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People who are always looking for fault,can find it easily all they have to do,is look into their mirror.
There they can find plenty of fault.
Miracles? Healings? I've seen what I believe to be miracles. I have seen people healed (and have been healed myself). Oh, I suppose those miracles and those healings could be explained away. Maybe they were figments of an imagination that really wants to believe in miracles and healings. Maybe they resulted from natural occurances.
But, I choose to believe they were what I believe them to be.... miracles and healings. Because "choice" is a matter of faith. You see, the Bible says "Choose you this day whom you will serve...". Now, I can choose to go the way of the world, believing God to be a figment of an overactive imagination or, at best, a distant and impersonal Supreme Being that has little, if any, dealings with His creation. I could choose to ignore anything and everything religious and just live my life my way. But, I choose to believe God is real... God is here... and God intervenes in human affairs. Either way I go, it requires a measure of faith so, I just choose to believe that "God is...".
And, I don't look at it as God requiring me to do X in order for Him to do Y. I think of the lame man at the pool. The angel would trouble the waters but he had no one to help him into the water. He was not in the position to recieve from God. We are like that when we don't receive God's promises. Maybe we have neglected prayer, maybe we are living at a spiritual distance from God, maybe we don't have active faith... the reasons are many.... but, for whatever reason, we fail to recieve from God because we aren't in a position to recieve from God. This, IMO, doesn't negate God's promise, nor does it indicate a failure on God's part. If there is failure- it would be on our part as indicated from the Scriptures. Unbelief, lack of knowledge, seperated from God, failure to ask.... all of these, and more, are given as reasons for not recieving from God.
Does God always answer prayer? I can't honestly say whether He does or doesn't. I have prayed for things that didn't happen. Maybe Gods answer was no. Maybe that wasn't His plan for me. And maybe, just maybe, He answered in a way that I didn't know, or I didn't see the results of that answer. "The effectual fervent prayer of a RIGHTEOUS man availeth much". That is a promise I claim and stand on. However, I find that my prayers avail little. Why is this? The answer is glaringly apparent. Unanswered prayers, unfulfilled promises doesn't, in my view, indicate an unfair and arbitrary God. I choose to believe that IF I live my life as the Bible tells me to live... "pleasing in His sight", then I can, and will, be in position to recieve of His blessing.
God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. What a promise for an old man, well past his prime, to recieve. God promised to give Abrahams children their own land, their own nation. However, Abraham didn't live to see the fulfillment of that promise. God broke His promise? No, the promise was fulfilled.... but Abrahams children had to position themselves to be recipients of Gods promise.
So, what "position" do we need to be in? Prayer? Read the Bible? Keep standards? Attend church? No. None of these. And, yes, all of these. Actually, just look in the Bible and find how many times the words "IN CHRIST" are used. That is where we should position ourselves. In Christ. There, we will recieve of His promises. There we will do what He leads us to do to recieve of Him, not because we have to, but because we want to...because, by being in Christ, we are made partakers of His Divine Nature.
I have faith that every promise of God is extended to me personally. I have faith that if I live my life as it pleases the Lord, I can recieve of His blessings. I have faith that "....He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him". And, if he never heals me again, if I never see another miracle, if He doesn't meet my every need, He has already done enough to prove to me that His promises are true and He does not fail. That is faith.
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"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him...." -Psa. 37:7
Waiting for the Lord is easy... Waiting patiently? Not so much.
It may seem like I'm trying to persuade you folks to convert to my way of thinking (well, in a way, I am, kinda, but I have no faith in the effort! ), but really, I'm just giving my perspective on these things, and sharing what works for me. And, perhaps, inspire you to consider that other perspectives may have some validity.
OA, with what you've been through, if your faith is what heals you, then by all means, carry on!
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
It may seem like I'm trying to persuade you folks to convert to my way of thinking (well, in a way, I am, kinda, but I have no faith in the effort! ), but really, I'm just giving my perspective on these things, and sharing what works for me. And, perhaps, inspire you to consider that other perspectives may have some validity.
OA, with what you've been through, if your faith is what heals you, then by all means, carry on!
And I think you are one of the most open and honest posters on this forum. People who say they never have doubts, they never question things, well, I don't know that they are being completely honest with themselves. I, too, have doubted, and will probably do so again.... Thomas did, as did Peter, and believe me, my prespectives have changed over the years. But that doesn't affect what is Truth. I think the way you see things is based on what you have experienced in your Christian journey. As are my views. So, it is a matter of perspective. And, if what you believe works for you, who am I to try to change your views? You understand God as you understand Him, and I'll do the same. I have considered your perspective. And I have considered it to be wrong. (TIC) Wrong for me, that is.
One thing I might add. The Bible tells us to "draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to us". When we draw closer to God, He does the same with us. The closer we live to Him, the more receptive we will be to His Leadership and, ultimately, to His blessings. As a Christian, albeit, an agnotic one, I'm sure you will agree that living as best we can for the Lord is what we should all strive to do.
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"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him...." -Psa. 37:7
Waiting for the Lord is easy... Waiting patiently? Not so much.
My daddy, my hubby and myself have all had God instantly heal us from things. My daddy don't lie, my hubby don't lie and I don't lie. There's three for you Timmy! Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
I wouldn't accuse anyone of lying. Not anyone on the forum, anyway! But I know in my own experience that 1) sometimes things are not what they seem and 2) we often see what we want to see.
The thing about miracles is, in one sense, they happen around us every day. Life is a "miracle", in that sense. So is a gorgeous sunset, an amazing spider web, etc. etc. When a cut finger heals (in a few days), that's another one.
Of course, these are not really miracles in the sense of divine intervention. I seriously doubt that God has to consciously intervene and slowly mend the skin on that cut finger. Whether He does that for certain other miracles, like the healing of a broken heart or deliverance from alcoholism, I can't say. I wouldn't take it away from anyone, though, and my speculation that it might be something else -- a natural human psychological "miracle" of the first type above -- shouldn't bother anyone. They have the result, whether it's from God's hand or not, and that's what matters.
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
It may seem like I'm trying to persuade you folks to convert to my way of thinking (well, in a way, I am, kinda, but I have no faith in the effort! ), but really, I'm just giving my perspective on these things, and sharing what works for me. And, perhaps, inspire you to consider that other perspectives may have some validity.
OA, with what you've been through, if your faith is what heals you, then by all means, carry on!
Timmy, I find your position interesting. A sincere and not argumentative question.
If the is no god and there-by justifies your position, how do you give an account for what is real, how do we know what we know, and what is right and wrong? Seems to me that at this point your position begins to be one of
arbitrariness, skepticism, and inconsistency....at best.
__________________ "I have had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it."
), but really, I'm just giving my perspective on these things, and sharing what works for me. And, perhaps, inspire you to consider that other perspectives may have some validity.
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