Standing Firm

[grace2u (grace2u)]

Anyone out there ever feel very secure about what they believe and the accuracy of what they believe and then something happens in their life to cause them to think they were wrong in the first place . . . or when they listen to the word of God, they seem to hear completely different things than they have noticed in the same passages before?

Or is it just me? (Or am I just depressed?)

(Message edited by grace2u on April 24, 2005)

[grace2u (grace2u)]

OK, I guess it is just me.

[grace2u (grace2u)]

http://www.factnet.org/discus/clipart/uhoh.gif

[just_curious (just_curious)]

grace2u,
Yes, I've experienced that and it's not necessarily a negative thing.
Maybe you can be a little more specific?

[grace2u (grace2u)]

I think a lot of it is due to the death of my mother but I am confused about the following verse: (I'm sure I had pat answers before but now I am confused)

James 2: 24

Ye see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only.

Perhaps I have just forgot the meaning of justification. It has been a confusing time.

[yaakov (yaakov)]

<font color="0000ff">Anyone out there ever feel very secure about what they believe and the accuracy of what they believe and then something happens in their life to cause them to think they were wrong in the first place</font>

Oh sure. When I was young, I was sure that God didn't exist and that science had all the answers. Then I had an experience which caused me to re-evaluate my beliefs. Over a three year period, I found proof of God's existence. I embraced my religion and began to educate myself about it.

<font color="0000ff">or when they listen to the word of God, they seem to hear completely different things than they have noticed in the same passages before</font>

Again yes. The bible can be read on multiple levels, e.g. literal, metaphorical, allegorical. There are sages that spend their whole lives studying the bible and yet continue to find new truths in it.

[just_curious (just_curious)]

grace2u,
I'm sorry to hear about your mother's death.

I think that James' point is that works or deeds are evidence of saving faith. If someone claims to have faith but there is no evidence of it, then James is questioning whether it is genuine faith. So he is not saying that the works are what saves, but that works are the evidence of salvation. "James is occupied with the contrast between faith that is real and faith that is false, a faith barren and dead, which is not faith at all." Vine's Expository Dictionary

[grace2u (grace2u)]

just curious,

Thank you for your sympathies. You are probably right about the above and I am probably just tripped up because of the circumstances right now. But I am going to look at it a little further. It bothers me that I am being tripped up by something that should not be tripping me up.

Maybe I'm being a little hard on myself.

And thanks Yaakov, it's nice to know I'm not alone.

God Bless,

(Message edited by Grace2U on April 27, 2005)

[godchild (godchild)]

grace2u, I have been right where you are many times. That doesn't mean that God has left you on your own. He is right there waiting for you to call on him to answer your questions.
I'd like to share the following short story with you:
DUFF STUFF
You are...mighty in work, for Your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men. Jeremiah 32:19
When something big happens--a blessing or a tragedy-- we recognize it immediately and respond with praise or pleading to God. When we find a long-sought-after job, hear of a loved one coming to Christ, or get bad news from the doctor, we think of God and turn to Him. But in the little things--the routine, the mundane, the details--it's easy for us to overlook that he is working (Jeremiah 32:19).
God is at work in the big and little things of the forest too. The big stuff, which is visible and colorful, is called duff--the partly decayed organic matter of leaves and sticks that covers the forest floor. But if you rake back the duff, you will find all sorts of important little things happening. The soil is rich and dark, and smells of life. It is filled with tiny plants, insects, and a variety of fungi. There under the duff they are performing an important function, for with them God is building the future forest.
The Lord works similarly with His people. Of course His eyes are on the big issues of life. But He's also at work "under the duff" through our everyday activities, preparing us for the significant tasks He has planned for us.
So when the mundane gets you down, thank God for what's under the duff.==Dave Egner
We can give thanks in everything
And say, "Your will be done,"
For God's at work in everything
To make us like His Son.--D. DeHaan

Whenever I feel like I'm not doing enough, I watch my pet parakeet. He doesn't do one whit of work, and yet I value him and love him dearly, and appreciate having him in my life. I think that is how God feels about us.

[grace2u (grace2u)]

Thanks godchild. I hear ya and trusting God to take care of me right now (and forever).

God Bless,

[sharon (sharon)]

grace2u (grace2u... I once preached against the bible and thought I knew what it was saying, I spoke out about a horrible god who rubbed dung in the face of his creations. He was equally impressed with me. I have gone from there to having a personal relationship with God and seeing things a lot differently. I love that God shows us new meaning behind scripture, new to us not to him. it’s the old I was blind but now I see. I find this one of the most wonderful things about the bible. How are you enjoying it? I do not know about justification exactly but I will say that one can not help but do good works when one knows the Lord, it becomes part of your nature to do what your Father would wish you to do. May God Bless you.

Gods Child, loved what you said. I have dogs and they do not do much work either. That unconditional love they give must be what God wants from us.