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stop drifting from god
Hay guys, I just recently came back from a church retreat and I am feeling so close to god but as soon as i stepped into school today the WORST possible things that could happen that could take me from god happened. I had friends asking me to go to parties to smoke after school, and dont get me started on girls. Now I feel like I am fighting a losing battle.
so my question is, how do I stay close to god while I have to deal with all this junk the devil decides to conveniently throw my way at the worst possible time?
so my question is, how do I stay close to god while I have to deal with all this junk the devil decides to conveniently throw my way at the worst possible time?
Comments
about your friends asking you to smoke and go to parties,(please dont get offended) but those are not friends at all, as for girls every one will fall into that. but one thing that helps me is picturing a big bottle of guilt and taking a sip of it and see if it tastes good or not . also start the day off right by reading your bible.
http://stmarkdc.org/files/Quiet Time Guide 2010 - purple.pdf
this is a wonderful guide for reading your bible everyday.
pray for me and hope i helped in the littlest ways
I like reading the bible but i was looking for something a little more practical.
the devil is like really fighting you!!
But u have to fight back!!! U have to try your hardest!
Something practical...well honestly for me..i would just say bye to
those friends...i would drift away from them rather than drifting from God.
I would just try to avoid hanging out with them! This is what i do..i just focus on how amazing
church is and my church friends are that i just dont care about school friends at all.
Remember that bad company corrupts good morals! & also remember that Christ even said
that if your right eye causes u to sin, pluck it out bc its better to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than going to hell with two or something like that!! Cut off those friends dude! Its so worth it in the end =]. Just stop hanging out with them..and gradually decrease your time talking with them.
i hope this helped =]
God is with you!
and i am a high school student so staying away from those friends is kinda hard since we are together 8 hours everyday.
i cant really stand anyone so i just dont talk to them loool
but its part of carrying your cross and being different than the world
u know?
If u pray about it..God can help u, but u also have to be willing to do your part too =]
Just toz feehom..think about tasbeha in school lol and just fling them away lool
or sing liturgy in your head lol
Do whatever..just get them away from u..u can do it
there is hope =]
read this by HG Bishop youssef
http://www.suscopts.org/q&a/index.php?qid=862&catid=161
http://www.suscopts.org/q&a/index.php?qid=1329&catid=628
or sing liturgy in your head lol
ok so something totally off topic... i was humming evlogimenos to myself today in AP Bio and my teacher waited till i was done and told me she liked the arabic music i was humming! lol
good job lolol
Jesus said "I am not of this world" and we must "imitate Christ" as St. Paul says.
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." Ephesians 6:10-17
God Bless and please pray for me and my weakess
Someone asked Anba Angelos the same exact question and HG Anba Angelos answered by saying that the reason you feel so spiritual during retreat is because everything around you has to do with God, singing, lecture, Liturgy, Priest talking, fellowship, etc. but once we come back, we slowly start to fall.
He gave the advice by filling our lives with God, by listening to hymns instead of wasteful music. attending Bible Study and reading the Bible. He gave a good example of everyone that drives to school could listen to a small sermon on the way to school/work. Think about it; you drive everyday while listening to music, you can replace that by listening to spiritual music or sermons.
Those little things will add up and fill your mind with Christ through out the whole day.
Pray always
From my experience, Jesus says "The lamp of the body is the eye". This so true actually-- if your eye is good, your whole body WILL be full of light. It's kind of like "you are what you eat". Whatever you occupy your time by, whatever you talk to, whoever you hand around, whatever you watch, whatever you think about, whatever you listen to, whatever you look at, all of this enters your mind and affects you so much. If these things tempt you or cause you to sin, you will surely fall because you set yourself up for it. But if you make every effort to be in the church, fill your time and senses with holy things, and make a serious effort in your relationship with God, God will fill your life and satisfy your soul. He said, "Turn to Me, and I will turn to you." We take one step towards Him and He takes 10 steps towards us.
God bless you and don't give up. These changes come gradually--they don't happen overnight. If the devil tries to make you fall into despair, these are 2 verses I like to remind myself of:
Micah 7:8
"Do not rejoice over me, my enemy;
When I fall I will arise;
When I sit in darkness,
The Lord will be a light to me."
and Proverbs 24:16
"For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again."
we should do all the stuff to be closer to God, but sometimes we find despite doing everything 'right' we still feel down and we feel we are not trusting God. this is when we should think of the words of ephesians 6:13-14 'after having done everything to stand, stand. stand firm therefore...' (quoted by egyboy)
you see there, the word 'stand' is used 3 times! sometimes the temptations are so fierce it's like we are a ship in a storm. we see we can't move forward, but in this situation, God just wants us to hold our course, to keep pointing in the right direction, to keep calling on God and knowing He hears us, even if we don't 'feel' it.
then after we 'submit to God, resist the devil' the devil will flee, and God will give us His peace.
may we all stand firm and glorify God.
:) everyone has said such beautiful things.. i was just thinking if ur friends r not close to Christ then maybe it wud be best to explain. Just say i'm sorry but it is not really my cup of tea, or i dont think it is right to smoke. But when they r just having lunch together or something then spend time with them then in situations which are good and during this time show them that u love them. Then u will not hurt them if u spend less time with them or dont go to the party with them and they will begin to understand u. i guess after that ur friendship might deepen but in a good way as they will understand u better and mayb respect u more.. or u might drift apart a little but u will not have caused offense.
but i still miss the retreats :(
Soo... i propose all Coptic Christians live on an island! we can call it retreat island! where it will be an ever lasting retreat (until we die :D )!!
we should find people who are a good influence and hang out with them, and then we can influence the people who are a bad influence.
we have a retreat island. it's called church! although even then we should take care to notice and be kind to any visitors.
outside of church we should remember matthew 28, we should go into all the earth to spread the good news of Jesus.
we are not called just to stand firm in our faith (although in some difficult situations we are unable to do more than that) but also to share our faith.
this is why retreats are so short!
don't worry, we get a really long one in heaven :)
and
trying to give up my friends is hard, mostly because after years with them it's hard to just let them go :(
besides, after years with them i convinced myself that i was puling them up, turns out they were pulling me down! (i am shocked!)
which brings me right back to my retreat island proposal! :D
haha
maybe you could discuss this with some like-minded friends, stay in church for 20mins after mass and sing some taraneem, learn tasbeha, ask abouna or a church servant for Bible study after lunch etc etc.
also i like jerusalem 2's advice about hanging out with your friends at lunchtime or any time when you are surrounded by people and embarassed to do bad stuff (eg go shopping in a mall where their parents are likely to walk past).
avoid parties where there will no parents (basically that means there will be alcohol). i escaped a bad situation when i was 14 and my friend's parents were away and she arranged a party in her house. i was suspicious that something bad might happen, even though my friend (not Christian) was always well-behaved. so i told her i thought it was not a good idea and stayed away. later i heard her parents came back early to find the party had been gatecrashed by older people, there were several people drunk, cigarette burns on the sofa, plenty of vomit, a broken toilet seat and someone using her parents bedroom.
i can't remember how long she was grounded for!
so stay close to God, and don't if you don't always 'feel' close to Him. obey Him, give a good example in church, share your faith, and He will reward you in His time with spiritual growth you can see :)
hey guys so I have taken allot of your advice and i am starting to see a difference :D
but i still miss the retreats :(
Soo... i propose all Coptic Christians live on an island! we can call it retreat island! where it will be an ever lasting retreat (until we die :D )!!
I think about this 'problem' alot abanoub2000!
I really feel sorry for the youth of today because there are sooooo very many distractions out there!! Still, I think, well it must be because the devil knows the youth of today are strong and will do many great works in the future!
I do think as Orthodox Christians we should separate ourselves more from the world. Have our own schools, businesses etc. Just like we have our own Church.
Not to 'sit upon the seat of the scornful', but I just think separation from the world is important.
All the Saints who strived to live a life close to God went off to live in the wilderness, in Monastery's, Convents etc. Even The Holy Virgin Mary lived separate from people in the Church in Her formative years.
So, I like your proposal and think you should formulate a plan to see it brought to fruiton in a practical way. Then maybe the future generations will be spared some of the torment you go through by having to live with worldly people.
GB
"Come out from them My People" Stand fast and hold the traditions you were taught. Do not turn to the right or to the left
Ephesians 5:17-18 (New King James Version)
17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
Soo... i propose all Coptic Christians live on an island! we can call it retreat island! where it will be an ever lasting retreat (until we die :D )!!
[quote author=elsi70x7 link=topic=8954.msg112166#msg112166 date=1269109214]
I do think as Orthodox Christians we should separate ourselves more from the world. Have our own schools, businesses etc. Just like we have our own Church.
Not to 'sit upon the seat of the scornful', but I just think separation from the world is important.
Haha i love the "retreat island" idea lol :P i wish we could all escape like that!!
Of course, physical separation from the world is too unrealistic...and even if it was possible, what would the people of this world think of us Coptic Christians?? Most likely that we don't like any other groups and are discriminate against others. Plus if God intended this for us in the first place, He would have just created us on a different planet than everyone else ;) !!
I heard a sermon once where the priest said, "we live in the world, but not with the world".
Jesus told us "behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves" (Luke 10:3)t and as St. Paul says, "that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:15).
I really liked the advice given by Mabsoota, it seems to sum up everything:
"we have a retreat island. it's called church! ... outside of church we should remember matthew 28, we should go into all the earth to spread the good news of Jesus. we are not called just to stand firm in our faith (although in some difficult situations we are unable to do more than that) but also to share our faith. this is why retreats are so short! don't worry, we get a really long one in heaven."