bropro

2 hours ago, Josheb said:

I hesitate to use this example because of its atypical nature. However.....

 

Tell me what a friend could have said that would have stopped you from marrying your soon-to-be-bride while you were on leave?

Even though we only dated for less than 3 weeks, I knew her for about 11 years. I could not have been persuaded by even the closest friend to not marry her. As I said previously, we were not committed Christians when we got married. While we were able to maintain a relatively normal marriage at the beginning, as time progressed we became divided over a number of things and the marriage was in jeopardy. In 1974 we came to Christ at the same crusade, and the marriage began to heal and grow because of our new foundation in Christ. I don't see how any committed Christian would entertain going into a marriage with a non believer. Light and darkness cannot successfully thrive.

Gary

We dated for almost 3 weeks before getting married. I was on boot leave from the Marine Corp. She was quiet and I was mouthy and impulsive. She is not as quiet now, and I am less mouthy and impulsive. When we married we were non Christians. When I returned to my unit that was getting ready to deploy, I told them I had gotten married. They very condescendingly said to me, "it will never work out. She has only married you to get the insurance money when you get knocked off, and if you do come back she will leave." That was 53 years ago, and our marriage is stronger now than ever. She has stood by me through thick and thin with all that accompanied the effects of my time in Vietnam (PTSD). Don't know if this is what you are looking for, but hear it is anyway.

Gary

There are a lot of people that say they believe in Jesus. But unless the  life and actions of a person are affected by the one they say they believe in (Jesus), it is no more than an empty confession. The demons believe and tremble.

Gary

Trials are great opportunities for spiritual growth, if we go through them God's way "counting it all joy."

Gary

On 9/23/2021 at 2:23 PM, missmuffet said:

Psalm 32:9

Do not be like the horse or like the mule,
Which have no understanding,
Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
Else they will not come near you.

God considers stubbornness a sin. 

 

The bible makes it plain that stubbornness is sin.                 

1 Samuel 15:23 (KJV)
²³  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
 

Gary

On 10/4/2021 at 6:46 PM, Hopefully said:

“To be meek is to be gentle, humble, lowly. “The meek are the ‘gentle’… those who do not assert themselves over others in order to further their own agendas in their own strength, but who will nonetheless inherit the earth because they trust in God to direct the outcome of events.” 

John Gill’s commentary seems to assert this – meek people don’t envy, don’t retaliate, and exercise patience in the face of adversity. 

Matthew Henry adds that the meek show joy and happiness under dire circumstances. No matter what happens in the world around them, they latch on to God’s provision and plan for their lives. 

The opposite of meekness is defined by Merriam-Webster as egotistic, pompous, haughty, and aggressive. Through this, we see a different picture of meekness. It isn’t a doormat mentality or silence in the face of injustice. Instead, it doesn’t retaliate when wronged and doesn’t exude pride and narcissism. The type of person most people would think would rule the earth likely exhibits some of the traits listed above. At least, it fits the bill for the Roman emperors during the time of Jesus.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/why-does-scripture-say-blessed-are-the-meek-for-they-will-inherit-the-earth.html%3famp

“Great blessings belong to those who are humble. They will be given the land God promised.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5:5‬ 

“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5:5‬ 

 

 

 

This is something that the Lord has really been working out in me. When going through dealings with difficult, prideful,  narcissistic people, I have a tendency to think about how I am going to answer them. What the Lord is pointing out to me is that my thoughts reveal a measure of the same characteristics as I am seeing in them. I think about things to say to them to put them in  their place with sarcasm and condescending remarks. The Lord has made it clear to me that even though I may not verbally release those remarks, that essentially I am still guilty of pride. As He has shown me this, I have been engaged in a real struggle with myself, asking Him for His grace and power to overcome, but then at the same time still holding on to those thoughts and feelings. It is like a tug of war with myself. I gain the victory at times, then the thoughts arise and the battle is on again. But deep inside, I know that I already have the victory in Christ. I need to become more meek and lowly. Thanks for your post.

Gary

4 hours ago, Arrabon said:

I am going through a pretty major painful trial right now, and I am discovering how satan will attack our faith, and especially he will want us to question the verses of promise we have so much faith in, so we will give up hope and quit trying to stay the coarse.

I am grateful for the other trials God has brought me through, to have those experiences of answered prayer and healing, to look back on, and to even find new verses of encouragement in scripture, as I draw even closer to God, in this time of difficulty, but also a time to exercise a new strength in my faith, that will grow me to a new level of living out my faith, and have a deeper more honest and genuine LOVING and KIND faith, to share with others, believers or not.

Satan wants us to give up, but God says he will never leave us or forsake us, and I must put my Hope in Him.

As Peter said, where else would I go??

Arrabon

It appears that you have the right attitude as you go through your trials. You have experienced the value and growth that comes as a result of trusting God in the midst of them. That is a sign of true spiritual maturity. When I go through trials, as I am going through right now, I try to remember James 1:2-4 where he says under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "count it all joy when you encounter various trials." In the midst of our trials God will work out our defects, build our endurance, and perfect in us whatever is lacking. So with that in mind, I look at trials as opportunities for spiritual growth and character building. However, Satan endeavors to destroy us. But we know that "greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world," and "we are made more than conqueror through Him that loves us." Stay the course brother, victory is ahead.

Gary

16 hours ago, enoob57 said:

Gary but this in no way means we let the doctrines of God's Word slip from their eternal place in Christ....

I agree. We should "study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." I was simply addressing the spirit in which we are to speak the truth.

Gary

1 hour ago, Saved.One.by.Grace said:

What may be a sensitive subject for one Christian, may not be a sensitive subject to another.  God doesn't want lukewarm Christians, but we should be able to have civilized conversations the majority of times.  Some subjects are just to sensitive to have an agreement or even respect for another's position, but that should be in the minority.  Here are some topics sure to raise diverse opinions:

• King James Version Only
• Textus Receptus Only and all manner of other variations on what Bible translation is to be trusted
• Abortion
• Evolution and the interpretation of the Genesis Creation account (YEC vs OEC included)
• Lucifer's Flood and Noah's Flood and the events leading up to and beyond
• The Book of Enoch
• Revelation
• Baptism, infant and adult, full immersion, formula, etc.
• The Trinity
• Gifts of the Holy Spirit (healing, tongues, et al.)
• The Rapture, timing and reality of the scripture supporting it
• Canon of Holy Scripture
• Denominations, The Roman and Eastern Orthodox Catholic faiths, et al.
• The New Age Movement, pagan influence in the church, etc.
• Qualifications for one to be called a Christian
• Interpretation of Prophesies in Holy Scripture
• Other supplemental texts mentioned in the Old Testament (Book of Jasher, the Book of Gad the Seer, The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness, et al.)
• The Deuterocanonical Books
• Calvinism, T-U-L-I-P, Reformed Theology, free will, et al.

And all manner of other subjects.  These are just the tip of the iceberg.  These are positions I hold dear, on one side of the topic or the other as my posts have defined.  I apologize if anyone has taken what I've wrote on these topics personally.  I stand by my positions but make no accusations against other members on this forum who differ.  I respect the moderators of this forum greatly, it's a hard and sometimes thankless job.  I will personally try to make their jobs less stressful and watch more closely what I right so to be true to God's Word without being hurtful to others.

The scriptures teach us to speak the truth in love. If we resort to condescending posts or replies, we disobey God. We are also admonished by scripture to "prefer others better than ourselves." What we need to remember is to "love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God." Being mindful of this should greatly affect how we treat others.

Gary

32 minutes ago, johnthebaptist said:

Some people "go along to get along." Others try to do the right things. Sometimes these two groups find themselves at odds with each other.

I think we should all endeavor to live in unity, unless that endeavor leads to compromising the truth of the Gospel. And if opposing views arise, we should obey the Lord by speaking the truth in love. Too many times people don't know how to handle someone when disagreements arise. Our main purpose as Christians is to always reflect Christ.

Gary

2 minutes ago, Riverwalker said:

Very interesting.

That is why we should be looking at other with our Father's eyes

You are right. If Christians would look at people through the lens of scripture, we would be making more of an impact for Christ.

Gary

Mine is banana splits. Not only do they taste good, but they are very healthy, as they are loaded with pineapple, strawberries, bananas, and wholesome dairy which is loaded with vitamin c.

Gary

Speaking directly to the context, according to verse 10,

     1 Corinthians 2:10 (KJV)
¹⁰  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

verse 9 is speaking more of the things that God reveals to His people in this life such as the wonders of His Great Salvation, His Great love, His amazing grace, His undying mercy, His powerful forgiveness, etc. 

Gary

4 hours ago, Daily verse and quote said:

"Do you pass the test?

Do you feel Christ’s presence and power more and more within you?

Or are you just pretending to be Christians

when actually you aren’t at all?”

2 Corinthians 13:5

 

Faith: Taking God at His Word

even when the circumstances seem to deny the truth of His promises.

Faith by its very nature must be tested and tried.

[Unknown]      

Naturally, God Speaks

Another great lesson in regard to trials:

1 Peter 1:7 (NLT2)
⁷  These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

Gary

On 8/2/2020 at 7:32 AM, leah777 said:

sometimes we need to re-visit the past in order to ask God for healing from memories and PTSD events. Often healing is a gradual process, one memory or hurt at a time, over a period of time.

If a person is strong enough in their walk with Christ to visit the past and learn from it, then it could be productive. But too many times when we visit the past we wind up experiencing negative emotions, anger, hurt etc., especially when it comes to PTSD events you mentioned. I know that from personal experience. In this case visiting the past can hinder our spiritual growth and even affect our relationships with others. I know we can't wipe out the memory of past events, but we can keep them from weighing us down by living out the passage of scripture in the OP (Phil. 3:13-14).

Have a good evening

Gary

22 hours ago, Roy B. said:

Why is it that Christians don't share their struggles with fighting sin?  It seems I'm battling sin every hour of everyday and other Christians I know never seem to have a problem.

Many years ago I heard a pastor tell of a story about a young man who had gotten saved and was doing his best to live for the Lord. He came one day to this pastor and asked him this question: “Pastor, I’ve been saved for six months now and it seems that the devil is fighting me and tempting me almost daily. When is it going to end?” The pastor told us “I didn’t have the heart to tell him.” The enemy is out to steal, kill, and destroy, and he is always on the job. There can be a number of reasons why people do not share their struggles with temptation and sin. They may be ashamed to talk about it. They may not know if they can trust the person they tell to keep it confidential. The list can go on. But we can do something to resist the temptation to sin. Paul taught the Galatians that the key to overcoming the lust of the flesh was to walk in the Spirit. And the lust of the flesh is what will ultimately lead to sin.

Galatians 5:16 (NKJV)
¹⁶  I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

King David hid the word of God in his heart, that he might not sin against Him.

Have a great evening

Gary

7 hours ago, ohso said:

I am pretty much new believer in Jesus and I've tried to talk to God about this and look into the Bible, but I'm still left very confused and don't know what's the best way to act. 

Majority of new people I meet in my life seem like nice and moral, but when I get to know them better, I find out they do not follow Jesus and to be worse, are involved in some sort of witchcraft. It can be that they are in some new age practices, or they listen to Satanic music and so on. 

I feel horrible that our differences in faith are the only reason I feel like I might need to remove myself from such acquaintances. I try to evangelize to them politely and respectfully. That always gets me in trouble. Either an argument will start, or I will have demonic dreams and so on. 

When I first got saved I really wanted to be used by God and do something for His Kingdom. Now when it seems it's starting to finally happen, I feel like I don't want it anymore, because it makes me feel bad. I see no positive results neither in others, nor myself. 

So I prayed differently, for God to bring me Christians in my life, because I don't want to deal with darkness anymore, it's just too hard for me. But then I realized I got involved in religion and find myself in the middle of arguments between denominations, which I didn't like and decided to leave that too.

How do you balance these things? I don't want to isolate myself as a Christian from the world. On the other hand, it really brings me down when I deal with the people who are not saved. I really don't know what is the right thing to do? Thank you. God bless. 

The moment a person becomes a Christian the battle is on. I heard a song one time concerning the Christian life that goes like this, "It's a battlefield brother, not a recreation room, a fight and not a game. Run if you want to, run if you will, but I've come here to stay." I believe that every believer needs to do an in depth study on Ephesians 6:10-17. It will acquaint the believer with the armor and the weapons we need to effectively defeat the enemy at every turn in our lives. I would encourage you to study this and meditate on it until you become the effective spiritual warrior that God intends for all His people to become. Study it so well, that spiritual warfare becomes second nature to you. You'll never regret it, and in the process you will glorify and please the Lord, which is what He wants.

Gary

7 minutes ago, TRlover said:

So does prayer really work?

I ask because a thing(s) I have asked for all my 36 years of being a Christian(?) have never received anything but NO for an answer.  I put the s by thing because it is especially one thing but several over things that are major but minor compare to the one thing.  The ? by Christian because I ask in the Name of Jesus yet seem to get nothing from God!

Never has a man needed a miracle more than me but all I have to plea is the Blood of Christ.

I don't know what you are going through, but it must be a heavy burden to carry all these 36 years. You said that the only thing you receive from the Lord, is a no answer. I believe that God truly answers prayer, assuming the conditions for answered prayer are met such as, forgiving those who offend you, doing those things that are pleasing in His sight, asking in faith nothing wavering, abiding in Jesus and allowing His word to abide in you, etc. I'm sure that this is not what you want to hear, but NO is an answer. It isn't an answer we want to hear let alone accept, but it is still an answer. I believe He answers all prayer, if we keep on asking, seeking, and knocking. His answers are yes, no, or wait. I especially don't like the latter. I hope this has possibly helped in some way.

Gary

Mine was around $7.500.00 and I live in the KCMO area. BTW, that was the prepaid plan.

Gary

10 hours ago, PromisesPromises! said:

I know I can't be the only one who ever heard this as a kid.... "You'd better hush, or I'll give you something to REALLY complain about!"  

Yes, bropro... we don't have to look far to realize how greatly blessed we are!  \o/

You're right about that. All we have to do is turn on the news to see how blessed we are as Christians.

Gary

10 hours ago, Sower said:

The VA hospital.  After it's all over, whats left of those who paid the price.
Whenever I leave our Veterans hospital here in San Antonio Texas, Military City USA,
I am overwhelmed with a quiet thankfulness that I'm able to leave on my own two feet.
No meds, no prescriptions, no gurney or crutches or wheelchair. 
Perspective. It's the little things.

 

 

You are right about that. It's all about perspective. As Christians, we have everything to be thankful for, because even in the worst of times God still has his best interests in store for us;

"in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us."

Gary

I was walking through the VA hospital here in KC complaining about the pain in my knees, then I walked by another veteran in a wheel chair that had no legs or knees. I began to praise and thank God that at least I had knees that would hurt. This is a true event.

Gary

An elderly lady was well-known for her faith and for her boldness in talking about it. She would stand on her front porch and shout “Praise the Lord!”

Next door to her lived an atheist who would get so angry at her proclamations he would shout, “There ain’t no Lord!!”

Hard times set in on the elderly lady, and she prayed for god to send her some assistance. She stood on her porch and shouted “Praise the Lord. God I need food!! I am having a hard time. Please Lord, send me some groceries!!”

The next morning the lady went out on her porch and noted a large bag of groceries and shouted, “Praise the Lord.”

The neighbor jumped from behind a bush and said, “Aha! I told you there was no Lord. I bought those groceries, God didn’t.”

The lady started jumping up and down and clapping her hands and said, “Praise the Lord. He not only sent me groceries, but he made the devil pay for them. Praise the Lord!”