The Truth: Jesus said, "I AM the Truth"

@Graylight You know this guy, who told that story, have you met him? You don't even know him yet you believe him? I hate to tell this, but that guy was lying to you. I have seen Jesus transform lives that you wouldn't believe could be transformed. He brought my daughter back from the very brink of death in minutes! When she was hanging by a thread! That's nothing less than a miracle. Not possible at all to bring somebody back from a terminal disease in minutes EXCEPT by Jesus can do that. Your friend doesn't need proof. He needs faith.

@LadyGrace And as I've said, I applaud your faith and you may put any name you like on the success and survival of your daughter and I'll gladly call it that, too. Here's the thing: I've seen countless lives transformed for the better; I've seen almost as many lost to struggle a person simply couldn't overcome. Some of those people were devout Christians, some atheists, a lot of them floundering somewhere in the middle. But the one consistency I noticed was that God has nothing to do with it.

Now, you and I share very different particulars on faith, but rest assured my every hour considers and tries to cultivate it. And I encourage others to find their own connection to the Universe. What I can't say with any certainty whatsoever is what happens in other realms, on other planes, after death or God's intentions. I'm a human, and so is the one trying to force feed it to me. I can no sooner lay claim on esoteric, exclusive knowledge any more that the next person. And so I don't, and that keeps me from telling others how to live and which path to follow. Do you really think there's only one road?

@Graylight that’s profound

@Renkon@Graylight
You're positive about that? How could you know? What many might call "coincidence" in a person recovering from a terminal illness instantly, is nothing less than a miracle. I have witnessed quite a few. One thing I witnessed, that is not possible to be called anything less than a miracle, was my daughter's healing. I'm sure some people get well on their own, but when you are at death's door and the doctors tell you you will be dead by next week, and that your organs have already started shutting down and your daughter starts making funeral arrangements, until we all prayed, as we are a family of believers, and we saw her receive healing from God, instantly. That is just not possible, unless God makes it so, as a miracle. You'll not find anyone that gets healed instantly, unless it is by God. Though some may not understand that, I don't think it's their place to judge what God did or did not do, especially when they were not there in person to witness it themselves. Unbelief doesn't change who God is or what he does. He is a miracle worker. He is in the miracle business. I don't think that's up for anyone to judge, just because they may not have experienced it. With God, nothing is impossible. Some things in this life, people just don't know because they have never experienced it. And what they don't understand they sometimes criticize. I do hope that you experience a miracle in you and your family's life one day. I hope you never get sick or have to need a healing, but if you do, and if you pray to God to help you, I pray you get your miracle. I'm not the only one who has experienced miracles. And I certainly don't claim to deserve a miracle or that I am more in God's favor, than anyone else. God loves everyone the same, regardless of their ranking in society. That has nothing to do with it. I believe some never receive a miracle because they only talk to God when they want something from him. Only when they need something from him. That's not faith. That is selfishness. In other cases, some go to church on Sunday or Saturday whichever they prefer, and then live for the Devil the rest of the week. Those type people, also will not receive a miracle. While others treat God as if they demand something from him. As if he is a Celestial Genie In The Sky, demanding God give them something. That won't work either. And then there's those that don't even know or love the Lord and don't care to. Yet the minute something bad happens they'll call out to the Lord to help them. That won't work either. There are many scenarios in many reasons why some never receive a healing. God says that some ask amiss, meaning, for their own selfish wants, like a spoiled child, not for what they actually need. God will not be manipulated by people who care nothing about him. God does not answer the prayers of those who don't even believe in him but just want to use him.

My experiences of seeing Miracles was first hand and witnessed firsthand. There was no guessing about it. When I witnessed my minister lay hands on this person who happened to have the worst epileptic seizure I've ever seen, called a grand mal seizure, right there in the service, and he was right in the middle of the sermon, and the minister just kept preaching, as he walked over to this young man in the wheelchair whom I know very well and this man had this problem for many years, but when Pastor Dean walked over to him during the sermon and touched the top of his head and said a few words over him, I witnessed that man's seizure stop instantly! That just doesn't happen unless it is a miracle from God so we can't always say nothing is impossible or something is impossible. That's just not accurate.

@Graylight It's not even a good story.

@Graylight What you call "people trying to force feed the gospel on you", is what Jesus instructed his disciples to do so that the world would know how to be saved. Those who would listen, listened. Those who would not, did not. Simple as that. I find that most people have a mind of their own and can decide whether they wish to read something or not. I think they are capable of that and we can give them more credit than that. If people don't want to pick up the newspaper and read it they don't have to, yet they're not accused of force feeding the news on people. They can simply walk away from the Newsstand. And you know this is a forum where people are welcome to voice their opinion on any subject without being accused of force feeding something on someone. That's what we're here for to share and care. You know some people put some pretty filthy stuff on here and no one says a thing, yet let a follower of Christ mention Christ and his Doctrine, and all of a sudden something really weird happens. People get bent out. Odd how I never get bent out over those who write things that don't appeal to me. I simply pass it by and still wish them the best.

@LadyGrace No. This is what I said:

I seen faith fail. I’ve seen men with none at all sail through life’s troubles. I’ve watched the devout watch as empowerment passed them by and some of the most vociferous Christians I know are shouting from a jail cell right now. There is no consistency and miracle are not rewards, the good don't always win and very often the bad continue to thrive. Maybe you should reacquaint yourself with the tale of the prodigal Son. God doesn’t need a PR department.

@Graylight
Blind faith fails like in your case. Real faith, such as ours, never fails.

@Graylight I believe JESUS, that there's one road and only one way to heaven. He said in His Word there are NOT many ways to heaven....specifically, He said there is only one way to heaven and one Mediator between God and man and only one Plan of Salvation, and if anyone would know that, it would be Christ himself.

@LadyGrace He said in his words. What words are those? The ones crudely written down after tales had been passed around for more than 50 years? Ever try to get the straight dope on something that happened at your child's school that afternoon?

The Q source (also called Q document(s), Q Gospel, or Q is a hypothetical written collection of primarily Jesus' sayings. Q is part of the common material found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke but not in the Gospel of Mark. According to this hypothesis, this material was drawn from the early Church's oral gospel traditions. There are precious few words actually ascribed to the man called Jesus. How astonishing you should know the secret and undiluted source for God’s word so long eluding scholars who’ve dedicated their lives to understanding it.

I’ve been in 10,00 aircraft, it feels, but I don’t even pretend to know how to fly a plane. Just reading a book doesn’t make the reader an expert of even enlightened. It only means they read a book.

@Graylight

You assume. There's no way you can know that God had nothing to do with it.


What you haven't seen is the inside of people's heart, their lifestyle, and whether or not they believe or not, so you can't judge. Only God knows their hearts and motives. Only he knows who's faking it and who's not. You can't make a conclusion on something only God can see and decide on. You can only conclude that Faith failed and there were no consistencies or miracles. You know a lot of people do sail through life's troubles, because Satan doesn't have to worry about them and what they do. He already knows those people whom want nothing to do with God and so he doesn't bother with those people. He leaves them alone. It's the Christians and those that dedicate their lives to Christ that he fights every day because he wants to throw them off track, depress them, make them miserable and do anything he can to discourage them so they would leave Christ. And don't misunderstand my words. I'm not saying all people who have an easy life are not Christians. God knows who they are and though you may not see every little detail of their life each day, they may face more struggles and trials than you think. You just don't hear about it so you can't judge that either. Satan is after souls he can make miserable so they get discouraged and give up and don't witness for Christ or do his work. Those are the people he's after. That's the way that works. Faith doesn't fail. People fail to have faith. And those vociferous Christians as you call them, shouting from a jail cell, you don't know their hearts either. You don't know they're truly Christians. A lot of people say they're Christians and that they know God, but God really knows their hearts. Even Satan believes in God, but he's not going to heaven.

I never said miracles are rewards. Miracles happen as a result of faith. And though some don't receive a miracle, there's reasons for that too. There's a lot of different reasons that people don't get miracles, but that doesn't mean they did anything wrong or that he doesn't give some miracles. There's many things God considers when He is asked for a miracle. There's a lot of reasons people will not get a miracle. Just one of them is that some treat God like a Celestial Genie, and only talk to him and go to him when they want something from him like a little child and then they cry and throw a fit when they don't get a miracle. God won't be manipulated like that. And then sometimes for our own good, God has to give us the answer of no, or wait. But there's many many different reasons why people don't get a miracle and only God knows that and can judge that. Not people who can't see into other people's hearts and lives and thoughts. Every time somebody doesn't get something from God right away, they always want to blame God. What they need to do is look at their own lives and see how they're living. God will not give a miracle to someone who goes to church on Saturday or Sunday and then lives like the devil the rest of the week, so like I said there's many, many reasons for whichever way God answers and we are not the judge that. We don't have that Authority to make that judgment whether God is right or wrong. God is incapable of lying and his decisions are always right, because he is perfect and he cannot err.

Of COURSE the perceived "good" don't always "win". Do we always give our kids what they ask for when we know good and well it wouldn't be good for them and in fact may be detrimental to them? Of course not. We can't act like spoiled little kids with God and say "Oh if you don't give me this or that, I won't love you!" God doesn't give us our "wants" all the time. He gives us our needs. Big difference. He won't be manipulated like a puppet, performing at our every beck and call. Look at how many people that say, Gimmie, gimmie, gimmie, GIMMEE, God! I demand it!" Yeah.... they could care less about God. They yell at him, they curse at him, they what nothing at all to do with him, yet when they want something oh give it to me God! You better believe God's not going to answer that prayer. And some ask selfishly for things and those type prayers don't work either. So we have to look at the whole picture here not just our perception. Things are not always as they appear. Don't tell me, what I should do. Because I could come right back at you and tell you I think you should read the Bible before you judge God and see how he works and why.

@LadyGrace I lived and worked with the people of whom I speak. All we did was explore their thoughts, beliefs, pasts, intentions and understanding.

You believe that any good outcome is a miracle. What, then, is the death of a child? People thank God for all the good but no one ever utters “you will be done” when things go to hell. Others believe miracle are simply the result of flowing in harmony with the Universe and its eternal, constant flow. No salvation required, no damnation needed. And definitely no parental scare tactics.

There is nothing that puts you any closer to the truth than anyone else. Certainly not an ancient text written around supposed words of an itinerant preacher. But certainty is control and control is comforting. The scope of the Universe isn’t for everyone.

@Graylight Now you're really sounding hateful. All kinds of accusations about God, when you don't actually know him or his character, that is obvious, or you wouldn't say things about Him, as you do. Nothing you said about God was true and I don't intend to argue about that because you don't know what you're talking about when it comes to God, and the only reason I say that is because what keeps coming out of your mouth, does not match up with God's Word, and that's what counts. You are accusing him of things that he is not at fault for. Even your stories and accusations about him are wrong. So have it your way. I'm not here to argue. Have it your way. But remember. When followers of Christ talk about him and what he has done, they're not guessing. They don't have to guess because they have the pure word of God whether anyone thinks it is or not, but God doesn't have to prove anything to us. He did that thousands of years ago and look how they treated him by crucifying him on the cross. I have never said I was superior nor more knowledgeable than anyone else here, and that's what I believe in standby. But I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ and I stand by that till the day I die. I don't ask people to believe what I say. I always tell them read the Bible and check it out for themselves, so don't go off on that road. Read the Bible for yourself and you will see that God is a lot different than what some think. I'm not here to convince anyone. But I will share what I believe, the same as everyone else here.

.

@Graylight
There you go again assuming and putting words in my mouth and pretending you know my thoughts. Again, you are wrong. Show me where I said that I believe any good outcome is a miracle. I never said that and I don't believe that. I'm finished with this conversation. You need to breathe.

@Graylight
Let me tell you this. When Christians, real Christians pray, they ask God for things, but they never forget to say to him, "Nevertheless Father, thy will be done." That is their utmost desire, no matter what the prayer! Stop making false accusations. And just because you explored a few people's opinions in a group so thoroughly, does not give you the right to judge others or think you know what they're going through or what they think. I'm done with you.

@LadyGrace That's what you say. The translation gets lost when you determine what that will is, how to assist in getting to done and who deserves the time.

Christians in this part of the world are among the most sanctimonious, ignorant, exclusive and hypocritical crowd going. I say that as someone with 16 years of religious education 6 days a week. God never needed groupies and a fan club. He was speaking to everyone.

@Graylight no you assume every single thing. I'm not arguing with you lady.


This just shows how judgmental you are. And what does that make you! You are really hateful and then you point your finger at Christian's . I think you just don't like Christians , obviously . Your same words could be said for you. Now back off! I don't want to hear from people like you.

@Graylight Ohhhhhhh, NOW I know why you're so combative. Makes all the sense in the world now. You're just mad at the world. Those faults you find in me and other Christians, I suggest you take that up with God, but then you do nothing but find fault with Him, too.