I believe in a higher power, but the bad news keeps coming, where is God?
"If there is a God, why hasn't he visited my house?"
Me, neither. We are 2 of 7,000,000,000 lab rats. That's a lot of lab rats to keep track of.
He's either disciplining you or He is waiting for you to turn to Him for help.
did you unlock the doors?....
to your heart?
If you ask if there even is such a person or not, perhaps you're simply not recognizing Him right in front of you . . ?
Where is that higher power you believe in?
Have you ever given him a reason to have anything to do with your life. Believe me, he'll work in it and you'll know he is present if you give him the chance.
What you mean is;
"God will be in your life if you decide to attribute everything to him"
Hmmmmmm
No, if you really allow him in your life, you will see things that are truly miracles. If you don't believe, it is because you never gave it a real try.
If a miracle happened, I would see it wether or not I believed in any of the gods that people worship.
I could quite easily tell you that if you let santa into your heart, he will guide you through life and you will see his miracles.
It is exactly the same. Wishful thinking. Nothing more.
Santa is not a power that can help, he has no words of important wisdom, except to recieve once a year and only if you are good and by what definition of good? Even the worst people think they are good until the get under the scrutiny of Jesus.
Lets look at a fortune cookie. vague and generalized sayings stamped out by machine and randomly put into cookies. Is there any power of the cookie that places the proper cookie into your hands? Its the interpretation of the cookie message and how the reader accepts the cookie message that gives it power, yes this is wishful thinking, but its powerless except that the recipient give power to the cookies message.
Once involved with Christ is a power that obviously is external but one needs to experience it to perceive it.
You just made this up but it falls apart quickly under scrutiny.
They say you will never be given more to deal with, than you can bear. Take it as a sign that providence knows you are one of the strong. That's what I do when life gets me down and I wish there was a higher power.
It's my belief that God WILL give you more than you can bear so that you turn to Him for help.
Ok, but I can't imagine why. I figure, if God exists, he's got bigger fish to fry than me. I'll take care of myself and that's one less thing for him to worry about.
cobrien, that's been my experience, too.
Emile, the Lord doesn't worry. Ever. He can do anything at any time. If you had that kind of power, would you worry? However, He pays attention to EVERYTHING. And He knows every thought you ever have. He is so far beyond us that for Him to deal with everyone on earth would be similar to you being in charge of keeping three turtles alive for 15 minutes.
But since He made you and me and everything in the universe, all He asks for in return is to be given credit for it. But not just for a few minutes before you go back to your 'busy life' (again, consider my previous comparison). Most people only turn to the Lord when things go bad. But He deserves credit when things are going well, too.
He sees you when you're sleeping, He knows when you're awake, He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!
... we can't speak for Him. But, some still do.
LOL! Taking credit where credit is not due is stealing.
I'm not one hundred percent sure I understand why you adressed me in your post. I wasn't railing against God, or Santa Claus, or whoever it is you are talking about.
Emile, I was just responding to your comment that you assume He has bigger fish to fry.
"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." Matthew 10:29-31
Basically, none of God's creations are too small for Him to care about. But I know what you were thinking. I thought the same way as you about two years ago, too.
I doubt you know what I'm thinking. I didn't say God didn't care. And I assume, if there is a God, I'm no less special than anyone else. But, I'm a firm believer in searching for silver linings. Negativity breeds negativity. Many times all you have to do is look up and around to realize you should be thankful for the life you have because it could very easily be worse. If you're too lazy to do that should a god have to move your head for you?
Then I agree that you're right, Emile. I have no idea what you're thinking.
"He can do anything at any time. If you had that kind of power, would you worry? However, He pays attention to EVERYTHING. And He knows every thought you ever have. He is so far beyond us that for Him to deal with everyone on earth would be similar to you being in charge of keeping three turtles alive for 15 minutes."
This is what I was referring to Emile, not you. It just reminded me of that creepy Santa song,that's all.
...cuz my place looked like a good place to mess with....
many possible answers comes to mind.in fact answers already given had been partly playing in my mind. you see , you get varied answers from here because we come from different contexts. obviously , some replies comes from a non-believer.now i would not to dwell much on the different replies coming from different perspectives.
As a believer , here are my answers and i do hope it will enlighten you a bit.
God is everywhere. so he has to be in your house. its just a matter of acknowledging his very presence. the problem is we often find God in our pleasant, happy, blissful, and joyful experiences. before troubles, failures, difficulties, we tend to think that God has abandoned us. Sometimes , as they say God allows evil to bring about the better good."
Well, that question made me wonder too, but then again it never really came to mind before. When I think about that question, I always think that it really doesn't matter if he's there or not(or it does! Don't want to get bashed here) because your actions are your own. Whether you believe him or not, it all goes back to you and what you want to believe in.
With all the different perceptions of God, most agree he is a spirit being. So maybe he did come to your house and you didn't see him.
And how do you put out the welcome mat?
It's all in the attitude.
He doesn't need to "visit" your house. He's already there (and here).
Read Numbers 22 about Balaam and the angel. He didn't see the angel, but his donkey could. He didn't see until the donkey spoke to him and woke him up spiritually.
You have to look, expecting to see. If you don't see Him, then you still have a scrap of doubt clouding your eyes. And doubt is a bad attitude to have when you're looking for God or praying to Him.
Prayers are always answered instantaneously and affirmatively. Always! If you include even the tiniest piece of doubt (easy for all these skeptics), then you get back more doubt. If you give God a request for something but include fear of the tragedies you've already suffered, then you get more fear. Whatever you have faith in! If your faith is in physical continuity and tragedy, you'll get more of it.
Why did god stop making donkeys talk or seas part?
Because signs and wonders were not enough to keep the people faithful to the Law. Signs and wonders go hand in hand with Gods covenants, they are not a never ending situation because God wants the kind of belief that comes from faith not the kind of belief that one has in connection with a light bulb and light switch.
God has always shown his love. Jesus on the cross is the epitome of Gods love and God knows that love is what motivates people to keep his commandments which are in place so they will have abundant life free of the snares and traps of this world.
Love is a relationship element. Can't love a stranger but you can love someone you know. So how are signs and wonders gonna get God what God wants?
There's a fellow i know how has a deformed hand. So we were talking and i asked how can he not blame God for his hand? and he said, "I wanted to go into sports and be a baseball player but throughout school i knew i couldn't do this, so i went academic which eventually led me to scholarly pursuits.
Affliction breeds character, affliction causes people to think about their situation. Affliction motivates people in different ways.
India, worships the wrong gods and they are very happy when christian missionaries bring them gifts like: goats and bunnies and generators, etc.. Gospel for Asia is a good source for helping. This rain affliction gives missionaries a way in, it opens a door. If India were the richest country in the world there would be no opening. The rich man parable.
But like i say, this is speculation, i as a mere human cannot, like Job, be more knowing than God.
Thanks for your response. It was a good answer in that it makes me think.
Why would God not want him to pursue his dreams of playing baseball so badly that he deformed his hand?
neither of us think that God deformed his hand
recall what jesus said:
John 11:4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
granted jesus was talking about His mission, but this statement is also about not why this sickness exists but rather, as in all sickness and ailments, God can help.
We need to look at deformities, sickness and effects of major accidents through the attitude of not "why did this happen" but "thank you God for helping in spite of this situation".
Here we also see how Atheism cheapens this situation. People without God can only ask, why did this happen and they may not even be able to ask that.
So, I just need to find a talking donkey to wake me up spiritually and all my prayers will be answered.
So Balaam got to have the mirriacle of a talking donkey to "wake him up" which is a pretty big deal. On the other hand I am pretty sure these kids prayed for rain and then for food....
And their prayers were answered instantaneously? Right
I suppose their faith was lacking more then this Balaam guy..... He gets a talking donkey and they get to starve. I think the word I am looking for is sadist.
Your post describes how I feel, first my husband gets ill, then I turn around and get ill. Where is the God I grew up with? I'm not asking for a talking donkey, just a little wellness.
I hope good health returns to you and your loved ones soon! *hugs*
When your health does return (positive thinking here, seems more likely to work then having a talking donkeys anyway) maybe the talking donkey will be next? A talking donkey would be wicked cool!
Here we go blaming God for the worlds problems. Maybe if governments actually helped out instead of being so greedy all of us would have the basics in this life. Maybe they should be praying to their governments for the physical things they need and pray to God for the spiritual.
Here we go again praising God for our abundance, his help in clearing cars on a traffic jammed boulevard, finding car keys, etc. etc. etc.
Whats wrong with blaming god for the worlds problems since he is perfectly capable of preventing them?
Noone ever has a problem when they praise god for surviving a car crash or get a new job or something stupid like that.
Why not blame God when you make your own decision to do something bad...because we are responsible for our own actions, that's why. He never created us to be robots controlled by Him. It would make no sense to create life like that.
So are you saying you don't believe god intervenes at all?
As they say you can lead a horse to water. I think He can influence and create a situation but ultimately it is up to us to make the decision. As an example in an earthquake if no one searches for people in the rubble no one would be saved, but if we are looking God can then put His influence to work so people can be saved.
Why not forego the earthquake in the first place and avoid suffering at all?
Isn't he all powerful and all good?
That's a different issue but just because we don't understand doesn't mean there isn't a reason. Part of life is tragedy. I would say there is no purpose to life being perfect. It's kind of like creating robots.
Then why intervene to help find survivors?
To me, it seems this logic absolves god from the bad and gives him credit for the good.
I see what you are saying. I suppose I just accept that God has a reason for these things. And He helps those who help themselves so to speak.
Or, a more simpler explanation that doesn't require you jump back and forth between praising God or blaming God is that gods don't exist and the world is governed by the laws of nature.
The laws of nature are not laws. A law is something that happens only one way, that has only one outcome. Whose beginning has a predictable end.
If an apple falls from the tree, there is a law that says it will hit the ground BUT if i reach out and catch the falling apple, is that law which states the apple will hit the ground, broken?
Or have i injected some supernatural event into the equation?
In the event of earthquakes. It seems we have a mass of molten energy just bubbling and stuff at our earths core. This tumult, i believe must be alleviated through volcanoes and yes earthquakes.
What we have, may be, a greater good situation.
Where people build is something that God sees and yet although he may give the builder the heebie jeebies about building there, the builder did anyway.
The nuclear reactor situation in japan is slightly different in that man built a nuc right next to the water and tragedy occurred whereby if man had not built there, tragedy would not have occurred.
Jesus mentioned the falling of the tower of Siloam.
Luke 13:4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
Perhaps there was a flaw in the building code, a weakness, it fell and people were walking nearby and died.
It is a good thing to give God thanks in all things and for all things, but to expect Him to make our world a paradise without mishaps is somewhat bizarre.
Thanking gods for anything is totally bizarre.
and how is God perfectly capable of preventing them?
I think when you say things like "how could a loving God not send rain", is intellectually arrogant. To say, 'that there is no possibility that a loving God who knows far more than we do - including about our future - could possibly tolerate such evil, is just a wrong conclusion.
How can a mere finite human be sure that infinite wisdom would not tolerate certain short-ranged evils in order for the more long-range goods that we cannot foresee"?
Lets just say that the difference between us and God can be likened unto us and a bear. Then imagine a bear n a trap and a human who sees the bear wants to liberate the bear. First he tries to win the bears confidence, but he can't do it. So he shoots tranquilizers into the bear, who sees this as another attack, now the tranqs have not taken full effect and the human wrestles with the bears leg and the bear is just freakin out. The bears has the incorrect conclusion and the bear is wrong. The bear reaches that wrong conclusion because he is not human.
How do we suppose that we cannot reach the wrong conclusions when we are not God? Intellectual arrogance.
I can only speak for myself but I find what you say to be partially true.
My problem is when people believe god is punishing them with say a hurricane, but rewarding others with surviving one.
I find it just as arrogant to think he would meddle in human affairs negatively as positively.
As for me I never said that the earthquake or any natural disaster was punishment. It's more that God allows it to happen for His own reasons...beyond what we can understand
The whole bible is about God meddling in the affairs of humans. But perhaps i am not understanding your context correctly.
We do see instances of God using nature to judge a nation.
But we also see a pattern and that is that God always offers time to escape. He offers a chance for repentance.
Noah preached of the coming rain and judgment by flood for 120yrs before the ark was lifted up and the door was shut. They had a chance to repent but they did not.
Lot said "if there are 50 righteous people will you spare the city" God agreed. Lot pressed the matter down to 10. And there were not 10.
Before the walls of jericho were made to collapse, there was a 7 day period of chance to surrender, but they chose to lock the gates and sit tight, trusting in their walls instead of reacting differently.
The ninevites that God sent jonah to. Jonah preached repentance and they did and were spared.
When babylon was coming to conquer Israel, Jeremiah told the people God had said they were to surrender to nebuchadnezzar, but they did not and ended up in exile.
John the baptist preached repentance.
Before the great tribulation and armageddon Jesus commanded the gospel be preached to all nations over all the world.
Why has it convienantly stopped?
Why didn't Jesus go to Asia and avoid damning a billion plus souls to hell that never heard of him?
Jesus was sent to the Jews, the descendants of the Hebrews that God rescued from Egypt 4,000 yrs prior, to restore them back to favor with God. Under the present religious systems they would never find their way back. So Jesus fulfilled the law and thus ended it - a decisive move. Sometimes when things get so off track one has to wipe the slate clean and start again.
Why did he not go to asia? That was not his mission. But the gospel is preached there as much as is allowed. Thomas took the gospel there if memory serves me correctly. As intolerant as the Jews were they were the more tolerant of many nations.
There is no hell as catholicism dictates.
Do you think it not possible for god to reveal himself differently to other nations?
If there is no hell what happens to humans souls if they don't accept Christ ?
No I do not think that possible.
Jesus crucifixion and resurrection are two undeniable facts. Yes i call them facts.
Also Johns Gospel clearly defines Jesus, his deity and Jesus' connection to God whom, He and we can call our father. This father and son relationship speaks specifically of a family situation, a close knit bond. We who come through Christ are called the sons of God. To that culture and time, family was hugely important.
Why Johns Gospel?
We need to know who John was and that he first was a disciple of John the baptist and that from the day John the baptist said to John, "behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world", John followed Jesus. He was there in the feeding of the 5,000, he was the disciple whom Jesus loved, he was inner circle and of the 3, he stood at the foot of the cross when Jesus said "take care of my mother". If anyone should know who Jesus is, its John. The same john who wrote the epistles of john and revelation. So it makes sense to me that what he wrote is factual. If John were prone to lying in his gospel then he would not have been trusted to write Revelation. God does not approve of lying even to spread His cause and lets face it, God does not have any need of lying to back up what God has done, so John has huge credentials and reliability in the eyes of God and i like that.
John stood at the cross which Jesus hanged on, he saw his death. John witnessed the resurrected Jesus.
Jesus said: I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me. I am the vine, abide in me, a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, if a man abide in me ask what you will and it shall be done...
and here's the answer to your second question: John 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Do a study on 'second death' and realize that it means death a second time. Know also that God believes in capital punishMENT and not capital punishING.
...greater love has no person than that he should lay down his life for his friends, But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me, He that hates me hates my Father also, But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father.
That's just one chapter and it speaks undeniably about Jesus connection to God and that all those whom follow Jesus are accepted by God and those who are not in Jesus are burnt.
So how is God to explain himself if He has many different paths to get to Him when quite obviously He chooses the path and thereby eliminates all other paths. If Jesus were not the way, he would have said so. If there were many paths to God, God would not have been so specific in detailing the festivals, sacrifices and other ordinances, statutes and judgments. If Jesus were not necessary then He would never have been, but Jesus walked, spoke of God in no uncertain terms, did miracles of healings such as no other and suffered a horrible death. People like to shrug this off as no big deal, but that is really arrogant and presupposes that God has any passions about human life, when again, we see all through the bible that God is specifically involved with people.
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
So coming full circle from what you have said people who have never heard of Jesus are burnt?
Lets take a look in hub pages. All people in this forum have heard of Jesus and some of them are going to be burnt and there are north americans, africans, australians, and other ians. All have heard of Jesus and many have been involved in a religion that either frequently (orthodox) or infrequently (catholic) mentioned jesus. And still, some will be burnt.
Even the professed atheist has heard of Jesus.
So to you and i "never heard of Jesus" seems a somewhat ghastly situation, but if those who have heard are burnt how does that make those who have not heard and are burnt, more or less ghastly.
Very few places on the globe do not have some representation of Jesus
Based on what? Your extensive travels?
That's conjecture not fact.
Doesn't describe the millennia and a half people thought you couldn't sail around the world.
The fact that your describing what god does as less ghastly is troublesome for me.
You imply that god created man only to lose souls.
Why would he do this?
Is he not all powerful or all good?
not my travels. This is a map of people currently on a christian website.
Im sorry i do not have more conclusive evidence in this area but we need to look at this like the scientists. Just because at first they did not have an answer for why the rings of gas on jupiter were so orderly did not make them pack up and retire.
I actually implied that souls are gonna be lost. Just like sin was chosen, the possibility is there.
When we look at things like all powerful and all good we have to realize that what one will discover is that these attributes are binding in ways we never expected.
Scientists would laugh their heads off if such an absurd map were used for any scientific theory or explanation.
This was presented in a case in which science took on the same principles as religions in which one area of the world believed the dinosaurs became extinct due to a meteor, while another part of the world believed it lack of food and another believed it to be disease. These beliefs were handed down by their parents.
Absurd.
While reading numbers everyone should check out
(31:17) "Kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him."
Numbers 31:2 AVENGE the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.
Numbers 31:15 And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?
Numbers 31:16 Behold, these CAUSED the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to COMMIT TRESPASS against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.
Numbers 31:17 Now THEREFORE kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
The story here is the midianite women went and prostituted themselves before the men of israel and lured them into sin with easy sex. And Israel lost the war.
God ended the situation and tried to get rid of the problem.
The thing about Law is there is immediate verdict and upon the verdict of guilt, punishment. That is how law works, even today.
Your point was though?
Killing unarmed people is wrong.
Is that not self evident?
Some of the Christians prefer to fantasize about casting the stones more than understanding why the text later tells them it is wrong. They dream of God coming down and smiting those who disagree with those who argue that it is perfectly natural to murder large groups. It's all about the lust for power.
As we notice in verse 2, "gathered unto thy people" is a term used which pertains to dead people. When the people of Israels' lives ended they were "gathered unto their people". Here the sword of justice had just decreed that after the battle the adulterers (males who slept with the midianite women) would be killed (consequently, and so would the women, adultresses, who slept with the males Israelites).
As it was by habit that women and children commonly fled the scene of war and did take themselves far away, only the most fervent to the cause of the battle would have remained to fight of any age, this was heathen custom; If their side lost the war, those in hiding fled to another sympathetic tribe or nation, somewhere safe. So the question is: how many women and children were there? It is not uncommon for children to carry weapons, and choose to fight in heathen nations - God allowed only 20yrs old and older to fight - numbers of warriors often won the battle.
We also need to know the definition of the word ALL. Does all represent every last woman and child that is a midianite in the whole country or does all represent those captured on the field of battle. This is not a town siege situation this occurs on a field of battle. So the ALL would have been those fighting and not an all out scavenger hunt for any women and children in the entire country.
Israel did not encompass, nor trap these people as this battle was upon a field and not a siege of a town, so escape was possible for the women and children not vehement to the cause. Women and children and old men would have gone to another town if their side lost.
If we use Emiler's western unhebraic and uninsightful mindset we will be introduced to a completely inaccurate mosaic of how events occurred in those times and amongst those people. We will come up with absurd notions of lust for power, which was never Israels protocol, ever.
Yes we will be informed that large groups or people are eliminated but we will never understand why and neither be aware of the necessity that impugned itself upon a people so very very long ago, of a completely different culture and in view of this particular circumstance. We will not be reminded about the low social standing that women had and the plight of husbandless wives raising children without a father in these heathen societies and neither of the plight of children that choose to fight with the adults and are judged with the adults. To some there are different rules for different people who make bad choices depending on their age, but as i mentioned the sword of war and the sword of justice take their prey on both, so why should those who choose to die by the sword of war be exempt from the sword of justice?
But any defense raised will never be good enough for some adamant people who seem only to prefer to not understand what is actually going on at this time and with these people, but to impress 20th century civilized values upon nations that did not have our present day luxuries. Such attitudes i consider, arrogant and a couple of other things.
"If there is a God, why hasn't he visited my house?"
An omnipotent being with a track record of ambiguous activity...
I'm not so sure I would want such an entity banging on my door....
you have not opened the door to him, door of your house and door of your heart!!! seriously, I often hear and said in the past that God left me or forgot me, you need to do for yourself, pray him and welcome his advice. Meditation allows you to take distance and realize what way to take.
Love and peace to you. open, open and receive, then give too!
Love too you
"If there is a God, why hasn't he visited my house?"
Be careful what you ask for...
Would you believe someone if they said the same thing about killing another person?
God told them to do it.
Some people are mentally ill. If they believe God told them to do it that doesn't mean that He actually did. It's a shame when people take human actions and blame God for it without understanding what some believe God is.
But how would you know he wasn't telling the truth?
You wouldn't. But my belief and experience is that God is good and leads people to good things for their life.
God will never say that.
Thou shalt not kill is still in effect to the point of loving your enemies.
God is the only one who is allowed to end life.
Often people who say things like God told me to do it, are often reflecting their own greed, avarice or some human fleshly motivation.
If you are referring to Christ you have to remember that he actually promised a difficult life for his names sake. This whole idea that believing in Christ and God will give you a green light to money power and fame is western evangelist on tv hocking miracles for money, these men that pray on the street to show the world how holy they are is all the reward they will ever get.
Look at Paul for instance. He was stoned, driven out of towns and villages. He was imprisoned multiple times, shipwrecked, bite by a poisonous snake and yet still gives the impression in his writings that his life was the life to live, why? Because he understood that his hope was not in this life but te next. He understood that this life is troublesome and has it's pains, it should be expected.
Christ even understood this when he instructed us not to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow has its own worries! Everyday will have its trials and tribulations. Just go with it and give your day to God everyday when you get up. This life is not about making you happy but about serving Gods will in your life. In effect, if you genuinely want to live for God, it won't matter what type of life you live because you will know that God will never leave you nor forsake you because he let his son come and pay a price your head and once the son ascended to the right hand (which is where he will stay I might add and not visit people in their homes) he sent the spirit to fill the void until his return. So, living for Christ is living for God, living for God is peace and fulfillment regardless of your situation. Health or illness, prosperity or poverty, it wouldn't matter.
So come full circle to you, where exactly are your priorities?
Makes me think of the story of the man in the ocean. He's in the middle of nowhere only water around him. A boat comes by and asks if he needs help. The man replies, "no, God will save me." So the boat leaves. Two more times a boat comes by and the man replies both times with, "No, God will save me." After the last boat left, the man couldn't hold on any longer and he drowned. When he gets to heaven, he asks God why he didn't save him. God looked at him and said, "I sent you 3 boats. Don't blame me because you didn't get on."
For the bible to be such an all inclusive book, it happened to leave about 80% of the world out of it.
Perhaps it was written by men who described their exaggerated history?
To explain things in a world before science?
In the area they knew.
The same in the OT also. God only came to one people, who were not even a nation, but slaves to a great nation. Other nations already had their gods and everything was in place for them. Would they be open to a burning bush and a dialogue with an entity they did not already have? I don't know. God did get a favorable reaction from a man named Moses.
The point of the bible is NOT to explain nature. The point of the bible is that people sin less and less and less. Its about a way of life that has God as its centerpiece. A holy God who wants the very best for His people.
We see that God has power over the natural elements but not in the way of the Greco-Romans. God created the heavens and universe and He should have dominion over it but nature is not be worshiped but appreciated.
Deuteronomy 17:3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshiped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
Do you really think other nations already had their own Gods? Perhaps much was lost in translation? We didn't have Gods or a God till the Europeans came. Nor did we worship nature. We respected nature.
Instead of thinking that perhaps much was lost in the translation. The question needed to be asked is what does this translation say?
God is either in the picture or he isn't.
If he isn't then its not worth debating
but if He is, then he must be trustworthy enough to leave behind witness testimony from His followers. Or would he just scrap all that? I think God would effort to keep proper documentation for those people, especially 1600 yrs down the road.
Lost in translation wasn't my only point. Why would one think that God was given to one nation only? In my view it is limiting God. Preferring God to be this way or that always will end in my God vs your God. When really it is one God perceived in infinite ways.
Your story is interesting..if you want to god visit to your house you must have a lot of trust for the god...
He was busy in the hotel room next to mine last night, the woman in there kept shouting "oh my god!" all night and banging on the walls....
I hate when Monopoly games get out of control like that.
Did you invite him? you might have to prepare a feast for him to arrive and pray on your knees and he'll have a good chuckle!
If you wait for God to show up, he won't.
If you get to your core self, and find out if you are all alone or not alone at all, you'll find answers there.
No one can do it for you. You have to do it for yourself. And it's not easy, but once you get there, you know how to get back there again.
God isn't out there somewhere. If there is a God, it's much simpler than we pretend it to be.
no one can rally answer that but you.
"the best students get the hardest tests"
A scripture (I believe it is in the gospel Book of John) which says basically: If a man loves me, he will keep my commandments, and my Father will love him, and we will come and make our abode with him. Pretty clear what is needed to have that visit, and more than that, to have them move in with you.
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
keep my words... ponder the things Jesus said. There is an emphasis here on keep as in hold fast and do. We are not talking specificially about the commandments but rather, his words, all that he has said about love, the parables..
and we will love him.... God never has any blanket promises. IF you do this and then I will do that is how God works. First the natural needs to be cleaned up and then the spiritual comes along. People who only profess christianity and don't do those things that ought to be done are not loved IN the sense, that the spirit of God will poured out upon them - we Pentecostals call this the baptism in the Holy Ghost. Everybody once accepted christ has the spirit of God in them to guide them and teach but as in Acts 2 there is another baptism that only Jesus is capable of giving ... is when He moves into you.
by James Q smith 15 years ago
Just a question, but it would seem if there really were no God, then Atheists couldn't exist. Is Atheism a religion? They definitely seem to be unified by a common belief.
by Rosemary Amrhein 3 years ago
Something magical or special happens when one relies on a Higher power for many in 12 step groups. It's LIFE CHANGING.Face it, we CAN"T do it on our own. We can't face huge difficulties in life on our own. Regardless of what they are.Having Faith keeps people honest, truthful, it inspires them...
by Liam Hallam 12 years ago
Why do you feel that many people have deserted a particular religion or simply chosen not to followHave the major religions not moved with the times? As an agostic i'd like to see what others feel and see?
by ragnaworks 14 years ago
Why is the existence/non-existence of a higher power dependent on the validity of any particular religion? Are we as humans really so arrogant, that we think if none of our gods are real, that must mean there is no such thing as a higher power at all anywhere in the universe? Isn't it possible that...
by Cara 11 years ago
What would life be like if there were no Bible?
by Williamjordan 14 years ago
The word says something like the fool has said and hid heart their is no God? My point is no man can judge or know the heart of another.Do you find deep down in you a reality that God is there.I know I do and it does not all ways go with the teachings of any religion or believe but their's a strong...
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