Legitimate help, honest answers.

paul1149 said:

Make ongoing requests, and stand your ground in faith, waiting for the Light. It will come.

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Amen. Do not lose hope, stay on praying to God in Jesus' name, He will hear you when you seek Him with all your heart!

GwG said:

That is brilliant, thank you. I agree that faith can be obtained many ways. I think I have been selfish, expecting god to do the work for me. Now that I think into my biblical studies I was not in open mind. I read with doubt, felt with doubt, and waited with doubt. Not as "open minded" as I origionally thought.
As for the satanic ritual, I do not wish to give people bad interpretations of me from this story. I am not an agressive person whatsoever, and I have never turned my back on humanity since. I grew up in eastern united states, the spanish population was beginning to skyrocket. The blacks and spanish did not mingle well so the neighborhood was getting extremely gang oriented. I was about 10 years old, I had been getting bullied by these highschool kids. Later found out they had a gang themselves and jumping me was part of the acceptance to the gang. Not sure how I became the target but it was their system. I prayed for god to stop them, I prayed for god to take them, I prayed for god to take my pain. I continued being attacked for awhile and then grew impatient. I tried fighting back and did not even get a punch in (kind of like when you fight in a dream at 1/4 normal speed). One night I was reading about satan, reading about his prior life as an angel, he did not agree with humanity. At the time neither did I, I was beginning to see the true face of man, bloody emotionless faces. I prayed to satan, saying basically I know you hate humanity but I did not have a choice, my only wish of you or god is the strength to hurt these people like they couldn't imagine. That night I remember crying for hours in guilt, the next day while walking home from school the kids grabbed me and dragged me into their back yard. One of them hit me and instinctively I somehow managed to find a crowbar (all i remember is contact) and swang repeatedly at the "leader" or whatever you want to call the head honcho of this want-to-be gang. I ended up breaking 3 of the kids legs. one of them broke both of his legs. the last kid ran to the fire station across the street, when the ambulance came I told the police what happened and recieved not a single piece of punishment. you tell me what to call that! I would say coincidence. If god does not respond to my prayers it would be sick to think satan would.

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Wow, thank you GwG! I have an insight to a life I have never had. This is a good wake-up call for me, having lived all my life in Godzone, that life is not all sunflowers and daisies. What happened after that? Did the bullies leave you alone? Also, it might pay to remember that Jesus is seated on God's right hand, having authority over all heaven and earth, and while He might not have empowered you to fight against your attackers, He did authorize it. So remember that, keep in mind that it is even common for Jews to believe Satan subservient to God (and really, if God has wisdom, how could He permit otherwise?). Be careful in your loyalties eh. Satan has nothing to offer you eternally.

GwG said:

"Be carefull in your loyalties, Satan has nothing to offer eternally" thats something to tell a few of my acquaintences.

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See what they have to say about these verses:

44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

And this verse:

Philippians 2

9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Satan's eternal fate (according to Jesus):

41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.

Jesus' kingdom is eternal:

John 18:36
New Living Translation (NLT)
36 Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”

And Satan's kingdom is in the world:

30 “I don’t have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world approaches. He has no power over me, 31 but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let’s be going.

See what they say about that, whether or not they dismiss what Jesus says or if they can put a spin on it.

Hi dear, there is a lot to tackle in your questions. In the first question, you stated that you are not new to religion and that you know the Bible. Now, you have probably heard this before but religion and Christianity are two different things. The first and most important difference is the fact that no religion requires us to be born again except Christianity. The world’s major religions instruct on following certain rules of conduct. However, Christianity stands alone in claiming an inner new birth. Look at Nicodemous in John 3:1-21, he was a ruler of the Jews. The Jews were in those days our present-day Christians if I could say. So, Nicodemous probably knew the Bible too but “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God… Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” [John 3:3, 7]. Seeing the kingdom of God does not only mean going to heaven when you die. The kingdom of God can also be experienced on earth. It is what you call “the presence”. Jesus even told us to pray that God’s kingdom would come to the earth in Matthew 6:10(a). I believe that the first step you need to take to “feel anything” and “truly find something spiritual in the Bible” is to be born again. You see, I could clearly tell from the start that you needed to be born again. You used past tense to describe your “Christian” life if I could put it that way. However, if you want the things you are waiting for now, you have to presently ask God for a new start. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. The first step to becoming born again is to firstly acknowledge that you are a sinner (Romans 3:23). Secondly, understand that you deserve to die because of your sin (Romans 6:23). Thirdly, know that God loves you. (John 3:26). Then, receive Jesus Christ (John 1:12). After that, believe in Him with all your heart and confess him as Lord (Romans 10:9, 10). Then deny yourself and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). It’s as simple as that! You may ask why you should be born again. As in the verses I quoted earlier, you need to be born again to enter into heaven. I do not believe in the existence of Purgatory because the Bible only describes two after-life destinations: Heaven and Hell. The time to decide which destination you want to be in is now! Whether or not purgatory exists, it is better to be completely assured of entry into Heaven and then discover there is Purgatory than to discover there isn’t.
So, as to your second question, yes, faith is required in order for God to reveal Himself. Now, I want you to learn something about the voice of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit also speaks to our minds and directs us. What is it like when the Holy Spirit speaks to your mind? Anything that enters your mind is a thought. The Holy Spirit speaks to your mind by bringing thoughts to it.
But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance [mind], whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 14:26
You must also learn the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to your physical being. In this case, you will hear an audible voice speaking to you. The Bible is full of such examples, however, do not make the mistake of thinking that it was an everyday occurrence with the Apostles.
The voice of the Holy Spirit to your spirit is called the “Inner witness”.
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth The SPIRIT of his son into your hearts, CRYING, ABBA, FATHER.
Galatians 4:6
This verse says that the Holy Spirit is crying or shouting in your heart. But have you ever heard an audible voice saying “Abba Father”? The answer is no!
What is the effect of the Holy Spirit crying “Abba Father” in our heart? It creates a silent assurance of your salvation. You know that you are a Christian and you know that you are going to Heaven.

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Your conscience is the instrument by which God will keep you in the path of righteousness. Anyone who claims to be led by the Spirit or by prophets, but does not listen to the voice of his conscience is doomed to tragedy in life and ministry.
As you continue to ignore the voice of your conscience, it becomes deadened and hardened. This is what Paul described as having your conscience seared.
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their CONSCIENCE SEARED with a hot iron;
1 Timothy 4:2
As soon as you make a mistake, respond to the voice of your heart condemning you. It will cause you to repent and get in line. After some years of neglecting your conscience, you will make shipwreck of your ministry. Shipwreck simply means disaster!
Holding faith, and a good conscience; which SOME HAVING PUT AWAY concerning faith have made SHIPWRECK:
1 Timothy 1:19
Keep your conscience clear! Let your heart prick you whenever you are wrong! The voice of your conscience will lead you safely on the path of righteousness.

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- [IThe Art of Hearing[/I]

Dag Heward-Mills - Dag Heward-Mills