Dont have time to read through the entire thread, so sorry of this had been mentioned previously. I forget who said this, but feelings he said are the most dangerous enemy to faith.
When God lets you down
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Sorry Helen I missed this. I read another of your posts that was good so scrolled back and found this one. I'm so glad I did! Thank you for the encouragement and prayers
It's a beautiful thing when the heart of another believer cares for another that we'll only meet in the celestial city.Sometimes it's hard to keep an eternal perspective when we're living the grind here - especially when going through the darkness and God seems to not hear our prayers. I appreciate all the encouragement.
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God should have picked another way to grow. I know I should be delving into the Scriptures as I've done in times past but sometimes we shun God when we think He's dealing unfairly with us. I feel like Paul who said he despaired of life.
I know Christ said that but still it's hard to see others walk on unaffected while you're crawling trying to stand. I do not wish evil or hardship on my friend - she's one of the most ethical people I've known. It's just that I wonder why me? Why is my life hard? I keep trying to think that like Joseph, God has some work for me to do but it hurts NOW.
On top of physical suffering I just dealt with a corrupt lawyer and screwy sibling in a probate matter. The lawyer actually threatened me to try to get me to sign his accounting altering a legal will. I refused and he threatened me again. He then had a corrupt lawyer in the probate office hide our brief and reject it! It was outright corruption and I wrote to all of the freeholders and there was a total DISCONNECT - they all acted perturbed that I disturbed them. And these are the folks who we've paid their salaries!
So I contacted the prosecutor's office and the same thing. I feel like I'm in the twilight zone. CORRUPTION! Then the lawyer predatorily charged the estate and I can't get the money back. I prayed but not one person in the entire corrupt court would lift a finger to do right. I told the detective that trouble was going to come down on his head by going along with it - he seemed like he was decent and had a struggle with his conscience as he went along with a wrong. But he went along with it. Can you all please pray that God speaks to his heart? His name is Keith.
I appealed to the "Christian" lawyer who owned the firm that the corrupt lawyer is employed in and he threatened to sue me!
So much for his declaration of faith.
God has just let me go through horrible things. I cannot believe how dishonest people are!
It's funny as I read this I recalled a time when I was victimized by ungodly people. God seemed nowhere in sight as I stumbled through it. I had just underwent surgery and was in a lot of pain and they hit me. It was about two years later that I read of those people in the news - they were getting sued for corrupt business practices. They owed me some money so I wisely used the opportunity to ask them for it. They returned it - the lawsuit made honest people of them. I know we're not to rejoice when an enemy falls but it sure does feel good. I hope that isn't rejoicing? I wondered if God brought that to mind to remind me that He does hear me.
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All believers have a certain discernment due to their having the Holy Spirit. But others are given that special gift of discernment of spirits. I cannot tell which you have, as I said earlier, it would be necessary for your fellowship to observe and make that decision. But, make no mistake, even if you don't have a fellowship you attend, you still have a gift, and possibly more than one.
satan does indeed hate the believer, every believer, and his use of his gift from the Holy Spirit. And he comes against every believer to destroy if he can, or to hinder if he can, the use of that gift. And he is very good at it. Every believer is a threat to his kingdom. And every believer is involved in the spiritual warfare whether he wants to be or not. He is either held in check at present or he is standing and moving against the enemy.
I'm not saying what gift you may or may not have, but rest assured, God makes no mistakes in giving the gifts. Like so many other areas, He simply does not ask us. But we are encouraged to seek certain gifts. (1 Cor. 12:31) (1 Cor. 14:39) So, I believe through prayer we can acquire a gift if we seek it.
I love observing the natural instinct in animals. Because it is deer season I have a lot of deer come through. Sometimes I don't see them till I am walking right up on them. I'm not a deer hunter so I don't bother them. If I am just making normal noises while walking, such as coughing or singing a song, they don't bolt. But if I tried to sneak up on them in silence, they are outta-here. I have come as close as 5-10 yards and walked by a group of 4-5 deer. They were watching intently, but their tails weren't up meaning they were not concerned enough yet to run. They watched me go by for quite awhile, and then went back to grazing.
Stranger
Corruption in our governmental and legal systems are hard to bear. But, the less our country is Christian, which is the direction it is going, the more you will see and experience it. It will eventually culminate in physical persecution and death.
satan knows the power he can exercise against Christians if he can de-Christianize our government. Which is what he has been doing. And he has an extreme hatred for the Christians in the U.S. as they have for years been a terrible restraint against his kingdom.
Yes, sometimes God does let us see His vengeance upon those who have harmed us. But not always. The important thing to know is that He sees it all. And we can know that He will make it right. And I am confident that when He does make it right, He reminds them someway as to what it is for.
Stranger
Sis, I cannot for the life of me appreciate the frustration you must be experiencing, having never had anything to do with courts, corruption, lawyers, our shonky politicians even. I must live a charmed life.
There is one thing though that God revealed to me many years ago. In these last days there is going to be such turmoil upon the earth, that the only way any Christian well survive, is through 100% faith and trust in God, and nothing else. In order to prepare us for that He had to show us the unreliability and the vain hope we have in placing our trust in anything our anyone other than God. Institutions, be they government or church, will collapse taking down everything and everyone that cleaves to them. There is not one entity on this planet that week be sable to provide help or support. All our former support structures such as social welfare..superannuation...Medicare...insurances etc etc etc, will collapse and fail. So don't be shocked or even mildly surprised that people or institutions that would normally be trustworthy and reliable, are found to be impotent to help and do anything that would normally be expected of them. The world today and everything in it is already doomed to destruction...The only thing that will remain after all is said and done will be the characters we developed by facing the monsters.
When I researched it - I suspected I had it - and found a website written by a pastor's wife who had it - and everything she said clicked. My husband also made the remark that "Satan must be afraid for you to use your gift" so that made me wonder too. I'm still not sure and our church never got into the gifts. I'm going to bring it up to our bible study teacher.
I have had some wicked attacks that I knew were satanically inspired. The first was with a neighbor high on drugs who came after my husband and I with a torque wrench. She was as high as a kite and beat my husband with it - he's 6'2" and husky build and he couldn't fend her off with a lawn chair. Two cops tackled her and couldn't hold her down - that was when I saw that Satan gives superhuman strength. I almost had a breakdown. I was a young Christian and knew nothing. It was when I got Billy Graham's book out of the library and he described a feeling of "oppression and depression" while traveling to preach overseas that I knew what had hit me. The neighbor's on the other side were also on drugs - she was the head of the PTA. I felt a sense of oppression that hung over the area - we lived in a rural area on a dead end and were the only houses.
The attacks never ceased - the faces just changed. Sigh.
I never thought of asking for a gift - though I did ask for the gift of healing a long time ago. I learned a lot about vitamins and how the body works. A friend asked me what her daughter should take as she developed cancer - so that was realized in small measure. I always wanted the gift of singing but don't have a melodious voice.
That's very interesting about the deer! Yes they do have natural instinct. As I was reading your post I cringed expecting you to say you hunted them. I love animals and stopped eating meat at 16 - in fact the smell of it cooking makes me gag. If someone cooks it in my house I have to open the windows and go in the bedroom and shut the door. You'd be surprised at how healthy you can be giving up meat. My doctor couldn't believe how healthy my blood tests came back and I told him it was due to being a vegetarian.
I was never afraid of dogs because they always took to me, but one day I was walking into my house and a HUGE dog trotted up to me. I didn't pay any attention...but my faithful terrier did. I saw her curiously leaping up off her little feet going at the big dog's neck and I didn't know why. She was a fiercely loyal dog and I quickly learned why. The HUGE dog lunged at me and bit my hip but was thwarted by my terrier. It was able to bite me but it didn't break the skin. That loyal little terrier protected me with all her might. It makes me cry thinking about her since we lost her this year. I prayed and asked God that I see her in heaven. I miss her loyalty. She saved me from a lot of harm as I'd learned later that the owner hadn't been up on the dog's shots.
She was a funny little dog. Our neighbor was out with his two HUGE Rottweilers and our terrier tore across the street and went after the two Rottweilers. Our neighbor couldn't believe it - he had to yank his Roots back on their leashes. He said "that dog has guts!" She was a tiny little thing with so much courage that I've rarely seen. I think that in her mind she saw the Rottweilers as invading her territory or as a threat to us.
But I would like to learn what my gifts are.
Extremely hard to bear. That lawyer harassed me for 11 months trying to alter the will. I tried having it stopped by speaking with a detective but the lawyer was well-connected and I'm not. I'm too honest and don't have friends who would lie for me - and i'd never ask them to. I couldn't believe how all the freeholders shunned their responsibility - the probate lawyer should have been fired. She actually destroyed mail I tried to have sent to the judge because the judge was honest and ruled in my favor (a rarity today).
My husband said I won because the judge let me speak and when the corrupt lawyer stood to speak she said "I don't need to hear from you!" And he slunk out of there with my two ex-hateful siblings. I looked over at them and he could not look me in the eye.
My husband said there is always a gossip chain and that lawyer was made a fool of because he was beaten in a court of law by a non-lawyer.
Still the crook made off with thousands from my father's estate which grinds at me - and some of it came out of my share. I tried going back to court but he had the corrupt woman lawyer hide my brief so it wouldn't go before the honest judge. I've tried to reach the judge but she's the gatekeeper and intercepts my mail. I reported theft of mail to the prosecutor's office and cannot believe how readily they go along with a bold criminal act.
I thought I had reached the detective's heart but he still went along with it. I told him it was going to bring trouble down on his head and he still refused to act. You're up against institutional evil. In fact I just signed on with The Innocence Project - I had belonged to them before and would just send e-cards to the wrongfully convicted. I urge everyone to support them. There are many corrupt individuals who abuse their power.
I'm really afraid of what is to come. I agree that the less Christian our country becomes the more persecution we'll have to bear. I shudder to think. My trial was GRUELING. It went on for a year when I fended off attacks from a corrupt ex-sibling and the corrupt lawyer. He had connections and since he couldn't win on facts he won by deception. It made me want to vomit. But I came to see it as another attack from the enemy.
Then the corrupt probate lawyer had the gall to call me with another crony and demand an apology for contacting the freeholders. I then went and contacted every one of them. People may think they can cower you but I believe in the Scripture that says "The righteous are as bold as a lion." They didn't do anything about her but my husband said it shamed her. Institutionalized evil. I struggled as it was through a time of physical trials and a friend said that my ex-sibling was "frightening" to do that knowing of my hardships.
Yes I haven't always seen justice - and it hurts. There is one particular gaping wound from evil done to me that I cannot come to terms with, with God. I have beat on heaven's door and He has seen my tears. He showed me something of justice but not a full measure. It was an evil worthy of death but my husband said her hell is on this earth - death would be easy.
I don't understand God - why He chooses to show us justice sometimes and not others. The "Christian" lawyer whose corrupt lawyer raided my inheritance is equally corrupt yet calls himself a Christian. He's a Pharasee. I sat with him as he denigrated a loved one - I'll never forget his judgmental face. I then learned that his son had been the town drug dealer (funny isn't it - that I would learn that) So the next opportunity i had to speak with Mr. Christian I reminded him of when he denigrated a loved one and told him that it was known around town that his son was a drug dealer. Mr. Christian threatened to sue me.
His son got away with it. They used drug money to put him through law school. I don't understand that one. All the other youth in town were caught and prosecuted for using the drugs that Mr. Lawyer's son sold to them. That's another one I have prayed about that makes no sense. My husband said their fakes and have to live their fake lives and that's punishment.
I wish God would make things easier. I don't look ahead and see anything good happening in this country, although I have been led to evangelize more.
I hope you're right about God showing evildoers what their punishment is for as there are many wrongdoers who have hurt others. That entire cabal of government workers shirked their duty to fire the corrupt probate lawyer.
bbyrd009
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yeh, entropy, hard to fight our perceptions of it huh. South Park is often the most socially relevant tv on the planet, or was, seemed to open a floodgate of relevance in cartoons imo. Sorta like our news becoming comedy, and comedians telling news now? Rick and Morty was rough, but now i'm hooked on it lol. There is an ego lesson in every episode so far
bbyrd009
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i guess it seems that way maybe, huh. But then we so like to anthropomorphize, too, yeh?
we are legion, whether we like to admit it or not i guess
bbyrd009
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Earburner
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Do you recall the event of Paul and the event that happened to Him with Lord Jesus, on the road to Damascus?
When I was 25, so also did a similar event happen to me.
By my repentance towards God and having faith in the Lord Jesus, I was born again, delivered from my sin, and the captivity that I was in.
1 Tim. 4
[1] Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
[2] Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
Earburner
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It is NT scripture, being spoken by the Holy Spirit through Paul. Being that of our "reasonable service" to do, I would say that it is the most important thing that we can do as Christians. If Christ is within you, His request is that we yield to His Mind and His Ways on a daily basis.
If your fellowship does not hold to the gifts of the Spirit, then it will be difficult for you to find out, but not impossible. They will still be prone to give credence to what it is God is doing through you though they may be unwilling to call it a gift. I will say this, it will be something that is very natural for you to do among His people. You don't think about having to do it because it is your gift, you just naturally do it. In other words, if someone comes up to me and says I have the gift of teaching but a problem in wanting to study the Bible. I tell them immediately you don't have a gift of teaching. One who has the gift of teaching can't get enough of Bible study.
Naw, I'm not a deer hunter. Probably due to 'Bambi' at an early age. But, don't misunderstand. I would if I had to. I have raised plenty of animals for meat and killed them and butchered them myself. I raised hogs for a while and you get a whole lot of meat back from them. Deer just don't seem to be worth the work in cleaning them for the amount of meat you get.
I find it interesting that you are vegetarian, and have been for so long. I of course am not. For what it is worth, I have held the opinion, and still do, that being a vegetarian may well make you more susceptible to demonic oppression or depression. I don't discount how healthy you are or the benefits you say it has on you. But I believe that disregarding meat to eat is not Scriptural. I hope this doesn't disappoint you, as I'm sure you have heard the arguments before.
In the Bible you can find the gifts in (1 Cor. 12-14) (Rom. 12:3-16) (Eph. 4:1-16)
Stranger
Nancy
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I hear you there SG
I too am unaware of what particular gift/gifts that I might have. I do believe I have great discernment yet, am too unsure as how to use it. It was not at all hard to discern the spirit of other folks in Church but, it goes deeper and, not trusting myself to know this is something from God holds me back, not to mention the first time I did try to use it...the Pastor would not even give me 60 seconds of his time. And I do believe thoroughly that it was because he did not want to hear anything about what this person has done and continues to do so...if they do not hear you then...it will be up to God Himself to show him. There have been instances between other people as well but, I keep my mouth shut because it is not a "sure" thing and I do not like confrontation! It's frustrating, no? Not to know what might be our "gift". We can all have the gift of helps, and many also can (should) have exhortation so as to keep our spirits lifted. It's good to hear these things from a bro or sis in Christ from time to time. I just pray that I will not become weary in well doing which can be a strong temptation to do when we just do not "feel" it...
Nancy
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bbyrd009
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that battle is all over, Stranger, i dont even need to add "imo" do i, but anyway, a reflection of satan and his "kingdom" that you might consider bro:
"
Light versus dark
Zarathustra taught that all is one (which is a Shemite trait) but still divided into a kingdom of light and a kingdom of darkness. These two kingdoms are perpetually at odds with each other, and their battle is what creates reality, demonstrated wherever temptation mars wisdom, or cold contrasts heat, light contrasts dark, or up contrasts down; all in a world where the yin of the sacred feminine lies locked in with the yang of the sacred masculine, in some cases even to produce a sacred infant.
All this seems wonderfully advanced, and its tenets still fill vast chains of New Age bookstores, the patrons of which routinely forget how the societies that gave us these "wisdoms" couldn't wait to convert to the technology and medicine of science-based models and abandoned faith in their traditions en masse. Because, no, femininity and masculinity are not in any way such opposites that they encompass the whole of creation. Darkness is not the opposite of light but the absence of it. When we switch on the light in a dark room nothing leaves or is replaced; light is substantial but darkness is not. Light comes out of a source — a candle, a lamp or the sun — but darkness does not come out of a source; it doesn't come from anywhere; it's only light that comes. There is no hot or cold; there is only energy or the absence of it. And, most importantly, there is no kingdom of evil that exists parallel to the kingdom of light, which has an evil monarch, who rules an evil organization (Isaiah 45:5-7). Evil is the absence of good, not the opposite of it.
"Good" is when all creatures are what they can be and therefore work together in a most effective and mutually pleasing way. "Evil" occurs when "good" is absent, and characters such as satan simply drive creatures apart but do not organize them in some adverse way, and they certainly don't rule an organization of darkness and evil. The name Baal-zebub, for instance, means Lord of the Flies, and anyone who knows anything about flies knows that flies (contrary to bees; see the name Deborah) don't cooperate, don't build a house and don't produce anything substantial (like, say, a hypothetical "anti-honey").
Still, both on a personal level and on a national one, Japheth is probably better than Ham..." The amazing name Japheth: meaning and etymology
All I can say is His ways are not our ways. And it is His ways that will be done. And His ways at present is to let evil have it's day. We don't have to like it, but we must come to grips with it.
We must get an 'eternal eyesight'. Don't just see the immediate, look beyond it to the eternal reward the suffering here produces. I know full well it is easier said than done, but eventually, that is what we have to do.
Bottom line....if you can't bring yourself to see God in your suffering, and that it is for His good purpose, and that it will bring an eternal reward for you in Heaven, then you will never get away from being angry with God, or blaming Him, or just miserable in your condition.
You must see God in your suffering.
Stranger
bbyrd009
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hmm
Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
פתה
The verb פתה (pata) appears to describe the process of slowly but surely growing wider without investing much critical thought in the quality of the substance that is acquired. It's the process that makes a mud flat or sand bank grow bigger, until it even begins to yield dry land and perhaps to support an island ecosystem. In much the same way a human mind will grow, if one does not separate useful from useless information, and eventually yield certainties and perhaps even forms of creativity that are all based on mostly garbage and loose debris.
This verb's sole derivative is the noun פתי (peti), which describes a non-critical mind that grows ever larger with nonsense: forever learning but never understanding.
— See the full Dictionary article —
Here at Abarim Publications we surmise that the main difference between Shem and Japheth is that although both acquire, Japheth is simply piling upon an ever growing heap, whereas Shem carefully adopts elements that he may incorporate into a previously conceived design. Japheth is simply making a bigger pile (gossip, rumors, fiction; anything goes), but Shem is building a temple. Shem's temple consists of the knowledge of natural law, and not all facts can serve as its stones.
For more on the world of Japhethite thinking, read our article on the name Homer.
working on a dedicated mac to DL the whole DB so i can stop torturing you guys with this lol, but this seemed relevant to the thread anyway. Guess i really only need a big hard drive anyway
Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
פתה
The verb פתה (pata) appears to describe the process of slowly but surely growing wider without investing much critical thought in the quality of the substance that is acquired. It's the process that makes a mud flat or sand bank grow bigger, until it even begins to yield dry land and perhaps to support an island ecosystem. In much the same way a human mind will grow, if one does not separate useful from useless information, and eventually yield certainties and perhaps even forms of creativity that are all based on mostly garbage and loose debris.
This verb's sole derivative is the noun פתי (peti), which describes a non-critical mind that grows ever larger with nonsense: forever learning but never understanding.
— See the full Dictionary article —
Here at Abarim Publications we surmise that the main difference between Shem and Japheth is that although both acquire, Japheth is simply piling upon an ever growing heap, whereas Shem carefully adopts elements that he may incorporate into a previously conceived design. Japheth is simply making a bigger pile (gossip, rumors, fiction; anything goes), but Shem is building a temple. Shem's temple consists of the knowledge of natural law, and not all facts can serve as its stones.
For more on the world of Japhethite thinking, read our article on the name Homer.
working on a dedicated mac to DL the whole DB so i can stop torturing you guys with this lol, but this seemed relevant to the thread anyway. Guess i really only need a big hard drive anyway
Yes I recall Paul's conversion.
Good to hear of your conversion at 25.
Good verses you gave in (1 Tim. 4:1-2)
But what has any of this to do with what I asked?
Stranger
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