WayneS

I’ve often wondered when in an abusive relationships, what’s the greater sin? Is a divorcing the abuser? Or is it the abuser’s actions? Is it a Christians duty to endure the evil of abuse for years? Or is it forgivable to divorce an evil person and move on?

What Bible translation are you using?

That’s a great way to put it and agree totally. Here, I want to be His, therefore I will obey Jeremiah 7:23 NLT [23] This is what I told them: 'Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!' Commands in the NT are similar to what is in the OT: Luke 6:38 NLT [a command from Jesus][38] Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full-pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back." Note how the NT has close ties into the OT. The NT is not a start over, but draws from the OT and adds more. 1 Peter 3:9-12 NLT [9] Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. [10] For the Scriptures say, "If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. [11] Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. [12] The eyes of the LORD watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the LORD turns his face against those who do evil."

We get frustrated by praying for someone and often prayers go unanswered. There are lots of discussions and songs about unanswered prayers but when praying for someone who is not obedient or who is not a believer is praying for them best approach? I have a daughter who “believes“, but never goes to church and I suspect doesn’t read scripture. She’s now having some medical issues and I wrote her this morning saying she should pray about it and I would pray for her, but then a thought popped in my mind and I wrote up a paragraph on obedience and living a Christian life in order to receive in God’s grace. Should we as Christians maybe spend more time with others in difficult circumstances getting the gospel to them versus praying for them? Or is too easy and, without the gospel, I suspect not effective. Would love to get others opinions on this.

Little man, first , congratulations on your first novel!!! I wish you much success. And the world needs MORE Christian novels. Society is so mired in worldly muck. I hope it sells phenomenally!

Also, 1 John 2:3-5 NLT [3] And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. [4] If someone claims, "I know God," but doesn't obey God's commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. [5] But those who obey God's word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him.

I keep lists of bible verses. This is going in my blessing list. Appreciate your posts!

The first truth we must learn is the greatest commandment, and with this there is no controversy. From Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” If someone has fully embraced these 2 commandments, then their view on creation or pre or a millenniumism is interesting for further understanding scripture and God’s plan. Too many want to first get the details right and miss the main thing. (look at the many mean-spirited posts on this forum!). If you love others and God and don’t speak in tongues, you’re on the right path. If you love God and others and believe evolution or not, you’re on the right path. When I taught soccer to kids, they all wanted to do the Pele soccer moves, but couldn’t run the field with good control and simple passes. Basics first! Let’s love God and one another (even when posting )

The Illinois constitution has a provision in it that the taxes must be flat. Therefore, after deductions, everybody pays the same rate, currently 5% (ouch!). The politicians want to do, wink wink, raise the taxes on the top 3% and they promise cross their hearts, Boy Scouts honor that they would never go lower than that. It required a vote to pass a resolution in order to change the constitution.

If I don’t pay taxes I’ll either get a huge fine or go to jail. So I pay my taxes. No matter who is in office. Illinois has been overspending for decades, and this year they asked the voters to raise taxes via a progressive tax (currently flat tax by constitution) in order to fix the problem because more money always fixes the problem for government. We voted no. There’s not a revenue problem in government, there’s a spending problem.

My daughter sometimes sells handicraft on Etsy.

I would like to maybe change the focus of your response. It doesn’t address the fundamental issue, tens of thousands are dying every year and the government has a choice to either put more driving restrictions in to save lives but drive businesses and people out of work OR continue with the current way of doing things and let people die. Just like with Covid pandemic. If you are young and healthy the probability is very low you’ll even go to the hospital, not zero but very low. Therefore, do you prefer a society where the government dictates everything to us? Or do you prefer to live in a free society? Covid is testing that line now. If I lived with my elderly parents, I may very well choose to not go out to dinner, not go to the health club, etc. But I don’t, so I do these things, it is my choice and it is not the governments heavy handedness to make the decision for me. It really comes down to a fundamental issue of people that want to live in a government controlled society versus people that want to live in a free society. Covid is pushing the line on this and it’s interesting to see what powers society is willing to give up to the government. Good discussion.

Does this include driven millions out of business and financially wrecking them? This is the reality for many many people. If we live in a free country, guidelines should be put in. My wife and I find restaurants that are still seating people against the governors rules, but follow all other guidelines. This is their choice and our choice. If you invested your savings and 10 years into a business, would you be ok with the government rules driving you bankrupt? BTW, many here believe in science as if it were some sort of mini-god. Scientists predictions are wrong ALOT! Here is 50 years of being wrong and people are still gullible enough to "believe in science" https://cei.org/blog/wrong-again-50-years-of-failed-eco-pocalyptic-predictions/ Scientists are terrible at predicting outcomes. They are better at experiments that are reproducible and independently verifiable.

36,000 people die each year in the USA due to car accidents. There is no vaccine for this and will continue every year. The government ought to impose driving restrictions on everyone to reduce this. Everyone to walk or ride a bike. And if car manufacturers go out of business and lay off millions, that’s ok. We’re saving lives.

Occasionally I actually believe that I’m doing pretty well as far as not sinning goes, the changes it me due to the Holy Spirit are just amazing. But then I realize how short the target I really am. Recently I realized my lack of generosity. A year ago I would not have thought about this. But now I realize how tight fisted I’ve been for most of my life. I am sooooo short of the target, and often I don’t even realize it. So I’ve begun to practice generosity (initially I didn’t like it!). But over time it has become much more of a habit for me and it just feels good. Often I am sinning, falling short of the target, and don’t even know it. To answer you specifically, when I first came to faith my sinful thoughts were quite often, but over time they have diminished, and I believe this is all due to the Holy Spirit working in me.