Posted on 07/16/2016 7:48:49 AM PDT by RevelationDavid
July 16
What Does God Want?
“I am the Way.” JOHN 14:6
What is God after? What does He seek from us? What does He want?
First and foremost, He desires a people who will be conformed to the image of His Son, that they may demonstrate the preeminence of Christ in all things. But how does He gain such a people for Himself? The first step is to reveal His Son to us. This is the narrow gate. We cannot begin to walk the narrow path until we have entered the narrow gate.
Upon entering the narrow gate He begins to change us from the inside out so that it is Christ expressing Himself through us.
“Not I, but Christ.”
This is the narrow path.
This narrow path we call discipleship.
It leads us somewhere.
A path is not for standing still.
It has a destination.
Where does the path lead? What is the End? Christ as All in All. That IS the End. All things work together according to this supreme purpose, His Purpose.
Source: "Embrace the Cross" by Chip Brogden http://www.chipbrogden.com/books/embrace-the-cross
Thanks for your reply, but you didn't read mine correctly. I don't doubt that Jesus of Nazareth existed. I doubt the being(s) behind the Universe would have such a need as to "forgive" sins. You, like all I've talked to all my life, haven't given me any insight as to the question of this article, "What Does God Want?"
Give me something I can logically believe without being dispelled with science and logic. Don't quote me scripture. All of the Bible was written by men who thought the World was flat and the Sun revolved around the Earth. Blind faith tells me to forfeit all the logic and reasoning that I have as a sentient being.
I want to believe...give me a reason I should.
“”Give me something I can logically believe without being dispelled with science and logic. Don’t quote me scripture. All of the Bible was written by men who thought the World was flat and the Sun revolved around the Earth. Blind faith tells me to forfeit all the logic and reasoning that I have as a sentient being.
I want to believe...give me a reason I should.””
A reason?
...you want a ‘reason??’
OK, how about this....
...eternity.
...its the ‘forever’ thing at the end of this ‘very short’ joy ride we call ‘life’.
If you have not thought about the ‘forever thingy’... then there is NO reason for you to believe.
maybe, your simply above it all.
Navyvet, You are either a very very smart man, who knows (has inside knowledge of) there is NO life after death...
....OR you are perhaps to hip...or proud...or narcissistic...or uninterested or worldly to even truly care?
In any event, it holds no interest to me to give medicine to a dead guy.
whats the point?
You don’t want to believe NavyVet...you simply what to mock a God you say you dont believe in....
Interesting yes....?
Signed: Narcissistic Me. Have a nice day.
Typical Narcissistic reply.....
You ignore the question of eternity.... and gripe that the ‘answer’ will not fit the self-serving narrative you want.
Answer the question if you dare.
This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
No, blind faith does not tell you that. People who don't want anything to do with God misrepresent what faith is and tell you that. Our faith is not blind for one thing. It is based on the promises and character of God. Scripture does not teach anyone to kiss their brains good bye. That's simply an argument used by atheists who choose to reject God and want a reason for it. So why accept their line of thinking and reject Scripture, which is God revealing Himself to us?
Although you don't want anyone *quoting Scripture* at you, it would be disingenuous to accept an incorrect definition of faith when the Bible itself tells us what faith it.
Ought you not go to the source for the correct definition?
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Much like the faith you have when you trust that science is telling you the truth.
Faith is not a solely religious thing. We all exercise it every day.
What is the important thing is what the faith is in.
I want to believe...give me a reason I should.
If you can be reasoned into faith, you can be reasoned out of it.
Relationships are not about the intellect, but rather the heart. You can learn all about someone and know facts about them and never KNOW them, in a personal intimate way. No one ever demanded that they know intellectually about the girl of their dreams.
God LOVES us and offers us forgiveness for our sin through the death of Jesus on the cross.
I'm not sure how you can intellectualize that and make it logically acceptable to someone.
It's an act of love on the part of Jesus.
FWIW, that claim about the ignorance of the men who wrote the Bible has been refuted if you'd really investigated it.
Scripture does not teach the earth is flat. The men who penned the Bible were not ignorant goat herders, as I've heard them called. Most of them were some of the most highly educated of their day.
Have you ever really read Scripture to see what it has to say for itself? Because your comments about it seem to indicate that you haven't.
And yes, I would suggest reading it. Start with the Gospels and see how Jesus related to the people He came to.
BTW, both of my daughters, who are physics majors and have a pretty good grasp of cosmology, see no conflict between their faith in Christ and science. Nor do I.
Yes, I know it’s wikipedia.....
Myth of the flat Earth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_flat_Earth
Busting a myth about Columbus and a flat Earth
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/busting-a-myth-about-columbus-and-a-flat-earth/2011/10/10/gIQAXszQaL_blog.html
The Myth of the Flat Earth
http://www.veritas-ucsb.org/library/russell/FlatEarth.html
1. complete trust or confidence in someone or something. "this restores one's faith in politicians" synonyms: trust, belief, confidence, conviction; More optimism, hopefulness, hope "he justified his boss's faith in him" antonyms: mistrust
2. strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof. synonyms: religion, church, sect, denomination, (religious) persuasion, (religious) belief, ideology, creed, teaching, doctrine
Okay, so I'll lose the word "blind". But as you see by definition it mainly means belief. Sorry, I can't believe in something that does not work within my intellect and rationality. Still, I subscribe to Christian/Judea ethics because I believe those to be the most beneficial for mankind. "Do unto others..." is a social motto I subscribe to since it works for the betterment of our sentient species. BTW, I don't believe that science is telling me the truth behind the Universe because I don't believe they will ever know. It's beyond human comprehension, IMO.
And good for you and your Daughter.
Why don't you religious folks ever read nor comprehend what I say? I don't mock God. Sheesh, I even type in a capital so as to not mock you good folks. Why can't you answer my questions without insulting me for something I've not done or say?
Definition of hypothesis:
A hypothesis is a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation.
Hardly proof.
Going back and reading this, you as do most of you good folks devolve into insults. I'm not "griping" nor "self-serving". Uncool. I'm asking for reasons to believe. Like so many, you give me insults, platitudes, and Biblical scripture written by men who knew nothing of even their local diseases. They didn't know what a bacteria or virus was; they didn't know what caused lightening; they were simply unaware of natural phenomenon.
Can any of you answer a sincere question without attacking me and making up crap like I'm mocking God?
Let me ask a simple question: I'd think we all agree that the Universe is vast beyond our knowledge. So why did God create such and only place humans on this tiny speck of a rock to be idolized and worshipped? Why?
Wrong. I've been thoughtful about this since my youth. I want to consciously exist after my body dies and hope for more, but see nothing to convince me in 66 years.
So let me ask you: At one point in pregnancy and the early years of a child does a person have a soul and go to Heaven? Would that be upon conception? Which I'm adverse to killing future humans. Is it at 3 months? 6 months? after exiting the birth canal? One year which most can't remember; 3 years? 4 or 5 years when humans start to become self aware? Exactly what age does God allow children into Heaven? And what is Heaven? You don't know so stop denigrating me for asking the questions.
Scripture does refer to a spherical earth.
It was not universally believed that the world was flat. The argument that the writers of the Bible thought the world as flat does not hold water as it cannot be conclusively proved. Therefore it’s a weak argument against accepting the veracity of Scripture.
How is that relevant to the questions you are asking?
Scripture does not specifically state when that occurs. For that reason, I go with the conservative and say at conception.
That's when the growth of a new human being begins. If it's living and growing, then whatever it is that gives it life must be there as well.
Come to think of it, Scripture does state that the body without the spirit is dead. Therefore, I would purpose that the soul begins at conception, along with the physical body.
I’ve pondered this since I was a child and still do.
I’ve pondered this to and came to the conclusion that he wants a relationship with us. But he does define the relationship. The question is do we want the relationship?
Dan_2:30 And it is not because I am wiser than anyone else that I know the secret of your dream, but because God wants you to understand what was in your heart.
Joh_3:21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants. “
Joh_6:29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the One He has sent.”
Act_4:19 But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than Him?
Act_20:27 for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know.
Rom_8:26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
2Co_7:9 Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your
ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants His people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way.
2Co_7:10 For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.
1Pe_3:17 Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!
Mankind's problem is a relational one. The relationship between man and God was broken when Adam and Eve disobeyed God.
God wanted that relationship to continue so He provided a way for justice to be served without us paying the penalty, since we could not pay.
Jesus paid the penalty for our sin (which is death) and God says that anyone who accepts that as full payment for their sin will have the record of their sin debt canceled.
It's a legal transaction when the person throws themselves on the mercy of the court, so to speak, and asks God to forgive them because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
It seems like you are expecting a scientific, intellectual way to deal with God but God is a being with whom we have a relationship. I don't know how someone could scientifically quantify relationships.
Presuming you are married, can you quantify your relationship with your wife? Could you intellectually and logically explain it? Can you scientifically and logically explain love and justice?
There's a world of difference between knowing about someone and knowing someone.
Let me ask you this.....
Do you believe that God hears you when you talk to Him?
Hmmm.... maybe a more basic question would be, who or what do you think God is? Do you see Him as a being with whom you can relate, or more of a force? Interested in mankind and you personally, as an individual, or disinterested?
That's good because that's not a really accurate portrayal of who God is.
Ah, I see.
God doesn't have a NEED to forgive sin. He does it because He wants to and it's the only way to restore the broken relationship He has with mankind.
The ones who have the need for forgiveness is US.
Actually, I would propose.....
Time to go to bed.
Night.....
Sorry...not playing.
You will have to find another to dazzle with your incomparable intelligence...
Mathew 6:7
“”Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”
PS. You’re not clever… And truthfully your not very smart....a blind man can see you coming from a mile away.
And you know what?....one day you you will give account to the God that loved you so much that He sent His Son to die ‘for you’...you will be face down, terrified...knowing that it is TOO LATE to repent.....forever darkness...forever alone.
FOREVER Navy Vet...:(
“Forever’...
...dear lost human... Bow before the one who died FOR you...so that by His death you can live.
...the clock of your life is running down...
I beg you...by faith ‘see Him’
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