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Her lifestyle is not yours to judge and any child is a gift from God so congratulate her and keep praying that she hears Gods voice

I believe it has to do with the following: is the affliction caused by an unclean spirit? That's the real issue, not a.) unclean spirits are the cause of every human malady, or b.) that doesn't happen any longer. What I find is a propensity (eagerness among some) to blame Satan and unclean spirits for the evil of man when clearly, this is not the case. Neither Adam nor his wife were able to blame the serpent for their disobedience. The judgment of the dead answers that error in a definitive manner. An alternative is to blame human weakness and affliction on sin; specifically, someone sinned to be afflicted in the first place. That was dismissed by the Lord Himself in the 9th chapter of John. Ah, so now we find ourselves considering consequences which arise through no fault of our own because of a, b, c, and d together. In other words, according to the will and purpose of the Lord. What? The Lord will afflict someone who didn't otherwise deserve to be afflicted? Yes. Our Lord was afflicted for our sake and His blameless servant, Job, was afflicted greatly. Affliction, much like rain, falls upon the just and the wicked alike. That's hard for some to accept but nevertheless, it's true.

I been listening to podcasts by the Orthodox Church various ones. I don’t hold to there position on Mary and icons. But I am finding a lot of there teaching is spiritual nourishment. Nothing heretical I have found. They teach repentance on a daily basis. They say if you sin get up and confess it right away. I believe that too. I rather listen to the Orthodox Church then the word of faith teachers. Like Copeland and others.

Wasn't there one on a Mount somewhere?

I so often find it amazing how after hearing a sermon at church, and receiving one of my devotionals in my emails, they both address the same topic I had been concerned with. Like gears from different sources that mesh together to bring about a common understanding of the word. For myself the devotionals I receive expound the word of God, Neighbor. In layman terms, like you said to 'inspire, reveal, encourage, point out something, edify etc. And to verify to me how we all experience similar ups and downs, and learn how God has provided his word to show us how we can apply his wisdom to our situation we're in. The two I receive are both from old friends I have known for years, working class guys just like us, who are led to reveal their thoughts to bless others according to God's word. Gives me new insight so often that bless me. And receiving them in the morning gives me a great start on the day ahead. "devotions as compared to God's inspired word the Bible" The devotionals I receive are the word of the bible as revealed from another brother sharing these nuggets of truth. Not compared to the word but led by the word from the word to bless others, as says the word to do. Thanks Neighbor...

I will venture there is an overlap. To continually experience Christ is to continually solve problems. I look for that in all things material and spiritual. For me it is a given that the apostles and saints are used of God to that end.

I think you're doing fine, @Thewhitedove. The lure of fleshly religion to condemn this or that is what you are to overcome, not being kind and compassionate toward your colleague. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Remember this: conviction is godly and a work of the Spirit, but condemnation is ungodly and a work of the flesh. The one who convicts this woman is the Lord; our place is to be gentle, meek, and patient. Our example is what speaks to others. Being pointed at, accused, and condemned is the example of defiled religion. It's powerless and hollow, lacking love.

Of course you can "honor God" - by treating her with love and acceptance, by being kind and patient with her, by being the closest thing to Jesus she will ever likely encounter besides Jesus Himself (ideally). The child is now a reality - and loved by God. There's no reason you have to stop being friendly towards her. We were all corrupted by sin - before we found His grace. This friend is no different. She, like many others, has been deceived into thinking her sexual proclivities are morally acceptable. With a baby on the way, she is about to go through some challenging times (as is true for all new parents). This is an opportunity to show Her the love of God. Pray for her, see if she has needs you can help meet, get other Christians around her if possible. Only Jesus can give her righteousness. If you show her His love, perhaps He will use you to turn her heart towards Himself in repentance. If she asks, be honest about the truth - that God loves her overwhelmingly but is very clear regarding His disapproval of homosexuality. Then the choice will be hers as to what she does with that information. But otherwise, be Jesus to her as much as you have opportunity. "Love never fails".

It seems to me that while cups are literally containers from which to consume whatever they are filled with, figuratively "cups are a statement about allotted portions given for related reasons to those specially chosen to partake of them." Psalm 16:1-11 A Michtam of David. (1) Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust. (2) O my soul, you have said to the LORD, "You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You." (3) As for the saints who are on the earth, "They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight." (4) Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, Nor take up their names on my lips. (5) O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. (6) The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance. (7) I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. (8) I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. (9) Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. (10) For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. (11) You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Say what? ??? Am I to be worshiping the product of various publishers, books sold for profit, as though they are sacred idols to me? Seems to me what is written by God into one's heart may be considered of great value or sacred, but a bound stack of paper? What of our computers or cell phones with their Bible apps, are Christians to hold them somehow sacred, not to be placed in a purse or pocket, especially not a back hip pocket?

James 1:14 (NKJV) But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When a believer is tempted it is generally tempted with the desire towards the sin it has given way to before….. These are the strongest of temptations because the sinful flesh has chosen to lay hold of these for one reason or another in the past…. These are the sins that still dwell in one that one has to reckon themselves dead to, for these desires are real and very much still alive in one…. This is where the reckoning oneself dead to these desires comes in, for the believer has died and not the sinful desires that are still alive in one; for the believer has died when Christ died… It is believing and maintaining this faith that is the fight of faith, for as long and as painful as this fight is, if one maintains one’s faith in their death in Christ, victory is assured, and that believing one will reap the fruit of that victory which fruit is being set free from that particular desire towards that sin… For Jesus did die and took the believing one with Him to death thereby freeing that one that that one might be joined to another… It is faith that grabs onto this freedom, and the strength and the depths of one’s desire to be freed from their sin will be the measure of the freedom one experiences….. For all things have become new, blessed is the one that would have it so…. Be blessed in the freedom that being joined with Christ in His death brings to life in one….. A fellow reckoner, Not me

This is what you see if you drive around my neck of the woods.

. . . and Paul communicated things that were to be held to, and things that weren't. 2Th 2:15 KJV Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. 2Th 2:15 CEV My friends, that's why you must remain faithful and follow closely what we taught you in person and by our letters.

All that you mentioned are what they are. They are also jewels that inspires and refreshes like a cup of coffee on break time. Oswald Chambers quotes makes you ponder as you read them, so staying at the fountain a bit to drink of the goodness that those minds are blessed with. Some are gifted to pen those words that soothes the soul .

Highly metaphorical Also allegorical Textually historical Oddly categorical

One might consider experiencing Job's integrity by giving God thanks in all things, despite circumstance.

We know that the Lord doesn't always heal or relieve us. It's true that I have been the recipient of the Lord's power on more than one occasion, but it's important to emphasize that this was according to His purpose and will. More than one individual was affected by His work, so what He did is properly understood as the Lord choosing to display His power in me. I never asked Him to do such things. I petitioned the Lord to remove the depression I have lived with for most of my life, but that is not according to His will. What did He say? It would change who I am and who He intends for me to be on this earth, so it remains. His grace and provision are sufficient for me. His grace: the depression comes and it's my place to fixate my heart and mind upon Him; His provision: I can overcome all things in Christ. Be of good cheer for He has overcome the world! As He has overcome, so do we. Overcoming is the problem all of us face, yes? In the Son of God, that problem flees. How do I overcome depression in Christ? First, I endure. I keep pressing on regardless of how depression affects me. Secondly, I do not capitulate nor seek to isolate myself; the work which the Lord gives me is a wonderful blessing in this regard. I'm given no choice but to interact with others and while I focus upon meeting their needs, I'm not held captive by the darkness of despair.

Realistically though, problems are not solved on their own. It takes effort from both our human abilities and our spiritual journey . Does not matter if we focus on just the spiritual part of our life, the cows still have to be milked, the roof still has to be replaced and sometime, if not often ,the help of community relief those burdens. The spiritual supplication that is sent up, works in ways as each experience and accepts their answer. The main difference is that, the physical part of our life we can see before us and the spiritual is as to the testimony of the receiver. So, with his testimony, he shares of the wonder of the living God. Paul was called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of Christ. If a believer feels that conviction, then he has to emulate Paul's life, which is a task that you have to be prepared for. In our spiritual journey as a "born again" believer, we now have that built in conviction to share the gospel. Your question though, if one is not careful, can lead to neglect in family and other areas, so I think a balance has to be struck.

I think I should try some of that procrastination stuff . . . but . . . maybe tomorrow or next week . . .

Praying for your healing and recovery. Regarding selling your stuff . . . take some time to recover, and then make your decision regarding those things. I have made many a bad decision in the 'moment' of circumstances, and regretted those decisions later . . . Ray . . .

Be happy you awoke with the Eternal on your mind!

Yeah, it's those little bitty things we do that are really the important things, everything is interconnected in ways we don't understand. If a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil might cause a tornado in Texas who knows what a simple thing like moving a duster off of a Bible might do.

The cleaning lady recently laid her duster on my Bible. As far as I know, she's a fine Christian; I think she just did it without thinking. I passed by and noticed it, found it disrespectful, but chose not to say anything. Now that I think about it, I was lazy, I should have simply moved it aside... that would have been better than anything I could have said, or in my case didn't say.

Bondage- the shackles and chains that even Christians deny and fail to acknowledge for what they are- a demonic oppression that can lead to a final possession of the mind when one submits there own will to the father of lies who comes to steal,KILL and destroy- taking one's own life is that surrender..... They prefer to believe science or man's facts,diagnosis,prognosis Instead of God's Truth-its a grand scheme of deception and nothing very new....too many people do not Believe the Word of God,they may say they do but they simply do not God's Word tells us(Christians) He Has Given us a sound mind- is He a liar?And for the unbelievers we are to present them with the Gospel,the Good News- if they Believe and Receive they can be FREE indeed of that bondage - a spirit of depression,the age old spirit of pride " poor crazy ME" where there is NONE greater than one self It's a very sad society that rebels against Almighty God- yes,we must pray,pray softened hearts to Receive God's Word❤️🙏

Reminders – How to break the third commandment. As a child I was made to memorize the 10 commandments and was given religious instruction on how to perform those commands. At that early age I wasn’t too worried about most of them, as killing and coveting weren’t very high on my want-to-do list. However, my parents thought #3, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” and #5, “Honor thy father and thy mother” should be high priorities for a 10-year-old. Of course, #5 is every parent’s go-to commandment for their kids. I broke #5 all the time according to my mother. I could break it by the look on my face, the tone of my voice, or any other perceived disobedience. If I wasn’t a good boy in everything, I wasn’t honoring my parents. But as bad as breaking #5 was, breaking #3 was worse, SWEARING! I was careful not to slip very often as I hated the taste of Ivory soap scraped across my teeth. And I knew swearing wasn’t just invoking God’s name irreverently like my dad did when he was mad. It was any sort of cussing, which included all the bad words grown-ups said. When I was 14, I got in trouble for noticing and then telling my dad that his bent key ring was, ‘in a hell of a shape.’ He disappointedly told my mom that if I used that kind of language at home, what must my language be like around my friends? He was right, it wasn’t very good. I’m grown up now and cussing is still not acceptable in Christian circles, but is that what the third commandment is all about, not cussing? Taking the Lord’s name in vain is the definition of blasphemy, to speak wrongly or evil of God. It may involve disrespectful or profane language, but its meaning goes beyond bad language. In real-world behavior, it can be when someone claims to be a Christian, or His spokesperson, and then speaks or acts dishonestly as that representative. This happens when someone makes a commitment or a vow to do something and then does not do it, or they lie about what was or was not done. Both acts are usually accompanied with the defensive words, ‘I swear to God’. The most destructive application, and the heart of the meaning of the third commandment, is to be a false teacher of the things of God. A false teacher claims to have received divine revelation or sacred knowledge and then imposes it on others, when no such word has come from the Lord. They look good on the outside and claim to be righteous preachers but are really the servants of their flesh. They are the Pharisees of today. Because of them, Christianity is evil spoken of, and by reason of their covetousness, they tickle the ears of their victims to rake in millions. 2 Peter 2:1-3; 2 Timothy 4:3-4 Final Thoughts: Jesus said this, “For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce if it were possible, even the elect.” Mark 13:22 Jude warned, “[I exhort you to] earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Jude 1:3 And Peter said, “You therefore beloved, knowing these things beforehand beware, lest being carried away with the error of the wicked [one], you fall from your own steadfastness.” 2 Peter 3:17 Let’s be as the Bereans, searching the scriptures daily to see if what we are being fed is truly of God, or if it is just someone breaking the third commandment. ph

Could I say "rough neck " . Yes, the will to get things done and not minding the little afflictions that come with the bravery, is part of a true tradesman or craftsman. I think it is still in your blood, even at your age. There is a time though as you said, to bite the butllet and live with the memories or all those glorious projects and adventures that you were blessed with. I myself love construction and have worked on a few huge project sites, one being an oil refinery. It is indeed a danger oriented field, but the thrill of working with numerous people, tools, equipment and others to bring a plant to production is pure energy for me. Since moving to Canada, I have had to find work in another field ,as the brutal winter here is not for the faint hearted. I could have still managed, but I also loved electronics, which I did a one year course that set me on that journey now for the past 25yrs, and I like it just as much. Oh well, you still have fields that you can branch on to, and be less physical challenging. It will never replace your love for your hobbies, but it will keep you moving about with less of pitfalls that the more youthful can tolerate. Be, bless Neighbour and I, we, like your companay here at worthy and your sharing.

https://samesexattractions.wordpress.com/2013/02/17/interview-chad-thompson-author-of-loving-homosexuals-as-jesus-would/ https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/love-homosexuals-as-jesus-would-ex-gays-urge-at-conference/ He is spot on. The one who loves wins. They got so much hate and judgement in the church. One guy said: I got more love on the streets than in church. When I backslid same thing. Nobody wanted to help, judgemental christians in church and the atheist drugaddicts at least were kind to you.

You've asked and I will give my answer. Your reaction seems odd to me. You know for a fact that she is gay and yet you look deeper than that to find her a "kind, lovely, supportive, helpful, nice, and caring colleague". Her being gay does not disturb you, yet her being pregnant does. That's odd to me. What can you tell her? Get an abortion? No!! How about congratulations? You've already embraced her as someone you consider a welcomed colleague. I would tell her: [AND NOT NECESSARILY IN THE SAME CONVERSATION] [1] "Thank you for always being there for me as a colleague. Your support has meant a lot. I hope you consider ME a help." [2] "Congratulations on the baby!" [3] "We are work friends and I'm praying for the health of your baby. I just want you to know that as a Christian, I do struggle with gay marriage and your having a baby with your partner. I have to believe what God has said. AND I also pray that my beliefs don't push a wedge in our work relationship. I just wanted you to know where I am in my beliefs and that you are important to me here at work. I am praying for you and the baby."

Perhaps the holy spirit gave conviction. I also awoke enthused, in theo, and ready for some work...... "enthused": First attested from 1827. Back-formation from enthusiasm, from Ancient Greek ἔνθεος (éntheos, “possessed by a god”), from ἐν (en, “in”) + θεός (theós, “god”)

It sounds like what a guy on christian forums said and Torben Söndergaard in a youtube video called Cafe talk. He explains it really simple there. He takes a sugar package, holds it up in the air and it drops because there's the law of gravity. He read Romans 6. He said read Romans 6. You died with Christ. The law of sin was working in our flesh. You sin and you have to sin again, just like smoking. But now when you get that revelation that you really died with Christ you don't have to sin anymore. Romans 7 is the struggle and in the end Paul prays Lord deliver me of this body of death and then Romans 8 is the victory, living being lead by the Spirit and putting to death the works of the flesh. The guy from cf was addicted to porn 38 years. He fasted, prayed, couldnt stop. Eventually he said: God I give up. And God said: With this my son I am well pleased. I knew all along that you couldn't do it. He had to confess that he died and rose with Christ and then was instantly set free. A former gay guy on youtube, I think he lead some organization, he had an experience with a pedo as a kid and became homosexual. Someone took him to a church. He had to see his old self in Jesus on the cross. He got a new nature. He is now married and has 9 kids. Or maybe I'm mixing 2 up now. Another former gay guy said the same thing. Maybe he saw that at that service, that his sinful nature died with Jesus on the cross. Anyway they both got set free by it.

Well Jackie gave up first but it took some persuading to get Shadow to leave the nest, A young eagle has visited a couple of times now that the nest is no longer guarded. One egg broke and just disappeared into the nest but the other two were there as the young eagle was scrounging for food but had disappeared by the time he left ( not sure if he trampled them or if they just got buried under the material he was scrounging through .) It still is not abandoned though as a flying squirrel also has decided it is safe to go and forage around in the nest now that the big scary birds are no longer there Lets hope they have better success next year and it would be nice to still be around to watch it

That's right - GOOD NEWS!!! Not condemnation.

Just because I find something disrespectful doesn't mean everyone else does. But, thinking of it as being disrespectful doesn't equate to worshipping it as an object either.

The list has been around since way back. I recall it in a book from the '80s, and there was a video of a preacher narrating the whole thing.

I keep folding money in the door pocket of my truck for any spirit led moving to share. I can relate to having without but nothing like the homeless are today. And, It's amazing how the door pocket keeps getting filled up. Encouraging, empathy, thinking but by God's grace go I. I tend to gravitate to the less fortunate, and not just in worldly goods. I also believe our walk, witness, is very important to get an ear. But it is the word of God that saves and not my walk. I try to let people know the gospel is GOOD NEWS, and not condemnation. I have recently been reading a book, ck it out... The author, Matt Mikalatos emphasizes the gospel is good news, and the importance of telling/sharing it. Yes, there are consequences of sin, but man o man, there is also blessedness in the believing. That is what people are looking for but don't know where. Looking for something to ease the pain. Matt brings out to try and get on their level, what's bothering them, their need, listening to them. This can bring about my stored scripture memory verse applicable to their situation. In other words, I shouldn't just start off telling them they're sinners in need of a savior. But answer their questions first and how God loves them and wants what is best for them. Understanding that repentance is simply a change in thinking, which changes actions. Knowing truth, the word, changes things. And they listen. I've found witnessing daily to delivery drivers by talking about how blessed we are beats complaining about the insane government's. Good news is always welcome. Bing Crosby..... You got to ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive E-lim-i-nate the negative And latch on to the affirmative Don't mess with Mr. In-between You got to spread joy up to the maximum Bring gloom down to the minimum And have faith, or pandemonium Liable to walk upon the scene To illustrate his last remark Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark What did they do, just when everything looked so dark? Man, they said we better ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive E-lim-i-nate the negative And latch on to the affirmative Don't mess with Mr. In-between No, do not mess with Mister In-Between Do you hear me? Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear About the eliminatin' of the negative And the accent on the positive And gather 'round me children if you're willin' And sit tight while I start reviewin' The attitude of doin' right (I know, kinda dumb, but I like it:) "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things"

The word doubt. The just what three days ago just before I went to sleep He said "don't entertain doubt".

A long time ago, the Spirit impressed the following upon me: How I conduct myself and treat others is all that matters. Never lord over others, claiming superiority in any way; He specifically addressed my abhorrence for anything I perceived as "religious" or pompous. Just as I would never treat someone dressed in rags with contempt, the same holds true for the well-to-do. Hypocrisy is what the Lord despises. Some struggle with treating the poor and the homeless kindly but I found myself inclined in the opposite fashion. I struggled with treating the well-to-do kindly! I would rather find myself among the destitute than surround myself with those who need nothing. "Love your neighbor as yourself" as the Lord commands, and He never mentioned an exception to the royal law. It was a hard lesson to learn, but the Lord is a patient (and consistent) Teacher. We should refrain from persecuting anyone for any reason, regardless of who they are. How we conduct ourselves and treat others is what matters.

CHILDREN OF GOD HEBREWS 2:1 therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have --HEARD-- lest at any time we should let them slip --2:2-- for if the --word spoken-- by angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward --2:3-- how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by --THE LORD-- and was confirmed unto us by them that --HEARD HIM-- 1 JOHN 3:10 in this the children of GOD are manifest and the children of devil whosoever doeth not righteousness --IS NOT OF GOD-- neither he that loveth not his brother PSALM 145:17 THE LORD is righteous in all HIS ways and HOLY in all HIS works *******1 PETER 1:15 BUT AS HE WHICH HATH CALLED YOU IS HOLY SO BE YOU HOLY IN ALL MANNER OF CONVERSATION ******* PSALM 33:4 for the word of THE LORD is right and all HIS works are done in truth JOHN 7:16 JESUS answered them and said MY doctrine is not mine but --HIS THAT SENT ME-- --7:17-- IF -- any man will do HIS will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of GOD or whether I speak of myself --7:18-- he that speaketh of --himself-- seeketh his own glory --- but he that seeketh his glory that sent him the same is true and no --UNRIGHTEOUSNESS-- is in him PROVERBS 8:7 for MY mouth shall speak truth and wickedness is an --ABOMINATION-- to MY lips --8:8-- ALL THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH ARE IN RIGHTEOUSNESS THERE IS --NOTHING-- FROWARD OR PERVERSE IN THEM PROVERBS 4:5 get wisdom get understanding forget it not neither --decline-- from the words of MY MOUTH LOVING THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

Well said, my thoughts exactly Neighbor. I do not worship my bible(s). I worship the Word, Jesus Christ, the author of the scriptures. My bible given me decades ago has coffee stains, cigarette burns, beer stains, sweat , and tear stains. It has faded and dirty somewhat bouncing around on my truck dash. But it was always available. I read it when I need it, no mater the circumstances. In my shop it gets full of saw dust. It's been rebound three times, the last time took the book binders four months. It's a book, paper and ink. I take what I have read in that published bound collection of pages and hide it in my heart. It may eventually fall apart again, but I have others to replace it. Same words can be found. You don't fight demons. God, HIS word, does this. You can only do all things IN CHRIST. God defeated the enemy and he has all authority. Even the apostles with Jesus fled the devil at times. As a young believer I got into studying devils-demons, unclean spirits, satan, intensely late at night. I was consumed by what I was learning in a book by Jesse Peen Lewis. About warfare and what they can not or can do to lost/believers. Then one night it happened. About 2-3 o'clock in the morning studying at the kitchen table I was overwhelmed by a crushing dread/fear/terror. I knew at an instant I was surrounded by evil, oppressing me, freaking me out. (my obsession woke/drew them) Went to bed and was followed. Prayed till I slept. My wife confronted me in the morning. She had woke up during the night and also felt the oppression and evil presence in our bedroom. I learned (later from older believers) I had basically called the evil down by excessive interest/study in this enemy. I should have been studying the victor at the cross instead, LORD Jesus. Since then at least 30 yrs ago I have never had that experience reoccur. I learned what the shield of faith was. I carry it in my heart, hidden, in my mind/memory. And learned what God says about spiritual warfare. I keep the whole armor on. I use what God said, never in my own strength... I have kept my focus on Jesus. Take every thought captive, resist the devil. Submit to God. Strive to do the right thing. I have kept the word in my heart, and God has kept the enemy off my back. I focus on God's word and not the defeated one..... PS: EVERY time I miss the mark, sin, I agree with God, (I) have sinned, no matter how it happened, nor the influence. Not in my wildest dreams could I blame ANY sin on anything but self. I MISSED! I sinned. I confess it.

Or maybe is a literary allusion to primordial chaos...

Procrastination is a call to inaction! Rise up now! If it was worth putting off yesterday, it certainly is worth postponing today! The value of procrastination hasn't been devalued in one day. Procrastination isn't as bad as the word sounds. My past led me to predestination for procrastination.

1. This isn't always the case but some people who are suicidal just need a little relief. That can come in the form of attention, comfort, distraction, or even a small change in circumstances. I often take the path of distraction because my usual perspective is that dwelling on their circumstance is what brought them to the bring of suicide in the first place, so getting their attention to shift to something more enjoyable is often in order in the short term. Changing someone else's heart, attitude, and long term circumstances is quite often outside of our control and is more the domain of God so my own strategy is to focus on short term mood boosters and providing a listening ear when the person seems to need it. 2. Yes. Suicide is normally the farthest thing from my mind because I've enjoyed life more often than not despite having depression and a melancholic outlook. Psalm 139:14 is a verse I've felt is especially applicable to me: "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." But there was a time of prolonged abuse and crushed hopes due to an abusive situation that was very much like a case of modern day slavery. To cite a particular instance to show how bad it was and how cautious I had to be I was threatened with homelessness because I told my host that the landlord dropped by and left a bill while she was at work. When I was told I might have cancer she flat out wouldn't take me to the doctor for a return visit. I had tried multiple times to get out of that situation and even recruited some friends but it never worked out. In the end a relative I was never close to and hadn't seen in decades came out of nowhere and intervened on my behalf, and I had a few other good turns after. So I got out of it because I stuck with it until God changed my circumstances. The world might call it a series of unlikely coincidences but more than anything else in my life that chain of events really solidified my faith and convinced me that God was looking out for me.

This also indicates the lazy man finds excuses as to why he can't change, and holds on to his problems no matter how much he complains about them. It's one of the ways we justify maintaining the barriers between ourselves and god that we have. Nothing worthwhile is easy.

Thank you for the share! 😊 I'm so grateful to Abba Father that you were able to help some who were suicidal! My heart aches 😔 for those broken hearted, and really hope more of them will meet someone like you. Yes, it's the "side effects", which is in almost all of their "medications". Yeshua has been my only Doctor for 22 years now, and beside healing me from a so-called chronic sleep disorder, and severe depression, He has healed me several times during the years,which I'm thankful for.

Yes I just saw a new case, but not in the Dutch news. I actually wanted to make it a prayer request here. https://www.foxnews.com/health/dutch-woman-28-euthanized-over-mental-illness-after-psychiatrist-said-never-get-any-better It is sick. My dad just died in a home for old people. My brother said that in the last 2 years at least 20 times they asked him if he wanted euthanasia for him and if he was sure. Once the dad from a former collegue's girlfriend would be euthanized the next week because he had cancer. The collegue was atheist. I panicked. I said: Is he a bit open to the Gospel? Can you share the Gospel with him? He didnt even get mad. No he's making dark jokes. He's not interested. So the whole week I fasted and prayed the whole day, refused to cook. Got 2 dreams from God. I believe he went to heaven. But we would pray for those with church every morning and since that stopped cause nobody cared I have not seen such prayer in other churches around where I live anymore. 1. An atheist ex at the water side with shave knives who called me that he was gonna kill himself: call me unsympathetic but I threatened him with hell and he didnt do it and later felt way better. A guy on a forum, I was there at night and could help him when I said he could come live here at my house in Holland and we'd pay the plane. He is American and would lose his job and become homeless. He's christian. Another guy on that forum. It was forbidden to say meds were bad, but he was also with shave knives wanting to kill himself after he got new meds so I warned him anyway and told him to throw it away and watch Derek Prince praying for healing. He also preached about that God healed him from depression. I got a warning from the mods and a thank you from him. And we always prayed for such people in church for healing but the church doesnt exist anymore. 2. Yes I did an attempt when they put me on prozac. It was a side effect. I threw all the meds away, stopped sinning and asked God to help me. It was after I saw Hal Lindsey preach about sorcery and the atheist ex who was on marijuana, I said why dont you stop that and he said: You take 8 benzoids a day. They make that from opium. Dont even know if he just made that up, but I then threw it all away and Louis de Funes helped me out when I fell from my faith to stay happy. I watched him all day every day.

Indeed! Any focus on anything apart from Christ Himself is profitless. It is basically some "ear candy" of self-help advice that doesn't help eternally and tends to either condemn or puff-up the hearer, as they think they need to be doing something to please God by . . . If we're not letting His life live through us, we are not building up the body of Christ one iota - only Christ can build the church.

Funny how anything you don't like is meaningless. News flash: "such as was not since men were upon the earth," does not mean, infer or imply that they happened before men were upon the earth. In the interest of accuracy, John was saying that such an earthquake had not been witnessed in the history of man. Period. I care nothing of your adherence to improper translations of two Hebrew words which you misuse to support your false teaching. What earth? You claim the six days of creation were actually a restoration, but dry land didn't even exist until the third day. Do you mean the earth became a wastewater? What possibly could it have been before? The sun, moon and stars didn't exist until day four. You've never answered this question. If the "restoration" begins with verse 2, and dry land didn't appear until verse 9, how could the earth have "become a wasteland?" You have no answer, because Gap theory is a profoundly poor excuse for a theory.

Dear @dad2, I do genuinely understand this argument but, as a qualified physicist, I am obliged to tell you that it is misinformed, and undercuts many other solid apologetic arguments for God's existence and precise design of the universe. The reason for my disagreement with you has to do with how fundamental the laws governing radioactivity are to the nature and consistency of matter and the universe. Most people, unless they have studied physics, don't understand just how fundamental radioactivity is to the formation and nature of matter. Let me try to explain. What is a nucleus? Every atom has a "nucleus". This is a very small ball of positively charged protons, and neutral neutrons, that form the core of an atom, and determine its fundamental qualities such as weight, size, chemical element, nature (metal, gas, etc.). The nucleus is a fine balance of different forces - some attractive, and some repulsive. For example, protons (being positive) repel each other through the "electromagnetic force". Protons and neutrons attract each other through the "strong force". In total, there are 6 types of "forces" (or 5 if you exclude gravity, which only applies to very very large nuclei, like neutron stars) which effect the energetic balance of nuclei. Why do some Nuclei decay? If a nucleus is too energetic, it cannot exist because it would instantly split apart. Indeed, there are many, many possible universes where nuclei cannot exist, because the balance of fundamental forces has to be "just right" for any matter to exist at all. You may have heard of "fine tuning" arguments for God's existence - this is one of them. Now, some nuclei exist on the "border" of being stable and unstable. That is, they are quite energetic, but not energetic enough to split immediately and therefore not exist. We call these nuclei radioactive - and exactly how radioactive they are depends on how much energy they have within them, depending on the balance of these fundamental forces. This balance determines how often these nuclei decay, and this determines their half life. As you have noted in your post, if you change some fundamental constants (or if they were different in the past), then you can change the half-life of these elements. BUT - this creates a LOT more problems / questions than it answers, because of how fundamental these forces are to nature. Here are some of the questions / issues changes in these fundamental constants creates: If nuclei were more unstable in the past, elements that are currently stable would have been unstable back then. To make radioactive decay faster in the past, you need to alter some of the fundamental balance and constants of forces in nature. The result will necessarily make ALL nuclei more unstable. In-so-doing, you widen the number and scope of nuclei that are unstable, creating huge amounts more radioactivity. Why would God do this? How would he prevent this extra radioactivity damaging humans, and other life on earth? Indeed, if nuclei were more unstable in the past, some radioactive elements couldn't have existed at all, obliterating many of the decay-chains we find in rocks today. From the evidence we have today, this clearly didn't happen. Radioactivity produces heat. Making every nucleus way more unstable would destroy the earth and everything in it. Most folks don't know this, but the earth's core is kept molten through radioactive decay, and the heat released by it. By definition, ALL decay causes energy to be released from nuclei - because radioactive decay is the process by which nuclei become less energetic, and thus more stable. This is why nuclear power stations work - they stimulate decay to become faster in a chain reaction - and this creates heat which drives turbines. It is also how nuclear fission (uranium / plutonium) bombs work - through the instant, or near instant, release of nuclear decay energy. If radioactive decay had been much faster and more widespread in the past, not only would the rocks and minerals it occurs in have melted and reset their radiometric dates, but in fact the earth would have melted and at least partially vapourised. Such is the level of energy released by radioactivity. Clearly this did not happen at any time from the Genesis narrative onwards. There is no alteration of constants / forces that would make radioactivity accelerate by the same amount in different radioactive elements. For your hypothesis to hold true, there must be a constant or set of constants that you can alter that accelerates radioactive decay by the same rate / ratio in all radioactive substances. Otherwise, you wouldn't have different methods of radiometric dating agreeing on ages so often in the same rock. In other words, decay would have to become exactly 4 billion times faster in Rubidium-87, Uranium-235, Uranium-238, Potassium-40, etc, etc all at the same time. But these elements have very, very different nuclei, that will be effected differently by changing certain fundamental forces. There is no constant, or set of constants, that you can change to make these nuclei's decay rates rise by the exact same ratio or multiplier. Therefore any proposed change would make radiometric dates differ radically depending on what dating method you used. This would be immediately apparent in almost all radiometric dating results, except those tiny tiny few that just so happened to agree by accident / coincidence. If the Universe is "fine tuned" for creation to exist, why would God mess with this fine-tuning post-hoc ex-facto?. I think this question speaks for itself - but to drive home the point, if God created the universe perfectly so that life could exist, why would he make matter fundamentally more stable after the fall of man, or after the flood? Wasn't the universe and everything in it created perfectly by God in the first place? Why would God make the universe's matter more unstable, then wait for man to sin, then make all matter more stable? While this is a theological rather than scientific argument, it still presents a considerable obstacle to accepting your narrative. Summary Sorry this was such a long and technical post @dad2. But I'm sure you can see why it had to be. In short, your hypothetical scenario is based on ignorance of the underlying physics behind radioactivity. It doesn't make sense or hold up to any form of logical scrutiny. More than that, it doesn't produce the world we observe today (and thus cannot explain it), nor can it possibly fit in with the narrative we find in the book of Genesis. And, it opens up the possibility that God created the world in some way "wrongly" to begin with, and had to tune fundamental physics as a result, which is obviously not the case. Sorry if that conclusion is blunt. I know you didn't mean badly or harmfully in your original post. Best I

I was a carpenter for over a half century. I used/applied the Pythagorean theorem often. I wonder if Jesus did.............. (I hurled a few imprecations myself if ever I hit my thumb with my hammer)