Finally working up the courage to ask a question that deeply distresses me

[Johann]

I know what you mean Johann.....just talking about God’s word is uplifting.
The Bible’s message is simple, if people stop complicating it with “stuff” that originates from outside of it.

Everything we need to know, and everything we need to do, to becomes footstep followers of Jesus is all there in that one precious book.

It’s not just the “striving”....but the “stretching” of concepts that were introduced so long ago that few realise that they have been fed lies for centuries by a corrupt “church” system that has become so fragmented that it does not resemble what Christ started back in the first century in any way.

The “wheat” are there in “the world”, growing along with the “weeds”, but the majority cannot tell the difference. The “harvest” time is almost here.....and the “reapers” are ready to bring in the “wheat” after destroying the “weeds” forever. We just have to be found on the right road......’the road less traveled’. (Matt 7:13-14) Time is running out...rapidly.

I concur-time is running out and I love the way you put it-"The stretching of concepts" I am a late starter-having been doing word studies most of my life and confess I don't see the "big picture" as you do-also I was fed "wrong leaven" and still have a battle with this.
Up until a year ago I stumbled upon a surprisingly "unknown" minister of God's word, Dr. Bob Utley-A Dr. in hermeneutics-and listen daily to his sermons and notes.
If I may ask you a favor-can you peruse his site and give me your feedback?
I have asked some members to help me with this but it is too cumbersome and haven't receive a positive feedback yet.

I have a hunger and passion for God's word and don't want to go off into another "ditch"

Keep up the good work @Aunty Jane-I read all your posts.
Shalom
Johann.

 

[marks]

I didn't know how else to respond.


Something very personal and dear to me. It is something that I would rather be assured that I will have rather than not miss it. More on what you said before, I know heaven will be a wonderful place but I need solid confirmation of that I will have what is importqnt to me.

Something to consider, this whatever it is, it's important to you now, but if you are God's child, when you are transformed, your desires may be different.

The child may insist they want to make sure they have their tricycle when they grow up, not realizing they will have things much better than that.

This is what trusting God is about, that He truly has our best interest at heart, that He truly loves us, that He will truly care for us in the best way possible.

It may be helpful in giving a better answer if you were to reveal your "must have".

Much love!

 

[Aunty Jane]

I concur-time is running out and I love the way you put it-"The stretching of concepts" I am a late starter-having been doing word studies most of my life and confess I don't see the "big picture" as you do-also I was fed "wrong leaven" and still have a battle with this.
Up until a year ago I stumbled upon a surprisingly "unknown" minister of God's word, Dr. Bob Utley-A Dr. in hermeneutics-and listen daily to his sermons and notes.
If I may ask you a favor-can you peruse his site and give me your feedback?
I have asked some members to help me with this but it is too cumbersome and haven't receive a positive feedback yet.

I have a hunger and passion for God's word and don't want to go off into another "ditch"

Keep up the good work @Aunty Jane-I read all your posts.
Shalom
Johann.

Give me some time and I’ll get back to you.....thanks you for the positive feed back....apparently we both share a passion for God’s word......but we can get stuck in the semantics and lose sight of the big picture, which is relatively uncomplicated if we take it as it is written.

Later......

 

[Johann]

Give me some time and I’ll get back to you.....thanks you for the positive feed back....apparently we both share a passion for God’s word......but we can get stuck in the semantics and lose sight of the big picture, which is relatively uncomplicated if we take it as it is written.

Later......

I really appreciate this @Aunty-that which is relatively uncomplicated to you is not the same for me, I have an analytical mindset-and question everything.
Later-
Johann.

 

[Johann]

Give me some time and I’ll get back to you.....thanks you for the positive feed back....apparently we both share a passion for God’s word......but we can get stuck in the semantics and lose sight of the big picture, which is relatively uncomplicated if we take it as it is written.

Later......

Act 17:10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
Act 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Act 17:12 Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.

Such is my pathos
Johann.

 

[Aunty Jane]

I really appreciate this @Aunty-that which is relatively uncomplicated to you is not the same for me, I have an analytical mindset-and question everything.
Later-
Johann.

I thank God daily for the fact that I too am very analytical, but also logical and appreciate what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31...

"For you see his calling of you, brothers, that there are not many wise in a fleshly way, not many powerful, not many of noble birth, 27 but God chose the foolish things of the world to put the wise men to shame; and God chose the weak things of the world to put the strong things to shame; 28 and God chose the insignificant things of the world and the things looked down on, the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 so that no one might boast in the sight of God. 30 But it is due to him that you are in union with Christ Jesus, who has become to us wisdom from God, also righteousness and sanctification and release by ransom, 31 so that it may be just as it is written: “The one who boasts, let him boast in Jehovah.”

The Beroeans got it right and we should emulate them. Even if we appear to men to be foolish and insignificant....we are fools for the right reasons. We are told to keep seeking, to keep digging for the treasure that is buried under a lot of lies. There are diamonds in that pile of broken glass.

 

[Aunty Jane]

@Johann, so as not to derail this thread any further can I suggest that we continue this discussion on another thread?
Would you like to start one, or should we continue via PM?

 

[PossibleThrowawayAccount]

What's the gryphon like? How does it appear in your dreams? What's it's history?

It does different things, but it is always friendly. Sometimes the dream is about it, and sometimes it is just there in the background. I don't even remember the first dream I had about it, it has kind of always been there.

I am going to ask you a question and I hope it won’t discourage you......Do you think that God’s creations are enough for us, or is there room for the creatures that people invent to play online games, that might be cute but whose origins are dubious? We have to be real about what is in, and what is out, of the realms of possibility in a world where our creator God rules.

If in God’s creation you can find an equally adorable creature to make as a pet, would that be enough for you? Have you ever explored the creatures that God has created to find one that appeals to your heart?

It isn't so much that I want a gryphon for a pet, as much as I want that particular gryphon to exist. It wouldn't even have to be my pet, either.

Does he owe you this in order for you to call yourself a Christian? Can you see that you are perhaps asking God for something that is not obtainable or even necessary? If this creature cannot exist in the new world, would it make you stop being a “Christian”? If that is the case, were you ever really one in the first place?

It is complicated due to my troubled history with Christianity, and really this is all that is left of my relationship with Jesus. God let me down too many times during my lifetime that I have given up on him several times throughout my life. The only reason I came back to Christianity was because I cared too much about the gryphon and the odds that God could make it real someday.

Do you spend a lot of time in cyberspace? As a young person I expect that you do. That is where the unreal things of the world where satan rules become a reality to those who don’t want to live in this world. (1 John 5:19) Cyberspace is a world of combat and mythological creatures and violent confrontations. Gaming is the stuff of the devil and he acts like the pied piper, in that he provides the “music” (entertainment) that draws all the young ones into his world. He can hook a lot of older ones too with the same bait.....competition and rewards.

Actually, I don't. A lot of my free time is either reading or doing yard work. When I am online, I am either reading news, buying something or something that most would consider boring.

 

[Aunty Jane]

It is complicated due to my troubled history with Christianity, and really this is all that is left of my relationship with Jesus.

Is your troubled history with "Christianity" a result of your own actions or someone else's?
There is a vast difference between what Christ taught in the first century and what became of "the church" during the few centuries later. Jesus told us that the devil would create a counterfeit form of Christianity to pass off as the real thing.
What people imagine is 'Christianity' today, is no such thing...its an empty shell of poor imitation.

God let me down too many times during my lifetime that I have given up on him several times throughout my life.

How has God let you down? What makes your life worse than anyone else's? The world is not ruled by God, it is ruled by satan, and for a very important reason......the devil claimed that God was a liar and that he did not have his earthly children's best interests at heart. So God gave rulership over to the devil to prove that he was the better ruler. God would not intervene because any intervention would be lessening the impact of satan's inept rulership. You are blaming the wrong person for your troubles. Do you think you have suffered more than Job? His experience is recorded in scripture to show us a beautiful example of love, loyalty and trust on the part of a man who had no idea who was causing his trials....yet he maintained his integrity in spite of all that he suffered. He was greatly rewarded afterwards. (Job 38:10-17)

The only reason I came back to Christianity was because I cared too much about the gryphon and the odds that God could make it real someday.

It is an empty dream and betrays a lack of understanding as to what it means to be a Christian on your part. This mythical creature is a figment of your imagination and will never exist because God is done with his creation, declaring all that he had made to be "very good".

Please learn first what being a Christian means....it isn't a label that you wear.....it isn't a duty.....it isn't performance or showing up to listen to a sermon...it is a personal connection to the Father through following the teachings of his son. It means being morally, spiritually and physically "clean" in the eyes of God, regardless of what the world is doing.....remember who is its God. (2 Cor 4:3-4; 1 John 5:19)

Someone has led you astray and you need a sound Bible education to extract yourself from a very flawed mindset. I am sorry for your troubled past, but its not an excuse to ask God for things when you fail to give him something in return. What can you actually give to God that he cannot give to himself?....your love and obedience out of loyalty and appreciation for all that has done, and is doing to reinstate his paradise earth for mankind to enjoy forever. (Rev 21:2-4) That is where you start.

 

[PossibleThrowawayAccount]

Is your troubled history with "Christianity" a result of your own actions or someone else's?

A lot of people who God neither protected me from or punished.

How has God let you down? What makes your life worse than anyone else's?

A lot of things that I have mentioned before. Like I said, God never protected me or helped me with anything.

The world is not ruled by God, it is ruled by satan, and for a very important reason......the devil claimed that God was a liar and that he did not have his earthly children's best interests at heart. (...) God would not intervene because any intervention would be lessening the impact of satan's inept rulership.

All the same God does have some power to intervene otherwise Jesus would have died before he was incarnated or would not have been able to do miracles. If things were that bad then Christianity wouldn't be able to even exist on earth.

Do you think you have suffered more than Job? His experience is recorded in scripture to show us a beautiful example of love, loyalty and trust on the part of a man who had no idea who was causing his trials....yet he maintained his integrity in spite of all that he suffered. He was greatly rewarded afterwards. (Job 38:10-17)

I would say I suffered close enough if not as much. The reality that a lot of Christians do not want to accept is that just because Job was rewarded for his faith doesn't mean the rest of us will be. A lot of people spend their entire faith filled lives suffering without a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

It is an empty dream and betrays a lack of understanding as to what it means to be a Christian on your part. This mythical creature is a figment of your imagination and will never exist because God is done with his creation, declaring all that he had made to be "very good".

Ok. Then why choose Christianity? God has proven by decades of neglect that he doesn't want a relationship with me and really this is the only way to mend our broken relationship. I can't be convinced that God wants anything to do with me.

Sone has led you astray and you need a sound Bible education to extract yourself from a very flawed mindset. I am sorry for your troubled past, but its not an excuse to ask God for things when you fail to give him something in return. What can you actually give to God that he cannot give to himself?....your love and obedience out of loyalty and appreciation for all that has done, and is doing to reinstate his paradise earth for mankind to enjoy forever. (Rev 21:2-4) That is where you start.

The problem with this is that I have tried several times to form a relationship with God and all he ever done was push me back every time, be it by making everything I have ever done be unsuccessful, or letting someone step on me, or by allowing me to suffer. As arrogant as it sounds, from my point of view I was the one trying while he was giving nothing in return.

 

[PossibleThrowawayAccount]

Call me crazy, but I refuse to let this go because of how important it is to me. I have gathered a few Bible verses that I think my pertain to my situation and I want to know what everyone else thinks? I already got a vwry satisfying answer about Romans 8:32 but if anyone else has more to say about it, please do.

Matthew 7:7-11 "“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone?"

John 16:22-24 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

John 14:12-14 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

(The Treasures in Heaven verses)

1 Corinthians 3:21“Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future — all are yours”

Psalms 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.

Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself also in the LORD and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

 

[Patrick1966]

For 19 years now there has been something that has been deeply bothering me but I have been too afraid to ask because it is something very personal to me. I am finally ready to ask it because I need closure, despite knowing that hearing the wrong thing could potentially deeply upset me.

Are there any verses in the Bible that directly confirms that we will have everything we want in Heaven or on the new earth? Particularly if we want something so bad that it is what moves us to Christianity, something we want so badly that being with God is the only thing more important than it, something so personal that it is the very reason we worship God.

Yes, there will be Taco Bell restaurants in the new kingdom.

 

[Keturah]

Definition for those not in the know......
gryphon: aka griffin
a mythical creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion, typically depicted with pointed ears and with the eagle's legs taking the place of the forelegs.

 

[Keturah]

I agree>>>>>>

1Th 5:19-22 NIV
19 Do not quench the Spirit.
20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt
21 but test them all; hold on to what is good,
22 reject every kind of evil.

 

[Keturah]

A lot of people who God neither protected me from or punished.


A lot of things that I have mentioned before. Like I said, God never protected me or helped me with anything.


All the same God does have some power to intervene otherwise Jesus would have died before he was incarnated or would not have been able to do miracles. If things were that bad then Christianity wouldn't be able to even exist on earth.


I would say I suffered close enough if not as much. The reality that a lot of Christians do not want to accept is that just because Job was rewarded for his faith doesn't mean the rest of us will be. A lot of people spend their entire faith filled lives suffering without a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.


Ok. Then why choose Christianity? God has proven by decades of neglect that he doesn't want a relationship with me and really this is the only way to mend our broken relationship. I can't be convinced that God wants anything to do with me.


The problem with this is that I have tried several times to form a relationship with God and all he ever done was push me back every time, be it by making everything I have ever done be unsuccessful, or letting someone step on me, or by allowing me to suffer. As arrogant as it sounds, from my point of view I was the one trying while he was giving nothing in return.

I feel your pain!

God does not force evil folks into not doing evil things just as he doesn't force any to do good things.

What happened to you was the work of iniquity or sin. Those people did not have God in their heart / lives, even if they said they did. Therefore they had no boundary to work within his love.

Come to God bc he loves you & wants only GOOD FOR YOU. In his love is salvation, peace, serenity, stability, abundant joy, and grace!

 

[PossibleThrowawayAccount]

I feel your pain!

God does not force evil folks into not doing evil things just as he doesn't force any to do good things.

What happened to you was the work of iniquity or sin. Those people did not have God in their heart / lives, even if they said they did. Therefore they had no boundary to work within his love.

Come to God bc he loves you & wants only GOOD FOR YOU. In his love is salvation, peace, serenity, stability, abundant joy, and grace!

Thank you very much for your kind words. Deep down I know God is not responsible for the bad things in my life, but at the same time i feel like he does not care.

You give a good reason to come to God, but as i said I feel like he just doesn't like me. Oddly, sometimes I feel as if God sent these dreams about this gryphon as a way to bring me to him

 

[Keturah]

Thank you very much for your kind words. Deep down I know God is not responsible for the bad things in my life, but at the same time i feel like he does not care.

You give a good reason to come to God, but as i said I feel like he just doesn't like me. Oddly, sometimes I feel as if God sent these dreams about this gryphon as a way to bring me to him

If I may, I will keep you in my prayers

 

[PossibleThrowawayAccount]

If I may, I will keep you in my prayers

Thank you, I would appreciate it if you did.

 

[Lambano]

It isn't so much that I want a gryphon for a pet, as much as I want that particular gryphon to exist. It wouldn't even have to be my pet, either.

I could see God creating that particular gryphon (does he have a name?) for you, say, as a mentor to help you grow in the World to Come. With God, it's not a question of "Can He?" but "Will He?" I can't answer the "Will He?" question; I can only encourage you to trust your Heavenly Father.

 

[dev553344]

Sorry to bump this oldish thread, but does anyone know if this could possibly be a lead?

Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Does this mean in general (i.e. heaven included) or is it just an on-earth thing? I read the surrounding verses and it does not seem clear. Thanks again to everyone who has answered so far.

I believe that is a reference to have the things we are in need of, perhaps not everything we want.