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| #Post#: 1358-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: what is the problem? | |
| By: A nonny mouse Date: April 23, 2015, 3:22 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [quote author=Kerry link=topic=120.msg1352#msg1352 | |
| date=1429753588] | |
| I get confused when people talk about separation from God. Is | |
| God everywhere? If He is everywhere, how could anyone be | |
| separated from Him? | |
| [/quote] | |
| IMO God is the sovereign arbitrator of his relationship with man | |
| (individually or corporately).....separate, distant, always | |
| sitting on your shoulder, in anger, in love, etc.? | |
| #Post#: 1364-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: what is the problem? | |
| By: Kerry Date: April 23, 2015, 6:50 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [quote author=A Trusting Deist link=topic=120.msg1358#msg1358 | |
| date=1429777331] | |
| IMO God is the sovereign arbitrator of his relationship with man | |
| (individually or corporately).....separate, distant, always | |
| sitting on your shoulder, in anger, in love, etc.? | |
| [/quote]Is God everywhere or not then? ??? | |
| Is He the sole arbiter? I don't know about that either. It | |
| seems to me God allows us to make decisions which He then | |
| respects. | |
| Psalm 18:26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with | |
| the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward. | |
| James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. | |
| Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye | |
| double minded. | |
| Maybe if you think God is hiding from you it means you're like | |
| Adam and Eve trying to hide from Him? | |
| Sometimes people say hell is not a place but separation from | |
| God. That also confounds me. | |
| Psalm 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I | |
| make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. | |
| #Post#: 1367-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: what is the problem? | |
| By: HappyHeretic Date: April 23, 2015, 8:25 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Was it Arthur Wallis who said "At the heart of the human problem | |
| is the problem of the human heart" ? | |
| Does that help us get where you want us to be, Patrick? | |
| Mike HM | |
| #Post#: 1368-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: what is the problem? | |
| By: Kerry Date: April 23, 2015, 8:48 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [quote author=HereticMouse link=topic=120.msg1367#msg1367 | |
| date=1429795555] | |
| Was it Arthur Wallis who said "At the heart of the human problem | |
| is the problem of the human heart" ? | |
| Does that help us get where you want us to be, Patrick? | |
| Mike HM | |
| [/quote]This sounds right. After all, we read: | |
| Genesis 6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in | |
| the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his | |
| heart was only evil continually. | |
| #Post#: 1372-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: what is the problem? | |
| By: Piper Date: April 23, 2015, 1:40 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [quote author=Kerry link=topic=120.msg1352#msg1352 | |
| date=1429753588] | |
| I get confused when people talk about separation from God. Is | |
| God everywhere? If He is everywhere, how could anyone be | |
| separated from Him? | |
| [/quote] | |
| [font=trebuchet ms]We can "fall from grace" by doing something | |
| that causes us to lose God's favor. For example, Jesus said in | |
| Revelations that it is better to be "hot" or "cold". If we are | |
| "lukewarm", He may "spit" us out of His mouth. I think | |
| unrepented, habitual sin or mortal sin causes a fall from | |
| grace, as well. | |
| Didn't Adam and Eve cause the "fall" for which God expelled them | |
| from the Garden? | |
| No, if God is omnipresent, spirit, not taking up space but the | |
| creator of it, then we live and move and breathe in Him. There | |
| is nowhere we can go to escape His presence. Nothing can | |
| separate us from His love, which always beckons, but I believe | |
| we can lose His favor. He might, as Scripture puts it, "turn | |
| His face away." | |
| We want to be like Mary, who "found favor" with God.[/font] | |
| #Post#: 1387-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: what is the problem? | |
| By: Amadeus Date: April 23, 2015, 7:09 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [quote]Patrick: John my friend ; | |
| feel free to answer as you see fit | |
| ( as you can see ; i am not in a hurry with this topic ) | |
| i would rather go deep into this ; than give a quick answer | |
| without pondering | |
| i value your comments :) [/quote] | |
| [font=courier]Thanks, Patrick, | |
| I will look at my answer to Piper and see what else if anything | |
| else occurs to me now. | |
| [/font] | |
| [quote]Amadeus: I did provide it in that the solution is God's | |
| plan. God is not the author of confusion. But what do I mean? | |
| Perhaps it is simply acknowledging and getting into the plan of | |
| God as He wants us to be in it. That is complex, but at the same | |
| time it is simple.[/quote] | |
| [font=courier]It�s simple because to God it certainly is, while | |
| for you or me or anyone without God�s help, it�s indiscernible. | |
| When we work hard to figure it out, we too often come up blank | |
| because God has either been left out of, or we have given Him | |
| too small of a part of the whole equation. My use of the word | |
| equation goes back to my early love (high school) of algebra. I | |
| was good at algebra and enjoyed it then. To find God�s part | |
| however isn�t like it was with algebra, at least not completely. | |
| [/font] | |
| [quote]Simply God's solution is Jesus. The details, however, may | |
| seem complex if we try to explain them in detail. I won't say | |
| more because as you say, this is Patrick's place. | |
| I will say that, I believe, any one can find that solution with | |
| or without regard to their connection or lack of a connection to | |
| an organized church group.[/quote] | |
| [font=courier]By anyone, I mean anyone who is able to get on the | |
| right Pathway and God wants him/her to know the solution. | |
| Part of the problem here even for some people who really are | |
| believers in a measure is that they want the answer for the | |
| wrong reason. As you read the verse 4:3 consider to whom James | |
| addressed the entire book: | |
| �James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the | |
| twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. | |
| My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers | |
| temptations;� James 1:1-2 | |
| �Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may | |
| consume it upon your lusts.� James 4:3 | |
| He was not speaking to unbelievers. | |
| [/font] | |
| [quote]The answer is in the vision that each believer must | |
| have.[/quote] | |
| [font=courier] | |
| Shouldn�t our purpose really be to see more clearly, to approach | |
| more closely to the �face to face� of I Cor 13:12? | |
| �Where there is no vision, the people perish:..� Prov 29:18 | |
| What kind of a vision did nearly anyone in the OT have? | |
| �And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man | |
| see me, and live.� Ex 33:20 | |
| Yet earlier in the same chapter read these words: | |
| �And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh | |
| unto his friend� Ex 33:11 | |
| Obviously Moses could see but not as much as he would have liked | |
| to see. | |
| Is that difference similar to us seeing through a glass darkly | |
| yet approaching (hopefully) the face to face here? | |
| �For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: | |
| now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am | |
| known.� I Cor 13:12 | |
| Certainly we have available a better vision than Moses did at | |
| the time of Exodus chapter 33. | |
| Perhaps the following words with regard to John the Baptist will | |
| help� | |
| �Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there | |
| hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding | |
| he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.� | |
| Matt 11:11 | |
| And with regard to Abraham give us a clue as to the improved | |
| vision made possible to men by Jesus: | |
| �For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder | |
| and maker is God.� Heb 11:10[/font] | |
| #Post#: 1399-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: what is the problem? | |
| By: Piper Date: April 24, 2015, 12:14 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [font=trebuchet ms]John, | |
| Please explain the verse:[/font] | |
| [font=courier]My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into | |
| divers temptations;� James 1:1-2[/font] | |
| #Post#: 1415-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: what is the problem? | |
| By: Twinc Date: April 24, 2015, 7:48 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| just look how we have complicated the simple simple original | |
| gospel of simply simply believe as at Jn.20:31 which is here as | |
| elsewhere proved as Jesus said almost simply simply impossible | |
| for complicated adults - twinc | |
| #Post#: 1417-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: what is the problem? | |
| By: Amadeus Date: April 24, 2015, 8:25 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [quote author=Piper link=topic=120.msg1399#msg1399 | |
| date=1429852475] | |
| [font=trebuchet ms]John, | |
| Please explain the verse:[/font] | |
| [font=courier]My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into | |
| divers temptations;� James 1:1-2[/font] | |
| [/quote] | |
| [font=courier]Consider Jesus! He was without sin at all times, | |
| but he had to overcome all of the things which are constantly | |
| attracting men to sin: | |
| "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the | |
| lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, | |
| but is of the world. | |
| And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that | |
| doeth the will of God abideth for ever." I John 2:16-17 | |
| The world that is to pass away is the world into which each of | |
| us is born when born to our natural mother. That will happen, | |
| but we must do what Jesus did and that is to pursue each | |
| temptation until it is gone from us, that is to say until it is | |
| overcome. | |
| For Jesus: "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye | |
| might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be | |
| of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33 | |
| Jesus overcame what? The world of his own flesh, which consists | |
| of tribulations, which are brought about in and through our | |
| struggles against "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the | |
| eyes, and the pride of life". Jesus started without sin and with | |
| the Holy Spirit, but as a man of flesh he was incomplete because | |
| he was not an overcomer when he was born to Mary. As per John | |
| 16:33 he became an overcomer. What he overcame is as per I John | |
| 2:16. | |
| All of the battles between his own flesh and the will of the | |
| Father were won and he was a complete overcomer ready to make a | |
| Way for you and for me. So then as an overcomer, the sinless | |
| complete sacrifice he paid the price after John 16:33 through | |
| his sufferings and death. | |
| When the Way was clear (Jesus had cleared it) for you and for me | |
| to become overcomers then we were given access to what was | |
| needed for us to become overcomers. What is it that we are to | |
| overcome if not the "divers temptations" into which we are | |
| frequently falling. Joy why? Joy because when we have overcome | |
| all of them then we will be complete as Jesus was complete at | |
| John 16:33. | |
| Are not the rewards of an overcomer reasons for Joy? | |
| "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, | |
| which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Rev 2:7 | |
| "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." Rev | |
| 2:11 | |
| �To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, | |
| and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name | |
| written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.� Rev | |
| 2:17 | |
| �And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to | |
| him will I give power over the nations: | |
| And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a | |
| potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my | |
| Father. | |
| And I will give him the morning star.� Rev 2:26-28 | |
| �He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; | |
| and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I | |
| will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.� | |
| Rev 3:5 | |
| �Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my | |
| God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the | |
| name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new | |
| Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I | |
| will write upon him my new name.� Rev 3:12 | |
| �To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my | |
| throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father | |
| in his throne.� Rev 3:21[/font] | |
| #Post#: 1427-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: what is the problem? | |
| By: Piper Date: April 24, 2015, 11:07 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [font=trebuchet ms]Thank you, John. I appreciate, esp. the list | |
| of verses which show why we should "count it all joy" to be | |
| overcomers. | |
| The wording tripped me up: I didn't know what "diverse | |
| temptations" meant. Some bible versions say "many trials" which | |
| is a bit easier to understand. It almost sounded like, "Be | |
| joyful when temptations come your way" which seemed to conflict | |
| with Jesus telling us to pray, "Lead us NOT into temptation." | |
| All that talk of lust was difficult, too. Lust of the flesh, | |
| lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." The TLB says it this | |
| way:[/font] | |
| [quote][center][font=arial]15 Stop loving this evil world and | |
| all that it offers you, for when you love these things you show | |
| that you do not really love God; 16 for all these worldly | |
| things, these evil desires�the craze for sex, the ambition to | |
| buy everything that appeals to you, and the pride that comes | |
| from wealth and importance�these are not from God. They are from | |
| this evil world itself.[/font][/center][/quote] | |
| [font=trebuchet ms]I think you're using the KJV, which can still | |
| be difficult for me at times (and impossible for Kevin!), | |
| although I do think the language within it beautiful. | |
| I think I understand: The trials in our life and each | |
| temptation we successfully resist all strengthen us, helping us | |
| to be counted as overcomers worthy of the "rewards" you listed. | |
| Thanks. :)[/font] | |
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