I believe that God has a plan and purpose for each one of our lives. Our lives compared to eternity means a lot to us and we yearn for comfort, security, good health, good friends, respect, and love ones. Obviously, everyone is born in their own unique situation. What does our lifetime mean to an eternal God? God is letting humanity play out in a history that He already has mapped out and oversees. In this history, all of humanity is condemned because of Adam and Eve's eating from the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. Where there is no law, there is no transgression. This knowledge of good and evil is our conscience and is considered as a law. We are all born under the law because we are all born with this knowledge. We all fail because our motivation in life from birth is self. Jesus explained that the greatest commandment is to love God first with all of the mind, heart, and spirit. The second greatest is to love everyone else as you love yourself. Jesus perfects us by filling us with the Father and His Holy Spirit. They fill our hearts with love, and change our motivation from love of self to love for God first and everyone else second. They also affect our thoughts and actions when we walk in the Spirit and give us understanding and strength to persevere. That happens when we are beset by misfortune and know that God is in control of everything and there is a reason for everything that happens in our lives. Our lives are short compared to eternity, but they determine how we are going to spend eternity. For this reason the early Christians persevered when persecuted. I'm sure that they prayed as well for change in their circumstances but their prayers were for strength to persevere in their time of testing. If you think that you can change your circumstances, then go ahead and try. If you cannot, then accept it as God's will and know that God is in charge and will reward those that persevere.
Food for thought
- Thread starter CorrectiveLens
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I believe that God has a plan and purpose for each one of our lives. Our lives compared to eternity means a lot to us and we yearn for comfort, security, good health, good friends, respect, and love ones. Obviously, everyone is born in their own unique situation. What does our lifetime mean to an eternal God? God is letting humanity play out in a history that He already has mapped out and oversees. In this history, all of humanity is condemned because of Adam and Eve's eating from the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. Where there is no law, there is no transgression. This knowledge of good and evil is our conscience and is considered as a law. We are all born under the law because we are all born with this knowledge. We all fail because our motivation in life from birth is self. Jesus explained that the greatest commandment is to love God first with all of the mind, heart, and spirit. The second greatest is to love everyone else as you love yourself. Jesus perfects us by filling us with the Father and His Holy Spirit. They fill our hearts with love, and change our motivation from love of self to love for God first and everyone else second. They also affect our thoughts and actions when we walk in the Spirit and give us understanding and strength to persevere. That happens when we are beset by misfortune and know that God is in control of everything and there is a reason for everything that happens in our lives. Our lives are short compared to eternity, but they determine how we are going to spend eternity. For this reason the early Christians persevered when persecuted. I'm sure that they prayed as well for change in their circumstances but their prayers were for strength to persevere in their time of testing. If you think that you can change your circumstances, then go ahead and try. If you cannot, then accept it as God's will and know that God is in charge and will reward those that persevere.
i have healed myself, more than once. your answer is of an educated manner but it's not direct to healing. i'm talking about physical healing which is a gigantic subject. i know all to do with the lack of healing when wished. i'm saying that nobody likes not being healed when the decades are passing by.
no way!!! who knew that? let's hear something more intelligent than that CL.
Notice that in James 5:15 it says that the prayer of faith shall save the sick, not cure the sick
What you need is spiritual healing to deal with the lack of physical healing. That comes with understanding which comes from the Holy Spirit of God. I can understand your disappointment but after decades are passing by, don't you think it's time to accept your fate as God's will since He is the one in charge. Think of different ways and opportunities that you can utilize to be an example and to learn and spread His truth and His love despite your disability or circumstances. I will not respond in like kind to your comment on my intelligence, because it would not be a Christian thing to do. Besides, I still have respect for you and it does not affect my love for you as a brother in Christ.
There was a lot of physical healing during Apostolic times in order to give the new Christian religion the impetus needed to spread quickly and convincingly. With time, the spread was accomplished by preaching through which the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit do their work of baptizing in their names. The Father grants the repentance needed that leads the sinner to turn to Him for forgiveness. The Son baptizes the sinner with belief in His work on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. The Son then baptizes with the Holy Spirit of the Father and Son who dwell in the heart of the sinner and perfects the sinner by filling him with love for God first and everyone else as he loves himself. When the motivation for all thoughts and actions is love, we are obeying the Spirit of the Law as given by Jesus. That is how we get spiritually healed.
i already have spiritual healing & experience it every day. became born again in 1993. no, maybe it's not time now for God to heal someone. my circumstance is not bad at all really, a troublesome knee. i'm managing it with proper living. i work at landscaping & i can outwork any young person any day, especially when the temp is hot! i spread the truth of God just about every day thru teaching & witnessing. just gave advice to a woman trying to raise a family. i have a daily rule i made up decades ago: Admit, Identify, Recognize, Correct. everyday i'm examine my thoughts, speakings & actions. very rarely have i heard what you responded with above about intelligence, respect & love. that's so rare to see that. very Christian & loving of you. it tells a lot of your character. thanks big time! sometimes, we all get bored of long answers or monotonous responses that lead you to think of time wasting & that's what i experienced when i read you response. i thought of it as a "paralysis by analysis' answer. in other words, overdone. my apologies to you CorrectiveLens. this reminds of so many times i assisted people & got rebuked for it! blessings to you!
Thank you for your kind words and blessings to you. It brings me great joy to hear about the work that you do in spreading God's word and His love. It is the love that we exhibit that will attract the other person to listen. I pray for your continued success.
Acts 8: 9-24 Simon believed, and was physically baptized (probably with water), but did not receive the Holy Spirit because he was still in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity because his heart was not right in the sight of God. The motivation of his heart was self (greed and power). What was missing was the repentance needed. Acts 11: 18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. Peter and John were sent by the apostles who were in Jerusalem. It seems that the apostles were ruled by consensus and not by any one person in charge. Peter and John were given the power to administer the Holy Spirit by first praying for those in Samaria who believed (that they might receive the Holy Spirit) and then finalizing the process by laying their hands on them. However, in Acts 11: 14-15 Who (Peter) shall tell thee words, by which thou and all thy house shall be saved. And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, as on us at the beginning. , there was no laying of the hands. There was no laying of the hands in the beginning ( day of Pentecost). Acts 10: 44 While Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them who heard the word. Simon had gone through the motions of believing and getting water baptized, but he had not received the Holy Spirit because of the missing ingredient which is the repentance that is granted by God.
For any brother or sister reading this post, I would love to hear your thoughts on methods of getting baptized with the Holy Spirit, not being able to get baptized with the Holy Spirit, what works and what doesn't, and on the laying of hands. Thanks
For any brother or sister reading this post, I would love to hear your thoughts on methods of getting baptized with the Holy Spirit, not being able to get baptized with the Holy Spirit, what works and what doesn't, and on the laying of hands. Thanks
The Father is everywhere at once, can do anything, created our world and reality through Christ, knows what every soul is thinking and feeling, knows the past, present, and future, can direct our present, etc. This makes me wonder if our reality is in the mind of the Father and He controls our reality through His Spirit and Christ.
There are not words to describe just how amazing He is. Thank you for this reminder, and God bless you.
Mathhew 6:19-20
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
Note where John stands when he had the vision of the beast.
Revelation 13:1
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Only Christians who are covered by the water(sea) and the blood(earth) like John was in the vision will be able to see the beast rise out of the sea.
You'll need spiritual discernment.
Genesis 22:17
That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.
Revelation 13:1
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Only Christians who are covered by the water(sea) and the blood(earth) like John was in the vision will be able to see the beast rise out of the sea.
You'll need spiritual discernment.
Genesis 22:17
That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.
Isaiah 63: 9-10 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them, and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled, and vexed His Holy Spirit; therefore, He was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
In this scripture Isaiah is stating that the Holy Spirit is the angel of God's (the Father's) presence. Where His Holy Spirit is, the Father is.
Eph 1: 13 In whom ye also trusted, after ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also after ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
The order is hearing the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation), believing and trusting, and getting sealed with the Holy Spirit. Receiving the Holy Spirit takes place after ye believed. Receiving the Holy Spirit of God means that God is present in you and you are sealed as part of the body of Christ and in the Family of the Father.
Eph 1: 17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
It is the Father who is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ and who is the Father of Glory (His Holy Spirit) because it is through His Holy Spirit that the Father communicates and empowers.
1Cor 12: 3 Wherefore, I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed; and that no man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.
Matt 16: 15-17 He saith unto them, But who say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father, who is in heaven.
The Father communicates His will and empowers through His Holy Spirit. The Father is in heaven and yet communicates and reveals on earth through His Holy Spirit.
Eph 2: 18 For through Him (Christ) we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
In the Old Testament it was the high priest who was the only person allowed in the Holy of Holies where the high priest communicated with God and afterwards relayed God's message to His people. After Christ's death, the veil (which was at the entrance of the Holy of Holies) was rent (torn) meaning that Christ is our new High Priest and through His Holy Spirit, we have direct communication to God.
Matt 16: 15-17 He saith unto them, But who say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father, who is in heaven.
The Father communicates His will and empowers through His Holy Spirit. The Father is in heaven and yet communicates and reveals on earth through His Holy Spirit.
Eph 2: 18 For through Him (Christ) we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
In the Old Testament it was the high priest who was the only person allowed in the Holy of Holies where the high priest communicated with God and afterwards relayed God's message to His people. After Christ's death, the veil (which was at the entrance of the Holy of Holies) was rent (torn) meaning that Christ is our new High Priest and through His Holy Spirit, we have direct communication to God.
Romans 8: 1, 4 There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Because Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (our conscience), we are all born with this knowledge which is a law to do good and avoid evil. The defect of all humans from birth is their motivation for living which is love of "self". The Letter of the Law includes the original ten commandments given to Moses as well as the hundreds of others that were later added on. Too many for us to follow which results in failure of the Jews as well as all to keep the Letter of the Law. Christ made it easy for us by filling our hearts with divine love from His and the Father's Holy Spirit. When Christ baptizes us with the Holy Spirit, our motivation changes from love of "self" to love for God first, and everyone else as we love ourselves. This is what happens when we are born again. There is no condemnation when the motivation for every thought and action is love for God first and everyone else second. That is how we obey the Spirit of the Law.
Because Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (our conscience), we are all born with this knowledge which is a law to do good and avoid evil. The defect of all humans from birth is their motivation for living which is love of "self". The Letter of the Law includes the original ten commandments given to Moses as well as the hundreds of others that were later added on. Too many for us to follow which results in failure of the Jews as well as all to keep the Letter of the Law. Christ made it easy for us by filling our hearts with divine love from His and the Father's Holy Spirit. When Christ baptizes us with the Holy Spirit, our motivation changes from love of "self" to love for God first, and everyone else as we love ourselves. This is what happens when we are born again. There is no condemnation when the motivation for every thought and action is love for God first and everyone else second. That is how we obey the Spirit of the Law.
Romans 7: 22-23 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
The Law of God is that which was given by Jesus which is to love God first with all of your heart, mind, and soul and to love everyone else as you love yourself. Our consciousness resides in our bodies which have built in self-preservation and procreation. These are good things that turn to evil when abused. Self-preservation turns to evil when you go past self-preservation to serving self first at the expense of God and others. In order to procreate, certain events (chemical reations) happen in the human body which makes it want to copulate with the opposite sex. This craving for sex can only be implanted into our beings by God and in no way can be replicated by scientists or evolutionists. I've always been in awe of the workings of our sex cravings. This wonderful working of God can lead to sin when abused by such things as: making the satisfaction of it the number one priority in your life (being obsessed), misdirecting (with the help of demons) the cravings towards minors, the husband or wife of another, one of the same sex, and other offensive fetishes. This craving comes with our bodies and is like an itch that needs to be relieved by scratching. I'm a male and can only describe the male side of it. Also, I like to be open and truthful and apologize to any offended. As an adult, I sense that the human male body experiences the buildup of semen in a closed container in his body (which is accompanied with an increase desire to copulate). Sex will be on his mind until the container gets emptied. Two ways that this can be done physically. One way is by finding a mate and the other way is manually. Once emptied, the person can then concentrate on more important things. There is a third way. Let me know if you want me to continue.
The Law of God is that which was given by Jesus which is to love God first with all of your heart, mind, and soul and to love everyone else as you love yourself. Our consciousness resides in our bodies which have built in self-preservation and procreation. These are good things that turn to evil when abused. Self-preservation turns to evil when you go past self-preservation to serving self first at the expense of God and others. In order to procreate, certain events (chemical reations) happen in the human body which makes it want to copulate with the opposite sex. This craving for sex can only be implanted into our beings by God and in no way can be replicated by scientists or evolutionists. I've always been in awe of the workings of our sex cravings. This wonderful working of God can lead to sin when abused by such things as: making the satisfaction of it the number one priority in your life (being obsessed), misdirecting (with the help of demons) the cravings towards minors, the husband or wife of another, one of the same sex, and other offensive fetishes. This craving comes with our bodies and is like an itch that needs to be relieved by scratching. I'm a male and can only describe the male side of it. Also, I like to be open and truthful and apologize to any offended. As an adult, I sense that the human male body experiences the buildup of semen in a closed container in his body (which is accompanied with an increase desire to copulate). Sex will be on his mind until the container gets emptied. Two ways that this can be done physically. One way is by finding a mate and the other way is manually. Once emptied, the person can then concentrate on more important things. There is a third way. Let me know if you want me to continue.
I wonder if the lost tribes split like they camped around the tent of meeting?Or if theres scripture proof? Levi would be scattered everywhere.