What's on your mind?

[TheGirlOnFire]

Wow, deep convo for a tuesday

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

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[CodyFaith]

Living in prosperity and comfort can teach us to rely on material things rather than faith. And if God is concerned with the state of our faith and our souls (which He is), then we are worse off than those Christians who face torture or death for their beliefs.
Just look at the message to the Laodiceans in Revelation 3. It’s not a coincidence. People who think they have all they need may very well be in the greatest spiritual danger of all.

I'm not sure your theology, but no saved believer is ever in any spiritual danger. I am in no concerned state of my soul - Jesus has saved my soul for all eternity.

Again I say, my comfort is a gift from God for which I'm thankful for and certainly nothing I'd ever feel guilt for having been born into it and out of my power or control to change. If I were to go out and aim to get rich and aim to get more luxuries than I have at the expense of others via devoting my time and effort to pleasure instead of God - that would be sin for me.

As for relying on riches and lacking faith, it is not rational to believe God would place people in situations like comfort and safety at a cost of that person not being able to develop his own faith and leaning on God. God gives all men equal oppurtunity to lean on him, and having a full course meal vs eating plain rice every day does not change one's decisions to trust more in God.

I decided to respond to this as a response to both you and @Wayholka as both were similar enough and I'd just be repeating concepts.

 

[Swords&Sunflowers]

imo, we should just focus on what God is leading us to do and stop comparing our spiritual growth or challenges with one another, remember one time peter was kinda asking Jesus about John's plight, and
Jesus said..."... unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me." John 21:22.

 

[( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

A KJVer. Lock the door!

 

[( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

Soooo S&S. What's Holy Spirit been speaking to you about lately?

 

[Swords&Sunflowers]

A KJVer. Lock the door!

Lol KJV foh lyf son! I tried looking for NKJV but couldn't find it.

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

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[Swords&Sunflowers]

Soooo S&S. What's Holy Spirit been speaking to you about lately?

that the harvest is plenty but the workers are few

 

[( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

Lol KJV foh lyf son! I tried looking for NKJV but couldn't find it.

No forum fer shew! (unless you're not wearing makeup and keep your hair up)

jk. i need to leave the funny mentalists alone.

 

[( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

that the harvest is plenty but the workers are few

so pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest will send laborers into His harvest?

If you went into ministry, what field do you think God would call you to?

 

[Swords&Sunflowers]

No forum fer shew! (unless you're not wearing makeup and keep your hair up)

jk. i need to leave the funny mentalists alone.

lol sorry bortss i didnt get the joke...i'm slow sometimes... *cricket noises

 

[Toro]

We are not called to wealth nor are we called to poverty.

We are called to Christ and Christ alone. If we are wealthy He has purpose for us to use that wealth to further His kingdom (It doesn't mean we CANT spend some or all of that money on self. It's free will.)

It is up to the conviction of the Spirit in a person with what they do with the money. if they spend it on lavish things and refuse to help anyone that is on their soul with those who have been given much, much will be expected.

God supplies the means for His purpose for our lives.

Jesus said to one rich man to give up his fortune then said it was easier for a camel. Yet another rich man saw such little value in wealth in comparison to the value of the spiritual wealth and said for those he wronged he would give them more. Jesus said of this man that he was not far from the kingdom.

As far as who is better off... it's a but like the arguement between the disciples over who will be greatest...... still worrying about human desires over simply taking hold 8f grace and mercy.

To simply be content with what God gives us.

Yes some will be greater, some have had their comfort.... but so what.... how ungrateful do we sound to God when He has saved us in mercy yet we still bicker over who is better... still seeking to appease our human ego.

Even the le as st in Heaven is greater than John..... if John were content and had nothing yet still had joy.... how dare we believe that being the least is a horrible and whatever God chooses to give us and place us isnt enough.


The enemy was not content in his place either. Just food for thought.

 

[( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

lol sorry bortss i didnt get the joke...i'm slow sometimes... *cricket noises

oh no worries. "funny mentalists" is laffo for "fundamentalists" and the poke on them was their tendencies to be strict in areas like no makeup on women or keeping their hair up.

*sigh*

 

[SarahsKnight]

Yeah, I have a lot on my mind today. Originally intended to put in my two cents on something but ended up emptying out my wallet.

Yeah, I do that a lot, too.

 

[Swords&Sunflowers]

oh no worries. "funny mentalists" is laffo for "fundamentalists" and the poke on them was their tendencies to be strict in areas like no makeup on women or keeping their hair up.

*sigh*

Well we need the fundamentals, just be careful not to overdo it, must find balance, and focus on weightier things.

 

[( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

Well we need the fundamentals, just be careful not to overdo it, must find balance, and focus on weightier things.

i agree. they love God too. I went to a fundy church for over 10 years.

 

[SarahsKnight]

I've seen a satirical forum called Landover Baptist Church and it's an absolute caricature of American right winged Christianity. It's so well done that numerous people mistook it for the real thing,

Sadly (or perhaps appropriately), I was one of those who thought it was serious at first. ... Thankfully I did not embarrass myself trying to contact any of the fictitious members of that site to give them a piece of my mind about their hateful ways before I realized it was satire.

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

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[CodyFaith]

My words were not a shot at you. Your faith is one of the strongest I've seen on this forum. If your lifestyle and residence is not affecting your faith, then I am proud of you. I'm just saying that when a society focuses on obtaining wealth and pleasure even when they already have so much security, it can lead to decadence and I personally think Western society has reached a point where we care less and less for God and more and more for pleasure.

There is no shame in enjoying the things God provided in this world. However, if pursuit of pleasure surpasses God's laws, then I do believe there's a problem. I think a major theme of the Bible is that hardship builds character. For many, it's harder to build character when they live super comfortable lives. Perhaps @Multifavs has a point about our hardships preparing us for Heaven as we can be more appreciative of God and His plans for us after living an imperfect life on Earth.

I respect your sentiments. I respect your positivity and optimism. My experiences have left me cynical and jaded and one of the pleasures of Heaven is to regain that positive outlook on life again.

Haha man trust me, I'm cynical too in many ways in regards to the state of the Church. You already know much of my grievances with it... sexual immorality, lack of commandment following and seriousness, conformity with social pressures and modern social attitudes... list goes on.

But we should aim not to generalize. Faithful people are spread all across the globe, devoted believers are everywhere. I do not believe God placed us according to our sins, rather, he placed us where our light would shine the most and where we would have the most potential for us as an individual to serve him.