Hong Kong getting smashed with the super super typhoon actually cyclone

originally posted by: randomuser

originally posted by: Freeborn
a reply to: putnam6

Used my faith and beliefs just 12 hours ago, last night my oldest daughter had an emergency appendectomy and she is fine.

I'm glad to hear your daughter is ok, it must be a great relief after what I imagine an incredibly stressful time.

Essentially I am Agnostic; there's not enough evidence to decide either way and I'm not one for blind faith in anything.
I don't discount the possibility, but with the lack of evidence available I chose not to think about it too much. I have enough things going on in my life without pondering on the unprovable.

A person's thought's should be just that; their thoughts.
No-one has the right to impose their thoughts and beliefs on anyone else.

But I have to say, most people's or religions Gods seem particularly spiteful, vindictive and pretty damn brutal and unforgiving at times.
I'm sure that if there is an Omniscient, Omnipotent being then unless 'he's' an incredibly narcissistic and vain entity then come some so called final Judgement Day he won't measure my worthiness on how well I can quote scripture or whether I went to church or not on a Sunday but rather on my acts and deeds and whether I'm a 'good person' or not.

But I digress, apologies.

I can understand the sentiments you express. And certainly many people who profess "faith" in God have disowned him by their despicable works in his name. I have come to know God is love above all else. And that that is my God. It is wrong to be disrespectful of others and their beliefs. But love and kindness, can melt through even the thickest and hardest of hearts. And that love shines down from the heavenly throne of undeserved kindness giving us light and life.

God is holy and must Judge. He is also love. It is who/what He is. Because of this love He died for you, for all of us, specifically, so whomever beliefs on the name of His son, will be saved from His holy, righteouss, judgement - for He is Good and can be trusted completely - the only being in all existence who can lay claim to such - for Hallowed be his name.

In the bible, it says a few times, God is holy, holy, holy.

You might be interested to know, no where does it say, God is love, love, love.

From this, I think it is vital to understand first off, God is holy - thrice holy. He is sinless and eternal. What is sin - it is death and a lie. Such things cannot exist and stand before a thrice holy God. Out of his love, mercy and grace. He gave a free price of salvation - entirely free.

So, on the day of judgement day, dear soul, for those who trust only the blood of Jesus to stand before God in His rightousness, not our own, those reborn of water and spirit, who have rivers of living water within from the holy spirit, He will not judge based on our works and this is the good news, for that is 100% impossible, 3 times over and removed from all 3 heavens is that impossible, but instead of how good Jesus was - He was sinless, so now, all who believe on His name, have become sinless - their sins imputed on Christ at the cross, having taken the judgement of God and died.

When GOD raised him, that is our assurance that we are forgive, and that is proof of your eternal life too - for He resurrected Christ - because He died without fault, having taken on our sin. God judged him but was able to judiciously raise Him from the dead because there was no fault in Him.

Living a perfect life, like Christ is the only ticket to heaven. No one can. That is why Christ had to die, otherwise the entire world would have been cast away and doomed for eternity - but the good news is that is NOT and has Never been the plan of God since He first mad man, the earth, even the very universe. There was always His plan of redemption, so his creation, can see His full glory - His holiness and His love, His rigteousness and power to judge sin and evil and His wisdom that He knows what is best for us and it is our joy and eternal life to obey Him and also, if all we knew was His awesome power of creation, how perfect and beautiful things are - are atleast, seen a a pale glass darkly, how perfect and beautiful they could become when He arrives again in his glory and with His rightouesness, How could we ever discover or learn about His mercy - His blessed mercy! For those who are forgiven much, love much. How much will his creation worship him forever knowing how much has been forgiven them in the face of his absolute, perfect and terrible rightous judgement and holiness.

So, we are also afforded to learn about His grace, which give us even deeper knowledge and appreciation of His love, of what true love actually is, for greater love hath no man than this, that he give his life for his friends! How then could we learn about faith? Or how to overcome evil?

The first thing I'd imagine his creation seeing in heaven facing God is his holiness and perfect goodness and rigghtousness, Him with all of the wonderul heavenly creatures surrounding Him also in perfect spiritual holiness - we would fall naked, helpless, and but as dead before such a beautiful, holy being of pure Good, only then coming face to face with the desperately wicked depravity in us

Well, that is certainly true for the unrepentant heart and unconverted, But alas, we should no doubt see His Goodness, but out sins will not be accounted unto us. We will not be condemned knowing full well its only because of Him. Perhaps we will be able to stand and not fall flat on our faces - the bible does say through our faith in Jesus, we can come unto the throne boldy Alas, I could imagine there always being an understanding of gratitude between whence we came from, a fallen world when our hearts were desperately wicked, now, in glorified bodies, able ever to worship such a thrice holy God, in his temple, meditating and worshipping Him for all eternity, and being able to do so without fear! Nay chasing all the love and knowledge of Him forever, in everlasting bodies. For that is the only worthy eternal life.

No works will ever get anyone into heaven. Only faith in the blood of Jesus to serve as propitiation.

Even if someone fed the entire planet, healed all disease, a mother teresa x 1 billion. That would still not be even to blot out even a single sin - For God is perfect and his holiness demands and requires standards from us. Only his own rigtheousness can be impute on us to get us into heaven. All of heaven and humanity will always owe their eternal life of knowing God and the son entirely to them and all of mankind, even the angels in heaven, all righteousness and love, it all comes from God imputed unto us. It is self pride, self righteousness, trying to work oneself into heaven, as if at some point God will ever be indebted to our good works so He can no longer deny us eternal life and heaven, HA, the bible says all of our works are as filthy rags before a thrice holy God.

Just some thougts to ponder. May God forgive any sins of presumptios. His be the Kindgom and glory forever, amen

a reply to: TTU77

What a wonderful post. I appreciate the time you took in it to give me your understanding of God's love and mercy and his holiness. You sentiments call to mind the words in Ephesians:

"Furthermore, God made you alive, though you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you at one time walked according to the system of things of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. 3 Yes, among them we all at one time conducted ourselves in harmony with the desires of our flesh, carrying out the will of the flesh and of our thoughts, and we were naturally children of wrath just as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 5 made us alive together with the Christ, even when we were dead in trespasses—by undeserved kindness you have been saved."-Ephesians 2:1-5.

When Jesus came to earth he said he did not come to judge but to save the sinners:

"But if anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I came, not to judge the world, but to save the world. "-John 12:47.

When Jesus returns it will be to judge and he will separate the sheep from the goats and the goats will go off into everlasting cutting-off, and the sheep into everlasting life.

Judgement Day, is the 1,000 year reign of Christ over the earth. During that time untold billions who are now resting peacefully in the sleep of death who are in God's memory will be raised back to life and new scrolls will be opened. And God will judge them according to how they respond to them. That is why it is called Judgement Day:

"Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, and those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment."-John 5:28-29.

Thanks, there was a bit more I couldn't fit in my post I wanted to add that I expanded upon.

So, we are also afforded to learn about His grace, which give us even deeper knowledge and appreciation of His love, of what true love actually is, for greater love hath no man than this, that he give his life for his friends! How then could we learn about faith or how to grow our faith or how not to love our lives above higher true things like for God’s will, his name, and His kingdom? Or how to overcome evil by not fighting it back with evil, but repaying evil for good even upon blessing those he persecute or even kill you or your loved ones. For in faith, you rise above the even, forgive and ask God to save their souls - having pity on their darken state - that they may come into the light - for to be out of body is to be with Christ - it is gain for blessed are those persecuted for His sake.

Who can fathom the heart and mind of God - the purpose of his plan of redemption is many, many, many fold and is divine. We learn of his glory and the lessons we learn he deems it necessary and worthy we learn to serve Him for eternity - for he seeks those who worship in spirit and truth - through his grace, is there a bounds to our appreciation and love and praise and worship of Him. Praise God, for it is right to do so for all eternity. These are the things this earth is revealing to man, born in the image of God, as wait for Christ return and whenever He returns, and even more during the 1000 years unto the new Jerusalem. For no eye has seen all the wonders He has prepared for those who love and fear Him. For all eternity may such things and His righteousness and holiness be revealed unto us, that we may ever worship and please Him, for His namesake and glory, for all time, praise God! Amen

originally posted by: TTU77
Thanks, there was a bit more I couldn't fit in my post I wanted to add that I expanded upon.

So, we are also afforded to learn about His grace, which give us even deeper knowledge and appreciation of His love, of what true love actually is, for greater love hath no man than this, that he give his life for his friends! How then could we learn about faith or how to grow our faith or how not to love our lives above higher true things like for God’s will, his name, and His kingdom? Or how to overcome evil by not fighting it back with evil, but repaying evil for good even upon blessing those he persecute or even kill you or your loved ones. For in faith, you rise above the even, forgive and ask God to save their souls - having pity on their darken state - that they may come into the light - for to be out of body is to be with Christ - it is gain for blessed are those persecuted for His sake.

Who can fathom the heart and mind of God - the purpose of his plan of redemption is many, many, many fold and is divine. We learn of his glory and the lessons we learn he deems it necessary and worthy we learn to serve Him for eternity - for he seeks those who worship in spirit and truth - through his grace, is there a bounds to our appreciation and love and praise and worship of Him. Praise God, for it is right to do so for all eternity. These are the things this earth is revealing to man, born in the image of God, as wait for Christ return and whenever He returns, and even more during the 1000 years unto the new Jerusalem. For no eye has seen all the wonders He has prepared for those who love and fear Him. For all eternity may such things and His righteousness and holiness be revealed unto us, that we may ever worship and please Him, for His namesake and glory, for all time, praise God! Amen

I apologize I didn't realize you were not done. And I wholeheartedly agree. To tie all of this in with the thread, as this is off subject. God does not use natural disasters and make both righteous and unrighteous suffer indiscriminately.

He always warns the wicked before he executes divine judgement. And it is always swift and just. The idea that he haphazardly and indiscriminately wreaks havoc and makes people suffer by means of the natural disasters is a horrible slander on God's good and holy name.

originally posted by: randomuser
a reply to: TTU77



Judgement Day, is the 1,000 year reign of Christ over the earth. During that time untold billions who are now resting peacefully in the sleep of death who are in God's memory will be raised back to life and new scrolls will be opened. And God will judge them according to how they respond to them. That is why it is called Judgement Day:

This is a rather interesting idea. I now that Jacob's trial, for the Jews and Israel, usher's in the tribulation, the beast and the mark, and then armageddon until finally the return of Christ, aka Judgement day, but I have not read or heard this will occur throughout the millenium, which to my understanding is 7th day of rest in God's prophetic timeline, given that 1 day equals a thousand years.

What makes you think it lasts that long. Can the thousand year "day" of rest be one also of judgement?

I know there are a few ressurections. Possibly, the ressurection of the righteous during the millenium, and the ressurection of the unjust, aka the great white throne judgement after the millenium, when Satan is thrown in the lake of fire - the unrighteous is then thrown in there with him and the fallen angels who followed him.

P.s. always a pleasure talking to a believer, sometimes, I wonder why I spend so much time on such a secular, unbelieving site. It just shows there is a vast difference between intelligence and wisdom - the later being of the spirit and coming directly from God, no matter the IQ, even a child can have the very wisdom of God that would leave even Einstein a fool unto in his own vain imaginations.

originally posted by: randomuser

originally posted by: TTU77
Thanks, there was a bit more I couldn't fit in my post I wanted to add that I expanded upon.

So, we are also afforded to learn about His grace, which give us even deeper knowledge and appreciation of His love, of what true love actually is, for greater love hath no man than this, that he give his life for his friends! How then could we learn about faith or how to grow our faith or how not to love our lives above higher true things like for God’s will, his name, and His kingdom? Or how to overcome evil by not fighting it back with evil, but repaying evil for good even upon blessing those he persecute or even kill you or your loved ones. For in faith, you rise above the even, forgive and ask God to save their souls - having pity on their darken state - that they may come into the light - for to be out of body is to be with Christ - it is gain for blessed are those persecuted for His sake.

Who can fathom the heart and mind of God - the purpose of his plan of redemption is many, many, many fold and is divine. We learn of his glory and the lessons we learn he deems it necessary and worthy we learn to serve Him for eternity - for he seeks those who worship in spirit and truth - through his grace, is there a bounds to our appreciation and love and praise and worship of Him. Praise God, for it is right to do so for all eternity. These are the things this earth is revealing to man, born in the image of God, as wait for Christ return and whenever He returns, and even more during the 1000 years unto the new Jerusalem. For no eye has seen all the wonders He has prepared for those who love and fear Him. For all eternity may such things and His righteousness and holiness be revealed unto us, that we may ever worship and please Him, for His namesake and glory, for all time, praise God! Amen

I apologize I didn't realize you were not done. And I wholeheartedly agree. To tie all of this in with the thread, as this is off subject. God does not use natural disasters and make both righteous and unrighteous suffer indiscriminately.

He always warns the wicked before he executes divine judgement. And it is always swift and just. The idea that he haphazardly and indiscriminately wreaks havoc and makes people suffer by means of the natural disasters is a horrible slander on God's good and holy name.

Hey, no worries, haha, I ran out of words to type so I needed to open a new post window.

Also, apologies for digressing the thread so much, back on topic. I also agree that is not how God operates. He has planned a day for judgement. In his soverienty, I'd imagine any justice he does would not impede free will, for he seeks a people to worship him in spirit and truth out of their own hearts, strking down nations for the leaders actions might curtail such.

originally posted by: TTU77

originally posted by: randomuser

originally posted by: TTU77
Thanks, there was a bit more I couldn't fit in my post I wanted to add that I expanded upon.

So, we are also afforded to learn about His grace, which give us even deeper knowledge and appreciation of His love, of what true love actually is, for greater love hath no man than this, that he give his life for his friends! How then could we learn about faith or how to grow our faith or how not to love our lives above higher true things like for God’s will, his name, and His kingdom? Or how to overcome evil by not fighting it back with evil, but repaying evil for good even upon blessing those he persecute or even kill you or your loved ones. For in faith, you rise above the even, forgive and ask God to save their souls - having pity on their darken state - that they may come into the light - for to be out of body is to be with Christ - it is gain for blessed are those persecuted for His sake.

Who can fathom the heart and mind of God - the purpose of his plan of redemption is many, many, many fold and is divine. We learn of his glory and the lessons we learn he deems it necessary and worthy we learn to serve Him for eternity - for he seeks those who worship in spirit and truth - through his grace, is there a bounds to our appreciation and love and praise and worship of Him. Praise God, for it is right to do so for all eternity. These are the things this earth is revealing to man, born in the image of God, as wait for Christ return and whenever He returns, and even more during the 1000 years unto the new Jerusalem. For no eye has seen all the wonders He has prepared for those who love and fear Him. For all eternity may such things and His righteousness and holiness be revealed unto us, that we may ever worship and please Him, for His namesake and glory, for all time, praise God! Amen

I apologize I didn't realize you were not done. And I wholeheartedly agree. To tie all of this in with the thread, as this is off subject. God does not use natural disasters and make both righteous and unrighteous suffer indiscriminately.

He always warns the wicked before he executes divine judgement. And it is always swift and just. The idea that he haphazardly and indiscriminately wreaks havoc and makes people suffer by means of the natural disasters is a horrible slander on God's good and holy name.

Hey, no worries, haha, I ran out of words to type so I needed to open a new post window.

Also, apologies for digressing the thread so much, back on topic. I also agree that is not how God operates. He has planned a day for judgement. In his soverienty, I'd imagine any justice he does would not impede free will, for he seeks a people to worship him in spirit and truth out of their own hearts, strking down nations for the leaders actions might curtail such.

I want to have an interchange of encouragement with you. Let us make it on another thread and a little later I will start a thread and send you a PM about Judgement Day. I just got busy here so I don't know when it will be.

I agree with you It was a pleasure to listen to the words of faith as you write them. I makes me happy and proud to see it in you.

originally posted by: Freeborn
a reply to: putnam6

Used my faith and beliefs just 12 hours ago, last night my oldest daughter had an emergency appendectomy and she is fine.

I'm glad to hear your daughter is ok, it must be a great relief after what I imagine an incredibly stressful time.

Essentially I am Agnostic; there's not enough evidence to decide either way and I'm not one for blind faith in anything.
I don't discount the possibility, but with the lack of evidence available I chose not to think about it too much. I have enough things going on in my life without pondering on the unprovable.

A person's thought's should be just that; their thoughts.
No-one has the right to impose their thoughts and beliefs on anyone else.

But I have to say, most people's or religions Gods seem particularly spiteful, vindictive and pretty damn brutal and unforgiving at times.
I'm sure that if there is an Omniscient, Omnipotent being then unless 'he's' an incredibly narcissistic and vain entity then come some so called final Judgement Day he won't measure my worthiness on how well I can quote scripture or whether I went to church or not on a Sunday but rather on my acts and deeds and whether I'm a 'good person' or not.

But I digress, apologies.

Thanks,

Just for clarification, my faith and beliefs helped me deal with being 3,000 miles away and not being able to be there for her. Fairly certain her good health and the excellent doctors and nurses were all she needed to actually survive

I definitely believe in personal choice, we weren't super religious growing up, and rarely attended church, but we were raised as our faith and belief were something personal we held inside. Even with my daughters, we let them decide on their own, and while both had their atheist and agnostic periods, they seem to be moving towards belief in something more of an afterlife and infinite wisdom

While appendectomies are fairly routine I didn't go to sleep till her husband let me know she was out of surgery and awake and everything was okay.