All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others
Four General Belief Systems: Which is yours?
Ok, I've been in a pit of depression over quite a lot of things taking place over the last week and a half that I won't even go into. I'm still not sure where I stand internally right now. But it seems every time I go through these, I come out with something to say.
So as I sat listening half-heartedly to the sermon tonight, it was all about faith. It was....James 1:6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. It was God can't help you unless YOU (by yourself) have faith and speak positive and change your words. I sat there getting more upset by the sermon than I already was.
On the drive home I realized that I have heard basically four principal beliefs. And thereby many of the reasons we have so many denominations. Please tell me which you believe and why you believe it. I will tell you which I believe and why I believe it, then I will tell you what came to me as to why you AND I believe as we do.
The Four General Belief Systems:
1. The above message that without faith, it is impossible to please God.
2. A step further that there is life and death in the tongue, that we must speak a thing into existence (name it and claim it?)
3. That God won't do anything outside His will no matter what we speak or pray. We gave this world to satan and God will step in where necessary but for the most part, satan's going to hit us with everything he can.
4. That God will step in and show Himself in our lives and solidify our faith/belief. That He will bring it to pass and "Lord I believe, but help my unbelief (doubt)".
I believe #4 is closer to the truth for many reasons. This passage in particular. Jesus did not tell the man go away you doubter. He also didn't spit in the face of doubting Thomas but instead stuck out His hands. God certainly is pleased by faith, but He ALSO said He came to heal the brokenhearted.
What does a brokenhearted person look like?
bro·ken·heart·ed
adjective \-ˈhär-təd\| a. | 1. | Having the spirits depressed or crushed by grief or despair. |
de·spair
verb \di-ˈsper\intransitive verb
Hmmm, interesting. So God heals people who have lost all hope or confidence. Brokenhearted people, people who have suffered one traumatic blow after another throughout their lives perhaps, have learned: You can't trust, you have nothing to hope for, life stinks, it's every man for themself to survive, no one cares, people lie, etc.
So how does God heal this without doing things in your life to show you that He's there, that He hears, cares? That means #4 is true....God will step in and show Himself to solidify our faith/belief.
So here's the kicker. Does that make #1 a lie? No. And therein lies the answer to: So why is it that #1 says the man who is double-minded (doubts) won't receive anything and #4 says I believe but help my unbelief (doubt) and Jesus helped the man?
Going back to the discussions of....does scripture contradict itself? How would you explain these two verses side-by-side?
Well here is how I explained them tonight in my head driving home.
The Bible wasn't written to Paul. It wasn't written to the Corinthians. It wasn't written to the Philippians, the Gentiles, the Jews....the Bible was written to EVERYONE.
It was written to Joe Blow who grew up in a loving home, attended church faithfully, accepted Christ at the age of 8, has a strong mental capacity, is a go-getter, graduated college and met his loving wife of 20 years raising 2 kids who he now puts through college and his dog Bruno.
It was written to Jane Doe who's father molested her, who's mother turned her back to it all and berated her for it, who had health issues most of her life, who's family never showed her love, never bought a dog, and kicked her out of the house pregnant at 16 so she could be beaten by the father of her child for the next few years. Maybe heard the Gospel preached for the first time at the age of 25. She now comes to Christ, dejected, hurt, unable to trust, unable to love, emotionally scarred.
Message #1 is going to be a slap in her face and message #4 won't appeal to forceful Joe.
And here's where the church I believe falls into so many problems. We split off. We label one another. We start tossing out the term false prophets.
In 2 Peter 2:1 it speaks of false prophets who deny the Master. Matthew 24:24 speaks of false Christs/Messiahs. Galatians 1:6 says "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel."
The Gospel is the Gospel of Christ, the message of Christ Jesus, son of God, come down in the flesh, died on the cross and rose again. The message is to be like Christ. The false prophets teaching a false gospel are those teaching something other than Christ. They are not those who teach you can speak in tongues, you can't speak in tongues, you can cast out demons, you can't cast out demons, you can speak it and claim, God will bring you through and give you revelation.
I am praying fervently that I do not keep falling into despair. I likely have sleep apnea and after my sleep study have been scheduled for a CPAP mask study. I have hormonal issues that hopefully a minor operation sometime soon in the future I hope will take care of, and I have major traumatic childhood experiences and current experiences in life that go on and on without a seeming end. Yet right now, perhaps the despair, these events, are all so that I have something to impart. And what I impart here...let's stop beating each other down and shouting out false gospel. Instead let us realize we are all from different backgrounds, different personalities, and way different life experiences. And the Bible is written in such a way that it has a message for us all depending upon where WE are personally at. It is not meant to be something we beat each other over the head with using A scripture.
So the next time someone has a doubt, rather than say "Let not the double-minded man think he should receive anything from God", tell him "Lord he believes, but help his unbelief". Because one message helps him and the other doesn't. Which do you think Jesus would impart to him? The message of hope or the message of get away from me you worthless doubter?
I know this is long and if you read this far bless you. And I'm hoping for some opinions on this. This is what came to me tonight. You may have a different opinion of it, for better or worse.
Views: 402
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Leonard T on
-
All I can say is to basically repeat ... no one has a perfect day every day. Life is full of struggles and we all react differently when in the midst of our storms.
Gotta run.
Lord Bless,
LT
-
-
Permalink Reply by RoyW on
-
Char,
I'm not hearing anyone preaching that here. I don't even find that preached in His Word. It is kind of like David says here:
Ps 56:3-4
3 When I am afraid,
I will trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
What can mortal man do to me? NIVOk, I get it - when I am afraid, I will not be afraid. That is faith kicking in. No one is saying that you won't be afraid. No one is saying your life will not be full of stress as David's was so many times. Some he brought on himself and other stress was because of the job. (Somebody had to kill Goliath but what responsibilities followed that victory.) We bring a lot of stress on ourselves because of sin. There is stress due to being a parent. There is stress due to being a wife. There is stress due to circumstances. We all have it and we all know about it.
If you think we are supposed to go through life with this peaceful look of serenity on our face, then I can't help you. I guess I get frustrated at times. I did know some that had a serene look on their faces at church but as I got to know them as their pastor, I noticed that serene look was not always there. Sometimes it is better to let people know you are just about to fall off of the edge of a cliff. If they want you to hide that I think I would let it all hang out even more. We all have stress. Some just seem to be able to hide it a little better than others. That is not always a good thing. My dad was good at hiding his feelings. My mom was not. I think my mom came out better because she could get all her stress out there for everyone else to worry about. Dad couldn't. He was too proud. But, if you would ask people, they would quickly tell you that dad was way more spiritual than mom. Not so. The stress did eventually get to dad and he lost it. I determined not to go that road.
Char, I don't think you have that to worry about. You are more like my mom. haha
-
-
Permalink Reply by Seek on
-
Roy, there are a handful here that do seem to hint at that, but they're posters here just like I am. But I'm having such issues with it because it is taught in my church and I may be like your mom but NOTHING like mine. She's the one who refuses to let anyone know she's hurting. My daughter told me yesterday she went home early from work crying missing dad over Valentine's Day. I called her to offer some comfort and she was upset that I called. Said she was NOT, that she don't know where my daughter got that idea. She said yes she missed dad, but she wasn't crying and wanted to just go home and rest without anyone calling and bothering her. Go figure. Wonder why our relationship was never good.
She's also the one when I was crying over my broken engagement who told me that I needed to put a smile on my face so I don't bring other Christians down.
It's how I was raised and I guess it is so very difficult to break off that mindset and it is that particular mindset and teaching in my own church that makes my turmoil worse when it hits. But yeah lately I keep wondering how many who've said these things to me have really had one disaster after another hit them in such a short period of time, and especially as a fairly new believer learning. My guess is not a one of them. They think a death in the family is a trial. And it is, don't get me wrong. But I haven't faced "a" trial, I've faced multiple, with death in the family included.
-
-
-
Char,
I am not talking about your mom but I have known many just like that. I grew up in a very strict holiness environment. However, my mom did not fit the mold. She is better off today than many of the others. She has a family that loves her. She is 88 and not missing a lick. Every time she hears me preach, she is my biggest fan. She loves the Lord with all her heart. She is a witness to His love. She never met a stranger. However, she never kept too many feelings to herself. She didn't hide a lot. When she and dad were fighting, everyone knew about it. If she was feeling down, everyone knew about it. I'm not sure how much that has to do with her state of mind today but I can tell you it didn't hurt her. I am thinking she will outlive me. I will never see my inheritance because she will probably live to be a 100. I used to think she should hide some of her feelings. Today, I am not so sure.
-
-
-
Ummmm LOL When you said "I will never see my inheritance", I was wondering how on earth your mom was going to manage to keep you outta heaven!
I'm not the type of person she is either though Roy. I don't blab out my feelings to everyone. Especially like to my mother because the things she responds with have a tendency to emotionally slap me and I shrink away. But I do get into a lot of emotional turmoil, very highly emotional person, always have been, and I look for answers to how not to be that way since I'm no good at hiding my emotions.
I'm trying my best to get still with knowing God ain't a gonna punish me if I can't be calm and joyful. That feeling keeps making me think God would have to be a complete ogre and I know He's not. But I also want to know HOW to get calm and joyful. And quite frankly I'll be honest here. After all that has happened, used to be a flat tire would devastate me, shatter my world, leave me in tears thinking the world was against me. Now a flat tire is an oh well, call my son-n-law and have him come fix it, call work and tell em I'm gonna be late, drop my car at Firestone on the way in and put it on the credit card, no big deal. I sometimes wonder if that's what some of all this stuff is about.
-
-
-
God loves dearly all His children. He made them all differently. He must like a variety of folks. It's okay to be different. I don't think He wants you to try to be like someone else. He does want us to trust Him and sometimes He does put us into situations that will help us to get to that place. We are very fortunate that our Father loves us. Otherwise, we would be in a heap of trouble.
-
-
-
Roy I know this...deep down. Yet I DON'T know this based on my life and how I was taught and made to feel. Does that make any sense?
When hormones are acting up and I'm depressed, I go back to the NOT knowing this. I go back to feeling I was put on this earth just to be tormented or something. Then hormones calm back down and I calm back down. And I go back to knowing God loves me.
And then I'm upset with myself that I can't ALWAYS know it, and that I EVER go back to feeling I'm unloved. It's a vicious cycle that no amount of reading, praying or trying has broken.
-
-
Permalink Reply by Colby on
-
There's no shortage of suffering in the world. For many, life is an enormous struggle simply to survive. God understands your suffering. Jesus suffered and died on the cross for you and me. When we suffer, he knows what we're going through.
Fight the good fight ... finish the race ... and remain faithful. Those were Paul the Apostle's words to Timothy. Don't give up; don't let despair and frustration overwhelm you. Paul, who began his missionary work after a dramatic encounter with the risen Christ, faced numerous obstacles and setbacks as he struggled with physical afflictions. He fell often, but he never gave up. He persevered and persisted until the end. His sight was always on the prize: eternal life in Christ.
Like Paul, we'll experience heavy burdens, defeats, and failures in life. And it's precisely at those times that we need to lean most on our faith. The biggest mistake we can make is to turn away from God in those dark moments of despair. Instead, we need to seek him out and plug ourselves into his power through prayer and by reading and pondering the Scriptures. God is with us. God is at your side. He loves you.
-
Permalink Reply by Tammy on
-
I thought of this song when I was reading this Roy. It won't give me an embed code so you'll have to click the link to see & hear it but it will be worth the extra effort.
-
-
1. The above message that without faith, it is impossible to please God.
2. A step further that there is life and death in the tongue, that we must speak a thing into existence (name it and claim it?)
3. That God won't do anything outside His will no matter what we speak or pray. We gave this world to satan and God will step in where necessary but for the most part, satan's going to hit us with everything he can.
4. That God will step in and show Himself in our lives and solidify our faith/belief. That He will bring it to pass and "Lord I believe, but help my unbelief (doubt)".
I would say that I am a mixture of 1, 3 and 4 with some modificiation to them.
1. That without faith, it is impossible to please God. But I must understand what is meant by the word "faith" in context of the Scripture that states this.
3. That God won't do anything outside His will no matter what we speak or pray. We gave this world to satan and God will step in where necessary but for the most part, satan's going to hit us with everything he can. I disagree with the italicized portion and would word it differently. Because of the fall Satan has been given constituted authority by God over this world. Satan cannot do whatever he pleases and is subject to God's sovereign rule. God is sovereign.
4. That God will step in and show Himself in our lives and solidify our faith/belief. That He will bring it to pass and "Lord I believe, but help my unbelief (doubt)".
Lord BLess,
LT
-
-
But I must understand what is meant by the word "faith" in context of the Scripture that states this.
That's the same question I have.
We gave this world to satan and God will step in where necessary but for the most part, satan's going to hit us with everything he can. I disagree with the italicized portion and would word it differently. Bcause of the fall Satan has been given constituted authority by God over this world. Satan cannot do whatever he pleases and is subject to God's sovereign rule. God is sovereign.
Actually, the way you worded it is kinda like I was trying to state it. God gave us the earth to take care of and then we gave our rule of it to satan. God steps in at times and won't let satan do certain things, but for the most part, satan runs this earth except for where God won't allow him to encroach.
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Next ›
Welcome to
All About GOD
The Good News
Meet Face-to-Face & Collaborate
© 2024 Created by AllAboutGOD.com.
Powered by
