Jacob 2011-01-17 17:18:07:
Pray
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Jacob 2010-12-19 21:09:15:
Pray
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Robin 2010-12-10 21:43:17:
WWJD
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Jacob 2010-12-10 21:44:58:
Pray
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Jacob 2010-12-03 17:29:08:
Pray
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Riley 2010-11-19 08:55:11:
Othinh
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Jake C. 2010-10-21 18:37:11:
Nothing
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Jake C. 2010-10-20 18:14:31:
Nothing
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Jake C. 2010-10-19 07:57:39:
Nothing
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Jake C. 2010-10-17 17:36:46:
Nothing
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Jake C. 2010-10-14 23:32:19:
Nothing
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Jake C. 2010-10-09 00:01:33:
Nothing
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Riley 2010-10-03 21:43:42:
Nadda
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Ty 2010-07-23 08:57:18:
I was asked just before taking my 5 minutes what I thought our purpose was here. This stuck in my mind the whole time. All I could think about was the beginning of creation and I felt like God was saying to me that His plan and purpose for man has always been the same we were made in His image to glorify him…
"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them…” Gen. 1:26
In 1 Corinthians 10:31, the Apostle Paul exhorts, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
I was also reminded of the story of Moses sin (Numbers 20:10-12) that I just read today.
It was because Moses failed to give God the glory and honor He deserved that Moses and Aaron never entered the Promised Land. If you ask me why are we here it is to in everything we do give glory to God. In fact I believe that is why all of creation is here… If we do not rocks will on our behalf…
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Ty 2010-07-23 08:57:18:
Joshie great question, I am assuming you are referring to the second part of that verse that says “you hate all who do wrong”. There are a number of different thoughts on this matter there are the Universalist who take a strong stance on one side and say that God loves everyone so much that He will never send anyone to hell. Then you have the theory that God hates sin but loves the sinner, and you have the theory that God hates all sinners and is sending them all to hell in a hand basket (similar to the line of thinking of that church that picketed Walt Whitman). I find myself somewhere in-between closest probably to the “hate sin love the sinner”.
First of all if God hates all sinners and is sending them all to hell in a hand basket then we are all in trouble because we have all sinned (Romans 3:23) That is what makes the gospel of Jesus Christ so awesome is that while we were still sinners Jesus died to make us righteous. Thank you Jesus…
Now the difficulty is in answering the real question that I think you are posing which is, does God hate the sinner or just their sin? Well the entire new testament is a powerful story showing Gods love for sinners. Jesus ate with the sinners He walked with the sinners, He touched the sinners, and He died for the sinners. That point is made copiously and unambiguously clear in John 3:16-17
“God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them!” (Contemporary English Version)
We also see in 1 John 4:16 “God is Love” that’s just who God is. And to really seal the point we have this verse in Romans 5:8 “ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
So Does God love us (sinners) the answer is yes so much so that Christ died for us.
Ok so how do we reconcile these verses with the one you mentioned and the many like it? Well for starters lets look at the word used in the passage “hate” the Hebrew word it came from was saw-nay' meaning: A primitive root; to hate (personally): - enemy, foe… So the easy way to answer the question so that the verses would flow well with the teachings of Jesus in the new testament is to say that the word hate in that passage means enemy or foe, so the verse could be translated from “you hate all who do wrong” to “you are a enemy of all who d
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Ty 2010-07-23 08:57:18:
Matthew 12:33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Matthew 12:34Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Matthew 12:35A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things."
God does not just dwell around us or over us but he desires to dwell in us, when we accept Jesus He sends His Holy Spirit to dwell in out heart. That is something I have all to often ignored maybe b/c I don't understand it completely or maybe b/c it's scary to think God is right here in me All the time I don't know why. So as I am taking my 5 minutes God starts to stir in my heart and I begin to think about these things. Then God reminds me of all of these cleansing rituals that the Israelites went through and how that had to stay clean as they came into the camp where Gods presence was. And as they got closer and closer to the holy place they had to make sure more and more that they were clean by offering more sacrifices. And even then they could not enter the Holy of Holy places accept the most high priest once a year.
Today God has made out sacrifice for us and we get clean by repenting and asking forgiveness. Then Gods presence dwells in us, each one of us has a Holy of Holy place in us right in our heart. It's a place specially designed by God just like the tabernacle was and it has a special purpose just like the tabernacle did. The question is what are we putting in this Holy place designed by God for God?
We can know what is in our heart by our fruit. If we have reserved that place for God keeping it clean and Wholly set apart for Him we will see that good comes from it. However if we allow evil and al types of sin to dwell in our heart (lust, envy, hatred, pride, gossip...) then bad fruit will come from it.
God reminded me to keep account of what is in my heart and to make sure that I keep it Holy and set a part for Him so that He can dwell in it.
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Ty 2010-07-23 08:57:18:
God spoke to me about my relationship with Him. Using the marriage relationship I compared how my relationship with God would hold up to my standard for a human relationship between be and my wife. I was instantly struck by my serious lacking of commitment and love toward my God the very one who breathed life into me. The first thing I thought of was Love. What kind of love have I really held for God? Is it like the Love I have for my wife? Am I willing to stand up for, fight for, and die for God? Am I jealous for God? Do I eagerly desire time alone with Him? Do I put Him first before any and all else?
If someone where to be offensive, disrespectful, or ugly in any way toward my wife I would be extraordinarily observably and belligerently in opposition of that person. I would not it continue and would fight for her at any and all cost.
If I felt like someone else was seeking after my wife’s attention, or was gaining any of my wife’s attention I would jealously throw every part of myself toward gaining her attention…
If I am away from my wife for any period of time I cannot wait to hear her voice or see her or spend time with her and the second I have a chance I eagerly, enthusiastically, impatiently, and fervently pursue her…
Do I love God like that?
Do I go after God like I go after my wife? If I was on a nice vacation with my wife and we were having a great time on the beach in Hawaii, and as we are sitting on the hot beach under the scorching sun I look up and see this little shaded tiki hut with a nice big pitcher of ice cold water and after making my way over to the water and drinking half of it I look up to notice my wife is not with me and I can’t even see her… I would not rest until I found her and there’s no way that I would leave the island without finding her. However sometimes I seems like I can go for weeks before noticing that God is not with me…
Anyway the point of all this is simply that I have at times and if I were honest I would say most times treated God more as a silent partner in a business contract rather then as a Bridegroom in the most important relationship in my life…. We must remember the importance of the relationship aspect of our walk with God, I could not walk with my wife in marriage if I did not have a relationship with her and I cannot walk with God in covenant without a relationship with Him…
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Josh 2010-07-23 08:57:18:
I had a dream about a freind of mine, he had a serious porn addiction, and i was in the youth room talking to him, trying to explain to him that what he was doing is wrong. I dont remember the whole conversation, but i was talking about how jesus died on the cross and suffered to forgive the sins of the same people who spat in his face, rebuked him, tourchered him, and cursed his name. I explained how what he was involved in was just a slap in the face, and it was distracting him from God. I started to cry while i was trying to explain how we will never undertand the depth of Gods love for us, and he laughed at me. But i knew i did the right thing, we will be made fun of and rebuked as Jesus was for doing the right thing and being Gods wittnesses, but there is a reward for the heart that holds on, an eternity with God in heaven. God loves us so much, and we are called to give him are lives, and in order to do that, we have to give up the things pulling us away and distracting us from God. Jesus paid it all, all to him we owe. what really amazes me is that he suffered and died on the cross, but then rose from the dead, concering the grave, and because he rose, our sin is forgiven. And he died on the cross for me, you, my freind, everyone, yet we still sin and have the same hardened heart, but still, his love for us is the same. But we still need to change, he will not keep us in our ways, but he still loves us. he hates sin not the sinner. I belive in the cross, i belive in the resurrection, i belive in an eternity with God, and that is where i put all my hope.
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Josh 2010-07-23 08:57:18:
today i was encouraged... today went really well, friday wasnt so great, but during my five mins, the blessed be your name bridge poped into my head, "you give and take away, my heart will choose to stay, lord, blessed be your name" and i was thinking, i shouldnt be discoraged, shouldnt let anything get in the the way of my relationship with god, good, or bad, for better, or for worse, in sickness and in health...
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Josh 2010-07-23 08:57:18:
well guess what? I just wasted all this time writing a bunch of stuff and put submit without writing my name and it erased everything!!! :'( ... well, here it go's... I was about to put "nothing" after my 5 mins but then I just felt like, "whats 5 more minuets" so I decided to take as much time as it took to hear the lord speak... and i relized that i wasnt hearing the lord because, frankly, i wasn't really listening... I was so absorbed with my life and how im going to solve all my problems, so, I decided to write everything out on a piece od paper, like a tree diagram. And it turns out that if you solve one problem, that will solve a bunch of others by it self, but God just gave me a peace and I heard, "God will take care of you in every situation, he cares for you and will solve any problem you have, no matter how big or small... theres always hope... :)
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