- Jul 8, 2019
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Ok, I agree this is your interpretation.Well, I'm a Doctor.
Well, actually I just play one on TV.
Well, actually I just watch one on TV.
View attachment 290660
Also, there's a little bit of scriptural reasoning behind the first part of the suggestion; it is taken from this:
Matthew 6:5-6
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
And also this Matthew 6:2-4
2 “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, so that they will be praised by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your charitable giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
And also this, Luke 11
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
The Lord's Prayer follows, but also some other interesting things:
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
This is followed by:
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which is interesting to me and kind of core to your OP and question.
So - what do you see in verses 5-8?
Here's what I see.
Is the man seeking something for himself?
No. Someone else has come to visit him. And he has 'nothing to offer'. He seeks on behalf of another. I believe, that this is the persistent seeking that will be rewarded. If your persistent seeking is always of and for yourself... I'm not sure how well that will go. I would expect to be pounding a lot of sand, which is what it sounds like you have been doing. Being a God-Seeker and a Self-Seeker are two entirely different things, though at first it's almost impossible to see the difference. In between there though, is a For-Others-Seeker. Sometimes that is easier to get to. Oddly enough, that is the start of Love. And stranger still, the start of Love, is the start of God.
1 John 4:7-21
As for the second part, Luke 8
17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought to light.
My heart does not know anything. I believed many wrong things for many years because I listened to my heart. Convince my intellect and I will have no choice but to believe.I've been on the wrong side of that particular piece of truth before; the second part of my suggestion would put you on the wrong side of it, and I think the heart of you knows it. If you are thinking there isn't a right/wrong side or that isn't truth, I'm expecting it may clear you of that notion.
Ok. I have been told this before by different Christians with different methods.I'm not sure you'll say "thank you" though. Hopefully you will stop at the first suggestion. But the two suggestions together, ought to give you a really clear contrast if you need one. And I think that in that contrast you'll find God, undeniably.
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