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I agree, when we delight ourselves in the Lord, he grants us the desire of our hearts Psalm 37: Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. And as Jesus said Matthew 6: 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you When we walk in faith. we are walking in the will of God and then God performs his will. Including bringing us to victory

What a weird title. It is often the case that when engaging someone about a subject, especially in online forums, we can either share things that are so general as to be of no Earthly good (insert your favorite bumper sticker platitude here), or so technical that the person(s) to whom you are actually communicating approaches zero over a very short time (clearly the author's problem)! I suggest a few guiding principles and examples. Some background: 15 years ago a wide research study about Christian beliefs determined: Only 5% of adults in the US have a Biblical worldview or Christian Worldview (CW) A CW was only held by 50% of Evangelicals, 8% of Protestants, a lot less for Catholics. Given that data, why start with the assumption that the poster is one of the rare well-informed ones? If the poster is relatively new to Biblical Christianity and asks a question about say election, predestination, how free will can be compatible with a God who accomplishes his will by controlling his agents, and other such sticky questions I advise a conversational approach that helps ease into the finer details over time. Even people who have attended Reformed services for a decade are often unfamiliar with the various exegetical nuances of Calvinism. Those who atttend Baptists churches could be Calvinist or Arminian, Molinists, or heaven forbid, open theists if they are American Baptists, yet most will not know the various ways that distinguish their strongly held views from other views. If the poster is asking how God can be good and allow evil help them understand God's choice to make men in his image. That he loved and provided for them. That his plan is that those who do his will and become his children will rule and reign with him.That evil and suffering can produce character and Jesus and his disciples all suffered and were promised suffering while on this Earth. A non-example regarding the case above would be to tell them that infralapsarianiam and superlapsarianism both have as a philosophically necessary element of double predestination in them. Further exegetical requirements in proof texts require the reader to read in the phrase "the elect" ( eisogetically speaking), inserting it in front of every passage where God states he loves, "All," people. ---------------- What is the person really asking? Seek to distill their posts into bite-sized questions. Assume that, initially, they are unfamiliar with the various inferences (various theological theories that try and explain the Biblical data), and focus on aspects that all theories agree on, such as God's loving nature, or his just nature. Mention that, "The answer is controversial but all views share the following features..." Non-examples: Responding to other's responses to, "Correct," their view. Spiritualizing your answer as "The clear Biblical view" and poisoning the wells to other's views by suggesting that they used philosophy of men or worldly wisdom, rather than Biblical references (albeit pulled out of context), to argue their point. In fact avoid conversations with anyone but the original poster as your side conversations often detract from the basic doctrines and lead to confusion and doubt in the young believers especially. Here you can suggest that a poster "correcting," your erroneous view can start a new thread or reach out directly outside the conversation via message or email. Work on one-paragraph answers for new believers and store them in notes or somewhere in a file so they can be quickly submitted and be well-thought out and logically sound, and appropriate to the knowledge-level of the original poster.

1 Peter 4 12Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Rev. 21 1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

This is what the Lord says: Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your evil deeds! Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop murdering the innocent!

Oh I think everything went according to God's plan. Knowing everything (Omniscience) makes it hard to be surprised

Tending and keeping are two key words here, sure. The Hebrew word for “tend” is “avad,” which can be translated as “to work” yet also “to serve as subjects.” This makes clear Adam is in a hierarchical relationship with God: he is his servant, yet in a very specific way. God assigns Adam the duty of working in the Garden as the garden’s keeper. He gives man authority, but authority is supposed to be shown in service. The Hebrew word for “keep” is “shamar,” which means, “to guard,” to “watch over,” to “protect,” and “to preserve.” garden of eden - Bing images Love, Walter In addition, I also get the impression... The Garden of Eden was just a perfect sliver of land in Eden proper. The whole earth was awaiting God's plan. I'm thinking Adam and Eve were to populate and multiply because; he and Eve had a big job ahead of them. They were to subdue and take control of the entire earth, and make the entire earth like the Garden of Eden, a big job. I get the same sense about the 1,000 year reign of Jesus, the earth will be partially restored as it was intended from the beginning? Then the entire universe will be purged of sin by fervent heat with everything melting, and we will enter into eternity. It's going to be wonderful petting and playing with lions, tigers, bears, etc. during the millennium.

Confirmation bias is something we have to deal with. But answer the questions regardless Because those who seek will find, those who are not seeking never will And a lot more people read the answer besides the OP

First I must say, that the truth is always simple. It doesn't take a lot of explanation. And we could spend days debating it, or simply accept it. For instance I accept that God is a trinity, His word says so and that is enough for me, but I will never understand it....not this side of my last breath There is never any reason to use two dollar words, when nickel words will do. Keep it simple. I do not think I have used the words Soteriology or Exegesis in a sentence ever when talking to someone, since I graduated bible college. Also for some bumper sticker slogans are of much earthly good, reminders of a truth, that we already know. So indeed keep it simple, and leave the high minded pursuits and the three figure vocabulary for the Seminary and Theological discussions.

John 14 5Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

1 Corinthians 53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

1 John 5:4 (NASB) For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scripture puts forth that those that are born of God have the faith to overcome the world... Since this is scripture, it would therefore have to be true, so then it would be a matter of exercising this faith... Or more pointed, choosing to exercise this faith; for exercising one’s faith in God is a choice.. For seeing one can not make one hair black or white, so if changes are to come they must be done by another with the power to effect the change... Therefore faith calls on to another... This is what the Gospel is, the bringing of the power of God into man to change his life from a sinner into a saint... For bringing one to victory through faith is saying as much as bringing one to growth through faith... For victory is the fruit of growth and that which is the cause, is one’s faith... For to live by faith is to live looking off to Jesus in all things... This will not be a reality in life, till one has come to see they have no hope in themselves to effect a lasting change... Than as the eye of one’s life fixes itself on the hope promised in scripture.. It is this hope that does not disappoint... It is here that the heart lets go of itself to the hand of God... Trusts itself to a ever loving Creator... This faith sees one victory after another, in both the small and the large... Than as the reckoning oneself dead is tasted and the freedom it brings is manifested, than being set free from sin becomes the norm.... It is then no longer the issue of not doing the wrong, but of doing the right, i.e. manifesting the fruit of the Spirit.... The good is sought after in life, this is the walking in righteousness in all one’s walk in life... In whatever thing one is involved in, righteousness is alone that thing that is sought after in that involvement... For one sees there can be an expression of righteousness in all things and it is bringing this expression to manifestation that is the will of God in all things.... Be blessed as we walk in His will... A fellow follower of His, Not me

My heart is full of joy because my friends son turned from Satan worship to Jesus worship. A near-death tragedy has become a reason for joy. so I’m sharing a song that says so much about what I feel and where I am in my own walk. Enjoy - and be blessed! https://youtube.com/watch?v=HyjdUKMSM4E&feature=share

That's weird. This has to be the only forum on the internet that has such a rule. I never heard of such a thing. It's not like it takes up space. It's just a link, for crying out loud.

Israel does not have to be "restored Israel" to be present in Biblical prophecy. Israel will not be properly restored until Jesus returns and the land is designated to her by Him as we are shown in Ezekiel's prophecy. The scriptures show that before Jesus returns the Jewish people who are located in that same place as ancient Israel and will undergo another captivity (Zechariah 14). That is Israel in modern Bible prophecy. I do not agree with your assessment of Zechariah 14. Her invasion is also shown in Rev. 11. Again, I am not a Preterist, I do not follow man made doctrines, neither did the apostles and I follow them. 'Bye. I have errands to run.

Your utter lack of understanding of Biblical prophecy, similitudes, foreshadows and typologies has been evident in all of your posts trying to undermine the authority of the scriptures in their accounts of Israel's invasion and captivity in the latter days before Jesus' return. Jesus comes back in the future and Satan is bound at that time. In the meantime we still have to cast demons out of people as I have done with others. Satan is not bound as evident as we look around the world today. And it is Satan's delight to continually veil the minds of those who are inadvertently working to promote doctrines that allow him to hid and do his work in the shadows.

The problem is I have presented scriptural evidence, but you don't accept the holy scriptures as evidence because your mind has been preprogrammed by man's doctrines. Typical case of the "Mad Hatter Syndrome" as I have said before.

5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

Ephesians 2:19-21 19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:

Yeah, yeah...an old tired argument that states one thing must necessarily preclude the other. An argument that creates the false equivalency of a Temple in Jerusalem and the true temple of God. This set of arguments also says if a temple is built it somehow replaces the true temple and that it's an impossibility for such a stone temple to exist as it doesn't reflect the truth of the real temple. Like that stops anyone. Better burn down the churches and destroy the altars in Christian communities all around the world cause they ain't the church either.

Great idea... From a new forum member, and a newer Christian. Some of the answers I have read in other posts are a bit over my head, and maybe others as well

They have been removing the dams here and they charge 3 million to remove the tiny ones. It is all about stuffing payola in their pockets. Then they charge us in our utility bill. I would call the air force and tell them to use it for target practice like they did in WW2 in Europe.

The Antichrist of Rome lasts from the Caesars to this day. It is not one person or one life time, it spans centuries.

Correct. I never over emphasize the analogies. I only use them to express examples of a unity of plurality. I think the one about the spatial dimensions is the best: three coexisting omnipresent elements invisible to the human eye yet everything depends on all three to exist

Tending and keeping are two key words here, sure. The Hebrew word for “tend” is “avad,” which can be translated as “to work” yet also “to serve as subjects.” This makes clear Adam is in a hierarchical relationship with God: he is his servant, yet in a very specific way. God assigns Adam the duty of working in the Garden as the garden’s keeper. He gives man authority, but authority is supposed to be shown in service. The Hebrew word for “keep” is “shamar,” which means, “to guard,” to “watch over,” to “protect,” and “to preserve.” garden of eden - Bing images Love, Walter You have made us priests and kings unto our God. A priest would serve in the tabernacle of God. A king will rule over a nation. Yes, Adam was doing both-serving and working. In the millennium, We will be doing what Adam did in the garden.

Hey John, I have also used examples like families and teams (or one man being at-once a father, brother and son). But I think such examples only serve to demonstrate that trinities exist in logic. If we press these analogies much deeper, we end up with incorrect conceptions of God. For example, Jesus is not part of God in the same sense that a family member is part of a family (i.e. God is not like a pie that can be divided up into parts). Jesus is fully God. Likewise, a single dimension vector is not a full coordinate (nor is it all coordinates – a.k.a. “everywhere”).

Yes: the Lord will use the sun to literally fulfill all the graphically prophesied effects of His Day of fiery wrath. Isaiah 30:26a, is the proof text, but over 70 other prophesies tell about the Lord's terrible Judgment/punishment by fire from heaven; the sun. We know about Coronal Mass Ejections, they happen frequently. One in 1859, the Carrington Event, destroyed the early telegraph system. The one the Lord will instigate on His Day of wrath, the Sixth Seal worldwide disaster, will do much worse and the survivors will be back to 1800's technology. Wow, Exactly what I experience! Actually people don't seem to want to know the truth of what God has planned for the end times.

Yes, it`s like walking along a country road, listening to the birds and looking at the wild flowers or going 100 kms an hour zooming along a highway and missing all that.

Tending and keeping are two key words here, sure. The Hebrew word for “tend” is “avad,” which can be translated as “to work” yet also “to serve as subjects.” This makes clear Adam is in a hierarchical relationship with God: he is his servant, yet in a very specific way. God assigns Adam the duty of working in the Garden as the garden’s keeper. He gives man authority, but authority is supposed to be shown in service. The Hebrew word for “keep” is “shamar,” which means, “to guard,” to “watch over,” to “protect,” and “to preserve.” garden of eden - Bing images Love, Walter

Romans 9 15For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Mark 4 10And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. 11And he said unto them, UNTO YOU IT IS GIVEN TO know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: 12That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

John 6 44No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

Romans 8 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time. 23Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently.

Romans 8 15For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.

The Hebrew concept of placing man in a garden conveys the idea of a temple with a garden enclosure. In revelation, we have paradise restored and it also had the temple of God in the new Jerusalem. The garden was a place of encounter with God. What do you think we'll be doing in the new Jerusalem? serving God day and night in his temple and ruling and reigning with him A large amount would be spent in worship and intersession and then in ruling in partnership with God. That's what Adam was doing. He was given the dominion mandate just like the church is given the dominion mandate.

Day 10 since the first shot and all is well.