Nyoka

To all those who believe a successful suicide will send you to hell due to not being able to repent of it I would like to ask you a question. When you die: are you 100% positive that you have asked forgiveness for every sin you have ever committed up to that point or do you just ask for a general forgiveness and hope it covers everything? If a successful suicide sends you to hell then so will any other sin you forget to ask forgiveness for.

A three year old can as this is what I did with my children. I presented it to my children as a special fun treasure hunt. My children understood that the reason they got the eggs was because this was the only time of year we had this sort of a treasure hunt - not because the easter bunny put the eggs there. They thought it was good fun being in on this secret and never told any of the other children about it. Present to your child as a fun game and part of the game is not to tell this secret. I also used it to explain that Easter is all about Jesus and what He did for us - His death and resurrection. If you keep it simple and fun your child will understand and also enjoy a fun day with family and friends.

This is my two cents on this subject and I am just stating how I came to believe Jesus is God. When I was searching to see who Jesus was God took me to some verses in the bible. In Exodus we see Moses asking God a question at the burning bush: Exo 3:13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? We see God's answer to it in the next two verses: Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. Exo 3:15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. In God's answer we see that God chose "I am" as His name and it would be His name forever and a memorial to all generations. Fast forward to the New Testament and we see the Jews questioning Jesus when Jesus makes this statement: Joh 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. The Jews answered Jesus with a question: Joh 8:57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? In answer Jesus says: Joh 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Jesus here used the name that God took for Himself and that the Jews held sacred to God. The Jews, upon hearing this, immediately tried to stone Him. My first thought on reading that the Jews wanted to stone Jesus was "why". Why would they stone Jesus if, as I have heard before, Jesus was just saying that God existed before Moses? There must be more going on here than meets the eye. After much prayer and searching I found this verse: Joh 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. I saw here that Jesus was doing things that the Jews believed only God can do so they sought to kill Him for making Himself equal with God. To me this made sense of the previous verse where Jesus used the name "I Am" as the reason they wanted to stone Him then would have been that He was applying the name "I Am" to Himself and saying He was God. There was no reason to stone Jesus if He was just saying that God existed before Abraham but, in the Jewish mind, there was plenty of reason to stone Jesus if Jesus was applying God's name to Himself as that would be blasphemy to them. Fwiw that was my reasoning as a new believer.

When I became a Christian my friends also deserted me. It was hard until I realized I had a friend who sticks so close to me - Jesus. Once I realized this I resolved to treat Jesus as if He was walking right by me all day everyday - which He is. When I read the bible I would discuss it with Him, when I cooked a meal I talked to Him as if He was sitting at my kitchen table, when I went for a walk I started looking round for things to talk about to Him and started noticing the color of the leaves and majesty of the hills surrounding my small town. After some time I noticed that my feelings of loneliness left and I have never felt alone again. I noticed that I started to think of God and talk to Him at all times of the day. At first I felt weird doing this but now it is so natural to me I do it all the time and don't care what people think as I am talking to my Father and no one will ever stop me doing that again. As for the friends who deserted me, well I just started showing them the love that Jesus showed me. If I bumped into them I always let them know I was genuinely pleased to see them, I turned up at their houses with baking and told them as we hadn't seen each other for a while I just thought I would drop by and say "hi". I showed them Jesus with my life seeing they wouldn't listen to what I was saying. Some responded and some didn't but it didn't matter to me as I still had the one true friend in Jesus.

man had it right when he said that God searches our hearts. All I would like to add to this is that following Jesus is about relationship. It is about allowing God to shine a light in our lives and then doing what He tells us to do. God will show us if He wants us to get something out of our lives or to change a behavior in our lives. God may show you through His word or through people but however it comes it must be taken back to Him in prayer to make sure we understand and are following Him the way He wants. If in your heart He is your Lord and Savior then you have already pleased Him. Remember as Christians we start out as babies knowing not very much and as we spend time with Him we learn and grow and slowly our lives will change and line up more and more with His will. This takes time though and, imho, will never be complete until we are with Him. If He has not told you to get rid of those things yet then I wouldn't worry about it. Just be willing in your heart to give them up if He asks you to.

To say that we have no conscious choice in anything is to say we are a bunch of robots that must do as we are programmed. It has become obvious on this thread that the ones arguing against God don't seem to be seeking but just want to keep coming up with things they see as wrong hoping that eventually we will run out of answers and they can say "see told you so". I will gladly answer questions from someone that is truly seeking but I won't waste my time on those who only want an argument with straw man arguments <<<< what do you know another freewill conscious choice I made.

I don't understand why people want to go to Heaven in the first place. Because it beats the heck out of the alternative, N.C. I heard there is no free will though in Heaven, to me it seems an eternity without free will would be hell. Presumably you wouldn't be aware of your lack of free will. God's respect of our free will is often cited as to the reason He doesn't intervene to stop all the suffering in the world. How does one reconcile that with the removal of free will in Heaven. As I said in an earlier post. I am following Jesus because I CHOSE to follow Jesus. I will be with Him in Heaven cause I chose Him and chose to be with Him in Heaven. I will not sin in heaven because I chose to be there and not sin. There will be no sin in heaven because those who are with Jesus in heaven chose not to sin and chose to be with Him there. Whether God chose to take away sin or not doesn't stop my freewill choice to be there and be without sin because I want to. I still have freewill I just choose to let God be God and do away with sin if He so chooses. All this is my choice so it looks to me as if freewill is alive and well in heaven and that those in heaven choose to let God be God and do away with sin if He so chooses. Still looks like freewill to me.

Every morning when I wake up I have the choice to follow God today or to live the day for myself. Every time I have a decision to make I have the choice to do it God's way or my way. When I chose Jesus I also got the Father and Holy Spirit. I also got the promise of eventually being with the Father and Jesus face to face. I got the promise of being where they are. I got all this through my choice not because I was forced to accept it. I will be in Heaven because I chose to be there not because I was forced to be there. If God was into forcing us to be in heaven then the only ones that would go to hell or the lake of fire are Satan and those demons that follow him. What I am saying is we are in heaven because we choose to be NOT because God forces us to be. Because we choose to be in heaven it won't be hell for us at all but will bring us a joy beyond any we have ever known. This certainly sounds like freewill to me.

Praise Him for His mighty arm of protection!! I am not attempting to discourage you from doing whatever our Father is telling you to do. I do however believe we should be obedient with as much knowledge as may be available to us. In that spirit, I am sharing that it is not unusual for a "feeling" of injury to be delayed by several (even 5+) days. May He continue to sustain you! That is why I suggested the doctor. I have had doctor's and nurses as friends and they have told me the same thing. I don't want to discourage you from doing as you believe the Lord is wanting you to - I just tend to worry about people when they get hurt. Again this is a wonderful testimony.

I don't think there is anything wrong in being pious. You have to look at why you are doing it. If you are doing it out of reverence for God, Jesus and all they have done for us then it isn't wrong but if you are doing it because you think you know the truth and no-one else does and you are better than them then yes it is wrong. As in all things look at the attitude why you or someone else are doing things then you will tell if it is right or wrong - our attitude can make a right thing wrong.

Praise God you are alive. I would agree with getting a doctor to check you out. I would call those pictures: 'photos of Gods saving grace.'

There is nothing wrong with reading the version that is easiest for you. If, like me, you want other translations I would recommend e-sword. It is a downloadable bible with many free translations, dictionaries and commentaries. I use it all the time. http://www.e-sword.net/

Hey Bibs... I feel you are really out of line with your assumptions and judgements. First, she does not want a divorce as you have insisted. She wants her husband to start living up to his obligations. She is praying for that. People who WANT a divorce don't pray, seek counsel, and live in the misery of hope. My friend stays in the marriage and prays for the marriage because she believes it is the right thing to do...even though it is very hurtful, stressful, and exhausting...she wants to do what is right in God's eyes. Secondly, I wish people would stop with the totally unfounded accusations on my character because I happen to be praying for a friend...it has nothing to do with the question. I am not a complete stranger. Her husband KNOWS that I pray for their marriage (and doesn't care, BTW.) If some people here happen to be in marriages that have trust issues when their spouses are around the opposite gender...then thats their problem. Don't project your weaknesses onto me. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with me counseling, praying for, or having a friend of a different gender. There is NO guilt for either of us. Lastly, I posted this topic for ME! Not for my friend, or on my friends behalf. If you will read the OP you will find that I am the one struggling with this issue. The reason is, because I am close to the situation, it is becoming difficult for ME to keep encouraging my friend to stay in such a ridiculous situation. I have always been anti-divorce, perhaps even on the judmental side, and I remain so. I have recently read some things about "abandonment" and the "putting away" of a spouse (as Leonard alluded to) and it brought some different concepts to the fore. I came here to get others opinions on the issue of abandonment because there happen to be alot of people who like to discuss these types of topics. If we want to discuss friendships with the opposite gender...we should start a new topic (it might be a good topic). However, in this topic i want to know if abandonment is only physically leaving...or can it be emotional and spiritual as well. It is always difficult to see friends and loved ones hurting. You have done the right thing in standing by her and have probably been instrumental in giving her the strength to carry on. Keep it up. All you can really do is to be a listening ear for her when she needs it and to support her in what she has chosen to do. Personally the gist I got from your post was that she didn't want to leave that is why I made the suggestions I did. Please you are doing well were she AND her husband are concerned so keep it up. Do you have someone you trust who you can talk to to help you help them? I think you need some support in this to. God bless and I am praying for them.

Learning who you are in Christ may help. I used to get very angry when people judged me in a self righteous manner. I studied up on God's love for me and on how God saw me and once I understood that it didn't matter to me what anyone else thought as I KNEW what God thought. I do still listen when someone judges me but now it is to see if what they say has any merit in my life or not. If they are just being self righteous I ignore it. As I got told once: "don't carry someone else's baggage" (this advice has helped me more than a few times).

This is why I believe a temporary separation may be the thing. It would cut of this husbands supply of money and give the wife time to sort herself out so she is not making a rash decision and still give the marriage a chance. At the end of the day it really doesn't matter what we say about the situation as the wife is going to have to do whatever seems proper to her - we are just merely bystanders looking on.

I agree. Show me in the scripture where it says ALL marriages are sanctioned by God. Not all marriages are sanctioned by God. Just because you are married in the eyes of men does not mean you are married in the eyes of God. Maybe what this husband needs is a shake up. She could separate from him for a time - she doesn't have to tell him it is only temporary. Let him believe it is permanent. Sometimes you have to take the risk. This would also give her time to sought herself out and work out where she is going and what she is doing. Sometimes you just have to use tough love. I don't mean to sound harsh but the husband has had plenty of chances and now the wife has to sort herself out for her own sake. If she doesn't she will burnout and be in a far worse position than she now is - I know as I was in a similar situation. I pray that it works out.

The Essenes weren't Christian. They believed in mysticism. The also are the writers of the dead sea scrolls. They only lasted about 2 centuries. They did preserve some of the old testament even though they made changes to the text. If you Google their name you will find out more about them. There are people who have revived the Essenes way of beliefs so you will also find a lot of websites out there promoting them. God bless.

We forgive the person through a conscious effort - in my case God usually has to step in and do it for me. You must also choose to forget the offence as if it never happened. You know it has happened when you can look and talk to that person without thinking of the offence. This is not nor ever will be easy. Sometimes when I have chosen to forgive someone it can be some time before I can treat them as if it never happened - depending on how much I got hurt. When this happens I go back to God and ask Him to strengthen and help me to walk in love with that person. It always works out in the end. The important thing is if you have trouble forgiving someone ask God to help you and I have found He always does.

That is a tough one. I was in this position once. I married an unbeliever and became unequally yoked. Christians around me tried to warn me but instead of listening it just made me want to do it more. My ex husband would complain or tried to stop me if I read the bible, went to church or in any way tried to follow God. He knew enough scripture to misinterpret it but didn't want anything to do with God. All I can suggest is to show the person the scriptures that say not to be unequally yoked - 2Co 6:14, Romans 7:13-16. If the person still insists on going ahead with this marriage then show the person Godly love and try to be there for them - they have not chosen an easy path. I hope this helps.