SoulGrind Posted May 26, 2009 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 16 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 244 Content Per Day: 0.04 Reputation: 2 Days Won: 0 Joined: 07/11/2006 Status: Offline Birthday: 02/20/1973 Author Share Posted May 26, 2009 Faith in Jesus Christ will not get you a new car, the pretty girl, or all the money in the world. Faith in Jesus Christ won't prevent illness, physical pain and/or suffering. Faith in Jesus Christ won't protect you from the persecution of non-believers. Faith in Jesus Christ is not the magical, genii in the lamp type of cure-all some people try to make it out to be. To me Jesus did give to me all those things and i thank Him every day. Blessings I think the point was missed. Too many times, people here the message that "Being a Christian means you'll get everything you want." This is simply not the case. We are never promised such things in the Bible. You've been blessed. I am happy for you. There are plenty of Christians with far less than yourself. If this was a Biblical teaching, everyone would have similar blessings. The problem is, it's not reality and it's not scripturally correct. However, we are promised various spiritual gifts and we are promised salvation. Everything else is just gravy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sysvr4 Posted May 27, 2009 Group: Seeker Followers: 0 Topic Count: 2 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 112 Content Per Day: 0.02 Reputation: 0 Days Won: 0 Joined: 05/22/2009 Status: Offline Share Posted May 27, 2009 It's easy to overlook the overwhelming scope of this subject. Is it so easily delimited? First consider the nature of omnipotence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulGrind Posted May 27, 2009 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 16 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 244 Content Per Day: 0.04 Reputation: 2 Days Won: 0 Joined: 07/11/2006 Status: Offline Birthday: 02/20/1973 Author Share Posted May 27, 2009 It's easy to overlook the overwhelming scope of this subject. Is it so easily delimited? First consider the nature of omnipotence. In some ways, yes, especially when it's spelled out for us... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
methinkshe Posted June 21, 2009 Group: Senior Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 32 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 679 Content Per Day: 0.11 Reputation: 14 Days Won: 1 Joined: 03/02/2007 Status: Offline Share Posted June 21, 2009 How do you know the will of God? Christ-in-you, by His Spirit, is conforming you to His likeness, renewing your mind, so that His will becomes your will, His desires, your desires. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Philippians 2:13 In other words, you TRUST that your will is in conformity with God's will because that is what is promised; and if through stubborness or disobedience or hardness of heart or unconfessed sin or any other reason, your will is not in conformity with God's will, you further TRUST that He will let you know: And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. Isaiah 30:21. At least, that is my experience, and God has not failed me yet - and I know he never will. Though sometimes, I think, we don't recognise God's will except with hindsight. But if we are faithful to God's Word, and trust Him, we will find that even though we do not know His will at the time, if we obey His written Word, it still will be done, and only later will we recognise God's will in a matter. I recently had a wonderful example of God conforming my will to His, through my obedience to His Word concerning the husband/wife relationship. Breifly, we were recently given notice to quit the house we had rented for over ten years - the landlord needed it for his son who was due to be married. This was problematic for us, not the least because we have a disabled daughter and the house had been adapted for her needs. And we only had two months to find another place. I set about looking for an alternative that I felt was financially viable and would meet our daughter's needs at a basic level. My husband (not born-again, although acknowledges God in some respects) found a house that I felt was not suited to our needs - the rent was too high, the house, I felt, was far too good for us - a huge, but lovely old manse with a large garden etc. etc., and that it was unrealistic to look at such a place. Many circumstances then directed our way - I had to decamp, with our disabled daughter, to look after my mother following a quadruple-heart bypass leaving my husband in charge of finding another house and moving us in. The "far-to-good-for-us" house turned out to be the only place available to meet our moving out deadline and that was even remotely suitable in terms of location and size (we needed anough rooms downstairs to convert one to a bedroom for our disabled daughter) and with landlords who wanted a long term let and didn't mind us making adaptations for our daughter's needs. So while I was away at my mother's he agreed to rent the place and moved us in. I was still very wary and couldn't believe he had taken on such a huge financial responsibility for a house that I felt was unnecessarily grand. But I deferred to my husband as my head, left the responsibility with him, and prayed that the Lord would over-rule if it was all a terrible mistake. But when I arrived back from my mother's - having left our old house and returning to a new one - and after living there for a few days (or, perhaps, I should say living "here" since this place is where we now live) I was overwhelmed by a knowledge that the Lord had provided this place for us - way above my expectations or what I felt I deserved, or needed, or could afford. And He made a way for us to afford it, too. I know with hindsight that it was God's will, God's doing that we now live here. And all I had to do was obey God's written word and not over-rule my husband, to allow him to shoulder his God-ordained responsibility for our family, even though I had grave doubts about the wisdom of his choice of house. I am now so happy here - it is a far, far nicer place than the one we moved from. Our disabled daughter's needs are far better met than in our old place; the location is far more convenient for her school and for other needs. Yet, left to my own devices, I would not have chosen it and would have missed out on a fantastic blessing that God intended for me and my family. I have views from our sitting room windows and from my bedroom windows that are breathtaking - every day "I lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help; my help is from the Lord who made heaven and earth." And the sunsets and sunrises are indescribably beautiful; I never close my curtains at night, just lie in bed and watch the sun sink below the horizon as clouds chase pink and orange and yellow trails across its face. Oh, how blessed I am! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lekh l'kha Posted June 21, 2009 Group: Senior Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 27 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 830 Content Per Day: 0.15 Reputation: 5 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/14/2009 Status: Offline Share Posted June 21, 2009 (edited) I think you've spelled it out very well in your OP here, SoulGrind. Thanks. (Or should I say, the Word of God has spelled it out very well). Others may try to complicate it. But as your OP shows, it really is a simple thing. I know I've fallen short in thought, or in my heart, but it's a simple thing, and I believe as long as we repent to turn to God, He will sanctify us through our faith in Him. Edited June 21, 2009 by lekh l'kha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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