July 27, 2008 7:49 AM
Sam wrote:
Ok, am not quite understanding this. HOw did the magicians perform this act of changing staffs to snakes? And changing the Nile (already changed to blood) to blodd????? I don't get it. And I further don't get the story about God hardening Pharaoh's heart? Why would he do this? Why not let Pharaoh make up his OWN mind? Are OUR hearts (and minds) being hardened by God? THey say God never changes, so why can't we 'blame' God for some of the things we see going on today? Is He hardening the hearts of people like Hitler, Sadam Hussein, the killers and rapers of children, the murderers amongst the young people on our streets, the high school students who 'flip out'? I just don't get it. Reply to this
July 27, 2008 12:45 PM
Rich wrote:
I don't get this either, but I do see this much in the Old Testament (and I think it is also the lesson of the New Testament). When God chooses a people for himself, He goes to any extreme to show his love for that people and he remains faithful to his chosen people regardless of whether they are faithful to him or not. Genesis and Exodus show man's continued failures and weaknesses. Man takes the good that God gives to him and then seems to forget. What does God do? Give man what he deserves? No, God gives him more. God loves and loves and loves. The consistency of God is his love to his chosen regardless of their response to him. He wants man to love him back because of God's love for man.
I do not know if God really hardened Pharaoh's heart or not. Man's heart is hard without God - that is a simple fact. Without God in my life, I would be a hard, callous, spiteful, hateful, selfish to the extreme person. The ONLY thing that keeps me from that is God. I think God protects our hearts from Satan and from hardening. Maybe if God stops protecting us, our hearts become hard like Pharaoh, like Sadam Hussein, like Hitler, like the others you mention above.
As for magicians, perhaps God had a specific plan for his people (the Exodus from Egypt) and God allowed these guys to do this stuff (either through Satan or God himself did) to bring his full plan into action. As I said, my belief is that once God chooses a people, he does WHATEVER is needed to show his love to that people and to be faithful to them. God does whatever is needed to give us the BEST opportunity to see and respond to his love for us. God is faithful to his promises regardless of what that takes.
Don't know if I am right, but this is my thoughts on the subject at the moment. Perhaps the spirit will show one of us something different (that we can share with others) at a later time. Reply to this
July 27, 2008 12:33 PM
Rich wrote:
I saw a guy at church today who really inspired me. I knew him about 10 years ago. At that time he was a nice guy, successful (in his career) and active in church. What I saw today amazed me. He was a guest preacher for the day.
He has changed so much in the past 10 years. He has grown spiritually in his passion and love for and understanding of God. It was amazing and inspiring to listen to him. He asked an interesting question: "How healing, how deeply transforming is your Christianity?"
He read 2 scriptures: Luke 9:1-6 and Mark 9:14-29. His points were that (1)Healing and the good news preached go hand in hand and (2) that healing (i.e., the power to change self or someone else), takes (a) perseverance, (b) death (to sin, opinions, preconceived notions, ..., specifically, dying to what is familiar), and (c) prayer/deep Bible study (specifically, it is the Holy Spirit that heals and changes, not us) - fill self with spirit and Bible to see change that will last.
I was inspired and convicted at the same time. My prayer and Bible study is so inconsistent. No wonder I am not changing. I do not push myself to the depths of understanding. I put in minimal effort and wonder why I get minimal results. I am confessing here to you guys that I have not been STUDYING my Bible or growing in my faith. I have been coasting and it is showing in my life and in my family. I want to change and I want you guys to hold me accountable. When I do not blog, email me, call me, bug me, remind me of this moment. When my blog times are shallow, be honest and let me know. I am capable of so much more than I am doing. I need men in my life to hold me to the edge of what I am capable of doing. God put you guys in my life (if only for a brief time while we were in church together) and God has kept us together with the blog for a reason. Each of us might have a unique reason. All I know is that my reason is to have people hold me to the convictions I have now. Reply to this
Ok, am not quite understanding this. HOw did the magicians perform this act of changing staffs to snakes? And changing the Nile (already changed to blood) to blodd????? I don't get it. And I further don't get the story about God hardening Pharaoh's heart? Why would he do this? Why not let Pharaoh make up his OWN mind? Are OUR hearts (and minds) being hardened by God? THey say God never changes, so why can't we 'blame' God for some of the things we see going on today? Is He hardening the hearts of people like Hitler, Sadam Hussein, the killers and rapers of children, the murderers amongst the young people on our streets, the high school students who 'flip out'? I just don't get it.
Reply to this
I don't get this either, but I do see this much in the Old Testament (and I think it is also the lesson of the New Testament). When God chooses a people for himself, He goes to any extreme to show his love for that people and he remains faithful to his chosen people regardless of whether they are faithful to him or not. Genesis and Exodus show man's continued failures and weaknesses. Man takes the good that God gives to him and then seems to forget. What does God do? Give man what he deserves? No, God gives him more. God loves and loves and loves. The consistency of God is his love to his chosen regardless of their response to him. He wants man to love him back because of God's love for man.
I do not know if God really hardened Pharaoh's heart or not. Man's heart is hard without God - that is a simple fact. Without God in my life, I would be a hard, callous, spiteful, hateful, selfish to the extreme person. The ONLY thing that keeps me from that is God. I think God protects our hearts from Satan and from hardening. Maybe if God stops protecting us, our hearts become hard like Pharaoh, like Sadam Hussein, like Hitler, like the others you mention above.
As for magicians, perhaps God had a specific plan for his people (the Exodus from Egypt) and God allowed these guys to do this stuff (either through Satan or God himself did) to bring his full plan into action. As I said, my belief is that once God chooses a people, he does WHATEVER is needed to show his love to that people and to be faithful to them. God does whatever is needed to give us the BEST opportunity to see and respond to his love for us. God is faithful to his promises regardless of what that takes.
Don't know if I am right, but this is my thoughts on the subject at the moment. Perhaps the spirit will show one of us something different (that we can share with others) at a later time.
Reply to this
I saw a guy at church today who really inspired me. I knew him about 10 years ago. At that time he was a nice guy, successful (in his career) and active in church. What I saw today amazed me. He was a guest preacher for the day.
He has changed so much in the past 10 years. He has grown spiritually in his passion and love for and understanding of God. It was amazing and inspiring to listen to him. He asked an interesting question: "How healing, how deeply transforming is your Christianity?"
He read 2 scriptures: Luke 9:1-6 and Mark 9:14-29. His points were that (1)Healing and the good news preached go hand in hand and (2) that healing (i.e., the power to change self or someone else), takes (a) perseverance, (b) death (to sin, opinions, preconceived notions, ..., specifically, dying to what is familiar), and (c) prayer/deep Bible study (specifically, it is the Holy Spirit that heals and changes, not us) - fill self with spirit and Bible to see change that will last.
I was inspired and convicted at the same time. My prayer and Bible study is so inconsistent. No wonder I am not changing. I do not push myself to the depths of understanding. I put in minimal effort and wonder why I get minimal results. I am confessing here to you guys that I have not been STUDYING my Bible or growing in my faith. I have been coasting and it is showing in my life and in my family. I want to change and I want you guys to hold me accountable. When I do not blog, email me, call me, bug me, remind me of this moment. When my blog times are shallow, be honest and let me know. I am capable of so much more than I am doing. I need men in my life to hold me to the edge of what I am capable of doing. God put you guys in my life (if only for a brief time while we were in church together) and God has kept us together with the blog for a reason. Each of us might have a unique reason. All I know is that my reason is to have people hold me to the convictions I have now.
Reply to this