Rebuttal to the Below Letter

The following is my reply to the letter written by the despondent person quoted in the previous post:

Are you loking for someone to mollycoddle you? No sale here. God really is everything you say he is, but I would have to say that you are in need of some smart perseverance, and a swift kick spiritually speaking. Get the Word in front of you. Cry out to God! Do so every day. Follow the pattern in Hosea. Leave all normal activities. Replace all of them with prayer. Look at the Ninevites. They all put on sackcloth and ashes, and God was moved to compassion. Remember, you are not changing God when you do this. God is changing you.

Yes, you are on the right track when you say Christ is glorious beyond description. Believe that to the point of cutting out your eye and your arm. Resist sin to the point of death--of course prayerfully in the promises of Scripture, and he will come to your aid in due time. Get others involved. Get their prayers. Confess sin to someone in authority. You probably are resisting God in some area, and this is what creates a beachhead for Satan in your life. At least you have the spiritual sensitivity to see it. Don't badmouth Edwards, et. al. for their insistence that we deal with sin before God can move. Your dealing with it biblically proves he is moving.

It sounds like you have some good experiences in your past that make you yearn for them. Do not give up. Remember the counsel of Desiring God's counselors. "Our prize is Christ, the image of the invisible God, and his fellowship is worth ten thousand lifetimes of struggle and doubt and barrenness." Fight on--but fight smart. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, and he will transform you.

Also, do not wrest Scripture from its original intention. God did not write the book of Hebrews to make people perpetually blue and hopeless. Sure, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, but paradoxically, the fearful need not fear. Keep your fear biblical--by reading and meditating on Scripture--Old and New Testaments--and persevere with others who have the joy. You will be eternally glad you did--for His Glory.