Blue_Rose88 :

Those who come to this forum regularly will know that we have a prayer wall, where people can write requests of what do they need for prayer (and yes, there are still some of us who prays for those at the wall) The latest prayer request is posted by a girl named Blue_Rose88. Here is what she wrote:

"Hello I'm new and came across this board. I need help and guidance. I read revelation and it scared me cause I want my soul to be saved so I can be with my family when God creates his new world. I don't want to be cast in a fiery pit for eternity. I know I'm not a perfect person but I feel so unworthy. I believe in God but don't go to church because I figured that as along I have God in my heart everything is alright. But for months my fear has haunted me to the point where I can't sleep in the dark. I haven't done nothing serious but did stupid things. What should I do to overcome this fear? And become more strong minded and not give in to temptation"

After talking to her privately, she agreed to have a conversation on a thread about this post. The reason of this thread is for people who might be feeling similar to Blue_Rose88 can get some guidance or learn something from this conversation as well. I will be active on this thread to help her, but if any other Christians want to add more from what I say on this thread, by all means. But this is STRICTLY a counseling thread, not a debate thread. There should not be any reason we see prolonged arguments in this thread. This is also a Christian counseling thread, which means that all of this will be in a Christian point of view. You want to argue about different religions, you can make a new thread, but the concern here is purely in a Christian context.

Blue_Rose88, from reading your post, I already noticed a few things, but I don't want to jump into any conclusions. So I will start this conversation by asking you this. Tell me your life story so far. What do you mean by "as long I have God in my heart everything is alright"?

Blue_Rose88 : Ok I'm getting more of the picture of the situation. I do have 1 more question to ask before I can answer. You are worried about saving your soul. How do you think you can save your soul? Meaning how do you think that people go to heaven than to hell?

Blue_Rose88 : and what is the path of God and what is repentance?

Blue_Rose88 : Thank you for answering those questions honestly. The reason I ask so much is because I want to make sure that I am dealing with a correctly defined situation. Thank you for being patient with me about it. There is still some things that can be cleared, but from what you've shared so far, I will answer this with the best of my abilities.

I was a little concerned from some of the posts in the beginning. You make conversion sound like a "done, did that" or "a flu shot." That is what it seems like you are describing when you said "as long as I accept God in my heart everything will be fine." I was trying to figure out what that means, because "accept Jesus in my heart" is just another Christian lingo and it doesn't really tell me what you really believe.

I just want to make a quick reminder that when we received Christ, we received salvation through repentance and faith (Mark 1:15) Repentance is "change of mind." It is turning from the direction of sin to the direction of God. It is not really "change of action," for that is caused by conversion, not THE CAUSE of conversion. The evidence that someone is saved is that the person bears fruit, that there is a change in a person's life that is clearly different than what the person was before he was a believer. This is because salvation is God's work, and God does the changing in a person's life.

Here is some comforting words. Christians do still sin. We are still in an earthly body. However, there is a difference between living in sin than to struggle against sin. A Christian would fight against sin because their changed hearts are sensitive to the sin in their lives, compared to living in sin as a lifestyle and repeatedly commit it with no sensitivity. All in all, if one is a Christian, one not only undergoes sanctification, but also the assurance that they are saved and that nothing would separate them from the love of God. (Romans 8:38-39) All of their sins would be forgiven, past, present, and future.

So can I say you will be going to heaven? From what you told me, I can't say anything. I don't know what your relationship with God is and I can't judge your heart except God Himself. The Bible makes it very very clear what to do: Examine yourself. “to make your calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10) “examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5)

I encourage you to think about these things and listen to this sermon by a preacher named Paul Washer, called "Examine Yourself"
Here is an excerpt of the sermon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30vSr2qXzis
If you want to hear the whole sermon, it is this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky8dTyPpiAo

I also wrote an article for my school newspaper about this type of issue. I posted a copy of it on this site: https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/thread.php?id=15878

Note that this is not exactly a complete answer, because there are still things that I don't know about you. But I want to give you some preliminary answers and for you to look into the things that I wrote here and when you are done looking into these things, give me a response of what you think back on this thread.

Other Christians who want to strengthen this consult can comment too, but I want you to at least look into this. Because I am pretty sure that you know that there is nothing more important than your eternal salvation.

Blue_Rose88 : Yeah, talking to God more would most definitely help.

Here is a link to a more complete answer to what the word "repentance" means:
http://www.gotquestions.org/repentance.html

This comes to another question I would like to ask. I know that going to church is not a requirement to salvation, but it does help a Christian grow and to fellowship with other Christians. Is there a particular reason why you don't go to church?

Blue_Rose88 : Yeah, if people don't practice what they preach, or live on sunday for God, but live the rest of the days like the world, it shouldn't be a reason to not go to church. In logic, that type of reasoning is actually a fallacy ("ad hominem") Let me give you another example, if your friend hurt me, it does not mean that you will hurt me. In the same way, we cannot base what Christianity or the church is like on what the followers have done. In this case, some followers may not be "followers" at all. They may be false converts. There are some churches that basically fall away from what their purpose are, and I have seen some really bad and unorthodox churches in our time.

I say it's more a matter of finding a biblical church, a church that doesn't mess around with trying to attract people, but focus on proclaiming the truth.

I will take everything you said to heart. This has actually helped me a lot. I talked to God yesterday and I know he was listening cause after that i felt at peace. I'm going to take each day to become a more strong-minded and better person. I hope more like you can try to guide others back on the right path. Thank you and God Bless You

Blue_Rose88 : "I talked to God yesterday and I know he was listening cause after that i felt at peace."

That's usually the answer I get when I pray. Almost regardless of what I ask for. I feel like I'm being told: "I'll take care of you. Don't worry about all that stuff. Just keep living life and those things will work themselves out in the best way possible."