God is...

[userque]

Thank you. As a Baptist, I will ask you directly what I generically commented on initially. Knowing that Jesus died for your sins, and knowing that as a believer he's prepared a place for you in Heaven, is there any particular reason why you don't want to go to heaven now given that there's nothing but upside in every possible way by doing so?

You're welcome.

Actually, I believe a percentage of suicides are the result of what you're describing.

Heard the one about the two bulls?

As long as I have 'unfinished' business on Earth (regarding family, documents, etc., etc.), I don't mind waiting for my end-time to happen ... when it happens, ... rather than hastening it along.

I also believe that there is a possibility that suicide, and/or intentionally letting one's self die, may be a sin.

I don't mind waiting my turn...like most people do (dying unintentionally).

The Earth is still God's creation, and while it's not Heaven/The-Kingdom, I don't mind spending an average life span taking it all in. If I'd already experience everything Earthly possible, maybe I would be ready to go--even if I didn't act on it.

At a theme park, you just don't ride your favorite ride, and go home. You experience what you can, when you can, while you can. Doesn't mean you think less of your favorite ride. I'm riding the Earth right now, and don't think any less of what I think living in the afterlife would generally, in part, be.

Interacting with both good and evil people might translate into a learning experience useable in heaven/The-Kingdom.

We are to become eternal beings ... an Earthly life span doesn't seem that long when you put it into the perspective of eternity.

We all prioritize and put things into perspective.

We "love" money; but will still make time for family. We'll still spend that money on gifts/entertainment.

Two motives, money and love of family and friends. We balance the two desires; just like the two bulls. We can also desire staying alive on Earth with family and friends; and also passing over.

I like bacon, but I don't have to eat it everyday, or every hour. Balance.

You get the point. We simply just don't concern ourselves only with our greatest love; we balance between all that we like and love. We do it with non-religious things; and religious things.

I believe I'll love living in the afterlife; but I don't have to go today.

People do not rush to do everything (non-religious things) they like or love. And that same logic applies to people liking or loving Heaven/The-Kingdom.

Finally, while living in a mansion (Heaven) sounds nice; for all we really know, the afterlife could be more difficult than one's Earthly existence!

P.S. Apologize for the jumbled nature of this post. Tried to cover a multitude of possibilities.

 

[studentofthemarkets]

Several years ago, my brother-in-law's mother died after being run over by a car. It was on a Sunday morning, and the accident happened while she was walking to church! I'm sure he had a good reason, but it's hard to understand why God would allow this.

First of all, I am sorry to hear of your brother-in-law's mother being run over by a car, when on her way to church. My great aunt also died when she was hit by a car getting her mail on a country road. She was one of the few members of my extended family that was a believer in Jesus.

Yes, no (I only participate in a small number of trading-related Internet forums), and NA.


I couldn't find anything specific to this (accidentally getting run over on you way to church), but I did find sites with unsatisfying answers like

https://www.christianity.com/wiki/god/does-god-allowing-suffering.html

Here is the quote that you shared from the article link above, I added bold lettering:

“Life is hard because God is good.”
​

A little later the author writes:

God certainly could have destroyed the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil to prevent the fall of mankind, but that would ruin the whole story. It would rob of us the chance to feel hope. It would numb our minds of dreaming of better things to come.​

These two statements are contrary to my understanding of God's character. They make it sound like the reason for suffering is so that we an appreciate or come to experience what is good.

This is different than the Biblical view that suffering, extremely hard work, thorns, thistles, sickness, and our fallen condition before God is a result of the turning away from God that Adam and Eve chose to do in the Garden of Eden.

My understanding of the Bible, and I am willing to reply to anyone who challenges this using the Bible, is that only good was the desire of God's heart towards humans and all beings He created. Did God design the world allowing for the possibility of the entry of sin into the human race. Yes. Did He know ahead of time how it would turn out, how Adam and Eve would choose and His plan for salvation following that? Yes. Jesus was the Lamb of God slain from before the Foundation of the world. But God can only do good, because He is good. In God's eyes, judgment for rebellion and sin is good.

Some speculation.....reader be warned that I can't prove the following biblically:
One thing to keep in mind is that the Tree of Life was also present in the Garden of Eden, and will be present again up in heaven (mentioned in Revelation.) Since Adam and Eve chose to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil before eating from the Tree of Life (as says in Genesis), God removed access to the Tree of Life. Although not much is explained, I (and others who believe this) think it would be consistent with a true choice on Adam and Eve's part. God did not influence them to turn from Him, His desire was that they would not. It would seem possible, and this is speculation, that had they eaten from the Tree of Life first that God may have removed the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and perhaps, and again this is speculation, become as God's elect angels, where they would have been kept by God's power from choosing to sin in the future. Why is this important? Because it helps to understand God's character shown here. God permitted, and by design, allowed for his creatures to turn from Him, but the Tree of Life in the Garden may be evidence that Adam and Eve had a free choice. They could choose life or they could choose what God forbade and warned that would bring death.

I'm not sure if anything I wrote here was a comfort to you, but in my personal experience, understanding that God is good and only does good, is helpful when experiencing sorrow or suffering.

 

[themickey]

So Christians have read about Jesus and believed but if you were testing an experiment you would test several times to ensure it worked.
What have you done to prove that Jesus works?

 

[studentofthemarkets]

So Christians have read about Jesus and believed but if you were testing an experiment you would test several times to ensure it worked.
What have you done to prove that Jesus works?

I already told you, God has proved Himself real to me in many ways. One of those ways is through thousands of answers to prayer. That does not mean that I can boss God around and tell Him what to do. But I do ask for things and sometimes I get the things I ask for.

 

[themickey]

But I do ask for things and sometimes I get the things I ask for.

Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't?
Does God give a reason for the failures?

 

[themickey]

One of those ways is through thousands of answers to prayer.

Can you give examples of "thousands".

 

[themickey]

One of those ways is through thousands of answers to prayer.

Examples like.....
"God today can we have some sunshine"?
And
"If I turn the tap on, can you make water come out"?

 

[studentofthemarkets]

Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't?
Does God give a reason for the failures?

Yes, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. I hardly pay attention anymore, unless something happens and I remember that was something I specifically prayed for. Maybe it's time I start making a record again. This is really hard to do, because I pray a lot throughout the day.

This example is from many years ago because back then I was still kind of in the experimental stage with prayer, and recording my prayers. The hard thing about sharing answers to prayer on here, and I've thought about doing this several times, is that most of my requests are for things that would reveal details of my life, and I'm more of a private person. For example, I shared a while ago about my health issues and answers to prayer received, but I felt and still do feel uncomfortable with sharing about health issues, or family issues or any other issues. Since those are often the things I pray about, I can't really write out the answers to prayer without revealing a lot about myself.

So, to explain sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, I'll share this. There was a time in my life where my finances were very tight and we lived in a bad area. Like, having a gang fight in our driveway and then weeks later someone kicked our front door super hard at 3:00 am and sounded like they were trying to break it down. Then the same thing happened about 3:00 am 2 weeks later. There are more details I could give, but at that point, there were a lot of other things that were of concern in my life. So, I went regularly to a Wednesday night prayer meeting, mixed guys and gals for the first part, then we would split up guys separate from girls for more specific requests. Well, my requests there, to the entire group, was safety and moving and finances and a few other things. At one time I had a medical issue that may have needed an operation immediately, and I had them pray for that for a few weeks, and that issue resolved on it's own, and only recently have I had a small recurrence that is not at the point of needing surgery. So, that is one answer to prayer. And it's not like God doesn't allow people to have surgeries, but at that point in my life this surgery carried some more than usual risks...sorry that I'm not explaining more.

I also put every one of these larger items (moving, financies, and other concerns) on a list that I prayed for intensely. OK, when I say intensely, I just mean I didn't gloss over it, I really pleaded with the Lord for each thing, but I don't believe in vain repetitions, so don't imagine me working up into some hysterical chanting state, or whatever your imagination tells you. I was simply talking to God about each problem, in a definite and deliberate way, every day. Every single one of those requests did come to pass. One of my requests was asking God to do what seemed impossible, to get us into a safer area. We had been looking at houses and everything we could afford was in high crime areas. Not to say God can't protect in high crime areas, but I didn't want to go from bad to bad. Here is where the unexpected thing came about. We did move, and only because, and I'm leaving out some details, but not lying here, just not explaining everything. We were able to move into a much safer neighborhood because of a friend of a family member giving us some information that we did not know existed. OK. I know that is a really weird way to put it, but without giving out details, I don't know how else to word it. The point I'm even saying this is this: NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES DID NOT MAKE IT LIKELY TO MOVE TO A SAFER LOCATION. IT WAS THROUGH SOMETHING UNKNOWN TO ME THAT WAS EVEN A POSSIBILIBTY, THAT THE PRAYER WAS ANSWERED.

The other answers to prayer on that list happened through ordinary means, but still, I was really thankful that God answered everything on that list.

Every once in a while I make up a new list to pray for, intending to pray through each until they are answered or no longer of concern. Sometimes those prayers get answered, but I really have not taken much thought about it, and now that I'm writing this, I think it really is something I ought to do better about. I should keep track of the more important prayer requests and see how God provides.

As far as answering your question of whether or not God reveals to me why He doesn't answer, generally no. I do not hear God's voice. Sometimes, however, something that happens later makes me gain a different perspective on the situation and think, "Oh, maybe that is the reason that God didn't answer my prayer about this."

 

[studentofthemarkets]

Examples like.....
"God today can we have some sunshine"?
And
"If I turn the tap on, can you make water come out"?

Very funny, but no.

 

[studentofthemarkets]

Can you give examples of "thousands".

I just multiply the number of years I've been seeing God answer prayer frequently in my life, which was not very often when I was younger, to my approximate number of prayers I get answered per year, estimated by the average number of answers to prayer I usually get per week times 52 and it comes to over 2,000.