Not so serious anymore

[Guest truthseeker007]

When i was sick and asked God to heal me, he did nothing,

When things were going out of hand (addictions), he did nothing to stop me

When i asked God to take away my doubts about atheism, he didn t do anything,

I geuss i have become a non-believer. Christianity was a plot planned ages ago to control the masses. That s why the prophecies came true. Maybe Budhism is the true religion, i don t know. I don t know anything anymore. All i know is that i am lost and i will never be able to get myself out of this position, so i don t take life seriously anymore. Lalala let s all just get nuked, when i go, i go with a smile, because it s a finish after a long mile called life.

I ll become the world leader of the new democratic world order. i know i am talkin b llsh t right now, i don t care. bye bye friends, say goodnight to the bad guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGdrMOttV_s&feature=related

[Bravus]

Others here will differ dramatically with me on this one, but for me I find it a lot easier to stay close to God if I don't expect him to do anything I ask. If I ask and don't receive (which is what happens), then I get angry, but not asking... is just better. It doesn't fit what the Bible says about asking, but it seems like the only way to go.

I do sometimes wonder how, if when we ask God says 'yes', 'no' or 'wait', for inscrutable reasons, we would be able to distinguish that from God not answering at all...

[Nan]

Why do we want, or think we ought to, stay close to God?

I am asking that question in response to what Bravus wrote....and I think his wondering "I do sometimes wonder how, if when we ask God says 'yes', 'no' or 'wait', for inscrutable reasons, we would be able to distinguish that from God not answering at all..." is something we could all relate to. At least some time in our lives, if we are being honest with ourselves.

Can the answer to that question help TruthSeeker?

Do we have the right to expect that God will answer all our requests (in whichever way) ?

[Guest truthseeker007]

Look, the way i see it, we can always rationalise arguments for God not answering our prayers. Right now, i am sick, not able to exercise, feels like i am dying because of fever. I wish it would kill me but unfortunately God wants me to suffer a little longer. If i would be able to exercise i wouldn t feel so depressed right now. This depression is causing morally degrading behaviour i cannot talk about because i don t view this behaviour as a part of my inner being. The fact is that i asked God to help me, every day and night i begged. I know i ain t perfect, but according to the bible God saves persons even when they are still living in sin. I don t have intentions to keep on sinning forever, but i cannot do this on my own strength. So is it wrong to expect God to take away my fever so i can live a physical and mental healthier life? Of course not, that is ludacris. The only times in life when i was happy, was when i pulled power out of my own inner strength. I don t really believe in institutionalised Christianity anymore. It is just a fabrication for ignorant people to dominate the masses, robbing them of spiritual and material wellbeing. Theoretically the great controversy makes so much sense of this world, but practically things don t make sense. Life sucks when you are dependant on the biblical God who is such a selfish being in essence according to the scriptures. A while ago i had some troubles with my foot, i asked Jesus to help me so i could train. Nothing happened. So i asked Budha and it started to disappear immediately. Maybe Budhism has the truth.

[Neil D]

Dare to be stupid

That is what your problem is, Truthseeker...no humor in your life...

And you haven't been following all the advice we gave you last time, did you...Talk....talk.....talk....

Instead, you want the world to revolve around you...

and it ain't gonna....

So, whatcha gonna do? Why don't you go and do something really stupid, say like, help out in a homeless shelter or take $40 dollars and get $2 bills and give them out to various people, just to see the reaction you get.....You could go to church school and see if you can help someone to read better...Teachers all need that type of help...

Just go do something really stupid like help someone... No one does that sort of thing anymore...

[John317]

Just remember, truthseeker, there is more than one power in the universe who answers prayers.

But who do you want answering your prayers? I only want One.

[Gail]

Truthseeker, when you cannot pray, we can pray for you

You have come to the place where you are lacking faith. But consider what happens when a people have no faith.

You are in a dark place right now. If you would, God's Word can be a comfort. I don't know what your path has been up until now, but do not lose hope. Hope will give you courage

Thank you for continuing to visit us! I hope that you can find friendship here in your time of despair

[Neil D]

What ever you do, get out of focusing on yourself and focus on something outside of your self.....

pray....move the prayers outside of yourself...Pray for your parents, your teachers, your friends,

go do something for others,....

come back here and share what you did...

[phkrause]

truthseeker Neil has given some very good advise. I've also read in EGW writings and some others, that doing for others instead of feeling sorry for your self is some of the best medicine that you can get.

pk

[Woody]

Others here will differ dramatically with me on this one, but for me I find it a lot easier to stay close to God if I don't expect him to do anything I ask. If I ask and don't receive (which is what happens), then I get angry, but not asking... is just better. It doesn't fit what the Bible says about asking, but it seems like the only way to go.

I do sometimes wonder how, if when we ask God says 'yes', 'no' or 'wait', for inscrutable reasons, we would be able to distinguish that from God not answering at all...

Good Post Bravus. I agree. God will bless us spiritually through His Spirit. But I do not believe the promises were meant for material matters. Most of our prayers are meant to be answered by ourselves. I can provide the EGW quotes for that if interested.

The Great Controversy does not allow for God to hand out blessings. Satan would cry foul and the trial would shift in Satan's favor.

No. Getting our prayers answered would spoil us.

So, if you ask for things in prayers ... Don't expect an answer ... find the answer in Christ.

[Woody]

Truthseeker .... It is so good to see you back. I'm sorry you are not feeling well. Let's hope for a better day ahead. But to speak of your comment below ... I would like to offer you hope.

Quote:

according to the bible God saves persons even when they are still living in sin.

Yes. That is just what He does TruthSeeker. And we are ALL living in sin. But He is faithful and just to both forgive and forget and to help.

[Neil D]

I ain't listening to no demons...And I ain't listening to what THEY are doing....

So, what are YOU doing? What have you physically done?

[video:myspace]http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=38913413

Get up off that thang and go do something...Quit listening to those demons ..... MOVE!

Watcha doing down here...get up off that thang and get out of here and move!

[LifeHiscost]

Truthseeker,

Faith is a gift given by God that becomes an individual journey and is dependent upon a principle excercised for the sake of others instead of ourselves. The promise is for all who willingly submit to the Giver of the gift.

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Hebrews 11:6 KJV

"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." Romans 10:17 NASB

"Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the [Holy] Spirit as the result of obeying the Law and doing its works, or was it by hearing [the message of the Gospel] and believing [it]? [Was it from observing a law of rituals or from a message of faith?]" Galatians 3:2 AMP

"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"

Luke 11:13 KJV

"...the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness,

Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law that can bring a charge]." Galatians 5:22,23 AMP parenthesis &

brackets theirs.

Regards!

[LifeHiscost]

[LifeHiscost]

do something really stupid like help someone... No one does that sort of thing anymore...

You must lead a really sheltered life, Neil. Or do I read a little sarcasm there?

This morning I was talking to someone, recounting the amount of things I was constantly walking on, sitting on, eating, living under, turning on, listening to and viewing, that brought joy to my life, in which I had absolutely no gift for providing for myself.

I wonder how many unbelievers are responsible for the good things I enjoy, people who often haven't met Jesus on a personal level. Is there ever any time when we aren't beholden to someone we'll never get a chance to give a leg up except in another person who Jesus providentially brings us into contact.

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?" Romans 8:31 NASB

Regards!

And BTW, no other entity you might serve, be it self or lifeless statues, none can make this statement about themself.

"....God is love." 1 John 4:8 KJV

[Lineman]

Hi Truthseeker007,

I am new here and am very glad to see your post. In one of them you said, "Right now, i am sick, not able to exercise, feels like i am dying because of fever. I wish it would kill me but unfortunately God wants me to suffer a little longer. If i would be able to exercise i wouldn t feel so depressed right now."

Someone said something about getting out and helping someone, but it appears from what you have written that this is not an option. Is that correct? I agree that the best medicine for depression is for you to find someone to help, but if you cannot get about then there seems only one thing you can do for someone else. That is to find someone who needs your prayers.

One way to do that is to listen. I work at a local hospital and almost every day, several times a day, there is a helicopter taking someone someplace or bringing someone who is very bad off to our hospital. If you cannot get outside then just listen for the helicopters in your area and when you hear one pray for the person that they are trying to help. Pray for the crew too; some are flying the chopper, some are caring for the person in need. Ask God to give them wisdom and skill so that the patient can get better and ask Him to do it in such a way that God will be glorified.

Maybe you know of someone (a friend?) who needs your prayers. Ask God to help them. And while you are talking to God ask Him to let you see what He is doing in your friend's life so that your own faith can grow.

God is very real, but He always waits for one thing. He wants us to really trust Him so sometimes He will wait until we are really down and can see NO other hope before He actually helps us. That's when you and I will actually let Him do stuff, in and for us. Things which we cannot do for ourselves, but really want to change.

In fact, you said, "i cannot do this on my own strength." and you're exactly right. None of us can. When we give up and let God do it, that's when things actually start to change.

I have studied this and put it all into a set of steps you can take to become a true, totally dedicated Christian. Are you ready? It seems to me that this is exactly what you are wanting, so check it out: http://www.bibletimelines.org/framedsteps.html

Blessings,

Dan

[Lineman]

Greetings again, You wrote, "they will tell you to commit suicide because it will transport my soul to a better place. This is the only positive thing they ever did..." Odd that these demons want you to be in a better place and at the same time want to destroy you. Don't listen to them. They lie, just as you said.

[Gerr]

When i was sick and asked God to heal me, he did nothing,

When things were going out of hand (addictions), he did nothing to stop me

When i asked God to take away my doubts about atheism, he didn t do anything,

I geuss i have become a non-believer. Christianity was a plot planned ages ago to control the masses. That s why the prophecies came true. Maybe Budhism is the true religion, i don t know. I don t know anything anymore. All i know is that i am lost and i will never be able to get myself out of this position, so i don t take life seriously anymore. Lalala let s all just get nuked, when i go, i go with a smile, because it s a finish after a long mile called life.

I ll become the world leader of the new democratic world order. i know i am talkin b llsh t right now, i don t care. bye bye friends, say goodnight to the bad guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGdrMOttV_s&feature=related

"You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly...." Ja 4:3.

Gerry

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Thanks Redwood for your intentions. To some intentions mean nothing, but to me it means a lot because it demonstrates the shape of someones heart. Forget about me as i will never get back on track again. It doesn t really matter anymore. Like Neil suggested i shouldn t take life so serious anymore.

Neil is right, i can better deal with it humoristically. This song is dedicated to the demons who came to visit me teaching me astral projection lessons while having lucid dreams. Haha i really thought i could fly, silly demons trying to deceive me. It s pretty funny actually, they let some people believe they are really important God like indestructable creatures giving you after-life experiences while they end up like dirt and when they awake they are destroyed in the fire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqkYY1n0kFI

The next song is also dedicated to the silly demons with their silly lies and crazy fetish for worthless ceremonies. The biggest losers of the universe were still able to give me some positive feedback. Even that goal they were not able to achieve. Once you are illuminated and you are starting to hate this backwards earth they will tell you to commit suicide because it will transport my soul to a better place. This is the only positive thing they ever did, unfortunately they are champions in being losers so after all of the vodka, drugs, sorrow, cuttings etc. i am still bound to this unwanted phase we call life;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIgLA_J11dY&feature=related

I agree with Neil. Quit listening to demons. They only will tell you what you want to hear.....until you try to get away from them after having joined their *cause.* GET AWAY NOW!!!!!!

[Bravus]

Quote:

"You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly...." Ja 4:3.

I know it's Scripture, Gerry, but that's *really* unhelpful. It's called 'blaming the victim'. God has made certain promises, yet somehow if he fails to come through on those promises, it's *always* our fault? Sounds very much like an abusive relationship.

[John317]

It's true that God has made certain promises but what about the conditions?

If we fail to follow the conditions of answered prayer, how can we justly say it's God who isn't coming through on his promises?

[Bravus]

Agreed. But I am speaking as someone whose wife was sexually abused by her father, and that has had major consequences for her life and our life together. She has been praying for healing for 30 years, fulfilling all the conditions as far as we can understand, all of that... and nothing. Maybe there is an explanation, maybe there's a reason, but to continue to believe that God has the power to make this right but chooses not to is to make it very hard to keep rationalising the idea that God is love. I guess what we've come to is the idea that God has the power to do it but for some reason - perhaps what Redwood said about the rules of the Great Controversy - has His hands bound so that he can't do it. (The alternatives are worse - that he doesn't have the power or isn't there at all.) If that is the case - he could but can't - then it's less painful to stop asking than to keep bloodying our knuckles banging on a locked door.

[Woody]

Yes. You are right Bravus. The options we have are not all pretty. But I choose to believe that God has his hand tied. The rules of the game require that sin run it's course for the Universe to see. Unfortunately we have to live it. It affects us greatly. But we are on screen for all the Universe and for us (His Saints) to see. Sin can never again return. So, we must most throughly hate it and it's results. And Jesus can't just let us off the hook from the results of sin. They must be shown and hated.

[Woody]

Let me also point out that the promises for Spritual help are all present and intact. He will send His Spirit to help us spiritually. I believe all promises are meant for our 'spiritual' good ... not our material good.

It is all about relationship.

[Gerr]

Quote:

"You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly...." Ja 4:3.

I know it's Scripture, Gerry, but that's *really* unhelpful. It's called 'blaming the victim'. God has made certain promises, yet somehow if he fails to come through on those promises, it's *always* our fault? Sounds very much like an abusive relationship.

In my own personal life, when I have asked, searched my own heart, and if the answer is still not forthcoming or if the answer seems to be no, then my next step is:

When threatened with the fiery furnace, the 3 Hebrews said: "Our God whom we serve is ABLE to deliver us....but IF NOT, be it known to you, ... that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image..."

And:

Of Paul's "thorn in the flesh" he said: "Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly6 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions,and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor 12:8-10 ESV.

Gerry