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I received this question long ago through this site - Any advice for someone stuck in this situation?

Question -

I first became a christian when I was 16 (12 years ago) and then I was baptised at 21 and then when I was 22 I turned my back on God big time! Last July I made a recommittment to God, I gave my life back to him. Since then I have been really struggling. My question is How can I make my personal relationship with God become a reality? Its like I have it in my head but not my heart and at the moment I just feel like quitting! Help!

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[More:]

After praying about it, I gave this reply (some parts omitted):

I know what you mean by feeling like quitting. I have been there and I know what you are going through. After coming to the end of myself, I have one bit of advise for you: I strongly recommend that you do yourself a favor and GIVE UP. QUIT. SURRENDER. EMPTY YOURSELF.

If you are at the end of your religious rope, THEN grease it! Let go!

Now before you think that I am steering you wrong, let me explain what I mean. When the Christian life is characterized by struggle, then something is desperately wrong. The Christian life is victorious life in which Jesus Christ empowers and fulfills you. When you taste of Him “you will thirst no more!” As He saturates your heart with joy and peace insomuch as it spills over to others around you giving glory to God and joy unspeakable, then you will know true meaning and purpose and fulfillment in your Christian walk. However, there are many obstacles that the enemy will use to prevent you and others from finding out the Real Living Water. The number one obstacle is a slight perversion of the Gospel. It may seem right, but something is missing. You may feel guilty and frustrated that you cannot be acceptable because your end of the bargain is compromised by your weaknesses. Sound familiar?

I live in Texas and there is a true story about a farmer in west Texas who made a fortune in oil. However, most of his life was lived in destitute poverty. Mr. Bates (I think was his name) was a pig rancher. He couldn’t make ends meet and struggled to survive. One day an investor asked if Mr. Bates would allow him to drill for oil on his ranch. At a very shallow depth, the largest oil reservoir in America was discovered under Mr. Bates ranch! He was rich all along, but he did not know it. When the oil was discovered, he realized all of the wealth that was his for all of the years that he was struggling.

Guess what? He quit farming pigs.

This story mirrors many other people who for years struggled to make the Christian life work. In my case (as well as theirs), God was frustrating my enjoyment of pig farming because He wanted me to search for something deeper. He wanted to introduce me to the fullness of life and the limitless resource of spiritual blessing. He wanted me to KNOW that He loves me.

His love was a key ingredient. During my years of wandering in the wasteland of religious practice, I knew nothing of God’s love. My warped understanding of devotion was pushing understanding of His love further and further away. I thought that I could influence God’s love for me. If I jumped through the hoops that my church put before me, then I thought that God would favorably appraise my acts of devotion and reward me by making His love evident in my life. Conversely, I also thought that if I failed in any way, God would be disappointed in me and find that my weaknesses would prove to make me unworthy of His love.

[name], the best kept secret in modern Christianity is that God’s love for us is never based on us! It is based on Him! We cannot extinguish His love nor can we inspire or manipulate it. He loves us, because He IS love. “God is love.”

For the longest time, I thought that I had to be lovely. Get it? It was based on me. I was pig farming. Would God be doing me any favors if He rewarded pig farming? No, He loves you and me too much to encourage SECOND best. He wants OUR HIGHEST good, not some cheap imitation. His love for me during those lean years was to never let me see His love as something that I could inspire by my own acts of devotion. Only when I gave up on all of those mirages of merit, did I come face to face with God’s wonderful and unconditional love.

Maybe the love thing is key for you too. If so, I think that I can help. I would love to share more with you about what the Bible has to say about God’s love and encourage you with some resources from ministries devoted to helping burned-out Christians. I want you to find the treasure that you have in Christ! This will happen as you loose faith in what doesn’t work and determine for yourself that you don’t want the pig ranch anymore.

First, decide that you want to find the real thing.

Lord, I lift up my sister. I ask that you show her your love and the purity and simplicity of the Gospel. If she has been deceived, I pray that your truth will set her free and replace the error that has left her desperate and in bondage. I thank you, Lord Jesus, that you have always loved her, even when she turned her back on you. I praise You that there is no way for Lisa to exhaust Your love for her. I ask that you show her the reason that you were raised from the dead. I ask that you show her that she is a new creation in You. I know that you began a good work in her and I also know that you will be faithful to complete it. AMEN.

Isaiah 49:15 “"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!”

THE END.

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