OnAQuest

A distinction needs to be made between putting our hope in people or circumstances and looking at a particular circustance or person and saying, "Wow! God is awesome." Isn't it alright to realize that sometimes God sends blessings into our lives to remind us that He is the source of all good?

Maybe you've seen me in the chats or something. I've been talking about how, on two separate occasions, it feels like God has sent a person into my life to remind me that He still loves and cares for me. In the chat rooms, I get my ego stroked. They tell me it's ok to believe that God is caring for me through others around me. But today I emailed an actual pastor and he said "God, in His mercy, is making you aware of your thirst, so you will turn to Him and no other for a drink." I am confused whether it is ok to believe God is using second causes. And I am afraid that I will come to depend too much on the second causes rather than the first cause, God.

I know I was wrong when I said God won't judge a sin that you're unaware of. I'll eventually get it right, though. God will judge your sin, period. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9) Or you can think of it another way. Why would God punish you for your sins, when He has already punished Jesus for the sin of the world? He has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isa 53:6)

I also have epilepsy and bipolar symptoms that resulted from a traumatic brain injury suffered in '93. I attended a public elementary school and got in trouble almost evey day. In seventh grade, I became home-schooled. I didn't have as much trouble with anger issues, but had more trouble with depression, hopelessness, and feelings of guilt. While I believed God had given me my problems for a reason, I did not consciously trust Him to bring me out of my depression. God has always been faithful to bring me through, though. In fact, from '03 to mid-'05, I had a very strong faith experience, a good social-life, and few problems with mood-swings. But then, I lost several important friends at church and quit going. My faith suffered. I did not believe God was good. My loss had impacted my faith, and when my seasonal mood-swing came, it spawned even more faithlessness. I ended up in trouble with the law and lost my apartment and was moved into a more intensive rehab program. It seemed my life was ending, and that my faith would never return. But all it takes is faith like a mustard seed. And now I see that God is trying to bring me back into the fold. I am the one sheep who was lost. I am the returning prodigal. But that's not the point of this post. The point is that God judges the heart. Man may judge your bad behavior by arresting you or throwing you in prison. But God will only be worried about your heart. If the condition of your heart is causing sin, you will be prompted to correct your heart. If your actions spring not from a bad heart, but from a disease, you are only obligated to do what you can to correct your actions. You are still responsible for what you do, but you can expect to be judged by men for that stuff, and by God only for the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. See Heb 4:12, Prov. 23:7

A few weeks ago, I thought God was really sadistic. I was also despairing of my life. Today, I'm pretty sure it was all due to depression. I no longer think of God in that way, or despair of my life. What changed? I am not taking any new drugs for the depression and I am not using any phototherapy. I think it was a singularity that started me believing that God is good again. From there, I began to be more hopeful and even to pray. I think my mood is changing. I didn't think it was possible, but maybe my new take on spirituality is helping to lift my mood. If you have similar experiences, I'd love to hear about them.

The metaphysical scientists have created a sophisticated computer program to determine which, if any, of the characteristics we nomally associate with God, are intrinsically necessary to any "god." I took an interactive quiz once to see what were the essential characteristics of God. It turned out that there were really only two necessary assumptions about "god." 1. God Is not dependent on anything. 2. God is free to do whatever he pleases. The rest of the things commonly associated with God are matters of faith, not provable fact. Nevertheless, I have been conditioned to believe what I have read in the Bible. And some of the assertions I might make based on the Bible can prove incompatible with Draygomb's paradox. But if you truly separate the hard metaphysical science from the faith aspect, then there is really no question that Dragomb himself had a little bit of faith. He believed that his paradox would mess with my mind. However, his points and the Bible's points do not seem mutually exclusive. Besides, if I were trying to decide whether to believe in God or not, I would not base my decision on a seeming no-win paradox, but rather the evidence I saw in other believers. Now God, as I know Him, being completely independent and free to do whatever He pleases, has chosen to create humans in time and actively pursue a relationship with them. That may have been his express purpose in even creating time. Without time, one cannot pursue. And if God had created humans without time, He would only have more creatures whom he could not pursue and to whom His pursuit would be meaningless, since they could not make decisions whether or not to have a relationship with Him. I realize that I have put my two-cents in at the end of the discussion and not the climax. But I'm almost certain I won't be the last because as long as this thread's open to comment, someone will want to comment just to show off. And I think the mods would be quite reasonable in leaving this debate open because it is a healthy debate. It relies on each man's defensiveness to start him thinking in the other direction. It's a challenge. And for those of us who just can't pass up a good challenge, at least it's a healthy one.

But what if I call on the name of another, ie the Apostle Paul, to "slam like a hammer" against a temptation? I think that might work, but only if Paul is equal with Christ in my heart. And if he is, then I have a bigger problem than temptation: idolatry.