Miracle Healing

[Mr. M]

3 minutes ago, Mr. M said:

Si Senor. But the reference is to "hardened hearts", 

not depleted soil. LOL

2 Kings 22:

18 But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Concerning the words which you have heard— 19 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord.

[Michael37]

1 hour ago, Mr. M said:

Si Senor. But the reference is to "hardened hearts", 

not depleted soil. LOL

The analogy is enlightening.

[Marathoner]

6 hours ago, Mr. M said:

The soils are hearts, and the heart of someone can be changed, or the world would be in big trouble. I always felt from that parable that the sower was careless in tossing seeds on the path and among rocks in the first place. So many think they can toss out a pitch, and move on.

I knew a brother who, whenever he approached someone would use the same line by rote: "Have you had the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?" A bit of a conversation starter, like a tattoo. And if they show indifference or worse? Walk away with a shrug?

I know about "shaking off dust", but this isn't first century Israel, and Jesus isn't coming to the village behind us. Get to know someone, take the measure of the heart, and you can find a vast list of reasons why they are hardened, mad at God, and "don't love Jesus". The Spirit can "tenderize".

Proverbs 24:27 Prepare thy work without, 

and make it fit for thyself in the field; 

and afterwards build thine house.

I've shared the example of my (adopted) mother who believed when she was very young. She was treated cruelly and brutally by family because she was the victim of a heinous crime and had her first child, a son, taken away after he was born. 

Up until his birth, she was incarcerated in a state-funded institution operated by an evangelical organization because that heinous crime made her a pregnant woman without a husband. She was wrongly accused of conduct she never engaged in.  What they did to her and the other young women imprisoned there was unspeakable. 

She passed away during childbirth, losing too much blood, for her heart stopped beating. Just when the attending physician declared the time of her death, her heart started beating again. After all of this, she learned how that evangelical organization had lied to her, making promises they never intended to keep. They took her newborn son away and adopted him to a "proper" Christian family. That happened six days before I was born. 

By the time the Lord brought me to her, her children and extended family had abandoned her to die alone. She was bitter and hated both Christians and the Lord vehemently.

The Spirit softened her heart over time. She had never met servants of the Lord before, and she didn't know Him. He blessed her mightily before she passed from this world, and I was honored to bear witness to it all.

This is why I caution others to judge wisely. We don't know the hidden things of God until He reveals them to us.

Edited October 8, 2024 by Marathoner

[Mr. M]

7 hours ago, Marathoner said:

I've shared the example of my (adopted) mother who believed when she was very young. She was treated cruelly and brutally by family because she was the victim of a heinous crime and had her first child, a son, taken away after he was born. 

Up until his birth, she was incarcerated in a state-funded institution operated by an evangelical organization because that heinous crime made her a pregnant woman without a husband. She was wrongly accused of conduct she never engaged in.  What they did to her and the other young women imprisoned there was unspeakable. 

She passed away during childbirth, losing too much blood, for her heart stopped beating. Just when the attending physician declared the time of her death, her heart started beating again. After all of this, she learned how that evangelical organization had lied to her, making promises they never intended to keep. They took her newborn son away and adopted him to a "proper" Christian family. That happened six days before I was born. 

By the time the Lord brought me to her, her children and extended family had abandoned her to die alone. She was bitter and hated both Christians and the Lord vehemently.

The Spirit softened her heart over time. She had never met servants of the Lord before, and she didn't know Him. He blessed her mightily before she passed from this world, and I was honored to bear witness to it all.

This is why I caution others to judge wisely. We don't know the hidden things of God until He reveals them to us.

Brother, you made me cry, again.

[Marathoner]

5 hours ago, Mr. M said:

Brother, you made me cry, again.

My apologies. My time with her was how the Lord returned me to the fold --- and restored me --- after all of those years spent homeless and struggling with illness. I had men judge me in the manner that we have read in this topic, but the Lord proved them wrong. 

There is a way that seems right to a man, but it's end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12). Their way was the way of death, but the Lord gives life to whomever He pleases. 

[Mr. M]

21 minutes ago, Marathoner said:

My apologies. My time with her was how the Lord returned me to the fold --- and restored me --- after all of those years spent homeless and struggling with illness. I had men judge me in the manner that we have read in this topic, but the Lord proved them wrong. 

There is a way that seems right to a man, but it's end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12). Their way was the way of death, but the Lord gives life to whomever He pleases. 

No apologies necessary. Just a part of my MO,

Sometimes I cry watching a comedy, because

of the tragedy that people actually think something

vile is funny. When I am weak, I am stronger.

[Biblican]

19 hours ago, Marathoner said:

Peter denied the Lord three times, which He told him that he would do before it came to pass. Was Peter therefore stony ground? Did he lack depth of root? Was he forsaken by the Lord?

The Lord referred to affliction or persecution because of the word in the parable... what does this mean? That one becomes angry with the Lord out of blindness and ignorance? Or, does this refer to one who falls away due to persecution and affliction on account of the word of the kingdom? It's the latter. It's clearly stated in scripture:

The one sown with seed on the rocky places, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution occurs because of the word, immediately he falls away. (Matthew 13:20-21 NASB)

@Your closest friendnt judges rightly, urging caution because we do not know of what soil one who receives the word is, and is not. This is also why I urge caution as well, because it is all too easy for men to twist scripture to suit their own purpose when it pleases them. 

But if someone falls away just because a relative dies, there is no real root of faith there and they can take their place among those who fall away because of persecution, the principle is the same. Also there is a distinction in scripture between what is judging and what is discernment. After Jesus warns us not to judge in Matthew 7, He goes on in verse six to tell us not to give what is holy to dogs and or cast pearls before swine. It takes discernment to be able to distinguish the spiritual conditions of those people that the Lord is warning us about. Observing someone's behavior and examining the fruit  and making an evaluation based on the evidence is not judging, it is discerning someone's spiritual condition for the purpose of protecting ourselves and others. This should always be done with a spirit of humility and an eye on our own shortcomings. We can't correct someone who is in sin, unless we make some sort of evaluation. 

[Sower]

14 hours ago, Marathoner said:

This is why I caution others to judge wisely. We don't know the hidden things of God until He reveals them to us.

                         

         That's why we should always be nice, because
everybody we meet is fighting battles we know nothing about..

[Your closest friendnt]

3 hours ago, Biblican said:

But if someone falls away just because a relative dies, there is no real root of faith there and they can take their place among those who fall away because of persecution, the principle is the same. Also there is a distinction in scripture between what is judging and what is discernment. After Jesus warns us not to judge in Matthew 7, He goes on in verse six to tell us not to give what is holy to dogs and or cast pearls before swine. It takes discernment to be able to distinguish the spiritual conditions of those people that the Lord is warning us about. Observing someone's behavior and examining the fruit  and making an evaluation based on the evidence is not judging, it is discerning someone's spiritual condition for the purpose of protecting ourselves and others. This should always be done with a spirit of humility and an eye on our own shortcomings. We can't correct someone who is in sin, unless we make some sort of evaluation. 

We should always try and without exception not to think that anyone is beyond hope. 

The Gospel is that every one is welcome to come to Jesus Christ. And this is our faith to share the good news of the Gospel with faith in our heart and we are not alone in this matter.  

The Gospel is that everyone who is in the  valley of decision cannot be Judged till the time he exit the valley of decision at the time of his death. And not quite yet for some people who have been revived and they have been put back in the valley of decision. 

Jesus Christ has told us to pray and there are believers who pray and they include every one. That every one is a friend or a relative or a neighbor of someone else who prays for him when others don't want to pray for him. And we pray because the Lord wants every one to believe and be saved. 

The Lord wants to fine faith on the earth. Not the earth it self but the people who live on the earth. 

The Lord saved Pharaoh, the Pharaoh and his Son, the son of Pharaoh He killed that faithful day. 

 

Edited October 9, 2024 by Your closest friendnt

[Sower]

2 hours ago, Your closest friendnt said:

The Lord saved Pharaoh, the Pharaoh and his Son, the son of Pharaoh He killed that faithful day. 

"Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?" (Ezek 18.23).

 

Your post got me digging, and I found this link you might be interested in. Lengthy.

 

Was God being evil when He killed all the firstborn in Egypt?

        https://www.christian-thinktank.com/killheir.html

 
Thanks, Ycf....  (let me know what you think)