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Post by sarahleeadvent on May 14, 2008 23:22:13 GMT -5
And now I have found yet another reason to never doubt God. I passed all my exams and got a 94% for laboratory work, and I don't have to take the finals. Thank you all for your prayers. *High five* Way to go! It's always great to hear about an answered prayer. |
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Post by Komori on May 15, 2008 15:58:52 GMT -5
You know, I recommend that anyone who wants to read the whole Bible get a daily bible. For each day of the year, it provides segments from the Old Testament, New Testament, Proverbs, and Psalms, each segment going in order. (For example, now that it's in May, my daily Bible has gone through Samuel in the OT, John in the NT, and through quite a few chapters each of Proverbs and Psalms) I like doing that because it's a nice compare/contrast with old and new testaments, plus psalms every day. Plus, by December 31, you've read the whole Bible!  |
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Post by Crystal on May 16, 2008 16:32:21 GMT -5
Simply because people don't generally pray a certain way doesn't mean that way is off. You've got me curious, though- when you say that Jesus only healed us spiritually, not physically, what were you basing that on? A verse? A seminar? A devotional? *Hopes it's something I can look up easily because otherwise I just know the procrastinating bug is going to bite my lazy butt* You see, your statement is the opposite of what I was taught- according to the Young's Literal Translation (I love my searchable online Bible- it's so darn handy!): Those illnesses sound pretty physical to me. But anyway, the website is BibleGateway.com, so you can take a look yourself if you feel like it. Since I'm trying to gain insight into where you're coming from (I hate it when people reject a viewpoint out of hand without looking into it, and I don't want to do that here), I'll ask you the same thing I asked Bacon: where did you read/hear this? I'd like to have a look, if it won't eat into my schedule too badly. I know that quite well- it's a two-way partnership, and if we don't uphold our end, it doesn't work. Shoot, I'd like to be able to give a more in-depth explanation of my viewpoint, but I've got a school assignment I need to get done and several other things and I'm still in the process of reading the book that started me on this topic, so for now I'll just drop my disclaimer and quit stalling on my assignment. **Disclaimer** Just so anyone reading this knows, I'm not trying to Bible-thump or slam anybody's viewpoints through this. *Gets WAY too much of that from my extended family* I just thought the insights in Kenneth Hagin's book Healing Belongs To Us, which is what drew my attention to some of these verses, were interesting and informative, and wanted to share them. No, discussion is quite alright. Some of the most interesting insights come from group discussions. In any case, though, I'm not quite sure what you're referring to. Are you perhaps saying that we should be of the mindset that healing already belongs to us, and we just have to ask for it? I'm not too sure about it... after all, God doesn't heal everyone. People are hurt, or die all the time; physical healing was obviously not granted to them. If He healed everyone who asked, then there'd probably be multiple problems (no one ever dies, for one xD). By the way, I'd also like to bring up the idea of humility. I spent the last week studying the book of Mark, and it was noticed that among the healings Jesus did, there was a definite trend of humility, desperation and faith. I think that's a pretty crucial part of prayer: Asking, in faith, for something to be given that you cannot achieve by yourself. |
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Post by sarahleeadvent on May 16, 2008 21:23:19 GMT -5
In any case, though, I'm not quite sure what you're referring to. Are you perhaps saying that we should be of the mindset that healing already belongs to us, and we just have to ask for it? I'm not too sure about it... after all, God doesn't heal everyone. People are hurt, or die all the time; physical healing was obviously not granted to them. If He healed everyone who asked, then there'd probably be multiple problems (no one ever dies, for one xD). You'd probably understand better if you read the booklet; but I'll try to explain it as best I can. The way Kenneth Hagin explains it, the healing process has two steps. The first is giving the healing, which Jesus already did on the cross. The second is taking the healing, which a lot of people simply don't do. That's why so many people stay sick or injured- even if they do believe in divine healing, which a lot of them don't, many of them say things like "If God wants to heal me, He will", thus failing to perform their part of the process. And I guess the reason why not everyone who asks to be healed is healed would probably be the faith factor. If they ask once or twice, don't get it, and give up, of course they don't get healed. A certain amount of faith, and in some cases, a great deal of time and prayer, has to be exercised before our part in the healing process is done. I hope that explains it. In case the explanation was insufficient (and because I find the comparison amusing) I'll use my family's cats to illustrate. When they're hungry, they will sit around the kitchen and howl. They'll follow us around, rub our ankles, and yell their fuzzy heads off. But sometimes, when we've put the food down, we have to practically smoosh their faces in it in order to help them find it. Healing is the same way. God's already put it within reach. But He's too much of a gentleman to force anything on us, even something good. After all, if He performed our part in the partnership for us, what's the point in there being an 'us' to play that part? |
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Post by sarahleeadvent on May 23, 2008 21:49:20 GMT -5
Well, I think it's time for some updates, don't you?
Mom went to court, and now she's got half custody, and primary care and control of the older of my two sisters. Not what we wanted (seriously, is anything more disruptive for a seven-year-old than the pinball game that is half custody?) but a definite improvement over her being with dad twenty-four/seven.
A big thank-you to everybody who was praying for us- I'm really grateful to have my sister at least half back. I'd really appreciate it if you could keep praying, so hopefully soon we can get her back the rest of the way.
So what about the rest of you? Any updates on your prayer requests? Even better, any answered prayers?
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Post by Bacon on May 24, 2008 0:26:19 GMT -5
In any case, though, I'm not quite sure what you're referring to. Are you perhaps saying that we should be of the mindset that healing already belongs to us, and we just have to ask for it? I'm not too sure about it... after all, God doesn't heal everyone. People are hurt, or die all the time; physical healing was obviously not granted to them. If He healed everyone who asked, then there'd probably be multiple problems (no one ever dies, for one xD). You'd probably understand better if you read the booklet; but I'll try to explain it as best I can. The way Kenneth Hagin explains it, the healing process has two steps. The first is giving the healing, which Jesus already did on the cross. The second is taking the healing, which a lot of people simply don't do. That's why so many people stay sick or injured- even if they do believe in divine healing, which a lot of them don't, many of them say things like "If God wants to heal me, He will", thus failing to perform their part of the process. And I guess the reason why not everyone who asks to be healed is healed would probably be the faith factor. If they ask once or twice, don't get it, and give up, of course they don't get healed. A certain amount of faith, and in some cases, a great deal of time and prayer, has to be exercised before our part in the healing process is done. I hope that explains it. In case the explanation was insufficient (and because I find the comparison amusing) I'll use my family's cats to illustrate. When they're hungry, they will sit around the kitchen and howl. They'll follow us around, rub our ankles, and yell their fuzzy heads off. But sometimes, when we've put the food down, we have to practically smoosh their faces in it in order to help them find it. Healing is the same way. God's already put it within reach. But He's too much of a gentleman to force anything on us, even something good. After all, if He performed our part in the partnership for us, what's the point in there being an 'us' to play that part Uh, what you're talking about is starting to sound a lot like Word of Faith doctrine, which is about as different as Protestant/Catholic Christianity as Judiasm or Mormonism. Word of Faith preaches that we can do anything as long as we just say it and mean it, which is not what I believe. It also says things like we can command the weather and we have to give God permission to do things, which I also do not believe. For more information on a Christian view of the Word of Faith doctrine, I recommend taking a look at "A Call for Discernment" by Justin Peters Ministries. On the healing subject, let me say this: People have serious diseases. They have chronic diseases. They pray for healing, and their families pray for their healing. God simply says "no" sometimes, and "wait" sometimes, and "yes" sometimes. Divine healing is simply not God's plan for everyone, and it drives me crazy when people try to say otherwise. |
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Post by Komori on May 24, 2008 2:55:09 GMT -5
Well, I think it's time for some updates, don't you? Mom went to court, and now she's got half custody, and primary care and control of the older of my two sisters. Not what we wanted (seriously, is anything more disruptive for a seven-year-old than the pinball game that is half custody?) but a definite improvement over her being with dad twenty-four/seven. A big thank-you to everybody who was praying for us- I'm really grateful to have my sister at least half back. I'd really appreciate it if you could keep praying, so hopefully soon we can get her back the rest of the way. So what about the rest of you? Any updates on your prayer requests? Even better, any answered prayers? I'm glad to hear things are starting to get a little better, and will continue to pray for you and your family! <3 |
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Post by Craig on May 24, 2008 11:38:56 GMT -5
I haven't been here for a while, but I do try to remember everyone in my prayers at night. I've started saying the Rosary recently, so I do my best to recall all of you at that time.
I'd appreciate some prayers with something I'm trying to get through. You may have noticed the number by my name, and that represents something that I'm not really ready to talk about, but I would definitely appreciate the support. Thanks so much, everyone. ^_^
God bless!
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Post by Bacon on May 24, 2008 21:36:39 GMT -5
You've got me curious, though- when you say that Jesus only healed us spiritually, not physically, what were you basing that on? A verse? A seminar? A devotional? *Hopes it's something I can look up easily because otherwise I just know the procrastinating bug is going to bite my lazy butt* I didn't mean to bash you, just... try to correct what sounded incorrect to me. Unfortunately I don't have a verse handy. It's just one of my core beliefs that God doesn't heal you from every single flaw you have physically when you accept Jesus. God does give people what they ask for, but he sometimes waits, and sometimes he doesn't give it to them, because they have more to gain without it. Also, as Kit already said, the verses you are quoting refer to spiritual healing. It's written in more physical terms so we can understand what they mean. If they put it in more spiritual or theological words, only seminary students, preachers, and theologians could understand the basic meaning of the verse. |
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Post by Pacmanite on May 24, 2008 23:40:34 GMT -5
I'm working my way past the Pentateuch - the first five books up to Deuteronomy - and I'm really surprised at how many of the crimes Moses talks about have the death penalty. The one that really struck me was Deut 21:18 about a son who refuses to obey his parents even after being punished, and that the parents are allowed to drag him off to be executed for the dishonour. Now, I have no qualms whatsoever with parents disciplining their children (within reason), because any parent who loves their children will want their children to grow up with a sense of morals and decency, but what sort of lengths would it take for a parent to want to have their beloved child killed?  I suppose this illustrates how the Law from the Old Testament was not the thing that could save the Israelites, and that what they really needed was a Messiah, but... I don't know, it sort of breaks my heart to think about these things that would go wrong in the family in those days when family was the absolute most important aspect of daily life (and still is, in some ways), that if you didn't have any kids, you'd starve to death when you became too old to work, no one would be there to bury your body, etc. I'm very glad that many of you are experiencing God's grace and answered prayers. Though I've also got the view that prayer will not guarantee a miracle, because God has his own plans, and remember too, part of Jesus' example prayer is "let your will be done on earth as in heaven". We do not know God's will exactly, only He does, so we have no idea if what we're asking is possibly interfering with that. It's up to Him. On a more amusing note, I found Deut 23:12 gives very practical advice regarding a very environmentally friendly way to build an expense-free toilet for the army, by use of a digging implement. Very practical. But I shudder to think what might have happened if Moses left this piece of advice out. |
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Post by Komori on May 25, 2008 1:57:16 GMT -5
I'm working my way past the Pentateuch - the first five books up to Deuteronomy - and I'm really surprised at how many of the crimes Moses talks about have the death penalty. The one that really struck me was Deut 21:18 about a son who refuses to obey his parents even after being punished, and that the parents are allowed to drag him off to be executed for the dishonour. Now, I have no qualms whatsoever with parents disciplining their children (within reason), because any parent who loves their children will want their children to grow up with a sense of morals and decency, but what sort of lengths would it take for a parent to want to have their beloved child killed? I suppose this illustrates how the Law from the Old Testament was not the thing that could save the Israelites, and that what they really needed was a Messiah, but... I don't know, it sort of breaks my heart to think about these things that would go wrong in the family in those days when family was the absolute most important aspect of daily life (and still is, in some ways), that if you didn't have any kids, you'd starve to death when you became too old to work, no one would be there to bury your body, etc. Well, in the Old Testament, people had tons and tons of kids, because they had lots of wives and concubines........ But yeah, there are quite a few of those old laws that bugged me tons. Especially the women's rights and all that. >_> I'm very glad that many of you are experiencing God's grace and answered prayers. Though I've also got the view that prayer will not guarantee a miracle, because God has his own plans, and remember too, part of Jesus' example prayer is "let your will be done on earth as in heaven". We do not know God's will exactly, only He does, so we have no idea if what we're asking is possibly interfering with that. It's up to Him. Well, that's why you should always pray for things to be done by His will. Because yeah, not every prayer is going to be answered the way you expect. I mean, I believe every earnest prayer will have an answer, but sometimes that answer is "no." |
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Post by xsoulweaverx on May 25, 2008 13:10:00 GMT -5
I haven't been here in a while.  Well, I think it's time for some updates, don't you? Mom went to court, and now she's got half custody, and primary care and control of the older of my two sisters. Not what we wanted (seriously, is anything more disruptive for a seven-year-old than the pinball game that is half custody?) but a definite improvement over her being with dad twenty-four/seven. A big thank-you to everybody who was praying for us- I'm really grateful to have my sister at least half back. I'd really appreciate it if you could keep praying, so hopefully soon we can get her back the rest of the way. So what about the rest of you? Any updates on your prayer requests? Even better, any answered prayers? That's great, Sarah ^^ Hopefully soon you'll have your sister back completely! An update with my cat: He went to see the vet a few weeks ago, and the vet says his cancer's spreading. He says he has about a year left to live. I'm not really sure what I'd thought about it before, but only a few days ago did it finally hit me that my cat's going to die. WAM! Just like that in the face. It also occured to me that none of the pets I've had had ever lived with me as long as they could have. My first dog died at around two years old of some sickness, my eight fish died because my housekeeper decided to wash their tank with soap, my other cat ran away after about a year and was never seen from again, we had to give away another dog because he was too wild after two years and we were getting in trouble with our landlord, and now my cat's dying when he could live for another few years. I'm kind of nervous about my current dog now. I don't want anything to happen to her  So I've been praying for both my animals. Miracles happen On a happier note, some of my prayers have been answered ^^ My workload at school has finally become a little less stressful at school, but that little bit is a big difference actually. I don't feel quite so overwhelmed. I also passed an English test with 95% which I needed after the previous test I'd done horribly on, as well as getting 100% on a Social Studies short story ^^ Tk ∆: That's horrible D: Why would someone do such a thing? I'll definitely be praying. @craig: I've noticed those numbers O__o I've been curious because they seem to go up everytime I see them. Whatever's happening in your life, you have my support. I've read through everything I've missed while I was dealing with a flash flood of homework, and I'll be praying for you all! |
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Post by sarahleeadvent on May 27, 2008 19:47:38 GMT -5
I'd appreciate some prayers with something I'm trying to get through. You may have noticed the number by my name, and that represents something that I'm not really ready to talk about, but I would definitely appreciate the support. Thanks so much, everyone. ^_^ God bless! I'll definitely be praying for you. I hope whatever it is gets better soon. Gaah, I'd just finished typing a long, detailed reply to the ongoing healing subject. Having spent a fair bit of time on it, I felt I'd explained things pretty well, and was ready to post. Do you know what happened then? The power went out. So before I take the time to redo that post, there is something I would like to know: is anybody even interested in the viewpoint on healing I expressed, or am I just talking to a bunch of shaking heads? |
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Post by Komori on May 28, 2008 20:43:51 GMT -5
You know, today showed me just how important it is to have a strong fellowship with other believers. See, I've been going to this college ministry at SCAD called One Eighty. I've been going since the second week of freshman year, when my new friend and fellow-freshman invited me to go. It was different from a normal church sermon. We met in the basement of the church. A band played some contemporary Christian rock for a few songs, then the college minister would give a talk, or we'd have a guest speaker (sometimes even SCAD professors). Every so often, they'd change it up and have in interesting experiential worship service, so you could really revitalize and nothing would become hum-drum. It was supported by the local baptist church, and once a month they'd have a dinner night where anyone could come in for a free dinner. They'd throw a big Thanksgiving feast right before we got out for winter break. The family church even had adopt-a-student, where you could sign up to be the 'adopted' kid of a family, where you could go to their house if you were feeling blue. It was just something that felt so welcoming and was very different from the early-morning boring church sermons I had sat through when I was a kid. I felt like I grew so much as a Christian. I really started to read my Bible, and I discovered Christian music that wasn't just hymnals or gospel. It helped that I had a group of friends who also went to One Eighty, so it just became such an integrated part of our lives. So, just now, I come back from the senior dinner. It was a dinner, thrown for all the graduating seniors. It was held at one of the house of one of the church families, and it was just so nice. Everyone was even given a gift of a devotional Bible. It made me realize what a great family of believers I'd be leaving, and how much they had really done for me just started to sink in. It's going to be hard now, to leave such a supporting family and go out into the real world and try to find a place to plug in to another group of believers. Pretty soon, I'll be going out to California for animation, and I'm definitely not looking forward to looking for a church there. :< But anyway, I just encourage everyone to find a great church to belong to, if you haven't already. It can make the whole world of difference. We were never meant to go this alone. So before I take the time to redo that post, there is something I would like to know: is anybody even interested in the viewpoint on healing I expressed, or am I just talking to a bunch of shaking heads? Well, it's always interesting to discuss God's Word, so I wouldn't mind hearing it. |
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Post by Crystal on May 28, 2008 20:57:18 GMT -5
On a more amusing note, I found Deut 23:12 gives very practical advice regarding a very environmentally friendly way to build an expense-free toilet for the army, by use of a digging implement. Very practical. But I shudder to think what might have happened if Moses left this piece of advice out. Deuteronomy 23: 1, He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD. XDXDXD I'd appreciate some prayers with something I'm trying to get through. You may have noticed the number by my name, and that represents something that I'm not really ready to talk about, but I would definitely appreciate the support. Thanks so much, everyone. ^_^ God bless! I'll definitely be praying for you. I hope whatever it is gets better soon. Gaah, I'd just finished typing a long, detailed reply to the ongoing healing subject. Having spent a fair bit of time on it, I felt I'd explained things pretty well, and was ready to post. Do you know what happened then? The power went out. So before I take the time to redo that post, there is something I would like to know: is anybody even interested in the viewpoint on healing I expressed, or am I just talking to a bunch of shaking heads? I am interested (if you have an online version of this booklet you're talking about, that would be great), but I don't think I would totally agree with it. In general, most Christians rank God --> Bible --> other people's interpretation of Bible/God, so I'd like to see what the booklet said for myself. |
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I suppose this illustrates how the Law from the Old Testament was not the thing that could save the Israelites, and that what they really needed was a Messiah, but... I don't know, it sort of breaks my heart to think about these things that would go wrong in the family in those days when family was the absolute most important aspect of daily life (and still is, in some ways), that if you didn't have any kids, you'd starve to death when you became too old to work, no one would be there to bury your body, etc.
So I've been praying for both my animals. Miracles happen