because I needed a silly pair of cleats to play softball the next day and my old pair was busted. Before I left we scheduled a date the next weekend. Never expected that.
I am not a preacher....I am not a relationship specialist. I am human and believe and trust in my lord that his plan is laid out. I pray that that someone will find you very soon! I pray that you find comfort knowing that there is a plan for you. I hope that theses words are taken kindly.

 

Don't be so quick to jump into looking for a woman man. I have tried on my own and still do. I am realizing that it is better to let God take care of it. Just pray about it with all your heart and let God have it. A little bit of advice is to enjoy life. Life goes so fast you might miss something. So join a small group and get support from your brothers in Christ.

 

The best thing you can do right now is to throw yourself into helping others. It will get you out of yourself and you will feel much better. I'm not saying I'm real good at getting out of myself but I know it helps. Don't stress. I know a guy at church who I don't think was ever with a girl until about age 45 or so then he got married and is happy.

 

Thanks guys for all of the encouragement. I'm good, it's just hard sometimes. Family is second only to God for me and having one of my own is just one of those things... The older I get the more isolated I feel as those around me get married and then do their own things with their other married friends and it just isolates me more. Then there's the monotony of working pretty much from 7am to 5pm or so everyday shut away in an office of a bunch of dudes and it just gets tough.

I'm not trying to make excuses either. I try to stay as upbeat as possible and most days I'm ok, it's just that the reality of time flying by is all. What's the Psalm or Proverb about feeling like time is just being wasted and is all for nothing??? Yeah, that's how it feels sometimes.

Here's a little story for ya'll. So my mom and I went through about 4 rough years a while back with my parents going through a rough divorce (dad has some serious abusive tendencies) and my granddad being ill for quite a while and passing along with a set of issues with my house that lead to a law suit and settlement. All of that at once and we are over an hour away from where home always was and not knowing many people. So here we are a 30 something and an almost 65 year old looking for churches. That was an awful switch for us. I had been the staff Technical Director, a Tenor on the Praise Team and choirs, and had both done Technical Direction and singing/acting in our large plays ever year for like 10 or 12 years. My mom had also been very active as well.

So here we are looking for churches and having a little bit of a hard time finding one where God was leading. So in the midst of all of this we go to a rather largish and fairly prominent church to visit one morning. We get there early and make our way to the middle of the seating. Here's where the issues began... No one, and I mean no one even spoke to us. The ushers passed us over when giving the early comers bulletins and I had to get up to get them for myself. The pastor preached on outreach! During the welcome time we had decided to forcefully introduce ourselves but people would see us coming and turn to neighbors and get into conversations quickly to avoid us. When we walked out I was going to greet the pastor on the way out and he even got someone's attention on the other side of the lobby and started a conversation over us as we left. Really!?!? I mean REALLY!?!? And he preached a sermon on Outreach for crying out loud!!! Searching for churches these days is really getting difficult if you are looking for a real, genuine, growing, Christ like congregation. At the one previous there was literally no one under the age of like 45 in the whole church even at the "contemporary" service. It was blatantly clear that they weren't growing. The next one had no one over the age of like, well, me... Don't get me wrong I'm all for young leadership but the bible is very clear about elders and seeking wisdom.

Sorry for the rant here but I challenge you all today to put aside all the trappings and traditions of church and "religion". Seek today the true definition of being a Christian... To follow and live as much of a Christ like life as possible is the true definition of being a real Christian. If we seek Him and follow Him and live as much like Him as our imperfect beings will allow then He will show us Himself and the Belief part will come naturally.

Have a blessed day!
Jonathan

 

I have been to a few churches like you described and never went back. Some people go to church all their lives and never exhibit any fruit.It's hard to find a new church because you have a tendency to compare the new with the old. That doesn't work....