Does God reveal Himself more to some people than others?

In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis says that God reveals Himself to more to some people over others. Here is the quote:

When you come to knowing God, the initiative lies on His side. If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him. And, in fact, He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others—not because He has favourites, but because it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition.

Click to expand...

My question is:
1.) Do you agree?
2.) In what ways does God reveal Himself to you?

James 4:8

Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Give yourselves wholly unto God.

pyramid33 said:

James 4:8

Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Give yourselves wholly unto God.

Click to expand...

That's powerful stuff!

Yes, in just about everything.

There is a revelation of God that equates to the measure of faith each believer is given, but that quote above could be construed wrongly.

He says "when you come to knowing God" and then says "it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition."

My mind and character were totally in the wrong condition when I came to know God, as my testimony in my signature clearly shows. As for Scripture, there are plenty of examples of folk coming to know God when their minds and character were anything but sound.

Mark 5:1-5 KJV

And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. 2And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 4Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. 5And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.

That man, today, would be in a mental hospital and dosed up to the eyeballs with heavy sedatives. He would not be described by many as a man whose whole mind and character were in a good condition. Without seeing the full context of CS Lewis' words, I can only see somebody who is constraining the revelatory grace of God to those who meet his own standards.

Life2Christ said:

In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis says that God reveals Himself to more to some people over others. Here is the quote:

When you come to knowing God, the initiative lies on His side. If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him. And, in fact, He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others—not because He has favourites, but because it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition.

Click to expand...

My question is:
1.) Do you agree?
2.) In what ways does God reveal Himself to you?

Click to expand...

Check out "A Grief Observed" by C.S. Lewis. It's basically a journal that he kept in the month or so after his wife died. It's where the rubber meets the road so to speak, and he touches on this topic in a slightly different way.

I would say that we can only see God through our hearts. When our hearts are full of muck, God looks like muck, too. When grace blasts the muck away, our God looks like grace.

There is a forever sense of feeling proud that God sent Jesus to become our savior Lord of health and safety, only because we don't have eyes on the backs of our heads to warn us of any accident that could either be deliberate or accidental, as in the case on the television news where a man is constantly on trial for accidentally mistaking his deceased wife for a complete stranger or home intruder:.
I know in my heart that Jesus has rose after death, not because he can watch television all day and enjoy entertainment, while remaining closed-minded to the ever-growing conflict in the Middle East and ignore poverty-driven and disease-stricken African nations:.
Jesus has all the supernatural power in the universe, when compared with all the human magicians from the past, present and future combined - human magic in Christ's eyes is kindergarten stuff:.
World events are a good indication that Jesus will have to return soon to prevent Satan from turning both planet Earth and society into a natural disaster area for the unsaved, where Satan gets his kicks or thrills from every minute-to-minute environmental or human tragic event as if the whole world is in some kind of a horror comedy movie that has no ending: Endless Senseless Violence and Misery - is most perfect for an Oscar win just for the movie title itself if I was in Satan shoes who loves what sin is doing and has for centuries deceived mankind into all sorts of incredible odd experiences .;'*';.
Rev 21:2

seeingeyes said:

I would say that we can only see God through our hearts. When our hearts are full of muck, God looks like muck, too. When grace blasts the muck away, our God looks like grace.

Click to expand...

Just to play devil's advocate, both you and CS Lewis are saying that it has to do with the condition of your mind/spirit. An atheist will say, "see I told it is a "mind thing". Its all in your head". Can you prove me wrong?

I will check out a Grief Observed, thanks for the recommendation.

Life2Christ said:

In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis says that God reveals Himself to more to some people over others. Here is the quote:

"When you come to knowing God, the initiative lies on His side. If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him. And, in fact, He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others—not because He has favourites, but because it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition."

My question is:
1.) Do you agree?
2.) In what ways does God reveal Himself to you?

Click to expand...

Psalm 118:26-27
God is the Lord and has revealed Himself unto us; blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord.

Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

It's all a matter of perspective. God has already revealed Himself (the incarnation anyone?), but people won't find Him unless they are seeking Him. Plenty of people claim to do so- but to be perfectly honest- words don't mean a lot when it comes to the condition of the heart and the reality there.

Life2Christ said:

In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis says that God reveals Himself to more to some people over others. Here is the quote:



My question is:
1.) Do you agree?
2.) In what ways does God reveal Himself to you?

Click to expand...

Yes, I agree. I think many people who call themselves christians have compromised their walk with God so much that they don't look very different from the world. They know some things they are doing are wrong and do it anyway. This grieves the heart of God and makes it difficult for the believer to hear the voice of God.
God reveals himself in many ways to me. I found that he is interested in all aspects of my life. But, the main thing he is interested in is my character and faith. Because without faith it is impossible to please Him

Life2Christ said:

Just to play devil's advocate, both you and CS Lewis are saying that it has to do with the condition of your mind/spirit. An atheist will say, "see I told it is a "mind thing". Its all in your head". Can you prove me wrong?

I will check out a Grief Observed, thanks for the recommendation.

Click to expand...

Great point that you make. While I certainly am not one to refute this, I can see how an atheist would use this very understanding against our faith.

I, do, however, believe it is true. Should one be far from God, one probably isn't going to see much of God in anything.

But I myself will be watching this thread in hopes of more informed and wise replies from others, so that I myself may learn.

Life2Christ said:

Just to play devil's advocate, both you and CS Lewis are saying that it has to do with the condition of your mind/spirit. An atheist will say, "see I told it is a "mind thing". Its all in your head". Can you prove me wrong?

Click to expand...

Aha! It could very well all be in my head! I could be off my nut for all I know!

But then...what I believe (these things I can't "prove") fit so well with the world in front of me (the things I can "prove"...or at least demonstrate).

There are those who seek to prove that some sort of god must exist, through mathematics or logic, then they seek to prove that this particular god must exist, through science or history, then they seek to prove that this particular man is the son of this particular god, through scripture and prophecy.

I think this is exactly backwards.

To those who knew the scriptures Jesus said, "You examine the scriptures for eternal life, but you don't realize they're speaking of me". To those who saw his miracles he said, "if you don't believe me, at least believe the miracles". To those who questioned the morality of his actions he said, "wisdom is proved right by all her children". Then, of course, there are all the parables calling upon quite ordinary things to explain the kingdom.

So, given the example of Jesus, I feel no need to "prove" anything, and, frankly, I don't think it would help. Our God brought us something better than proof. He brought us Himself. That is enough. Wisdom will be proven by her children.

In short: It's not about what you can prove, it's about who you trust, and why.

seeingeyes said:

So, given the example of Jesus, I feel no need to "prove" anything, and, frankly, I don't think it would help. Our God brought us something better than proof. He brought us Himself. That is enough. Wisdom will be proven by her children.

In short: It's not about what you can prove, it's about who you trust, and why.

Click to expand...

You bring up a very good point. You don't need proof when you are dealing with the truth. The truth is black and white.

I am no way a fan of C.S.Lewis, but he did get it right there.

"The prayers of the righteous avail much..." "YHWH does nothing without first revealing it to His prophets..." "YHWH is far from the unrighteous."

Praying for you to always lead the kind of life where when YHWH whispers you hear Him.

Life2Christ said:

In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis says that God reveals Himself to more to some people over others. Here is the quote:



My question is:
1.) Do you agree?
2.) In what ways does God reveal Himself to you?

Click to expand...

*It always comes to my mind about the dreams God gave to
King Nebuchadnezzar when I see questions of this type...
do I agree with what Lewis said, "maybe." I haven't read too
many books by C. S. Lewis outside of the Narnia stories.

God continues to speak to me in dreams and through His
Word; in childhood I'd hear His still small voice speaking to me a lot...
as I got older, that sort of thing seldom happened...it's like that decreased
but the dreams increased.

pyramid33 said:

James 4:8

Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Click to expand...

This. The choice is yours.

I think the key to the quote is the condition of the persons state. If a born again christian is into sin the Spirit is grieved within them. Sin of the believer breaks communication with God.

On the other hand the believer that has brought thier imagination and flesh into subjection to God and is daily feeding on the Word of God, God delights to show them His will for thier life.

He speaks to us mainly through His word the Bible

Life2Christ said:

In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis says that God reveals Himself to more to some people over others. Here is the quote:



My question is:
1.) Do you agree?
2.) In what ways does God reveal Himself to you?

Click to expand...

1. of course, that is not something new, God does not reveal himself to everyone directly, the question should be why does God reveal Himself to more to some people over others.

2.

jsimms615 said:

...

God reveals himself in many ways to me. I found that he is interested in all aspects of my life. But, the main thing he is interested in is my character and faith. Because without faith it is impossible to please Him

Click to expand...

That.

pyramid33 said:

James 4:8

Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Give yourselves wholly unto God.

Click to expand...

LoricaLady said:

...

"The prayers of the righteous avail much..." "YHWH does nothing without first revealing it to His prophets..." "YHWH is far from the unrighteous."

....

Click to expand...

That is interesting, do you think that there are prophets today LoricaLady?

Life2Christ said:

Just to play devil's advocate, both you and CS Lewis are saying that it has to do with the condition of your mind/spirit. An atheist will say, "see I told it is a "mind thing". Its all in your head". Can you prove me wrong?

I will check out a Grief Observed, thanks for the recommendation.

Click to expand...

seeingeyes said:

Check out "A Grief Observed" by C.S. Lewis. It's basically a journal that he kept in the month or so after his wife died. It's where the rubber meets the road so to speak, and he touches on this topic in a slightly different way.

I would say that we can only see God through our hearts. When our hearts are full of muck, God looks like muck, too. When grace blasts the muck away, our God looks like grace.

Click to expand...

The atheist has a faith in the mind that he does not see and the happiness and the anger because he feels them, when he will be a believer in the Spirit he will feel the blessings that now are but he does not feel them.

I wrote about it: http://www.christianforums.com/t7812851/

God reveals Himself to His elect for sure.. As far as those that are never saved.. I really do not know.. honestly, I don't think anyone can say with any measure of certainty..