Help

[Unregistered]

Help

I love God with all my heart, I really do. But I feel like at the moment I'm just stuck, I'm not growing with him, I so badly just want to hear his voice, know for myself that he's real. Experience it for myself, not just listen to what other people tell me. That's not enough anymore, I want to get to know him personally.

But as strong as this desire is I'm so weak, there is so much of the world I so easily get caught up in on a daily basis. I love the Harry Potter series and movies, even though I've been taught to believe it's wrong. My parents know I read them, I'm not lying to them, they don't really mind even though my church has made it quite clear that that's just onew example of something we should bt trying to keep away from. And now I've found the Twilight series which I also love. Is it these worldly things keeping me from God? I know that there is no such thing as magic or vampires. I'm just so confused, is it really this wrong that I like reading these books? Is the reason I've stopped growing in my faith, or feel I am anyway.

Help.
Please.

God Bless.

 

[NearertoGod]

Hello,

I will admit myself - I have read Harry Potter and Twilight. I am a general lover of fantasy, I always like to imagine little worlds full of creatures and fantastical adventures.

Usually we all have our dark areas we need to deal with. I had to pull myself away from watching paranormal shows. I had to pull myself away from a lot of things.

It was hard at first. I used to ritually watch Ghost Hunters, Paranormal State, and others I can't think of now. It was like a drug - you know it's bad for you but you cannot get off of it.

I had to stop watching those shows because they made me paranoid. They made me see things. I don't like objects that reflect at night anyways, and this made it ten times as bad as it should be. I didn't like being in the darkness, because I thought I saw things move around and walk down the hallways...

It was very hard at first. When I would get bored I would go to YouTube or if it was that time of the day when the shows came on, I would turn on the TV and settle down for some paranormal. I knew, deep inside, it was not good for me. I knew I had to get away from it but it was all "HOW?".

It wasn't until this last incident where I had slipped up and watched Paranormal State. By far that episode was the creepiest of all. I don't even want to repeat what happened to the girl because it was just beyond sick.

And later on that evening I couldn't sleep in my room. I was shaking like a wet dog and I had to go into a different room, close the door, and crawl up under a blanket for a few hours.

I can tell you, that it is hard to admit our own faults. It's hard to look at the things we do and say, "Good bye".

I also had to learn how to spend time with God - alone. Not in church, not with a group, but just me and Him on a personal, one-to-one level. I had to learn how to listen to His voice speak to me, I had to learn how to relax and just tell Him all my problems and feelings and emotions.

If you feel that what you are doing is wrong - take it to the Lord. When I want to know if I am doing something wrong, I don't go and ask a bunch of people because you will get a bunch of different answers. God is the only Judge I know, and He knows right from wrong better than I ever can.

Instead of spending time with your books, find that special place. Be it sitting in your room with the lights out or going for a walk in the growing dawn, find someway to speak to God like you do your mom or best friend. Sometimes we think we have to speak like we're meeting Queen Elizabeth when we can just approach God as ourselves. We should stop asking amiss and just tell Him how we feel, get it off our chest. Cry out to the Lord, He will never leave nor forsake you.

Love,

NTG

 

[least in the kingdom]

Deuteronomy 18:10 Cross References

Come back to Him.

"Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty." II Corinthians 6:17-18

Here's what God thinks of sorcery and witches. Despite how apostate this generation is, and how much in love with the world the contemporary 'church' is, it is an abomination to God, and He has not lowered His Standards, although people have laid aside the commands of God because their heart goes after an idol of entertainment. Surely God wouldn't mind a little spiritual adultery...would He? Imagine your at a wedding. The Groom (Jesus Christ) is waiting eagerly for His Bride, and loves her-burns for her (the Church). She stumbles down the isle because she fell back and hit the bottle again. She staggers up, gets a little further down the isle, and spies an old boyfriend, puts her arm around him and and starts talking to him again. Meanwhile the Groom is very Jealous for His Bride. What will He do to those who caused her to stumble? Now, one of the Bride'smaid goes over to her, drags her away, and talks some sense into her. She repents and sets her eyes back on her Love. He loves Her and forgives Her, He laid down His life for Her, it cost Him everything. But He burns with Divine Righteous Jealousy for her and wants His Bride in a White dress.

"They will walk after the LORD, He will roar like a lion; Indeed He will roar And His sons will come trembling from the west." Hosea 11:10

Ezekiel 16

 

[Ginger]

I love God with all my heart, I really do. But ...I love the Harry Potter series and movies, even though I've been taught to believe it's wrong. ....I've found the Twilight series which I also love. Is it these worldly things keeping me from God?

No, my two oldest children have both read these books and they are very, godly children.

I think it might be fear that makes you feel this distance from God - fear that you are not good enough because you do some things that others say are wrong.

Do you know there are people who think they can never go to God because their sins are too bad to be forgiven? It's fear that is keeping them from turning to God.

Keep seeking God. Spend more time reading the Scriptures and talking to God. Be honest, God already knows how you feel and what you are thinking, so it's OK to express your imperfect feelings and misunderstandings. Keep talking to Him.

Reading fiction is not a sin. If someday God wants you to stop reading fiction, He will make that clear to you and you will be ready to stop.

God will either take away the desire or you will have grown strong enough in His Spirit to have the will.

In the meantime, stop beating yourself up. God loves you and accepts you just as you are. Even if fifty years from now you sit down and reread Harry Potter, God will still love you.

Ginger