question of faith at age 30 (believe, scriptures, prayers, Holy Spirit)
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since i was 16 my mother has told me about the rapture and to prepare for it because it is just around the corner, that was almost 15 years ago in May i can remember lying in my bed in bermuda scared that i was not going to get raptured and praying constantly while my parents had gone to dinner together just in case it was their last moments on earth, my mother had said around 6pm. i always have wondered why they didnt let me go with them if the rapture was supposed to happen.
Yes, a good thing to wonder.
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Originally Posted by thebeautyinlife
I have grown a little cynical and playfully have told her "whatever you say" when she brings it up as being around the corner now but she takes it as me being disrespectful and what not...that is not really my problem
It's your mother, it is disrespectful.
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Originally Posted by thebeautyinlife
my problem is that i am not really sure what i believe anymore and to my mother (i am not sure how my father feels) that i am doing this to create an argument she could care less that i have questions about anything because she feels that she has told me what i "need" to know to make the correct decisions. Whatever questions i have at this point i just need to look up on my own, quite frankly the bible is difficult to understand that is why i ask her since she has studied it
I will agree some parts of the bible are difficult but for the most part it is man that makes it difficult. If you honestly try to talk to your mother and she can't help you (or couldn't care less) then you will have to go to someone else.
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Originally Posted by thebeautyinlife
i do believe in god as a being but i question a lot of the bible and when i ask her questions she thinks i am starting an argument when all i want is to see why she believes what she believes so that it might possibly help me understand why someone who has, for lack of debate, done most things right in her life and has asked forgiveness and prayed everyday for what she hasnt and still never comes out ahead or even nor does my father
I'm not sure I understand this part (sorry, i'm a man). What part of the bible do you question? I'm not sure what you mean by coming out ahead either.
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Originally Posted by thebeautyinlife
i ask the question if god is an all knowing being and we as a mortal in our hearts love god and try as humanly possible to act as he would want us to than why does he ask us to prove it? we would not ask our spouse or child to prove their love to us and they are not all knowing.
Love, defined by God is more than just a 'touchy touchy' feeling like it is to us. Love is truth, if you love someone you will be truthful with them, even if it hurts their feelings. Ask these questions as plain as possible to your dad and mom and see if they will help you.
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Originally Posted by thebeautyinlife
why does god test us, shouldnt he know what we are capable of and our undying love for him?
God doesn't test us. We are tempted and tested by our own desires (James 1:13-15)
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Originally Posted by thebeautyinlife
if we are not responsible for our brothers sin than why are we responsible for adam and eve's sin and bare it at birth
We are not responsible for Adam and Eve's sin, we are responsible for our own. (Romans 5:12)
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Originally Posted by thebeautyinlife
why is a woman who prays and tries to live right and asks god for guidance beaten and raped and then robbed a year later
Ack, this has a lot more things involved than with just religion. But remember, we are not responsible for our brothers sin (unless we caused it), and neither is God.
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Originally Posted by thebeautyinlife
why can i not question my beliefs at my age, shouldnt we always be learning and remembering why we have our beliefs
I personally love it when people question things and search the scriptures to see if they are so.
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Originally Posted by thebeautyinlife
i know i have made some choices in life that havent panned out (ie quitting my job only to find out that the job i left for isnt going to be taking me on after all) but for as long as i can remember i have prayed and believed my prayer and believed it was for a greater good...i am no longer certain though there is a greater good nor do i really believe that god only gives you what you can handle....i can not under any circumstance handle life at this pace when i am questioning faith
You can handle anything with Christ Jesus as your Lord. The man God sent to die for our sins and to reveal the promises that were made to the Jews. Who was killed on a cross so that we can live. He died, was buried, and was raised up on high to help us. Everyone who hears, repents, and would confess and be baptized is saved. This is called believing (faith) and it is what overcomes the world.
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Originally Posted by thebeautyinlife
i know there is no definitive 2+2 = 4 answer but i am a person who has questions and wants to know why others believe what they believe it helps me understand my own faith in god and jesus
Maybe you missed it, but she is "questioning a lot of what she was raised with" when it comes to the Bible.
Mom taught her to fear the Rapture and that it was going to happen ANY MINUTE
She apparently needs much better Bible instruction and understanding!
No, I didn't miss it. I'm just saying she has obviously been taught from the bible by others. There are thousands of denominations out there who disagree on what the bible means. So to tell her to go to a "bible believing church" is not good advice, IMO. I recommend going to the source - the heavenly Father who invites us to come boldly to his throne of grace because Christ has torn the veil away and we can enter in ourselves. We don't need to go to other people to get to the Father. I think that is a very important thing to understand. She doesn't have to believe in the rapture or various things her mother believes about the bible to have a living relationship with God. And I think that when she realizes this, she will be free.
No, I didn't miss it. I'm just saying she has obviously been taught from the bible by others. There are thousands of denominations out there who disagree on what the bible means. So to tell her to go to a "bible believing church" is not good advice, IMO. I recommend going to the source - the heavenly Father who invites us to come boldly to his throne of grace because Christ has torn the veil away and we can enter in ourselves. We don't need to go to other people to get to the Father. I think that is a very important thing to understand. She doesn't have to believe in the rapture or various things her mother believes about the bible to have a living relationship with God. And I think that when she realizes this, she will be free.
This is so important and cannot be emphasized enough, Heartsong. Too many people simply do NOT believe that Christ actually LIVES and abides with us as the living Word of God. They do NOT believe God has written what we need to know in our hearts so that we do not need anyone to teach us. And they do NOT believe that the Holy Spirit in our consciousness will guide us to the truth God has "written in our hearts." They have been told they cannot trust what is in their hearts because our ignorant savage and barbaric ancestors couldn't. But they did NOT have Christ abiding with them. They did NOT have God writing in their hearts. And they did NOT have the Holy Spirit within their consciousness to guide them. WE DO!!!
Beautyinlife just needs to trust God, Christ and His Holy Spirit to guide her to what is in her heart . . . NOT the "precepts and doctrines of men" spouted by her mother and others here in the forum.
This is so important and cannot be emphasized enough, Heartsong. Too many people simply do NOT believe that Christ actually LIVES and abides with us as the living Word of God. They do NOT believe God has written what we need to know in our hearts so that we do not need anyone to teach us. And they do NOT believe that the Holy Spirit in our consciousness will guide us to the truth God has "written in our hearts." They have been told they cannot trust what is in their hearts because our ignorant savage and barbaric ancestors couldn't. But they did NOT have Christ abiding with them. They did NOT have God writing in their hearts. And they did NOT have the Holy Spirit within their consciousness to guide them. WE DO!!!
Beautyinlife just needs to trust God, Christ and His Holy Spirit to guide her to what is in her heart . . . NOT the "precepts and doctrines of men" spouted by her mother and others here in the forum.
The ONLY way to WALK with GOD is to walk with God! We must each walk with him for ourselves. I enjoy God's presence. I love to feel his presence with me and to hear his voice speaking inside of me and opening up mysteries that I had not understood. This is the way I know that God is with me - because he teaches me things that no one else could. What an honor that He has come to dwell in us, .... we have this glorious treasure in earthen vessels --vessels made of dust! And he gives us Abundant Life that is overflowing from our bellies and his spirit flows out from us and unto one another so that we can build up one another in love and in faith and in the knowledge of Christ who is our life. Anything less would not be wonderful. But he is wonderful and when we perceive him then he gives us the same joy that Jesus had for which he endured the cross.
There are many Bible and salvation professing people in the world may have self directed faith, but no spirit from God , some even talk to what they believe is God but usually gnosis spirit of this world ............See Jesus has a plan , and the best way to have confidence that you have the true Living God Lord Jesus Spirit covenant is to do what Jesus said literally , and obey His commands , where if you question what Jesus said then you must examine yourself for error ............. First in John 3: 3...Jesus said `Very truly , I say to you, Except a man be born again , he cannot see the kingdom of God``....... So how do you get born again and stay born again ? .,,,,,,,..You need to repent of sin to Jesus and pray a seek Jesus in you Prayers and in the prayers of Christians, which are all called to help new converts find the right spirit of Christ, through 2 Corinthians 5: 17-21........Christians are ambassadors for Christ, who pray for you for Christ, be reconciled to God ..,.......... See if some Churches who do not believe in the born again experience or something very similar with different terminology then they would be the error of a form of godliness but deny the power of God to save people , and to redeem sin , so it is best to avoid church who deny Gods doctrines and His authorship of salvation by God Words............. See God is waiting for you to repent and bless His Children and love Him and have faith in His blessing , through His spirit ............Where though who miss God and become the slacker waiting , maybe down the road I can find God , or I don`t believe ever , will find the rapture lost , and the Judgment from Revelations 14:9-11 , where the judgment of the mark of the beast , the numbers and the worship of the beast will be the destiny of unbelief of God because the devil controls his authority of the lost people from God
This is so important and cannot be emphasized enough, Heartsong. Too many people simply do NOT believe that Christ actually LIVES and abides with us as the living Word of God. They do NOT believe God has written what we need to know in our hearts so that we do not need anyone to teach us. And they do NOT believe that the Holy Spirit in our consciousness will guide us to the truth God has "written in our hearts." They have been told they cannot trust what is in their hearts because our ignorant savage and barbaric ancestors couldn't. But they did NOT have Christ abiding with them. They did NOT have God writing in their hearts. And they did NOT have the Holy Spirit within their consciousness to guide them. WE DO!!!
Beautyinlife just needs to trust God, Christ and His Holy Spirit to guide her to what is in her heart . . . NOT the "precepts and doctrines of men" spouted by her mother and others here in the forum.
Trusting God is of course paramount, you know we agree on that
But I believe it makes sense for someone with no understanding of God or his Word to endeavor to study them both with other believers who can help guide them in a solid study. Not just any group of random people, but a group of educated scholars who have invested their time and years of study themselves to this pursuit. Once you have learned HOW to read and study the Bible you can have years and years of doing it all by yourself
I would agree with lovesMountains that a group study with at least a more mainstream faith tradition would be helpful, with the warning that pretty much all traditions have their own set of doctrines that are derived from the message of the NT and not to be taken too seriously. Our OP (And that's a great username) did not say how she feels about whatever church group she may be attending though. I'd like to hear more about that, and maybe if there is another group that may be interesting to her.
The ONLY way to WALK with GOD is to walk with God! We must each walk with him for ourselves. I enjoy God's presence. I love to feel his presence with me and to hear his voice speaking inside of me and opening up mysteries that I had not understood. This is the way I know that God is with me - because he teaches me things that no one else could. What an honor that He has come to dwell in us, .... we have this glorious treasure in earthen vessels --vessels made of dust! And he gives us Abundant Life that is overflowing from our bellies and his spirit flows out from us and unto one another so that we can build up one another in love and in faith and in the knowledge of Christ who is our life. Anything less would not be wonderful. But he is wonderful and when we perceive him then he gives us the same joy that Jesus had for which he endured the cross.
I like your attitude, Heartsong.
Of course, being an Atheist, I do not believe a god is talking to you. I think you are just listening to your own instinctive sense of right and wrong, which appears to be working very well..
But it amounts to the same thing. All of us have done things in the past that we regret, and these things we regret are usually when we did not treat other people the way we know we should have. We have learned from our mistakes and we are better people now than we were in the past.
Unfortunately, it seems that some people simply have a hard time thinking for themselves, so they need an external moral code (or religion) to guide them through life. However, some religions teach people to be very narrow-minded and to condone acts that many of us know are highly immoral, and that is really bad.
Trusting God is of course paramount, you know we agree on that
I do indeed, lovesMountains!
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But I believe it makes sense for someone with no understanding of God or his Word to endeavor to study them both with other believers who can help guide them in a solid study. Not just any group of random people, but a group of educated scholars who have invested their time and years of study themselves to this pursuit. Once you have learned HOW to read and study the Bible you can have years and years of doing it all by yourself
When I began my search for explanations to my intellect for what I had encountered in deep meditation . . . I had to answer a very crucial question. Since I knew then that there IS a God and He is available within our consciousness . . . the idea that we would need any external teachers was illogical. It also seemed unlikely that God would make the task of understanding Him require extensive scholarly study. It was obvious that all that would be needed is sincerity and desire to know the truth. So while I am pleased that you have such a group and you find it helpful, I am not convinced that it doesn't have more chance for misdirection. Humans are not a particularly reliable source of information about God. They can be too easily enamored with the "precepts and doctrines of men."
Trusting God is of course paramount, you know we agree on that
But I believe it makes sense for someone with no understanding of God or his Word to endeavor to study them both with other believers who can help guide them in a solid study. Not just any group of random people, but a group of educated scholars who have invested their time and years of study themselves to this pursuit. Once you have learned HOW to read and study the Bible you can have years and years of doing it all by yourself
What this boils down to, lovesMountains is that you are indeed saying that the Holy Spirit cannot or will not teach a person who can read the bible for himself. You are saying that the Holy Spirit is not enough even though you know that the scripture plainly says you have NO NEED that ANY MAN TEACH YOU.
I'm not saying we can't learn from each other. But I am saying that your insistence that the person who started this thread must "find a group" in order to understand or hear from God is misguided IMO and also from my own personal experience because I was taught all manner of things from various denominational points of view for many years and it left me in a whirlwind of confusion and then one day the Holy Spirit came to me and opened up the scriptures and my heart and I could hear his voice very clearly and that is when I was set free from all the confusion about God and it has been glorious ever sense. That was over 12 years ago. I am 50 years old and have never doubted whether God or Jesus was real, but that did not make me free. Believing with my mind that Jesus died did not make me free. It was the Holy Spirit moving that made me free. It was Him teaching me that made me free. There is no substitute for being taught of Him - none.
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