owen

Mamaz, do you think that God created the evil before He created us or after?

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. This verse was used by some atheists to disprove that God is not good. How can He be good if He created evil? they said. I know in my heart that God is good and always will be for all eternity.So, I sought God for understanding of this verse. Back in the Garden of Eden, God placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil along with the tree of life. But it was Adam who brought the evil to this world, NOT GOD. In the sovereignty of God and in His infinite wisdom, we know that He takes control of everything, inspite of the man's rebellion. He is even the Creator of every spirit in the spiritual realm, may it be, human spirit, evil spirit, demons, angels etc. The devil, or satan who calls himself the enemy of the God, is nothing compare to His greatness. The verse above does not disprove or contradict the goodness of God, but in the contrary, it magnifies His greatness and goodness to the extent that He even controls the lives of all His enemies, ( the book of Revelation is a proof of that) for the good of His people by fulfilling the eternal purpose which He has set before creation. I appreciate if someone can share his thoughts about the verse above.

Hi daisychain, I have learned in the past that regardless of how I feel, tthe word of God remains the same.....He will never leave us nor forsake us...... whether we feel it or not. I believe that's the truth. I also believe in this verse.... Psa 34:17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. Psa 34:18 The LORD is nigh to them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as are of a contrite spirit. Psa 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. Take hold of it.

Our God is an awesome God!

I think we are in the same page, Daisy. It is not the people who are responsible for our kids, it is us. It is not them who are responsible to God, it us parents. We went to a children's party, we let our son play with other kids. At the end of party, a mother came to us (me and my wife). She said that most of the children were persuading our son to the extent of tempting him to eat candies and chocolates, even her(the mother) was also convincing him to take a bite of a delicious chocolate. To her surprise, my son told her "thank you" and put all candies and chocolates on his pocket. She asked why he didn't eat, not even one. My son said, " my mom told me not to eat candies and chocolates today." And he went back playing. Amazed, she asked us, what did we do that our son obeyed us, even though he was away from us. I mentioned the Prov. 22:6, and she said.....Okay I understand. I was laughing and at the same time very happy, when my son saw a poster of cartoon superheroes, he asked me what are those, and who are them, but that's another story....

Please dont misunderstand or misinterpret my statement above. I'm not judging anyone. In fact, one of my close friends, a Christian, has tattoos in his arm. And i havent asked him about it nor questioned him. Like you guys, it doesn't matter for me I see someone preaching the Gosper with tattoos in his arm. What matters most is the heart.

Daisy, seriously speaking, I have never known a man or woman who walks closer with God watching rated R movies, with tattoes, listening secular music, for woman; wearing mini skirts and revealing dress. You are right, I do agree that it is about personal conviction. What I have understood until now, the more I get closer to know Him and stay beside Him, the more I lost my appetite of the things of this world. and if I decide to stay away from Him even for just a day, longing of the things of this world starts to creep within me. Well, I'm not only talking about tattoos, I am talking in general. Apostle Paul said that everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial. A friend of mine ask me and my wife why we dont have cable t.v. in my house. I told him directly that I dont want my son watching tv during his free time. My son doesn't have any idea who is superman, batman, transformers, cartoon network, and the list goes on and on. I know for sure for other parents this is crazy. In fact, someone told us that we(my wife and I) are just being too hard to our son that my son's childhood is not normal. My wife replied, "for the world is not normal, but i believe for God it's normal." I put our son into two different Christian schools, one when he was in kinder and the other for prepaparatory. the teachers made the same comment. That our son is different from other children, different in a positive way. They said he is not violent, but respectful. He does watch t.v. sometimes, I bought him a complete set of children's Bible story. It makes me thank God that he knows more of the Bible characters than those t.v. cartoon characters. My point is, I believe our conviction of what is okay and what is not depends on how closer are we to God.

Cholette, I totally agree with you. We can never jugde a person's heart by outward appeareance. Lurdys, I was at your experience with your young friend.

Praise Him!

God is in-charge in everything. I pray for favor to be upon you. In his name.

Amen Gen D We see in part and we prophesy in part. me too, my interpretations have never been 100% accurate. in fact sometimes 0% accurate. God knows that we are imperfect, this is why we need Him and His holy Spirit everyday. Owen, needs to humbly search the truth

God really really never leaves us nor forsake us. We may weep in the night but JOY comes in the morning!

Welcome back! Lord Jesus, you are the Good Father and Shepherd. I pray for my sister, that you give her strength and peace continually, wisdom that she might know what to do, and your love to overcome evil. In Jesus name, Amen!

Good analogy blessed1

I know you can do it because God is with you. ....love rejoices in truth....

Amen! sista Debbie, owen , saying no to tattoos

I think she needs to understand what is a healthy self-image. Having a poor self-image is basically rooted on physical appearance, and belongings or possessions. As a result, it turns out to be an insecurity issue. If she is a christian, she has to know who she is in Christ. If NOT, it is a very challenging situation. Personally, I don't want to make my life mesirable by comparing what I have with others. But i pray for you sista, may God gives you patience and wisdom to help your friend.

Hi Dan, just want to add my thoughts here. The word of God says. Psa 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he will give thee the desires of thy heart. Psa 37:5 Commit thy way to the LORD; trust also in him; and he will bring it to pass. Nothing is impossible with God. If you are worried because you are in need finacially, remember that God has endless ways to provide for you. If you think that having a higher education may solve your financial issues, God can provide that for you. My point is we just can't limit God by our own ways that we think may be right. It seems to me, (correct me if i'm wrong) that you want study to get a better job. That's perfectly okay. But remember that His ways is higher than our ways. Lord God Almighty, I pray for my brother that you would grant the desire of his heart. Show him what he needs to do and give him the right heart to do it. Thank you Lord because you will never leave him nor forasake him, in your name I pray. Amen!

boob job! liposuction! Gen D I just cant imagine christians getting into thses stuffs! Do ya think this is getting out of the or maby not biblical ???????????? Owen, confused!

Good points debbie! very practical!!! Mark, you've left a good question to ponder! I have a co-worker, and he is a christian and a teacher, (BTW, i work in a school), he got this barb wire tattoo around his upper arm and a huge eagle at his back. Others would say.... God does not look at our appearance but to our hearts...so it doesnt matter if I am getting tattoos on my body. Please don't get me wrong, I definitely disagree with tattoos, not even body piercing. It just makes me wonder why Christians are getting into it. Owen, analyzing all comments.

Leviticus 19:28 (Amplified), "Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord." I have seen several preachers with tattoos on their arm, wrist, neck etc. And I don't know if they got it before or after being converted to Christianity. Some Christians say that tattos are acceptable now because we are under the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ? I would like to have some comments about this. What do you think?

Back in God's business here, Lurdy's. miss you as all. As of me, I've been through a lot of storms, but still hanging on, moving up with HIM.

you gave me another reason why I came back