God Looks Upon the World

reply to post by backcase

We start our part of the transformation in the world by starting the transformation in ourselves. Mercy is needed otherwise nothing would endure. God is the Just judge but God is also mercy. Jesus says to the Father to have mercy upon even his murderers, and it is given to them, that the may be given the chance to transform.

You may not see it, but it is there. And you can also be that catalyst in people by having mercy upon them.

Yes. Thank you, yes.
I do see it. I have mercy, and I understand what you are saying.
Thanks again.

reply to post by vethumanbeing

Not a myth, and not relegated to a valley in the Mexico Interior. I; just like you when leaving your human self, (?????) as you do this all of the time when asleep and experience other lifeforms as well.

This was a GREAT post. I hope you got applause. (You did from me, in any case, for what it's worth )
I'm totally in agreement that when I'm asleep and dreaming (most intensely in the pre-dawn morning), I AM in a different dimension....and it IS REAL.

I got some horrible news today -
I'm just trying to hang on here.....

But, thanks for this post, VHB.
~wild

Originally posted by wildtimes
reply to post by veteranhumanbeing

veteranhumanbeingNot a myth, and not relegated to a valley in the Mexico Interior. I; just like you when leaving your human self, (?????) as you do this all of the time when asleep and experience other lifeforms as well.

wildtimes
This was a GREAT post. I hope you got applause. (You did from me, in any case, for what it's worth

)
I'm totally in agreement that when I'm asleep and dreaming (most intensely in the pre-dawn morning), I AM in a different dimension....and it IS REAL. But thanks for the post VHB.

I got some horrible news today - I'm just trying to hang on here.....

Tomorrow will bring a different aspect to your realtime experience, I am thinking of you. Sleeptime/dreamtime is very apparent in the pre-dawn hours, wherein youve had a good sleep/regeneration then you travel to the other dimensions as PLAYTIME. Let me/us know how you are tomorrow?

reply to post by backcase


Would god feel/think anything. God is supposed to be infallible, all knowing. So god knows how it all turns out in the end and what paths you will take already. God would look at the earth and humans and say I told myself so.

reply to post by ZeussusZ

So god knows how it all turns out in the end and what paths you will take already.

I have yet to find where the Bible says that, so I think that people thinking that are basically on their own on that.
The theme of the New Testament is abundant grace so that every person has the opportunity for salvation.

Originally posted by jmdewey60
reply to post by ZeussusZ

 

So god knows how it all turns out in the end and what paths you will take already.

I have yet to find where the Bible says that, so I think that people thinking that are basically on their own on that.

Try reading Psalm 139. Among other relevant bits, this is exactly what ZeussusZ said:

all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

reply to post by vethumanbeing


Doing better....yesterday was awful.
Today was a step forward...but there's a LONG road ahead.

Rocky. A Rocky Road.


Being a parent.

reply to post by adjensen

Try reading Psalm 139.

I have read that before.
It seems to be saying that people have a limited lifespan.
So it does not confirm the idea that it is all somehow predetermined what we will do.

Originally posted by jmdewey60
reply to post by adjensen

 

Try reading Psalm 139.

I have read that before.
It seems to be saying that people have a limited lifespan.

Well, it doesn't say that the number of days is written down, it says that the days are written down.

So it does not confirm the idea that it is all somehow predetermined what we will do.

Conceptually, it's not that everything is pre-determined, it is that for God, who is outside of time, there is no past or future, everything in our reality is "now" to him.

reply to post by adjensen


Everything is "now" to us as well. Now is all that exists and has ever existed. The past and future are only different iterations of the "now" and are no longer real once they pass.

Itisnowagain could explain it better than I could I'm sure.

reply to post by adjensen

Conceptually, it's not that everything is predetermined, it is that for God, who is outside of time, there is no past or future, everything in our reality is "now" to him.

That's not in the Bible either.
These are just things people have made up over the last so many hundreds of years.

reply to post by jmdewey60


It is inferred as an explanation for what is in the Bible. God cannot create reality from within reality, so it stands to reason that he is beyond it -- outside of space and time. It is unlikely that people 3,500 years ago would have been able to grasp such concepts, and thus we find statements such as Psalm 139 which couch those ideas in terms that would have been understood back then.

reply to post by adjensen

. . . we find statements such as Psalm 139 which couch those ideas in terms that would have been understood back then.

The only other place where we find that same Hebrew word in the Old Testament for a written document, is where Moses is pleading for the Israelites after they rebelled in,
Ex. 32:32,
But now, please forgive their sin--but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written."
(2011 NIV)
so that it seems to be talking about a record of the living, rather than a prediction of what people are going to do with that life. I think that goes along with what I said earlier, that there is an expectation that people will be alive for a period of time.
If you look at the Septuagint, the Greek word corresponding with at one in the Hebrew is the diminutive, meaning rather than a full book, it could be a single-paged document.

reply to post by jmdewey60


so are you saying god is not all knowing?

reply to post by ZeussusZ

so are you saying god is not all knowing?

I'm saying that God does not know everything that is going to happen, and basing this opinion on the absence of evidence within canonical scripture supporting the claim by some people that He does.

A Christian could argue that an example of His knowing the future is the prophecies in Daniel.
It looks to a lot of fundamentalists that he predicted the Roman Empire and the EU.
Its actually a lot more obscure than that, where at the time it was written (way after the time of the events depicted in the story) there was already the advancement of the Hellenistic Empire under Alexander, then the break-up of the empire after his death, then a deterioration into fighting between the smaller kingdoms for dominance, then the apparent attack by certain kings upon the inhabitants of their own kingdoms, such as the classic example, Antiochus Epiphanes around 160 BC.

Words like omnipotence and omniscience are things that do not exist in the language of the Bible itself but are terms arrived at later, when philosophy began to be employed in order to establish a normative form of Christianity.

reply to post by backcase

a woman in labor experiences excruciating pain. But it is a fruitful pain which brings newness and life.

Indeed....
the thing is, that as the child grows older, and into a young adult, every time he or she is hurting, that excruciating pain returns.

I recall when I was pregnant with my eldest, asking the Lamaze teacher: "I'm worried about whether my baby is okay; does that ever go away?"

And she looked me in the eyes and after a brief pause, said:

"No."

And that is the truth. My son is currently enduring a crisis - and my heart literally feels broken. The pain in my chest cavity is overwhelming - I start to shudder and tremble, to weep - much like the grief when my father died.

Anyway, sorry to be off-topic. I hope the Divinity that we all spring from is sending more angels - for all of us.
Mine are hard at work right now....double duty -- for me and for my son.
I will NOT stop or give up.....
is that what God wants from us?? I don't know. But right now, I need a hand.

reply to post by wildtimes


My prayers certainly go out to you, mother. There are chords from the hearts of mothers to their children. Although it is painful it is also a gift.

You are growing in love, woman. Suffering is what plows the ground so that seeds may grow and bloom towards heaven.

Always have hope and always wish peace. Never quit with your good will, never despair. Life is not easy for anyone, but it is certainly fruitful for the soul.

I do not know if you have ever read my thread 'God's Life Among Us', but it is something I meditate on when I am stressed and it brings me to joyful humble tears. It helps me to remember that God is with me, that I am loved, and that all occurs according to his beautiful will.

Peace to you, mother.

reply to post by jmdewey60


I think is stated quite clearly god is all knowing. Past, present and the future.

Job 28:24


For he looks to the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.

1 John 3:19-20


By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

Hebrews 4:13


And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Isaiah 46:9


I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done.

Matthew 10:30


But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.


Psalm 139:4


Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

reply to post by ZeussusZ

. . . god is all knowing.

The translators of Job 28:24 seem to be taking literary license, using the figurative understanding of the words, where literally it says that God "sees all things under the heavens".

Here's a good verse,
John 18:4
Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, "Who is it you want?"
(2011 NIV)
for an example in order to make a comparison with the verse you gave, 1 John 3:19-20, since it has the same Greek words in it, that comes out in the translation of your verse saying that God "knows everything".
Jesus apparently knew that Judas was going to betray him, something he realized earlier that evening, according to the version in the gospel of John, Jesus knew Judas' heart. So it was not a matter of directly knowing what was going to happen by looking into the future, but being able to figure out that, when he saw Judas approaching, he was there to identify Jesus to the people intent on killing Jesus.
In 1 John it is saying that God can read our hearts too.

Hebrews 4:13 is talking about a judgment everyone will have to go through where no one will be able to hide.

The verse you quoted as Isaiah 46:9 is actually the second part of verse 9 and the first part of verse 10, where it splits the sentences up and changes the meaning, and leaves out the explanatory part.
What it is really saying is that God makes things happen that He wills ahead of time to have happen. So He is not looking into the future somehow to see what is going to happen, things happen because He makes them happen.

Matthew 10:30 seems to me to be saying that "your very hairs" have value, by the context, not that anyone sits there and actually counts them.

Psalm 139:4 seems to be another case of the translators taking literary license, where they add the "before" that is not in the Hebrew. It looks like they got the idea from the Greek version, where it says "For there was no word on my tongue", and figured out that there was no word because he hadn't said it yet.

reply to post by jmdewey60


well I guess it comes down to interpretation. You say " it seems to me", well it seems to me as well. I'm OK with both of us being right, as this is my experience here and yours is yours.