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Agnes Stuart
I think the parable of the sower in Mark 4 may answer this question. Jesus said that the seed falling on rocky ground is the person who receives the word (Jesus) joyfully but as soon as trouble or persecution comes he falls away, and the seed that fell among thorns is the person who hears the word but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, the desires for other things come in and choke the word making it unfruitful. Either of these people could be the ones you mention.
Ema Sabau
"......as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, " (I Peter 2:2) The Bible compares a newborn Christian with a new born baby. A child is crying for food. When he/she grows up, beginning at the age 2 or so parents try all kind of tricks to make the child to eat. Techniques are multiple. When the child is 4 or 5 parents expect him to feed himself. Sometimes the parents' intervention is still necessary. After age 10-11 it's inadmissible for a child not to feed himself properly. And as an adult a person MUST eat properly in order to have a healthy life. There are all kinds of anomalies in life when it comes to eating. Unhealthy eating sooner or later leads to medical problems and finally to death. Something very similar happens in a spiritual way. When somebody is genuinely (very important) born again, he feels the need for spiritual food. That is received through reeding the Bible, studying God's word alone and in groups with other " mature" christians, through prayer time, and so on. Normally that is happening at the beginning but after a certain time this "appetite" tends to diminish. At that point the Christian MUST keep "eating", because it is natural (the flesh doesn't fill the spiritual hunger) to give up. Little by little the appetite from the beginning decreases, and in the end no hunger will remain, leading to spiritual death. There are such things everywhere around us. And now some practical advice: If we were for sure born again we must keep this in mind, that we were under God's condemnation for our sins. But through Jesus' blood we are SAVED through faith. Do not forget this and continuously give thanks to God for this and love Him for His salvation provided to us. If we do this every single day we will be real godly children and day by day grow closer and closer to Him Who loves us and has for His children assured a present and a future.
Mike Cleveland
A person first becomes a Christian through hearing the gospel, the good news of our salvation through Jesus' death and resurrection. He hears this good news and by faith believes it, repenting of his sin and confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior. Then he goes to church, and often times the emphasis is on what he is to do, how he can get into all the "spiritual disciplines", how he is to evidence his faith by his works, how he needs to love God and his neighbor, etc. Etc. In all this it is very easy to get our eyes off of the gospel. Paul reminds the Galatians that they were, and we are, sanctified the same way we are justified, through "Christ crucified" (Galatians 3:1). It is up to churches, to those preaching, to remind us of this good news, to place it "as of first importance" (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) so that every subject is surrounded in this good news. To the extent this is done baby Christians grow, retaining the fire and the passion of their first love. To the extent that preaching becomes man centered people lose their view of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, lose their first love, lose their fire and passion. May God enable the church to once again focus squarely on the cross, the forgiveness and cleansing that flows from it, the reconciliation and eternal life that we gain from Jesus suffering and death, and thereby continue to be in love with Jesus and vibrant in testifying of Him.
Shantkumar S. Kunjam
Some one has observed that there are two creatures in the world that are bigger in size at birth but as they grow they become smaller. One is wasp and the other is a born-again Christian. I remember, when I experienced new birth in the Lord, I was overjoyed. I was very enthusiastic about witnessing Jesus Christ. Other Christians seamed smaller in faith. I felt always singing and praising God. But as life went on my enthusiasm was normalized. Facing the harsh realities of life kept my feet on the ground. This did mot mean that my faith was weakened. It only meant, as they would say in America, the honey-moon days were now over. (Please do not stretch this analogy beyond the limit. Thanks) A born again Christian will both be drinking milk (1 Pet. 2:2) and eating hard meat (Heb. 5:13-14) of the word of God. That is, though he is maturing but he keeps the enthusiasm of early days. He has learned balancing. The picture in John 1:18 amazes me. Though called, "Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace" (Is. 9:6), yet our Lord is pictured here in the bosom of God, like a child. We all enjoy the laughters, the screaming and the pranks of babies, but the same things will be annoying in grown ups. In the grown up Christians their passion for the Lord and His work may seam fading but fire of passion still burns and gives warmth to others. New born Christian's faith in early days is more individualistic not so much concerned for other believers, but as they grow their concern broadens. Their faith becomes more corporate, a faith shared with others. So my answer here is more from personal experience, rather than from the Scriptures.
Kevin Snyder
We are all searching for some meaning to all the conflicts and tragedies of the day, as well as forgiveness for the multitude of sins that we have. God provides an answer in the life and death of Jesus. When I first received this 'Good News' I was overjoyed an certainly 'living in the spirit' for a good while. Unfortunately Jesus does not promise an easy life just because we 'are saved by His Grace'. Also, here in the United States we are inundated with quick fixes to pain (with a pill), money problems (easy money via loans), etc. That seem to satisfy us where God may be asking us to have patience and trust him as to why we are in pain or struggling financially.
David Lachance
I wonder about this every day. Being raised in a heathen home with drugs and alcohol, had no idea of God. Until I read "The Late Great Planet Earth" which gave me a revelation that God is real and I was in big trouble. It scared me to the point that I fasted, prayed and read the bible for 3 days. On the third or fourth night, on the roof of a naval barracks, late at night, I was praying for mercy when something happened. I heard Gods voice and had this light go through me and experienced a connection. All I could respond was " yes Lord". Every time I prayed I got connected. It gave me the power to walk in his spirit. My life turned a 180. This great life lasted for about 4 or 5 months. It took longer and longer to get this connection in prayer and finally could not get connected. I knew then that without this connection I wouldn't have the power not to sin. So I live, knowing by experience that God is real and trying to do good but sinning every day. I don't see how anybody can walk in the spirit without power and being connected. I go the largest church in a small town and everybody seems to me to be in the same boat. No healings, no miracles, just a bunch of good people trying to be good.
Dan Rivers
The parable of the sower answers your question, Matt 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8 Understanding this parable is very important as Jesus says, Mar 4:13 NLT - Then Jesus said to them, "If you can't understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables? Many people believe that a "Christian" can fall away from grace because they actually see it happen. But what they are seeing is those that are not of the "GOOD" soil fall away... They never really "hear and understand" the ways of God, they have "become" christians with the "what's in in for me" attitude.. And of course, just as Jesus did, we are to always to put others and their interests first...We are to love others before ourselves... But as Jesus says those of the GOOD soil do "hear and understand" the Word of God and WILL produce fruit... Mat 13:23 NKJV - "But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands [it], who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." And those of the GOOD soil WILL never fall away! Praise God!
Abel Ogah
In my opinion, quite a number of people whose fellowship and sincere worship of God tend to diminish have believed in God out of necessity. For instance, a woman who is looking for a husband or a fruit of the womb could turn round to blame her slow tempo on the baby that The Lord has blessed her with. However, while she was seeking God's face for visitation, distance was not a barrier to her worshipping God. Similarly, a man who attends all conferences, miracle services and all kinds of services to ask God for a job could turn round to blame his job for failure to even got church forgetting that it is not by might or power that he got that job. We must learn always that the same God holds the key to our success. Therefore, we have no reason to slack in our service when God blesses us or grants the desire of our heart. Remember the story of the rich fool. Probably, he troubled God day and for blessing of the harvest, now he said to his soul with a boast, relax and enjoy. What an irony of showing God gratitude. Seek God first and always. Do not anything to come between your first love. Input by Abel Abechi Ogah
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