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Featured Question For My Reformed Brothers And Sistes, Will God Take Care Of Us?

Discussion in 'Calvinism & Arminianism Debate' started by Calv1, May 14, 2017.

  1. Calv1

    Calv1 Active Member

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    Yeah that actually is amazing, seems like when seems go well, joyful days, money, everything going fine, we feel like it's a reward, then conversely these times, it DOES make me ask once in awhile, when I get real low "Wait, are you sure you've saved, look at all you friends, they have everything they need, surely God can't love me in this state, what if I'm a phony", "No I know my time with the Lord, I see Him stopping me from sin, loving and understanding His word", back and forth it goes. I have a thing I use, John Bunyon used it in "Doubting Castle", he just said "My righteousness is in Heaven", boom that's it, we have up times, down times, BUT OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS LIVES IN HEAVEN, and nothing can alter Him.

    I don't know how Arminians survive in that state, knowing that yes, indeed maybe I did some sin and lost my salvation, that would drive me insane. I've heard others say this, but if I could lose my salvation I would lose it. I've been a Christian along time, long enough to know there remains in me so much sin I don't have a chance, on my own, to make it to Heaven, not worthy, I have to have HIS Righteousness.

    Hope your well, got excited last night when out of the blue was offered some money, I mean it's been BAD.
     
  2. MennoSota

    MennoSota Well-Known Member
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    God knows what he is doing. Trust him.

    I hear a phrase often spoken when a person is suffering and I cringe when I hear it. The phrase is: "God doesn't give you more than you can handle."

    What a crock of garbage that phrase is. No, God gives much more than we could ever handle so that we have to trust him for everything. The burden God placed on Yeshua was beyond imagination, yet Yeshua said "Not my will, but yours be done."
    God gives us much more than we can handle so that we can grow in faith. Peter lays out the growth that comes from suffering. God uses it for good, never for evil. Never for evil.
     
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  3. MennoSota

    MennoSota Well-Known Member
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    1 Peter 1:6-23
    [6]So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.
    [7]These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
    [8]You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.
    [9]The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.
    [10]This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you.
    [11]They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.
    [12]They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.
    [13]So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.
    [14]So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.
    [15]But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.
    [16]For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
    [17]And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.”
    [18]For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value.
    [19]It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
    [20]God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.
    [21]Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.
    [22]You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
    [23]For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.
     
  4. Calv1

    Calv1 Active Member

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    I agree, this has been MUCH MORE than I can handle! And yeah, imagine, I don't think we can, the suffering Jesus went through, not just in the Passion but all His life, being that pure, seeing God haters everywhere, knowing He's going to die for generations of such people, take their punishment, the greatest blend of sorry/joy every experienced on earth
     
  5. Calv1

    Calv1 Active Member

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    Excellent, thanks, read every word slowly, "But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy', going to be studying that line tonight, "just as"
     
  6. Calv1

    Calv1 Active Member

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    Always wondered about "Be Holy AS YOUR FATHER is Holy", and "without Holiness no one will see the Lord", found good piece from MaClaren;

    I. The Pattern of Holiness.

    ‘As He that hath called you is holy.’ God’s holiness is the very attribute which seems to separate Him most from the creatures; for its deepest meaning is His majestic and Divine elevation above all that is creatural. But here, of course, the idea conveyed by the word is not that, if I may so say, metaphysical one, but the purely moral one. The holiness of God which is capable of imitation by us is His separation from all impurity. There is a side of His holiness which separates Him from all the creatures, to which we can only look up, or bow with our faces in the dust; but there is a side of His holiness which, wonderful as it is, and high above all our present attainment as it is, yet is not higher than the possibilities which His indwelling Spirit puts within our reach, nor beyond the bounds of the duty that presses upon us all. ‘As He which hath called you is holy.’ Absolute and utter purity is His holiness, and that is the pattern for us.

    Religion is imitation. The truest form of worship is to copy. All through heathenism you find that principle working. ‘They that make them are like unto them.’ Why are heathen nations so besotted and sunken and obstinate in their foulnesses? Because their gods are their examples, and they, first of all, make the gods after the pattern of their own evil imaginations, and then the evil imaginations, deified, react upon the maker and make him tenfold more a child of hell than themselves. Worship is imitation, and there is no religion which does not necessarily involve the copying of the example or the pattern of that Being before whom we bow. For religion is but love and reverence in the superlative degree, and the natural operation of love is to copy, and the natural operation of reverence is the same. So that the old Mosaic law, ‘Be ye holy as I am holy,’ went to the very heart of religion. And the New Testament form of it, as Paul puts it in a very bold word, ‘Be ye imitators of God, as beloved children,’ sets its seal on the same thought that we are religious in the proportion in which we are consciously copying and aspiring after God.

    But then, says somebody or other, ‘it is not possible.’ Well, if it were not possible, try it all the same. For in this world it is aim and not attainment that makes the noble life; and it is better to shoot at the stars, even though your arrow never reaches them, than to fire it along the low levels of ordinary life. I do not see that however the unattainableness of the model may be demonstrated, that has anything to do with the duty of imitation. Because, though absolute conformity running throughout the whole of a life is not possible here on earth, we know that in each individual instance in which we came short of conformity the fault was ours, and it might have been otherwise. Instead of bewildering ourselves with questions about ‘unattainable’ or ‘attainable,’ suppose we asked, at each failure, ‘Why did I not copy God then; was it because I could not, or because I would not?’ The answer would come plain enough to knock all that sophisticated nonsense out of our heads, and to make us feel that the law which puts an unattainable ideal before the Christian as his duty is an intensely practical one, and may be reduced to practice at each step in his career. Imitation of the Father, and to be perfect, ‘as our Father in heaven is perfect,’ is the elementary and the ultimate commandment of all Christian morality. ‘Be ye holy as He that hath called you is holy.’

    Then let me remind you that the unattainableness is by no means so demonstrable as some people seem to think. A very tiny circle may have the same centre as one that reaches beyond the suburbs of the universe, and holds all stars and systems within its great round. And the tiniest circle will have the same geometrical laws applied to it as the greatest. The difference between finite and infinite has nothing to do with the possibility of our becoming like God, if we believe that ‘in the image of God created He him’; and that men who have been not only made by original creation in the Divine image, but have been born again by the incorruptible seed of the Word into a kindred life with His, and derived from Him, can surely grow like what they have got, and unfold into actually possessed and achieved resemblance to their Father the kindred life that is poured into their veins.

    So every way it is better indefinitely to approximate to that great likeness, though with many flaws and failures, than to say it cannot be reached, and so I will content myself down here, in my sins and my meannesses. No! dear brethren, ‘we are saved by hope,’ and one prime condition of growth in nobleness is to believe it possible that, by His blessing we may be like Him here on earth in the measure of our perception of His beauty and reception of His grace.
     
  7. Calv1

    Calv1 Active Member

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    By the way, way off topic, but you mentioned Pilgrims Progress, of all things there is a CARTOON version that is excellent, it really is.
     
  8. MennoSota

    MennoSota Well-Known Member
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    I have not seen the animation. I have heard they are making a movie of Pilgrim's Progress.
    I go to the Ethereal Library at Calvin Colleges online site and read it from time to time just to be blessed by the volumes of scripture that Bunyan attaches to his tale.
     
  9. Martin Marprelate

    Martin Marprelate Well-Known Member
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    Brother, I'm so sorry that you find yourself in this state. I'll be praying for you.
    As a new Christian, I went through a time of real financial difficulty. I thought I was going to lose everything. One thing I am sure of-- if I had not been a Christian I would have committed a crime, embezzlement or something, to keep my business going.

    When I used to lie in bed, unable to sleep, with all my problems buzzing round in my head, I would recite to myself the closing verses of Habakkuk:
    'Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines;
    Though the labour of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food;
    Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls--
    Yet I will rejoice in the LORD. I will joy in the God of my salvation.
    The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet,
    And He will make me walk on my high hills.'


    God brought me through and out of my difficulties, and I was able to start again. I'm now retired in reasonable financial shape. I can't promise that this will be your experience, but I can tell you that God will not forsake you.

    I'll be praying for you.
     
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  10. MennoSota

    MennoSota Well-Known Member
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    Such a great passage and a great book is Habakkuk. That book shows us that God uses the most vile people to accomplish his perfect will. It is so good to read Habakkuk process through the deep suffering that is to come and still trust God. Thank you for sharing those blessed words from God.
     
  11. Calv1

    Calv1 Active Member

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    Wow how great to see this, no notice or anything, thanks! Yes indeed please pray for me.

    Its funny you said "would have committed a crime...", I got so low, the temptation came through my head "Just go to a drug house and rob them", I mean not really think that, don't know but yeah the brain is funny, shows us how sinful we are.

    Things are so much better, if anything just my attitude, I listened to a sermon by Spurgeon last night about prayer, MAN he almost sounded like a "name it and claim it" cult, but he was very specific, so there was no confusion, he talked about this is my Father, just keep praying, lean on Him, don't pray of anything else, so for like two hours last night, awake and asleep prayed the same thing, what's interesting about that is the focusing on God, that He REALLY IS THERE, REALLY IS LISTENING, and just pleading a case. Today work was awesome, no fear, I have hope, could be temporary but I don't think so.

    Thanks, and can always use prayer, please:)
     
  12. percho

    percho Well-Known Member
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    Does anyone remember this thread?
    Forsaken in Matthew 27:46.

    The last words of the one who said, "My God my God why hast thou forsaken me,"

    were

    "Father into you hands I commit my spirit."

    How do we feel when we are down and out?

    My prayers also for you Calv
     
  13. Calv1

    Calv1 Active Member

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    Thank you very much. Just add in Mike when you pray:)
     
  14. utilyan

    utilyan Well-Known Member
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    Do you suppose I can closely imitate our father by helping everyone I can help or by flipping a coin and choosing to help who I will to help and passing over whom I simply will not help?
     
  15. Calv1

    Calv1 Active Member

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    I don't understand your question, we are to help ALL, rich or poor, Religious or Atheist, we are to even submit to authorities to glorify God, for He put them there. There is a EXCELLENT, seen it 5 times at least, movie on Daniel on YouTube, it shows well how we are to submit to Authority, pagan authority, any authority over us that God has set up, yet when the edict "No one shall pray to anyone but me", resist
     
  16. utilyan

    utilyan Well-Known Member
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    We are to imitate God as you say. Are you saying God Loves and intends to save "ALL, rich or poor, Religious or Athiest"?

    If he doesn't then it only follows my imitation will also will to help some not others.
     
  17. MennoSota

    MennoSota Well-Known Member
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    utilyan, read the discussion thread. Your comments are not a part of this thread.

    Mods, please remove utilyan and his comments from the thread as he is just here to stir up his own pot.
     
  18. Calv1

    Calv1 Active Member

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    First, not trying to be rude, but where did you get that assumption? Scripture is clear, out of a group of rebels, before the world was created, God, for His glory sake, choose some for Salvation, other rebels He left in their sins, so clearly only the elect are saved. Unlike Arminianism Reformed Theology humbles the Christian, for we know there was NOTHING IN US that led to our salvation, while Arminians are left to wonder why they choose Christ and there neighbors didn't, are they smarter? Better? Just by chance at some crusade. No every atom in the Universe is in the exact place where God wants it.

    Even Arminian scholars admit God has at least two wills, His revealed will, and His secret will. The cross is a great example, on the one hand we are told in Isaiah "It PLEASED the Lord to bruise Him", this is God's secret will revealed, His revealed will, clearly is that He abhors murder, especially of His Son. In Acts 4 we find out that every step, from the Jews actions, the Romans, Pilate, Judas, all Pre-determined by God, and we see this all through scripture, God ordaining a think He hates. God incited David to take a census, then judged him for it, on and on if you just read and study it.
     
  19. Calv1

    Calv1 Active Member

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    Hey brother, get this, my company sold $37,500.00 yesterday! Everything has changed, why? My attitude, when I first learned of God's sovereignty, this will make you sick, I'd look at my sins and think "Well nothing to stop God from bringing me down", and I'm SO NEGATIVE, God is in the sky, over me with a book, make a mistake, sin, He frowns, totally opposite of what scripture teaches. But it was a sermon of Spurgeons that turned me around, using Jacob wrestling with God as overriding topic, we are to be that way, NEVER STOP PRAYING, BELIEVE IT WILL HAPPEN, serious Spurgeon sounded close, if you didn't know to the name it and claim it's, much different of course, but it HONORS GOD FOR US TO COME TO HIM EXPECTING REWARD, IT HONORS HIM FOR US TO EXPECT GOOD THINGS, HIS FATHERLY FAVOR, I only expected bad things for my sins, crazy huh?

    I can tell it's over, my nightmare gone, I won't let anything get me down, I'm living in FAITHFUL EXPECTANCY, "He who trusts in Him will not be put to shame", I know it doesn't necessarily apply but that's my attitude, if something goes wrong "Father, why", but it takes prayer like I've never done, one night was two hours, not works, but a true desire to talk to my Father, all I want is money to live a normal life on, put God first in everything, experience His presence ALL THE TIME like when first saved, do my ministry, wife and more kids.

    I'm so happy I feel like I'm floating on clouds
     
  20. MennoSota

    MennoSota Well-Known Member
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    God is good, all the time and all the time, God is good.
     
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