A deeply troubling and awful thing.

[BruceLeiter]

Oh please, repent from what? It's almost comical how I walk the straight and narrow yet I feel the presence of this thing called god injecting himself in my life. It humors me how god invited certain individuals in my life who were complete clowns. I mentioned this in another forum, the poster told me god does this as a "tutorial". I cannot think of anything more warped and twisted, to warp and twist ones mind.

Congratulations, god gave you a nice plan, another happy customer. You people keep fooling yourself that the book is everything, and there is no other side of life where we are pawns unknowingly involved in some kind of scheme for god's amusement. It can take one a lifetime to figure that out. Just blame the other guy "Satan" when things go wrong. Isn't it fantastic that "God" or "Satan" can be everywhere at once? Ever think that we are in some kind of AI simulator?

First, God is not "this thing." When you walk the "straight and narrow," you might consider letting the 3-in-1 God into your life by reading the Bible to see what he is really like. Then, you can accept or reject him as you wish.

Second, we all need to repent from the self-centeredness (sin) that we are all born with.

Third, how were those people whom God put in your life "complete clowns," @Planet 1246?

 

[Planet1246]

Your god has issues, best way I can articulate it.

 

[Frankj]

Your god has issues, best way I can articulate it.

Or maybe you do.

Think about it.

 

[Planet1246]

Or maybe you do.

Think about it.

Don't get angry, that is a sin.

 

[Frankj]

Don't get angry, that is a sin.

I'm not angry, I just made a suggestion.

And where do you come to the belief that anger is a sin anyway?

Again, consider my suggestion.

 

[Lamb]

Your god has issues, best way I can articulate it.

I thought you were Catholic? That would mean you both have the same God since Frankj is a Christian.

 

[Planet1246]

I thought you were Catholic?

When I went through Catholic school I was a child, that means I thought, acted and reasoned like a child. I never questioned anything such as why I was put through that schooling. Tradition I suppose. I do recall my catholic teachers lecturing how god loved you, how god was great, how life was la la land. They did however never tell me how life was very synchronistic, that the life plan god assigned you could not be so sweet, and of course god's monstrous, blood lust nature.

 

[Lamb]

When I went through Catholic school I was a child, that means I thought, acted and reasoned like a child. I never questioned anything such as why I was put through that schooling. Tradition I suppose. I do recall my catholic teachers lecturing how god loved you, how god was great, how life was la la land. They did however never tell me how life was very synchronistic, that the life plan god assigned you could not be so sweet, and of course god's monstrous, blood lust nature.

Since you no longer believe in the Catholic teachings, your Religious Affiliation should not show Catholic. I'll put you in the Unorthodox usergroup unless there is a more suitable one that fits since you don't seem to be Christian according to the confession you made above.

 

[jswauto]

What is your ideation of heaven?

Here's Isaiah 6:

6 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

 

[jswauto]

Such a complex and intricate system god has put forth.

Please explain what you think heaven is going to be like?

Here's Revelation 4:

4 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,

10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

 

[jswauto]

When Jesus's disciples asked him how many would be saved, he replied, " the path that leads to the kingdom of God is narrow and difficult, and few ever find it."
And so the joy of my own salvation is largely crushed by the knowledge that most of the people I've ever known, including most of my family, will spend eternity screaming in an incomprehensible agony of despair and hopelessness in hell.
It eludes me how I, or anyone else, could go skipping happily off through the daisies with Jesus while just beneath our feet such unbearable tragedy will be constantly playing out. Maybe that's one of the reasons Jesus was a man of sorrows.
It is troubling to say the least - any thoughts?

Focus on your relationship with the Lord. The Lord has answers for all these concerns. Every single problem you have, the Lord knows of it intricately way better. As you seek and search Him, He will certainly answer.

 

[jswauto]

Such a complex and intricate system god has put forth.

Please explain what you think heaven is going to be like?

Here's a complete vision: A Divine Revelation of Heaven book by Mary K. Baxter

 

[BruceLeiter]

Your god has issues, best way I can articulate it.

What "issues"?

 

[BruceLeiter]

When I went through Catholic school I was a child, that means I thought, acted and reasoned like a child. I never questioned anything such as why I was put through that schooling. Tradition I suppose. I do recall my catholic teachers lecturing how god loved you, how god was great, how life was la la land. They did however never tell me how life was very synchronistic, that the life plan god assigned you could not be so sweet, and of course god's monstrous, blood lust nature.

God isn't "monstrous"; he is just. As the Creator of every human creature, he rightly requires obedience and exacts the correct punishments, that is, eternal separation from his loving presence for human rebellion. Show me where in the Bible God shows you what you say he is.

Of course, he also has lovingly provided the way of escape from his punishment, through Jesus' death for our free forgiveness and his gift of new life through Jesus' resurrection--all by grace through his gift of faith (Ephesians 2:1-10).

Eph 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
Eph 2:2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
Eph 2:3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Eph 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
Eph 2:5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Eph 2:6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Eph 2:7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Eph 2:9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

 

[Edward429451]

It doesn't answer my question about what heaven is going to be like, I only see a bunch of cryptic text. In a plain in simple way, explain.

Scripture tells us that it has not entered into the heart or mind of man the goodness that He has in store for us. Indeed Man can not even coprehend such things!
1 Corinthians 2:9
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him..../KJV

I have a pretty big imagination, and it still doesn't make it! I ponder on that very question a lot, and I already know, I have no clue!

1 Corinthians 2:14
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.../KJV

So no one here or anywhere else is able to answer this question for you. All we can do on a forum is speak carnally.
For all we know, since God said

John 18:9
9 That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none..../KJV

He has lost none? Does that mean that everyone will be let out of hell and eventually they get to go to heaven too? Doesn't scripture talk about the fires of purification? (Does that include hell?) Is Hitler being purified right now? It sounds like an absurd possibility, but then again, we know the natural man can not comprehend the ways of God, so I suppose it could be true and I just can't comprehend how! (Yet). ???

 

[Edward429451]

It doesn't answer my question about what heaven is going to be like, I only see a bunch of cryptic text. In a plain in simple way, explain.

Personally, I've thought about it and it seems to me that everything on earth is a types and shadows of thigs to come in heaven. Except in perfection and not in counterfeit.

Like for instance, in heaven, there will never be a need to buy or have binoculars, look that direction and focus on it and watch you vision zoom in!
No cell phones needed! Want to talk to your friend? Focus on him and speak and hear, without a cell phone! No subscription, no new phones, lol.
Cell phones are counterfeits a shadow of things to come, real wireless for free!

And everything else on earth also. Types and shadows. There wont be airplanes in heaven, you can fly on your own!

You see when you spend time in the word of God and absorb it and meditate on it and keep on reading, this is the primary way that God speaks to us and over time you see how small things click together and help paint the bigger picture for you.

You must read your bible. As you're reading the Holy Spirit will speak to you. You will see yourself in scripture and ut will be relevant to your situation and circumstance, and you will know it is. The Hoy Spirit says that He will lead you into all truth, and cause to come to your remembrance the word of God. Now you wasn't paying attention, so when that other scripture popped into your head (and is relevant) you had no clue that, that was the Holy Spirit speaking to you. Oh I remember that scripture, I've read it before! But it wasn't you, it was Holy Spirit leading you into all truth.

But! If you don't read your bible, then you never did the data entry and read it in the first place, so how can Holy Spirit cause it to come to your "remembrance" if it isn't in your memory in the first place? So we come before God when we sit and read the bible. We have a brain like a computer, so garbage in/garbage out...

I had the thought one day, what if one day I find myself standing before Jesus, and He says, so did you read my book? (Boy that would be embarrassing to have to say no!) So I got on a reading plan and read the Bible from cover to cover in 1 year. The next year after I had read the entire bible, I thought, what now? I input the data. I know! Read it again! I'm either on my 5th or 6th time of reading the Bible cover to cover in a year. That works out to about 3 chapters a day. Now some days the chapters are short, and somedays I'm reading Psalm 119 which has about 175 verses in it, IIRC? That's usually a 1 chapter day! Not 3. OTOH, I keep count by 3's for the most part. And if I open to read and I only have two chapters until that book ends and my 3rd chapter is a new book, I wont read just one chapter that day in that book. I go ahead and read 3 chapters in the new book, so it's easier to remember where I am. And every year...I finish in revelation!

But understand that God speaks to you while you read His Word. Pay attention. If I'm not sure, I stop and say, is that you Lord? So there's this, spiritual connection going on and if you aint focused and looking for it, it's easy to think, God don't speak to me. But you wasn't paying attention to the spiritual and looking to the unseen, like scripture instructs to do!

Pay attention, Brother.

 

[Edward429451]

I'm a dummy and cannot interpret some cryptic text, god probably has a nice cozy place in hell picked out for me on inherited sin alone, but I'm still curious. Decoding the cryptic text, in your "interpretation" what is god saying about heaven who awaits those who are gifted with immutability to sin?

Don't let that stop you from reading. It gets easier as you go along and if you stay consistent. Don't skip reading one day to watch old movies. Have you ever heard of the Cherokee Proverb?

We all have two wolves inside of us and they fight, daily. Which wolf will win? The one you feed! If you input into your brain a lot of secular entertainment and less time (if any?) to reading the word and talking to the Lord, then you wont ever hear God talking to you. Some days, leave the world alone and input only the word of God into your brain and being. It's nice to switch it up.

 

[BruceLeiter]

Don't let that stop you from reading. It gets easier as you go along and if you stay consistent. Don't skip reading one day to watch old movies. Have you ever heard of the Cherokee Proverb?

We all have two wolves inside of us and they fight, daily. Which wolf will win? The one you feed! If you input into your brain a lot of secular entertainment and less time (if any?) to reading the word and talking to the Lord, then you wont ever hear God talking to you. Some days, leave the world alone and input only the word of God into your brain and being. It's nice to switch it up.

First, God is not "this thing." When you walk the "straight and narrow," you might consider letting the 3-in-1 God into your life by reading the Bible to see what he is really like. Then, you can accept or reject him as you wish.

Second, we all need to repent from the self-centeredness (sin) that we are all born with.

Third, how were those people whom God put in your life "complete clowns," @Planet 1246?

When I went through Catholic school I was a child, that means I thought, acted and reasoned like a child. I never questioned anything such as why I was put through that schooling. Tradition I suppose. I do recall my catholic teachers lecturing how god loved you, how god was great, how life was la la land. They did however never tell me how life was very synchronistic, that the life plan god assigned you could not be so sweet, and of course god's monstrous, blood lust nature.

Now, I get why you have a distorted view of God, when I look back over your posts, @Planet1246. Your Catholic education did not help you come to grips with the hard realities of life in contrast to the hope we have of heaven.

Is that right? If so, they should have introduced you to the Book of Job and the Apostle Paul's "thorn in the flesh." God did not cause Job's loss of family, wealth, and health; but he did allow it to demonstrate to Satan and us that true faith endures in spite of the most severe suffering.

Also, in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, Paul says that God gave him visions of heaven and that he could be proud of that fact but that God permitted, but didn't cause some weakness in Paul that kept him humble in order to show that God was the source of the increase of the churches Paul founded, not Paul.

2Co 12:7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
2Co 12:8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.
2Co 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

We are not God's puppets, but we are his creations, relatively free to make our own decisions in life. He can enable you to decide to follow Jesus into heaven, for only he has the ability to send you there.