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 Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:10 am
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:25 am
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:48 am
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Ignacio Egnatius Garland-Green Everyone feels like that from time to time. I find that it is when I am being selfish, and removing myself from God that I feel this way. Doing my own things, and living in my own world (conforming to the patterns of the world). What situations do you feel makes you doubt? There has to be a reason? A "short" story of how I was saved: What happened to me to make me believe
i think it has something to do with my faith. i think, it's me who is doing everything... it's like, i prayed to God. I believed that He has the power to answer all these things... and then after i prayed, i ended up thinking: what now? i have to do this all by meself.. like.. where did God played His role there? it seems that i just worked to find answers to my troubles and prayer was just a motivation.. and when i triumph, i consider it as an answered prayer but on the other side of my mind, i did it because of what i did... im confused. help. crying
I was kind of an occultist when I was a Buddhist. I thought that I could become God by the right technique. That I only needed to discover God inside myself. It didn't happen. I spent hours meditating and what not. Nothing. Except I had terrible experiences. Which I am not going to scare you with now. lol. I think it was God who pushed me to believe in him. I didn't believe in the right god. I came across a site showing me that there is real evil in the world. Demonic evil. Not just human evil, and it made me scared. I think that was the only way that God could have made me believe. He had to give me a push. Make me scared enough to accept him. So I went for a walk and I cried and said I was sorry for not believing in Jesus. I felt a change inside my heart. =3 It is belief that saves us. If that belief is in nothing (like all other religions) it can't change you as a person. Change comes from repentance, and from faith. Faith in Jesus that he died for your sin. That he paid it in full on the cross. It sets you free.
Let me tell you honestly, and sincerely. There is no competition. All those other gods, they can't do anything. They are sticks, stones and human fabrication. They are made to be a diversion. What do you know about prophecy? Did you know that the predictions made in the Bible are coming true? All of them! There are some that are to happen in the future that have not yet happened. But tons and tons that have. Many prophecies about Israel. Like for example when Jesus predicted that the temple would be ruined, and that not a stone would be found on top of another. It happened. The Romans tore it down. How Israel would be formed as a country in one single day!
Archaeologists are using the Bible as a reference when digging! Why would they do that? Because it is trustworthy! I never knew these things before I was a Christian, because I didn't seek them out. I never looked for them because I didn't know what to look for. God is real. There is only one. All other religions have major errors in how they view God, so they are separated from him. Not believing in him they reject him.
Bible passage: Isaiah 66:7-8
Written: perhaps between 701-681 BC
Fulfilled: 1948
In Isaiah 66:7-8, the prophet foreshadowed the re-birth of Israel in 1948. Isaiah describes a woman giving birth before going into labor, and he speaks of a country being born in one day. This accurately describes what happened on May 14, 1948 - when the Jews declared independence for Israel as a united and sovereign nation for the first time in 2900 years.
During that same day, the United States issued a statement recognizing Israel’s sovereignty. And, only hours beforehand, a United Nations mandate expired, ending British control of the land. During a 24-hour span of time, foreign control of the land of Israel had formally ceased, and Israel had declared its independence, and its independence was acknowledged by other nations. Modern Israel was literally was born in a single day.
Isaiah said the birth would take place before there would be labor pains. And that too is precisely what happened. A movement called Zionism began in the 1800s to encourage Jews worldwide to move to Israel, which at that time was called Palestine. Within hours of the declaration of independence in 1948, Israel was attacked by the surrounding countries of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
When reading Isaiah 66:7-8, keep in mind that Israel’s status as a sovereign nation was established and reaffirmed during the course of a single day, and that it was born of a movement called Zionism, and that its declaration of independence was not the result of a war but rather the cause of one. |
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:55 am
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Ignacio Egnatius Garland-Green Everyone feels like that from time to time. I find that it is when I am being selfish, and removing myself from God that I feel this way. Doing my own things, and living in my own world (conforming to the patterns of the world). What situations do you feel makes you doubt? There has to be a reason? A "short" story of how I was saved: What happened to me to make me believe
i think it has something to do with my faith. i think, it's me who is doing everything... it's like, i prayed to God. I believed that He has the power to answer all these things... and then after i prayed, i ended up thinking: what now? i have to do this all by meself.. like.. where did God played His role there? it seems that i just worked to find answers to my troubles and prayer was just a motivation.. and when i triumph, i consider it as an answered prayer but on the other side of my mind, i did it because of what i did... im confused. help. crying
I have a water well that dries out in the summer, and it is terrible because you can't do anything without water. It happened the first year when I moved in. My well was completely dry and I had to borrow water from neighbors which can be awkward at times. This year it was dry for a couple of weeks, without no rain, so my wife and I prayed to God for rain, and it rained the next day even though according to the forecast it was supposed to be sunny and dry.
Other things I am not able to get an answer to. Like my wife's illness. She is terribly sick, and I keep praying, but she does not get better. Things are not always answered like we want, or when we want. |
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 11:18 am
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Garland-Green Ignacio Egnatius Garland-Green Everyone feels like that from time to time. I find that it is when I am being selfish, and removing myself from God that I feel this way. Doing my own things, and living in my own world (conforming to the patterns of the world). What situations do you feel makes you doubt? There has to be a reason? A "short" story of how I was saved: What happened to me to make me believe
i think it has something to do with my faith. i think, it's me who is doing everything... it's like, i prayed to God. I believed that He has the power to answer all these things... and then after i prayed, i ended up thinking: what now? i have to do this all by meself.. like.. where did God played His role there? it seems that i just worked to find answers to my troubles and prayer was just a motivation.. and when i triumph, i consider it as an answered prayer but on the other side of my mind, i did it because of what i did... im confused. help. crying
I was kind of an occultist when I was a Buddhist. I thought that I could become God by the right technique. That I only needed to discover God inside myself. It didn't happen. I spent hours meditating and what not. Nothing. Except I had terrible experiences. Which I am not going to scare you with now. lol. I think it was God who pushed me to believe in him. I didn't believe in the right god. I came across a site showing me that there is real evil in the world. Demonic evil. Not just human evil, and it made me scared. I think that was the only way that God could have made me believe. He had to give me a push. Make me scared enough to accept him. So I went for a walk and I cried and said I was sorry for not believing in Jesus. I felt a change inside my heart. =3 It is belief that saves us. If that belief is in nothing (like all other religions) it can't change you as a person. Change comes from repentance, and from faith. Faith in Jesus that he died for your sin. That he paid it in full on the cross. It sets you free. Let me tell you honestly, and sincerely. There is no competition. All those other gods, they can't do anything. They are sticks, stones and human fabrication. They are made to be a diversion. What do you know about prophecy? Did you know that the predictions made in the Bible are coming true? All of them! There are some that are to happen in the future that have not yet happened. But tons and tons that have. Many prophecies about Israel. Like for example when Jesus predicted that the temple would be ruined, and that not a stone would be found on top of another. It happened. The Romans tore it down. How Israel would be formed as a country in one single day! Archaeologists are using the Bible as a reference when digging! Why would they do that? Because it is trustworthy! I never knew these things before I was a Christian, because I didn't seek them out. I never looked for them because I didn't know what to look for. God is real. There is only one. All other religions have major errors in how they view God, so they are separated from him. Not believing in him they reject him. Bible passage: Isaiah 66:7-8 Written: perhaps between 701-681 BC Fulfilled: 1948 In Isaiah 66:7-8, the prophet foreshadowed the re-birth of Israel in 1948. Isaiah describes a woman giving birth before going into labor, and he speaks of a country being born in one day. This accurately describes what happened on May 14, 1948 - when the Jews declared independence for Israel as a united and sovereign nation for the first time in 2900 years. During that same day, the United States issued a statement recognizing Israel’s sovereignty. And, only hours beforehand, a United Nations mandate expired, ending British control of the land. During a 24-hour span of time, foreign control of the land of Israel had formally ceased, and Israel had declared its independence, and its independence was acknowledged by other nations. Modern Israel was literally was born in a single day. Isaiah said the birth would take place before there would be labor pains. And that too is precisely what happened. A movement called Zionism began in the 1800s to encourage Jews worldwide to move to Israel, which at that time was called Palestine. Within hours of the declaration of independence in 1948, Israel was attacked by the surrounding countries of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. When reading Isaiah 66:7-8, keep in mind that Israel’s status as a sovereign nation was established and reaffirmed during the course of a single day, and that it was born of a movement called Zionism, and that its declaration of independence was not the result of a war but rather the cause of one.
you hear voices? haha meself is born and raised in a christian family so it was already instilled in my mind that there is a God already even before my senses dawned to me. there was even one time when we rode a plane then we reach the clouds and i and my brother was like: mom, we are now in heaven! we can see the clouds. where is Jesus here? hahahahaha. and now im a grown up and accepted Him.. i wanted to really know about Him. XD
i actually accepted Him when i was like 12 years old. i fell into cheating in school so that i could be the cream of the crop. but in the end i feel guilty. i get what i deserved... and i curse God back those days because my prayers was not answered according to what i want. haha one of my prayers that time was that: Dear Lord if ever i get low grades for this exam, i pray that my classmate (the one that im competing) would get a lot lower than mine. amen. hahaha
so yeah, i get wat i deserve and i dont want to go back to those things again. i want a changed life. i know that God can provide it for me and so i accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. XDD
anyways.. can you differentiate faith from believing?
and what about allah? muslims are from judah's tribe right? and allah is like the same as God.
and with regards to the date, how do you know that that woman labor thing would mean the birth of israel? like, there would also be a lot of things that could happen that day that would coincide with it.. but with regards to the prophecy.. i've scanned through the revelation. and yes i can see some things happening like diseases with no cure like aids and stuff.. though sometimes i think what the bible says are very general. haha dunno. i havent read that part so intently yet. so i think i would pass on this one. XD
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 11:33 am
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Garland-Green Ignacio Egnatius Garland-Green Everyone feels like that from time to time. I find that it is when I am being selfish, and removing myself from God that I feel this way. Doing my own things, and living in my own world (conforming to the patterns of the world). What situations do you feel makes you doubt? There has to be a reason? A "short" story of how I was saved: What happened to me to make me believe
i think it has something to do with my faith. i think, it's me who is doing everything... it's like, i prayed to God. I believed that He has the power to answer all these things... and then after i prayed, i ended up thinking: what now? i have to do this all by meself.. like.. where did God played His role there? it seems that i just worked to find answers to my troubles and prayer was just a motivation.. and when i triumph, i consider it as an answered prayer but on the other side of my mind, i did it because of what i did... im confused. help. crying
I have found that sometimes I have to work for things, but that God helps me do it. That even if I am doing the action that needs to be done he is making me knowledgeable and competent to do it. So in the end I can't thank myself for doing it, because I had help. He can chose to do it how he wants. Sometimes miraculously, other times we can't see his hands. I have a water well that dries out in the summer, and it is terrible because you can't do anything without water. It happened the first year when I moved in. My well was completely dry and I had to borrow water from neighbors which can be awkward at times. This year it was dry for a couple of weeks, without no rain, so my wife and I prayed to God for rain, and it rained the next day even though according to the forecast it was supposed to be sunny and dry. Other things I am not able to get an answer to. Like my wife's illness. She is terribly sick, and I keep praying, but she does not get better. Things are not always answered like we want, or when we want.
yes. the bible says that God provides us with the strength and such but it seems like i can't feel it. why can't i feel it? or maybe i just didn't acknowledge that He is the one who makes me think how to do it? and sometimes there are miracles that gives me goosebumps... things i can't believe are happening just to save me those days. XDD those events pushes me to read the bible more...
but there's a quote that i've just read a while ago.. that there are two times where when we should pray... one is when we can and the other is when we can't. XDDD true. in the end... it's God's sovereignty rules. XD but we dont have to worry because all that He plans are always good for us.. i remember these somewhere in jeremaiah i think. XD
wew.. there's also a story i heard about why there are people who suffered and all. The Barber Story
i reflected on that story. . one reason why we encounter trials and problems is because we are far away from God (well there are also other reasons like it is a test etc.) and that those act as reminders so that we should go back to God.. and i think that's just what happened to me nowadays...
i have a long debt of chapters to read even before school starts this june. now, school stuff is filling me.. filling me to the point i can't help it but call to God.. sometimes i feel He's not there to answer so i keep on searching for Him and i think everything makes sense to me now. XDDD
i guess im okay now. XD i actually have many assignments to do but i think i can't finish those unless i find solution to this feeling that bothers me. i think a quality time of prayer would do.
thanksoomuch for the time. XDD i'll be back tomorrow. it's already 2:32 am here and i have class at 7. XDD thanks again for encouraging me. XD
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 11:34 am
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Ignacio Egnatius Garland-Green Ignacio Egnatius Garland-Green Everyone feels like that from time to time. I find that it is when I am being selfish, and removing myself from God that I feel this way. Doing my own things, and living in my own world (conforming to the patterns of the world). What situations do you feel makes you doubt? There has to be a reason? A "short" story of how I was saved: What happened to me to make me believe
i think it has something to do with my faith. i think, it's me who is doing everything... it's like, i prayed to God. I believed that He has the power to answer all these things... and then after i prayed, i ended up thinking: what now? i have to do this all by meself.. like.. where did God played His role there? it seems that i just worked to find answers to my troubles and prayer was just a motivation.. and when i triumph, i consider it as an answered prayer but on the other side of my mind, i did it because of what i did... im confused. help. crying
I was kind of an occultist when I was a Buddhist. I thought that I could become God by the right technique. That I only needed to discover God inside myself. It didn't happen. I spent hours meditating and what not. Nothing. Except I had terrible experiences. Which I am not going to scare you with now. lol. I think it was God who pushed me to believe in him. I didn't believe in the right god. I came across a site showing me that there is real evil in the world. Demonic evil. Not just human evil, and it made me scared. I think that was the only way that God could have made me believe. He had to give me a push. Make me scared enough to accept him. So I went for a walk and I cried and said I was sorry for not believing in Jesus. I felt a change inside my heart. =3 It is belief that saves us. If that belief is in nothing (like all other religions) it can't change you as a person. Change comes from repentance, and from faith. Faith in Jesus that he died for your sin. That he paid it in full on the cross. It sets you free. Let me tell you honestly, and sincerely. There is no competition. All those other gods, they can't do anything. They are sticks, stones and human fabrication. They are made to be a diversion. What do you know about prophecy? Did you know that the predictions made in the Bible are coming true? All of them! There are some that are to happen in the future that have not yet happened. But tons and tons that have. Many prophecies about Israel. Like for example when Jesus predicted that the temple would be ruined, and that not a stone would be found on top of another. It happened. The Romans tore it down. How Israel would be formed as a country in one single day! Archaeologists are using the Bible as a reference when digging! Why would they do that? Because it is trustworthy! I never knew these things before I was a Christian, because I didn't seek them out. I never looked for them because I didn't know what to look for. God is real. There is only one. All other religions have major errors in how they view God, so they are separated from him. Not believing in him they reject him. Bible passage: Isaiah 66:7-8 Written: perhaps between 701-681 BC Fulfilled: 1948 In Isaiah 66:7-8, the prophet foreshadowed the re-birth of Israel in 1948. Isaiah describes a woman giving birth before going into labor, and he speaks of a country being born in one day. This accurately describes what happened on May 14, 1948 - when the Jews declared independence for Israel as a united and sovereign nation for the first time in 2900 years. During that same day, the United States issued a statement recognizing Israel’s sovereignty. And, only hours beforehand, a United Nations mandate expired, ending British control of the land. During a 24-hour span of time, foreign control of the land of Israel had formally ceased, and Israel had declared its independence, and its independence was acknowledged by other nations. Modern Israel was literally was born in a single day. Isaiah said the birth would take place before there would be labor pains. And that too is precisely what happened. A movement called Zionism began in the 1800s to encourage Jews worldwide to move to Israel, which at that time was called Palestine. Within hours of the declaration of independence in 1948, Israel was attacked by the surrounding countries of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. When reading Isaiah 66:7-8, keep in mind that Israel’s status as a sovereign nation was established and reaffirmed during the course of a single day, and that it was born of a movement called Zionism, and that its declaration of independence was not the result of a war but rather the cause of one.
i actually accepted Him when i was like 12 years old. i fell into cheating in school so that i could be the cream of the crop. but in the end i feel guilty. i get what i deserved... and i curse God back those days because my prayers was not answered according to what i want. haha one of my prayers that time was that: Dear Lord if ever i get low grades for this exam, i pray that my classmate (the one that im competing) would get a lot lower than mine. amen. hahaha
so yeah, i get wat i deserve and i dont want to go back to those things again. i want a changed life. i know that God can provide it for me and so i accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. XDD
anyways.. can you differentiate faith from believing?
and what about allah? muslims are from judah's tribe right? and allah is like the same as God.
and with regards to the date, how do you know that that woman labor thing would mean the birth of israel? like, there would also be a lot of things that could happen that day that would coincide with it.. but with regards to the prophecy.. i've scanned through the revelation. and yes i can see some things happening like diseases with no cure like aids and stuff.. though sometimes i think what the bible says are very general. haha dunno. i havent read that part so intently yet. so i think i would pass on this one. XD
Isaiah 66:7-8
King James Version (KJV)
7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.
8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
Isaiah goes on to explain that the woman is a nation, and he identifies it with Israel by using Zion. ^^
To know something, to believe something, and to have faith in something are all different things. They reflect degrees of involvement with knowledge that can vary from the most superficial awareness to the most profound perception of our deepest being. We can think something with only the surface of ourselves, and we can know something with the totality of who we are. How we know, and at what depth we know, determines how we live.
We believe things with our minds. Beliefs are ideas. They are concepts. They give us a picture of reality that others can agree with or disagree with. Beliefs are thoughts that can be put into words and these words can be communicated to others. Beliefs, however, are not absolute truths. They are opinions about reality, not reality itself. In the realm of belief we can have our own opinions, others can have their opinions, and we can agree or disagree, remembering that the truth of our beliefs is relative.
Having faith in something is different than this. Faith, in a spiritual sense, does not have to do with relative truths but with absolute truths - truths that exist for all time. Faith relates us to an unvarying, underlying reality that we share in - one that we assume exists whether we believe in it or not. Unlike beliefs which are of the mind, faith is not just of the mind but of the heart as well.
Islam's Quran and its own adopted practices prove that Allah cannot be the God of Christianity. In Arabic the word 'Allah' may mean 'god' but that does not mean Allah and the God of the Bible are one and the same. They cannot be because:
Islam has come to mean 'submission'1. The goal of Islam is to bring the whole world into submission to Allah. The Quran (Sura's 2, 4, 5, 9 and 47) teaches that all 'infidels' (non-Muslims) must either convert to Islam or be killed or enslaved2. The God of the Bible tells us that conversion is the work of God, therefore no-one can be forced to convert to Christianity.
The Quran says God has no son and is not a father. It rejects the Trinitarian God of the Bible. Muhammad taught that Jesus and Christians were not to be taken as friends (Sura's 5 and 9).
Allah was the pagan moon god of Mohammed's Quresh tribe represented by various idols, including a sacred stone3. The God of the Bible forbids idolatry.
Islam teaches the creation of a Muslim empire and the use of lethal force against opponents. The God of the Bible affirms that His kingdom is not of this world and commands that Christians love those who oppose them (John 18:34 and Matthew 5:44).
Muhammad, the founder of Islam and supposedly the last of God's prophets, performed no miracles. Jesus Christ the true Son of God and seal of all God's prophets performed many miracles - proving His claims to divinity. The God of the Bible performs miracles. The God of Islam is unconcerned with the human condition and has never miraculously demonstrated a loving concern for individuals.
Muhammad is declared a sinner in the Quran [Sura's 9, 40 and 48]. Jesus Christ was and is sinless.
The Quran often contradicts the Bible. It denies that Jesus was God incarnate or that he died on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. Within this context alone the following verses testify that Allah cannot be the God of the Bible:
Personally I can say that I know God of the Bible to be the One True God because of how he as influenced my life. =) |
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 11:47 am
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Ignacio Egnatius Garland-Green Ignacio Egnatius Garland-Green Everyone feels like that from time to time. I find that it is when I am being selfish, and removing myself from God that I feel this way. Doing my own things, and living in my own world (conforming to the patterns of the world). What situations do you feel makes you doubt? There has to be a reason? A "short" story of how I was saved: What happened to me to make me believe
i think it has something to do with my faith. i think, it's me who is doing everything... it's like, i prayed to God. I believed that He has the power to answer all these things... and then after i prayed, i ended up thinking: what now? i have to do this all by meself.. like.. where did God played His role there? it seems that i just worked to find answers to my troubles and prayer was just a motivation.. and when i triumph, i consider it as an answered prayer but on the other side of my mind, i did it because of what i did... im confused. help. crying
I have found that sometimes I have to work for things, but that God helps me do it. That even if I am doing the action that needs to be done he is making me knowledgeable and competent to do it. So in the end I can't thank myself for doing it, because I had help. He can chose to do it how he wants. Sometimes miraculously, other times we can't see his hands. I have a water well that dries out in the summer, and it is terrible because you can't do anything without water. It happened the first year when I moved in. My well was completely dry and I had to borrow water from neighbors which can be awkward at times. This year it was dry for a couple of weeks, without no rain, so my wife and I prayed to God for rain, and it rained the next day even though according to the forecast it was supposed to be sunny and dry. Other things I am not able to get an answer to. Like my wife's illness. She is terribly sick, and I keep praying, but she does not get better. Things are not always answered like we want, or when we want.
but there's a quote that i've just read a while ago.. that there are two times where when we should pray... one is when we can and the other is when we can't. XDDD true. in the end... it's God's sovereignty rules. XD but we dont have to worry because all that He plans are always good for us.. i remember these somewhere in jeremaiah i think. XD
wew.. there's also a story i heard about why there are people who suffered and all. The Barber Story
i reflected on that story. . one reason why we encounter trials and problems is because we are far away from God (well there are also other reasons like it is a test etc.) and that those act as reminders so that we should go back to God.. and i think that's just what happened to me nowadays...
i have a long debt of chapters to read even before school starts this june. now, school stuff is filling me.. filling me to the point i can't help it but call to God.. sometimes i feel He's not there to answer so i keep on searching for Him and i think everything makes sense to me now. XDDD
i guess im okay now. XD i actually have many assignments to do but i think i can't finish those unless i find solution to this feeling that bothers me. i think a quality time of prayer would do.
thanksoomuch for the time. XDD i'll be back tomorrow. it's already 2:32 am here and i have class at 7. XDD thanks again for encouraging me. XD
You can't always feel it, and you are not supposed to. ^^ Human feelings change so fast. One moment we feel sad, the other moment we feel happy. One moment we feel close to God, another moment we feel far away. God is the same though. What he promised he is going to keep, and he doesn't change no matter how our perspectives change. You can't trust your feelings to be an accurate guide. If it all hung on our performance towards God, non of us would make it, we all come short. Thankfully we don't have rely on our emotions to know our standing. He has promised to be faithful. No one can snatch us from his hand. Trust in him and have faith in him, not your feelings.
You should really go to bed! lol. You are going to be terribly tired tomorrow!
I hope I have been of some help to you. Don't worry so much. Trust.
Sometimes we encounter troubles in our lives just because we live in a fallen world, bad things are bound to happen. It is not always a trial, or because we have distanced ourselves from God. In all our trials, and with all our problems we are still free.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
God bless you brother! |
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:39 pm
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After choosing to trust the bible, my prayer life is what brought me to a solid faith specifically because of how exactly YHWH chose to answer my prayers. Prayer was one of the first things I studied because I had no clue how it was done and I really wanted to communicate with the God/El spoken about in scripture. So I looked up all the verses that spoke about prayer (how to pray, what to pray about, which prayers get answered, which prayers do not) and after following the instructions, my prayers were answered pretty much immediately, within the next day or earlier. I would pray over situations that I had no control over and that's what convinced me so much, plus they were "time-sensitive" scenarios.
The answered prayers that I have in mind were self-less and often involved keeping certain people safe from a specific danger or sabotaging a certain event to prevent any wickedness from happening.
For example, this one time my family planned to throw a party; they had this whole table full of alcoholic drinks (a gross amount), there were going to be little children there, and my mother was adamant about lighting these flimsy, rotted torches which I saw as a hazard, not just because of the possibility of the children running around and knocking them over and getting burned, but also because they were planning on bringing my little cousin who is mentally-handicapped and tends to walk into things, plus drunk people; that whole combination of fire + kids + alcohol + drunkenness was just inviting something wrong to happen. So my prayer was for him to prevent my mother from lighting the torches either by convincing her, making her forget or whatever other way he thought best and keeping the guests from getting too drunk (they had children and they were going to drive). The party was supposed to start around evening, but shortly after I made my request (it was still day time) it started raining; it kept steadily raining from that moment on all throughout that night. They couldn't use the torches. The forecast for that week was all sunny, sunny, sunny. It didn't rain before that day and it didn't rain the rest of the week. So that excited me. And no one that had to drive home got obscenely drunk; it was a pretty tame event (which is unheard of in my family).
Then, there was another instance (another party lol) and I asked specifically for three things: 1. for no one to get drunk or act all scandalous because everyone would be gossiping about it and I didn't want to hear it (gossip is against his will) 2. for the atmosphere to be really tame because they had already acquired some warnings from the police for cranking up the music so loud 3. I wanted all the leftover food to be distributed in such a way that they couldn't keep eating all that unhealthy/cholesterol-building food throughout the week). The morning after, my grandmother's sister (great great aunt?) who attended the party came over to my house and as I'm preparing my cereal I hear her say (in spanish, but for your sake I'll say it in english) "no one committed any indecencies so that's the bright-side, but the atmosphere was really strange and unenjoyable; uninvited strangers showed up and their personalities really dampened the mood, I didn't even feel like dancing and they took all the food". LOL. She basically recounted the three things i had asked for, in the exact same order that I had prayed them in. emotion_bigheart
If you want to make sure your prayers aren't coincidence, ask for specific things. Peruse the bible for all the verses that talk about prayer too. Another thing that guaranteed my prayers: if I read about a character who went through a certain experience that I was currently seeing in real life, I'd pray for the same things they did (not 100% verbatim, but I used it as an outline). I've heard other people describe it as "using YHWH's promises against him"; but really, you're just showing that you trust what's written down in his word and he rewards that kind of faith.
Edit: Like Garland, I didn't start with Christianity; I had always been interested in the paranormal so I went the witchcraft/divination/new age mysticism route. Those methods left me unfulfilled and, if anything, made me more distrustful of the people around me, more hateful and more prideful. I too experienced some spiritual attacks which I touched on here. The "thirst" and "hunger" in my spirit was only satisfied by scripture and applying its teachings, nothing else.
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 5:09 pm
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