Friday, April 18, 2008
MAGNIFICENCE AND GLORY
HELLO FRIENDS BET YOU THOUGHT THAT I HAD FALLEN OFF OF THE EARTH, but no here I am and so go get your beverage of choice and enjoy. God is beautiful, his creation is beautiful, his law is perfect beauty, and anyone who denies these denies himself of the joy and happiness that comes from being grateful for them…..so, can you walk out your door and tell me that you do not see beauty? When was the last time you went out side lifted your arms to the heavens and thanked God for his creation, for his beauty, for his generosity for allowing you to live in a land and country where you can practice freely your spiritual freedom and be able to tell the world of the great things he has done in your life. For some it might be an everyday ordeal and for some it probably has never ever been done in their lives.
Ok, I received this comment in one of the previous comments, ....God has promised to provide our necessities (Mt. 6:33) but where in the scripture does he promise pleasure, wealth, beauty, lack of suffering in this life?
I am now going to show you where it says that we can and should enjoy these things.
Psa 35:27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favor my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.
Psa 111:2 The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein
Isa 58:3 wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors.
2Co 12:10 therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
2Th 1:11 wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:
The word pleasure is listed in various forms approximately 60 times in the bible. Now, there are three main forms of pleasure which are spiritual, earthly and worldly. Two forms incur great advances and cohabitate with each other while the third is a totally negative and distressing form. Well I am sure that you are eager to know what I mean so let me explain a little more. The kind of pleasures that we are to experience are those of a good nature and that have the life time of gratitude connected to them. These pleasures should be based on the servitude of God and his exploration as well as seeking. Baby steps ..ok first in matt 6:33 Jesus tells us to first seek the kingdom and all these shall be added unto you…..now how do you find the kingdom? Through the reading and knowledge accompanied through understanding of the word of God….correct? Partially… well, you are asking why do I say partially, well I say to you this, that just because you have all the knowledge of the bible and understand it you will not go to heaven. The second part is the action part…the part where you find out how to use your knowledge of the scriptures. In Romans 12:4 it tells us that we are all part of the same body. If and when you follow the calling of Christ and are reborn into him your work is just starting. Just as Paul states in Romans that all of us have different tasks in the church, everyone also has different talents and ambitions or passions in life. Not everyone can be or do the same thing as another our we would all be as they say preaching to the choir! .… now, part of completing the search for the kingdom is finding your talent and or passion in life. These are God given features that we already have programmed into us, but most of us do not take the time to search them out or even care to find. Some of us come on to them early on in life and for Some they are things that surface and like Moses we don’t think that we are possible of accomplishing them. Listen friends, you can find them and do not be afraid when you do! They are gifts from God, and if he gave them to you he will provide the means for you to accomplish them. Remember, these things once you find them will be effortless and seemingly simple to you, but grant you great pleasure for years to come, they will be ways that you can help, teach, influence, and light up the lives that you come into contact with on an everyday basis. Jesus says in matt6:28 Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: there is no effort on there part and he takes care of them, why wouldn’t he do the same for you. I heard a saying once and it makes so much sense to me and I have found it so very true …..FOLLOW YOUR PASSIONS AND THE FINANCES WILL FOLLOW…..why do I say this? Because many of us think oh I would love to do this or that and so on and then in the next sentence they are like BUT I CANT AFFORD IT!!! How silly can that be! But you know what … we all do it. Now I am going to give you a real life example, and this is just an EXAMPLE, OK. But, it will blow your socks off, literally! Ok, here a couple of years ago there was a story you may recall about two ladies that had retired and were bored so they started to do what they liked to do best, knitting or darning socks. Now who would have ever guessed that particular activity could be a passion? Well, for them it was. They started to knit these socks and in the process giving some to charitable causes. With in a few months they thought that they should get some sheep, so through the selling of socks bought the sheep and went on to produce their own wool yarn and socks. These two ladies did nothing that was tedious or hard for them and by following what they loved to do and were passionate about, they created a very profitable company which sells their products and donates generous amounts of products to charities. Now these fine ladies didn’t get rich or successful over night but they didn’t care about the money or success, but, it did come to them and they were able to expand in many ways and now enjoy life even more. This a perfect example of ways that you can help, teach, influence, and light up the lives that you come into contact with on an everyday basis. Now, I am going to ask you to think on these questions for a moment: was this a sinful pleasure? Was it worldly pleasure? Was it a worldly aspiration? Absolutely not!! So if it wasn’t worldly then it must have been earthly and Godly? Absolutely so!! The following verses come to mind, along with several that are afore mentioned to clarify why I say this.
Pro 3:9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase:
Pro 3:10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine Pro 19:17 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
Pro 22:9 He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.
Now this story is so awesome because we can see the hand of God working through these ladies, and it also shows an example of another detail. Don’t follow money let it follow you! As one said MONEY IS PAPER AND METAL, now if I was a child I would probably find great pleasure in the paper to write on or if I worked with metal possibly pleasure working with the metal, but not all of us are, so we don’t. 1Ti 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Does this mean that money in itself is bad? No! Money is a beautiful object with which we use to do our trades for things we don’t have. The search for ungodly wealth is why it is the root of all evil; this hunt to be wealthy as many have discovered brings with it the feelings of greed , lust, covetousness, fornication adultery and the list goes on. Is it because the money made them do it? No! Their personal thought that money would be the way to end their problems, to being able to have all that they want. The type of people that think like this, suffers more than their poor counter parts. They really don’t know themselves or their heart.
Now friends follow your passions and aspirations in a Godly fashion and allowing yourself to receive earthly pleasures provided for you by God. Now friends I didn’t say worldly pleasures so don’t get confused by what I am saying here. Think about this for a moment…...lets say you have this huge desire to experience the pleasure and joy that will be derived from the ride of your life in an extremely powerful car, I am not talking about a camaro or mustang but one that has the incredible possibility for you to be able to feel the ponies as this automobile starts its magnificent launch forward, making you scream through clenched teeth in exhilaration at the extreme acceleration, imprinting your hands into the steering wheel as the tremendous force tries to make you one with the seat, and your heart is pounding like it wants to leave your chest as this automobile rockets you down the track or where ever you want or get to experience this ride ….wow… just…. Wow….imagine the rush. Or you may be of a calmer taste like an excellent vacation which includes mountains, camping, fishing, hiking and just enjoying the natural beauty of Gods creation. For most guys these would be things that are very exhilarating and pleasurable. Now, for the women folk perhaps not so much, they maybe into a long Sunday afternoon drive with their dear husband and family or some romantic dinner or needle work such as crocheting or the like. These are earthly pleasures that we can enjoy and experience , and yes they do take money to do but by following your passions and letting God work through you, you can experience.
If he did not put us here to love, enjoy, partake of his beauty and experience the finer things in life …. Then why ….why has he created them…..to tempt us into frivolous living …. I don’t think so…..you as a Christian will suffer due to your own inabitions and humane nature not due to Gods’ creations. But, you say, the bible says that we are going to Suffer …ok, you will but from your own desires and at the hands of your peers and their desires…not from God…you will be put to temptations and trials but they will be from your own desires not at Gods hands…he tells us that all good things come from him that in him there is no evil…..
1Ti 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
Pro 1:33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. 2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Pro 28:10 Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good things in possession
Mat 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
Mat 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
God allows things to happen to prove not only to Satan that you belong to God but also for your benefit as a way for you to see your personal growth. Now somebody telling me that I can't have, enjoy and partake in the finer things of this earthly life because it looks like or I am portraying that I am dependant on worldly things and not putting store on heavenly things…….that friends is where the attitude of gratitude and your personnel limitations are. I love God and my spiritual growth, my family, my house, my nice cars and good books and on and on…but, do I see them as personal success or gain ……no way Jose…. I am constantly sitting at home or driving down the road and listening to beautiful music, crying tears of joy thanking him telling God how awesome he is over and over and many times I cant stop, even when I pull into my garage, I continue to sit there as if in a trance, crying tears of gratitude and joy, over and over again telling God how awesome he is!! This my friends is what I have learned is the actual feeling of gratitude and the benefits. I wish with all my heart and love that everybody could experience this. I am so blessed with many gifts spiritually and materially that he has given to me. The contentions and suffering that others have had to go through should be for your encouragement and appreciation of where you are today not a reversing affect, thinking that we have to suffer as the early Christians did or do you think that you are going to be thrown into prison or meet possible death for your teachings ….or your beliefs…..in some countries yes but not here….be thankful for that.
The world today is the way it is for one and only one reason….the lack of people who want to follow Gods will and purpose….not for the lack of God…man started out in the garden of Eden …with everything…..then God saw that Adam needed a helpmate and to provide him with the complete package he created woman…..then due to the knowledge of the tree that they couldn’t eat of; they wanted and did……the same as Paul said in Romans 7:7. This same affect I have with my very own children. If you tell a child not to do something they will with out a doubt want to do it or try to do it just to see why. God knew this about Adam and Eve he knew that they would….he knew….it is his way of showing us this is what I have for you if you dare to follow my laws…same thing we as adults have and do to our children. I catch myself all the time telling them if you don’t do this I will reward you and give you this or that and always it is something that I know that they will like….. do I get results oh yeah baby works like a champ…..c’mon friends lets get to the real deal of what God is really all about….if he created us in his likeness and also he says very clearly in Mat 7:11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Now tell me that he doesn’t want you to see beauty. I love and thoroughly enjoy taking my children places to enjoy Gods’ beauty and giving them things that they want. Now to illustrate this think back in time to the last time you gave to your child…..now think about how you looked at them and now put yourselves in Gods position looking at you. Ponder for a moment how you felt when they beamed up at you and said thank you mommy or daddy and you tell them your welcome but thank God for from him came the blessings that allowed you to purchase it for them. Then they run off wanting to tell the whole world how great and awesome their mom and dad are, starting with their friends, telling and showing them what you had given them. Do you think they meet rejection? … Someone will always tell them that they have something better…..do they stop telling people…. No! Friends GOD is the same way!!!!!! He wants your gratitude and appreciation of him…..your praise and glorification. Now you may be thinking that my appreciation of him is from my earthly blessings, but friends I have come along way to where I am at now and as I have grown I have always given him the glory for all things…. most of all my spiritual growth and for the opening of my eyes and mind to really see who he is and how great he is. I really and truly feel sorry for those who would rather see it in any other way …. Imprisonment …… so ….. rejection of peers…….so……..death………so………..if GOD be with you…..who can stand against you? Suffering is a mind set, not a goal!
Pro 1:33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
GO FRIENDS!!! FIND YOUR PASSSIONS!! ENJOY GODS CREATION AND DO ALL FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!!!!
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24 comments:
Amen to that. I thank God for being born in such a great nation where I can enjoy such beauty, and prosperity.
Contagious1: I have only had time to read down to the part about three types of pleasure.
I would like to suggest that if you are going to use scripture to support your teaching that you take time to study the verses in context and perhaps even look to a Bible dictionary to help you understand word usage in the scriptures. Please check again the verses in their context and see if they support or contradict what you are saying. I think you will be surprised!!! Just remember that to take a verse out of context makes it a pretext.:););(
Contagious1: I just finished reading the entire post. Some good thoughts there. I must admit I was amused by your choice of words in the following sentence; "For some it might be an everyday ordeal. . . ." You are on your own to figure out why!
God is truly awesome! I thank Him daily for all that he does for me and my family.
I am concerned however with your use of the scriptures. (see earlier comment)
In an effort not to confuse those young in the faith I will only ask some questions which I hope you can and will answer.
1. Please explain the difference between earthly and worldly pleasures in light of scriptural usage of these terms.
2. Who make up the "we" in the following sentence of yours "In Romans 12:4 it tells us that we are all part of the same body."
3. Could you be more specific about how this passage applies to what you are saying; "Jesus says in matt6:28 Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: there is no effort on there part and he takes care of them, why wouldn’t he do the same for you."
4. The following paragraph is confusing. Can you restate it so that someone as unlearned as I could clearly understand? The world today is the way it is for one and only one reason….the lack of people who want to follow Gods will and purpose….not for the lack of God…man started out in the garden of Eden …with everything…..then God saw that Adam needed a helpmate and to provide him with the complete package he created woman…..then due to the knowledge of the tree that they couldn’t eat of; they wanted and did……the same as Paul said in Romans 7:7. This same affect I have with my very own children. If you tell a child not to do something they will with out a doubt want to do it or try to do it just to see why. God knew this about Adam and Eve he knew that they would….he knew….it is his way of showing us this is what I have for you if you dare to follow my laws…same thing we as adults have and do to our children. I catch myself all the time telling them if you don’t do this I will reward you and give you this or that and always it is something that I know that they will like….. do I get results oh yeah baby works like a champ…..c’mon friends lets get to the real deal of what God is really all about….if he created us in his likeness and also he says very clearly in Mat 7:11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Now tell me that he doesn’t want you to see beauty.
5. One last question for this time. Can you reconcile the following statement with the scriptures which I will supply? "Suffering is a mind set, not a goal!" Hebrews 5:8, 2 Timothy 3:12, 2 Co. 11:23-27, 2 Co. 1:3-8.
Looking forward to learning more. :)
simple question, josiah. is suffering a goal for you? do you believe you have to be beaten, tortured, or killed to go to heaven?
Well fred: suffering is not my goal. Would you tell those mentioned in the verses sighted that they suffered because they had their mind set on it? HMMMM?
Fred: didn't get to the last part of your question. The short answer is we must suffer if the scriptures are true. 2 Tim. 3:12.
What do you believe?
I tried that once. Went outside, put my arms up to praise God. My neighbor made reference to something about God, but I don't think it was very praise worthy. I haven't tried it much lately.
I mean the outside thing. Still praise God. Changed neighbors too. Thank God.
Dear Josiah, I think you can find pleasure with out sinning but it seems by your comments the only pleasures that a person can have are those which makes one go to hell, or do you not find pleasure in serving God? Then instead of looking for a way to suffer to get in to the kingdom of heaven, go give thanks to God for all of the beautiful things he has done for us. John 10:10
And another question I have is, are you a Jehovah witness? Just curious….
Thank you and god bless you.
p.s. I can understand why he is saying that suffering is a mindset, because you seem dead set on it
Dear People,
There are too many now (praise the Lord) who are commenting upon this blog to mention all by name.
I have not finished reading all of the post yet (it was quite lengthy and I like to read thoroughly before posting), but I would like to comment upon Josiah's post and the subsequent comments.
I get the impression from reading Josiah's posts, that he spends a great deal of time perusing the Scriptures. His posts have come from a Scriptural basis as I think all of you will agree. As we live our lives, should we not go to the Scriptures (as Josiah apparently did) for the answers to our questions?
Now in regard to Fred's question. Is suffering a goal? No, it is a promise from Jesus to those who would follow him (Matthew 5:12; John 15:17-21; II Timothy 3:10-13; I Peter 4:12-19). So then, one may indeed draw the conclusion, that as we stand steadfast to the commands of Christ, we will suffer because we are the servants of Christ, not because we like to suffer. Also, knowing that I will suffer at some point and in some form (it could be I am denied a job or perhaps scorned, not necessarily that I am going to be jailed and beaten), I am therefore the more prepared for it through my study of the Word and application of said Word to my life.
Now Ludidka's. Ma'am, Josiah simply asked what the difference was between earthly and worldly pleasures. Now I, for one, take pleasure in the company of my brothers and sisters in Christ, in worshiping my Creator in the manner proscribed by the Scriptures, in listening to songs, in Bible study, in my family, etc the list goes on and on and I do so without sinning. But the Bible uses the words earthly and worldly interchangeably meaning that they are not spiritual. So is there a difference between earthly pleasure and worldy pleasure? Not that I have found in the Bible, and it describes such as being not from above but of th physical (James 3:13-18).
Therefore, those who serve God and take joy in doing so, are not experiencing earthly pleasure but a spiritual one. In like manner, those who serve God and take joy in doing so, know for a fact, that they will, in some form, suffer or be persecuted because of their service. And, they, like the apostles in Acts 5:41-42, rejoice in so doing. (Romans 5:1-5; James 1:2-3).
Christian
Thank you Ludidka for a bit of early morning pleasure at your humor. I have been called many things in my years but never a Jehovah's Witness.
I must say however that most who read my comments do not do so carefully or take them at face value. Those who know me will affirm that I find much joy in watching my children do well, in listening to the birds sing, in watching the deer and the turkeys graze in the pasture, in doing a job to the best of my ability, and the list could go on. They would affirm that my prayers are filled with thanksgiving for the blessings of God and especially for the giving of His Son.
They would also affirm that I have great respect for His Word and that I am committed to "handling aright the word of truth." (II Timothy 2:15). Therein lies my concern. I do not look for ways to suffer, nor do I believe as you implied that suffering will get me into the kingdom. The scriptures do teach undeniably that those who are already in the kingdom will suffer for living godly lives (II Timothy 3:12) therefore I cannot accept the thought that all suffering is the result of my own stupidity (I will agree that I do on occasion suffer for that reason but that is not what the scripture above and others like it are talking about.) No I do not look for opportunity to suffer for the cause of Christ, nor do I hold to some man-made philosophy that because God is a God of love and He loves me I will never suffer. (Please look again at the scriptures referenced in the second comment to this post.)
May God Bless all who will honestly search the scriptures to see if these things are so. Acts 17:11
Hey, I've got it now. I have the 'real deal' about God. When I was a small fry sometimes I remember not doing things because the result would not be pleasant (or pretty for that matter). On the other hand we also had an odd concept--it was called simply -- love. Parents loved their children; children in return loved and honored their parents. There were times I didn't do things because I knew it would 'hurt' my parents. Now, I find the 'real deal here should be that God is just a 'big daddy'. Just there to shower us with all the things I want. Joy with out the cross, hmmm. What was the temptation in Matt. 4:8&9?
josiah, christian, and anonymous, please read what the writter is saying.
Dear Fred,
I am in the process of reading the blog. I was replying to yours and Ludidka's comments about Josiah's posts.
Christian
I am so sorry for all this and I find it amazing that we find more joy in tearing it up than trying to open up our minds. And I find it also amazing that through a great article with explanations and bible references that some can judge what a person is going to say 10 to 20 sentences into the article. But however it is more peculiar that the people who proclaim to live a Godly life are the ones with the most fight against it. I say this for the following reasons, call no man your father except the father which is heaven, we are made in his likeness, we are his sons, through Christ we are heirs to his kingdom and all his glory, we are to be princes of peace, teachers of men, receive his blessings, spiritual and physical, he is the giver of all good gifts, spiritual and physical, God lives in us through his spirit, and yes we will suffer persecutions. Adam, Abraham, Moses, Isaac, Jacob, David, Saul, Solomon, Job, all the profits, Jesus, the disciples, and the list goes on and on. All these great men suffered some sort of persecution. We today do not suffer perhaps as they did but I for one do not take the rejection of my peers and people around me due to what I believe as personal and I let the good lord deal with it. We today as Christians deal with it on a more personal level due to the foundations of this country and are not per say searched out or persecuted by gov. officials for our beliefs. Growing up I felt that all was the doom and gloom scenario, that to follow Christ I had to suffer hardships and poverty and that I was so different than other folk that I would suffer for my beliefs…for this reason when I left home I thought that I didn’t want to live like that and that I didn’t understand why my parents insinuated to me that it was just like a viper pit right outside my door…. So I went into the world for a time and am thankful that God has let me return unto him and do his will. My folks were right in the fact that the world is a big viper pit, dog eat dog world, full of short lived pleasure and for some can cause life long misery. Thankfully I didn’t have this punishment, per say. On the other hand I prayed that God open my eyes and mind to a greater understanding of him and his ways. This has all incurred a lot more than I ever expected and I have arrived at a totally different understanding as to who and what he is. He is a God of love, therefore we are punished by him just like we punish our children, have you ever tried to take something from your child that he does not have? It is impossible because if he doesn’t have it you therefore can not take it from him and even if you tried would he care. God has promised us a crown of glory or heirs to his kingdom by following the steps that he outlines in the bible. I am so so sorry that if you by reading my last post got the meaning that we must have physical growth to gain spiritual growth, or that you should gain spiritual growth to gain material growth. Neither of these can happen in the way that I have outlined. Why, because God knows your heart. What I am trying to say is follow you heart, find out what your God given talent is, use it to the fullest capacity for God, love him, praise him, glorify him, with your life and allow him to glorify himself through you and as you give him pleasure through you he will give more pleasures unto you, this is my final say on these issues and all I know is that if you follow your talent or passion which will be one and the same, enjoy it, receive it, embrace it with all your heart and do it to the glory of God he will open doors of opportunity for your expansion, spiritually and physically.
It is my hope that all have enjoyed these writings and discussions as short lived as they may have been and that you will continue to study and grow with God ,not unto God, for he lives in you and not only somewhere in the skies like many tend to believe.
Peace and my all be greatly blessed with all my love... good bye….
Contagious 1
Contagious one: I feel I must apologize. This is why. I have enjoyed reading not only your posts, but also the responses. I'm hopeful that you have not become discouraged. The problem is not always with what was said, but with how it was said that got my goat. ? I followed what you were saying and agreed with it often. Up to where you would insert something from out in left field. Your position, that you last voiced was very good. But your scripture did not always support what you were saying, and you need to be careful. Yes, each of us needs to find what we are good at(as long as it is a good thing) and pursue it. We need to give God the glory for the good things in our life and remember Job 2:10. Also, keep your chin up.... Don't give up, it has been a good blog...maybe not exactly what was expected...but good.
Contagious1 just want to let you know that I have enjoyed greatly your post and our friendly discussion. Hopefully you have just learned a lesson in communication 101. It is not as easy as it seems.
My intent in these comments has been not to beat you down but to help you grow as a communicator and as a Bible student. Using the scriptures to support an idea is more than just looking up a word in the concordance and finding a verse that says what you want it to say, much more. I am sorry that you cannot accept that.
If I understood your comment correctly you are discontinuing this blog. For that I am sorry as well. If you decide to continue writing in this blog or another one that I will not know of please do this for me - make sure that you are correct by studying the scriptures thoroughly and use them properly, and be sure to check spelling, punctuation and grammar!
In case you hadn't figured it out I am:
Mr.Chris
Josiah (mr. Chris)hopefully that means more to contagious1 than it does to me. I'm not sure why you started to read this blog, but from your comment it was not to hear what he was saying but to critique and criticize.If that is the case you missed a lot and for you I feel pity.Also normaly, at least I do any way, you wait for the person to finish talking and then you find out if what he said is true,(if you are really interested in learning. You talk about suffering as if only christians suffer, such is not the case.i'am not saying we will not have trials and temptations, but I do not believe that every day is a struggle. Look at Jesus and all the other great men of the BIBLE did they suffer persicutions? I don't recall the last time someone was reported to have been beaten, thrown in prison or killed in the U.S. of A do you? A side note to me it seems like you are giving the writter some trials, would you say that he is right because in a sense you are persicuting him? Josiah 2 Tim. could be translated to mean, are given to persicutions,you obiously missed the other meaning of the "mind set". Paul was not saying woe is me he was saying " I gladly gave up every thing profitable. Phillipians 3:8.
Where in the Bible does it say that I can't enjoy the simple pleasure of ice cream? is that a worldy or spiritual pleasure? maybe it's an earthly pleasure? hmmm. where does it say I can't enjoy driving my ford focus? where does it say I can't enjoy his physical blessing??? Can you show me or should I not enjoy these pleasures? teach me.
Also about right and entitled your own arguements agree with what I said before.
God bless
ps is listening to the birds singing a spiritual pleasure?
contagiouse1 it is my sincere request that you not be discouraged by the comments that have been made. I have greatly enjoyed your blog and feel it is a shame if you quit. I have benifitted from what you have written and also from the discussions that I have had. May God be with you in your endevors.
also will miss you, have come to feel as if I know you, that we could sit and enjoy a good cup of coffee and converse for hours :)Fred
Dear contagious 1, I am sorry to hear that you are thinking of not writing any more! I really enjoy your comments and I think there is so much truth in them! It appears that Josiah knows you and I think that he is trying to make you feel like everything you said is wrong. Do you think if you are doing this out of your passion for God that you should quit? We are always going to be criticized by people who think they know more and it is really sad but the people who are closer to us are the ones that tend to make us feel the worst. Trust me I too have experienced this with my family!
Going back to your comment about earthly pleasures; I completely agree that there are a lot of beautiful things on this earth that God made just for us to go and enjoy with out a sin and I will. :)
1st timothy 6:17-20
and one more thing, there are a lot, I mean a lot of people who read and read the bible over and over which is great, but I think some need to read and reread this parable in Luke 18:9-14 which Jesus him self spoke, AMEN! In my opinion I think that it would be a shame for you to quit writing and spreading these little tidbits of encouragement around. Just imagine what the world would be like if Jesus had given up after his first bouts with rejection to his teachings!
And I want to remind you that the devil knows the bible much better than we do and remember he tried to use it to tempt Jesus!
I am not trying to say you are the same as Jesus because like I said before no one can ever be as Jesus but neither is your post vain obscene or ungodly babblings
Keep your head up and maintain course my friend…..can’t fight a battle with your eyes pointing to the ground, eyes on God always
Ludidka
Dear josiah, If you have been offended by anything I have written than I sincerly ask you r forgiveness. I, in no way, shape or form was I attacking you personaly,instead I was incouraging you to read and try to understand what contagouse1 was trying to say. You seemed to be of the belief that we will suffer all day everyday of our lives.In my daily studys I have not found that in the Bible. I can understand contagiuse1's feellings of frustration. Did I find anything un Biblical about his blog? No.(Except the use of the word birthright and right, which I believe is implied as we have discussed). I was very sad to hear that you have decided to leave this blogg, it has helped me in many ways and it would be a shame if you say it has not helped you.
sincerly yours in Christ, fred
ps. I wrote this comment with brotherly love toward you, in my heart and hope and pray you will axcept it, and my apology, with brotherly love. God bless
christian, not sure if your still reading this blogg, but if you are, I had a question about something you said.(as I have been working haven't had time to ask you) In one of your comments you stated that you were an "unprofitable servent" could you explain yourself?
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