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Tangnefedd said:I think it is possible that God might prefer folk to help others rather than spend too much time praising him. A god who demands praise is a bit of a big head imo!
Tangnefedd said:KiJ
Obviously it is up to you how you live your life, I wouldn't presume to tell you otherwise, but I thought Jesus was unreasonable in expecting people to give up everything, including their family, for him!
Well Jesus said this: "if you do not love less your father, your mother, your wife, your children, and yes even your own life, you canot be my deciples." It's not me that said this, it was Jesus. It is HIS requirement, not some random church.Tangnefedd said:My family will always come before my faith, if Jesus or anyone else expects otherwise then too bad!
Matthew 6
Giving to the Needy
1"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Prayer
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 men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But 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. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.[a]' 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Fasting
16"When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Treasures in Heaven
19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Do Not Worry
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Not many of us are willing to follow the scriptures you posted. Those who love will easily follow the teachings Jesus gave on the mount.OreGal said:While skipping all the other silliness and cynicism on this thread, a couple verses came to mind while reading the first post.
Now, keep in mind these are just things I've been convicted of but seems as if they are largely ignored by christians in general.
I was going to post just a couple verses but the entire chapter is just so good and deserves some attention:
He was right though. They do need bibles more then food. If you were to ask many christians without bibles if they wanted food insted thay would say no.Tangnefedd said:My late, unlamented, father-in-law was a born again. He was asked to donate to a charity feeding the starving in Africa, the old man refused saying they needed Bibles, not food!!! That sort of attitude stinks!
OnEarth said:Hey,just a question. I am beginning to wake and pray at 6am, 12pm, and 12am. I am going to set aside a holy day to feast with God and give thanks to him. I feel the urge to be more involved in giving time to God in more ways than prayer and church. I feel that so many of us have time for the things that are not important. Such as our jobs, school, entertainment, etc. I mean mostly when we give our free time to these things and put in extra hours for them. I have been fasting and am now finishing up. Something God made VERY clear to me is that he is upset that we give less time to him because we occupy ourselves with the things he's blessed us with. God has asked me to stand like Jeremiah in this day and bring the attention to all of us. It is important that we begin to give him more time because we are becoming the holy that turn his fruit sour. I just ask that you all can help me make a movement for God and devote more time. Maybe some extra prayers, more conversations with him, giving more thanks, and asking him what he would like for us to do for him each day.