My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? - Religion - Nairaland
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| My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by PeterObi4Presid: 5:44am On Apr 27 |
Please, this call for opinion/advise is strictly directed to people in the Lord who have been in my shoes, and who are genuinely on fire for God , not to some random nominal Christians who aren't sure of their standing with God or some argumentator who only get validation from likes. Thanks for understanding. Now, since I gave my life to God, a lot has changed about my life...tangible radical changes. One of those changes is in that most times or when I go on fasting spree, I find it hard to combine spiritual exercise and my secular interest that are also important We all know we have to work to feed. And we also have to explore our interests, but in my case, my fervency for spiritual things almost always takes my mind off other things in such that I can't concentrate on them as I would wish, as spiritual matters takes up my mind the more. Many times I feel guilty that it sort of makes me procrastinate on personal interest I am working on as I spend my concentration on reading Bible, trying to memorize verses, fasting and praying...And as we also know, fasting takes away strength and inclines one more to spiritual things more than secular personal matters... How do I strike a balance and still continue to burn for God? Sincerely, my love for God increases and being fervent brings inner joy and more revelation, but anytime I occupy my mind with my secular pursuit for maybe a week, i notice i feel less connected to God and lose my peace and physical touches of the spirit.....I dont know what i am missing, i truly desire wisdom in this matter....cos i do also have career interest that needs deep attention and full cognition.... I will appreciate sincere reply by true men or sons of God On how to switch between both world and operate effectively in both sides and still maintain concentration |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Ynix(m): 5:59am On Apr 27 |
PeterObi4Presid: What you need is to manage your time well. Don't be a fanatic instead create a weekly plan for yourself, it can be one or two days of fasting weekly which can be during weekends. Plan your days a day ahead. Plan your time of praying with specific timing Plan your time for preparing for work a day ahead to Take note Jesus was not a fanatic neither was he a religious bigot, he spend his midnight praying and his days working. You too go and do the same 1 Like |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Odotech: 6:09am On Apr 27 |
Man is a tripartite being (consist of soul, spirit and body) for a reason. The three parts of you must be catered for if not, you suffer. Your spirit reaches to God. If not nourished, you will be a chess game in the hand of the devil Your body if not nourished can lead to premature death which may stop you untimely from fulfilling your God-given purpose Your soul if not nourished affect your mental health. You need good music, good books, holidays, vacation to rest and make your soul happy You will tone down on excess fasting. God prefers 30 minutes or 1 hour of daily consistency to 1 month of crude fasting. Work on your consistency. Try to maintain a daily consistency in prayer, bible and weekly evangelism. This should suffice. Discipline yourself, wake and pray 4am to 6am everyday to pray. No need for fasting. Take your Sundays for fasting, Saturday for personal chores, use your Monday to Friday for hustling 8am to 10pm. If you are consistent, your revelation gifts will not stop. You don't need fasting to trigger gifts- they are actually called gifts because you don't work for them. You only need consistency to keep them flowing. The less consistent you are with prayer, the more your visions come with less clarity. No need for marathon, 2 hours a day of consistency will get you there. You can do marathon when you are on your annual leave from work 1 Like |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by paxonel(m): 7:00am On Apr 27 |
You can't use religious fanatism to equate spiritual fervency. So long you are alive with your carrier pursuit and you create time to relax and enjoy yourself with your family, you are even more spiritually fevent than those who cabash praying for hours and attending church often such that they lack awareness of what is happening in their immediate environment. 1 Like |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by PeterObi4Presid: 10:57am On Apr 27 |
Paxonel Odotech Ynix I appreciate you all for your input, there's a lot of wisdom in it......Thank you.... I will implement and give a review in months time I will still appreciate more inputs, from people who once had same issue in the past and how they dealt with it....or from any experienced Christian elder. Thanks |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by gohf: 2:40pm On Apr 27 |
PeterObi4Presid:you are going through a period and a phrase in your spiritual growth if you stop it you may later regret it. Prioritize those secular things that are NEEDED only and forget the rest that consume time and can be done later. You don't need to switch between the two, you need to grow fully into God and then walk into the world a new being. The world can wait. Jesus called a man and he gave an excuse, JESUS didn't say I will wait, infact Jesus response seemed harshed like when the rich man asked what more he needed to do and Jesus didn't stop him from leaving. Jesus said let the dead bury their dead, and you know burial is treated as extremely important but yet, Jesus said anyone who looks back isn't fit for the kingdom of God. AS LONG AS IT'S THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADING YOU, FOLLOW. It's a process, it's a phrase. 4 Likes |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Michael547(m): 3:03pm On Apr 27 |
Odotech:So where does the soul and spirit go when a person dies? |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Emusan(m): 4:58pm On Apr 27 |
Michael547: "For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it." - Eccl 12:7 |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Michael547(m): 5:00pm On Apr 27 |
Emusan:Soul nko? |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Emusan(m): 5:01pm On Apr 27 |
Michael547: Soul resides in spirit. At least you know the SPIRIT RETURNED TO GOD according to the scripture. |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Michael547(m): 5:03pm On Apr 27 |
Emusan:So when everyone dies, their spirit and soul returns to God? So the spirit and the soul are not separate? |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Emusan(m): 5:05pm On Apr 27 |
Michael547: "For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it." - Eccl 12:7 Which part is difficult to under here? |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Michael547(m): 5:06pm On Apr 27 |
Emusan:Lol....so which soul and spirit goes to hell fire? |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Emusan(m): 5:07pm On Apr 27 |
Michael547: You agreed that the Spirit returned to God, right? |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Michael547(m): 5:09pm On Apr 27 |
Emusan:Yes. And you said the soul is inside the spirit. So which soul and spirit goes to hell fire? |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Emusan(m): 5:11pm On Apr 27 |
Michael547: Good which means SOMETHING ACTUALLY exists after man died. Is that correct? And you said the soul is inside the spirit. The same that returned to God. |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Michael547(m): 5:12pm On Apr 27 |
Emusan: Yes....the spirit which is the life force. I don't understand.....The spirit and soul goes to Hell fire after going to God in heaven? |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Emusan(m): 5:13pm On Apr 27 |
Michael547: Address my point first... Good which means SOMETHING ACTUALLY exists after man died. Is that correct? |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Michael547(m): 5:14pm On Apr 27 |
Emusan:Yes the spirit which is the life force goes back to God. Now answer my question. |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Emusan(m): 5:17pm On Apr 27 |
Michael547: So why did Watchtower teaches that NOTHING SURVIVE in man after death? Now answer my question. You don't have question in the first place. because the Spirit returned to God and the same spirit is directed to hell. |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Michael547(m): 5:21pm On Apr 27 |
Emusan:Watch tower teaches that the spirit is the life force which operates in humans and animals and that it is not the person. So a person does not exist after death. So you are saying that Every spirit and soul first gets to heaven before going to hell, right? |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Emusan(m): 5:26pm On Apr 27 |
Michael547: If SPIRIT is the life force then it means that's God's Holy Spirit which the same Watchtower teaches that is the ACTIVE FORCE. Is that correct? So why ONLY HUMAN SPIRIT RETURNED TO GOD and not that of animals? So you areMO saying that Every spirit and soul first gets to heaven before going to hell, right? It doesn't need to get to heaven before directed to their temporary abode. The fact is THE SPIRIT RETURNED TO GOD which means SOMETHING SURVIVES in man after death. |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Michael547(m): 5:37pm On Apr 27 |
Emusan:Oga the spirit of 'life force' is different from the holy spirit. The spirit of life force can also be referred to as breath in a man or animal. You are very dubious😁😁😁....you have said that every spirit and soul returns to God who lives in heaven. So how do they not get to heaven before going to hell or don't they return to God again? How do you know that they don't need to get to heaven?😁 |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Emusan(m): 5:47pm On Apr 27 |
Michael547: Can you imagine "The Spirit of 'LIFE FORCE'" What type of sentence is that? Holy spirit is said to be ACTIVE FORCE Human/Animals is said to be LIFE FORCE What is the difference? You are very dubious😁😁😁....you have said that every spirit and soul returns to God who lives in heaven. Lack of comprehension is in play here. The Spirit must RETURN to God, does it means it must get to heaven before God acts on it? This is really pathetic. The only dubious person here is the person who believed that when Man died, nothing survives after yet claiming THE LIFE FORCE RETURNED TO GOD. This is the evidence that SOMETHING SURVIVES after the death of Man. |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Michael547(m): 5:58pm On Apr 27 |
Emusan:Oga holy spirit in Genesis 1:2 is the active force of God used for creation. The 'breath of life' in Genesis chapter 2:7 Is the spirit that generates 'life' in both humans and animals. Oga how do you know that the spirit and soul do not 'need' to get to heaven before God acts on it since you agree that they return to God who lives in heaven? |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Emusan(m): 6:08pm On Apr 27 |
Michael547: Active force never appear in any Bible verse. You can proof me wrong. The 'breath of life' in Genesis chapter 2:7 Is the spirit that generates 'life' in both humans and animals. So God has two different SPIRITS, is that so? Oga how do you know that the spirit and soul do not 'need' to get to heaven before God acts on it since you agree that they return to God who lives in heaven? I know because God can operate more than the speed of light. Now you agree that something survived in man after death, right? |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Michael547(m): 6:22pm On Apr 27 |
Emusan:But you agree that God's spirit appears in Genesis 1:2. Is God's spirit in Genesis 1:2 the same as the breath of life in Genesis 2:7 that generate life in both man and animals? You are a very dubious man😁😁😁....So because God can operate more than the speed of life, he revealed to you that the soul and spirit do not 'need' to return to him in heaven before going to hell fire?😁😁 I agree the spirit which is the life force in man and animals returns to God at death. |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Kobojunkie: 6:42pm On Apr 27 |
PeterObi4Presid:Exactly which God did you give your life to? Surely, it cannot be : ▶ the God that requires that those who follow Him no longer keep careers, jobs, businesses, working for food that perish 25 The people found Jesus on the other side of the lake. They asked him, “Teacher, when did you come here?”▶ the same God who requires that one must abandon everything that makes up his very life — family, property, reputation, desires, etc., — to become worthy of Him 24 Then Jesus said to his followers, “If any of you want to be my follower, you must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you for following me.... 34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace. I came to bring trouble.▶ the same God who declared that He does not care for you starving yourselves of food claiming you fast to please him 4 I received this message from the Lord All-Powerful:Your religious delusions have absolutely nothing to do with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Neither has it anything to do with that commanded by Jesus Christ. So, my suggestion to you is that you abandon religion altogether so you can better manage your life away from all those lies.  |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Emusan(m): 7:00pm On Apr 27 |
Michael547: Yes! It's God's Spirit. So where did you see ACTIVE FORCE? Is God's spirit in Genesis 1:2 the same as the breath of life in Genesis 2:7 that generate life in both man and animals? No because I never claimed God's Spirit is ACTIVE FORCE and Man Spirit is LIFE FORCE. There's no difference between ACTIVE and LIFE. You are a very dubious man😁😁😁.... You're more dubious. So because God can operate more than the speed of life Speed of LIFE Ke... he revealed to you that the soul and spirit do not 'need' to return to him in heaven before going to hell fire?😁😁 The Bible says "...and The SPIRIT returned to God who gave it" I know you lack simple comprehension but yes the Spirit doesn't need to get to heaven and this simply means that God is the one who has the final say on the Spirit. I agree the spirit which is the life force in man and animals returns to God at death. Spirit is not LIFE FORCE, only a dubious person will claim that. Now, that means both the evil and righteous people SPIRIT will return to God. |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by Michael547(m): 7:42pm On Apr 27 |
Emusan:Please identify what the spirit of man is in Genesis 2:7. Do animals have spirit? If yes, do their spirit differ from that of men? You have no proof that the spirit and soul does not 'need' to go to heaven before going to hell since you've agreed that all spirit and soul must return to God who lives in heaven. It's just your personal opinion. If you don't agree then Which location do the spirit and soul return to God before going to either heaven or hell fire? |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by FxMasterz: 7:45pm On Apr 27 |
PeterObi4Presid: The Lord will continue to strengthen you brother. First and foremost, always remember that "It is not by power, nor by might, but my Spirit, says the Lord." Always ask for help from the strong Helper before embarking on spiritual exercises. He is your Helper for this reason too. Discuss your weaknesses with Him. You'll be surprised how greatly helped you will be. Do not lean on your own understanding. Secondly, you need to understand the very purpose of fasting. The major work fasting does in your life is to sharpen your spirit and further enhance your spiritual antenna for receptivity. Your spirit man enjoys strong spiritual signal, always refreshed by fasting. This opens you up to revelations, deeper spiritual understanding and unhindered connectivity with the Heavenlies. Do not think that fasting forces God to answer prayers or gives you some super powers like many religious folks think. You could enjoy increased power flow and higher spiritual authority as an aftermath of fasting but the very purpose is to gain more spiritual connectivity. Knowing the purpose of fasting can help us set our priorities aright and give us the means to plan our fasting times appropriately. I have learnt from experience that the best fasting is the one done in absolute seclusion. The Lord Jesus separated Himself to a mountain for 40 days for this reason. While it isn't necessary for anyone to go to a mountain before embarking on a fast, the same principle of individual seclusion still holds true. You might want to lock up yourself in your room to be alone with God without interaction with any human. This means, it's much better and appropriate to plan your fasting for your free days. Personally, I chose Saturdays and Sundays. I can still decide to fast on any other day in seclusion as well since I do not have any human boss who entangles me. While in seclusion, my entire focus is on the fast as I shut the world behind me. I do not bother myself about anything else until I come out from seclusion. Seek the wisdom of the Holy Spirit for the planning of your fast. God deals with us individually. You might decide to plan your lengthy fasts for your holidays or leave periods. This would allow you to concentrate on your spiritual obligations during the fast without being disturbed by secular affairs. Let your wife know your fasting rules - no disturbance or interruption during my seclusion period. Please, I do not infer that fasting without seclusion does not do any good. Fasting without seclusion delivers its profits as well but fasting in seclusion delivers more benefits. If you're to fast without seclusion, ask the Holy Ghost to help you in your weaknesses. Tell Him the things you want to do. "Holy Spirit, I want to fast today but I still have many secular affairs to attend to. Help me to maximize this period of my waiting on the Lord without affecting my secular life. I do not want to be negligent of the secular activities that are expected of me." Just talk to Him, and He'll help. "You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you." 1 Like |
| Re: My Spiritual Fervency Is Affecting My Secular Interests: How Do I Find Balance? by PeterObi4Presid: 11:58pm On Apr 27 |
Kobojunkie: You are welcome...even though you mixed both edifying and unnecessary advise...I will pick the ones that are applicable |
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