The Great Divide

 

    This is now the fourth installment. We have God having created. We have man. We have the  animals. We have the garden.
    This is not the place to discuss sexuality. That will come in a later doctrinal discussion on humanity. This section--and I don't yet know how many more-- is on creation. I guess we should look at why God and man separated fellowship.
     In the last posting I said God created man innocent or capable of learning for himself what he needs to know. That means part of God's image consists in knowing things.
      It is not my plan to explain God's image. I don't know exactly all it is. But our ability to communicate must also be a part of that image.
      So, what happened that God and man naturally no longer walk and talk together?
      I call it a great divide.
      To do that I must insert another doctrine here. All doctrine is interconnected.
       Still I am talking about creation.
       God also created angels. Angels are God's messengers. They were created to do nothing but glorify their creator. It was a vast number. He created them in ranks or divisions with each rank having a special job. God must have given them in the beginning the ability to choose where they wished to serve. The Bible says that one called Lucifer became prideful and thought himself independent. He somehow got a third of the angels to agree with him and they opposed God's authority. So Lucifer got thrown out of heaven and the other angels who followed him also were cast out.
     Lucifer and his angels were thrown to earth. Lucifer because Satan (Accuser) and his angels became demons.
     They watched as God created man.
      They heard what God told Adam and Eve, the two innocent humans--"Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree,  in which is the fruit of the tree yielding seed..."  for they had watched as God created all the trees-- also the tree of life in the midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God told them to eat of every tree in the garden except for that one which was in the midst.
        It was a test of obedience
        Satan saw a way he could get God to throw man out of the garden and separate Himself from them, just as he had separated Himself from fellowship with him.
         Get them to doubt God and disobey a command.
          And it worked. He went after the woman. He figured, rightly, that the man loved the woman so much he would follow in the disobedience.
           And God did throw them out of the garden. But not before leaving a way open to restore fellowship--something He did not do for the angels.         
           This means there will be some more posts.

Am I Praying Correctly?- Posting Three

Open My eyes That I may See

  Often we are praying, or attempting to pray, and we wonder, is there anyone there?
   Does anyone receive our prayers?  That is very important to know. Does someone really care, other than ourselves?
   Hebrews 11:6 states that ...for those who come to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. And seeking is active and expectant .
    Prayer doesn't have to always be because of need. Prayer is a normal conversation between a parent and a child.
     Remember, I posted earlier that it is a family deal. You have been adopted by God if you have a relationship with Him. Children ask their parents, in this case, Father, for things. The father listens because you are his child. They hear you in a different manner than the person who is not his kid. He doesn't have to hear and answer the neighbor's kid. He has a special link with you that he doesn't have with the other child.
     Also he doesn't have to answer you if you are not asking according to His will.
     Where is this will found?
      In  the Bible.
      That is also why I say you should pray before reading the daily Bible section. "Show me what you have today for me"
       And the prayer doesn't have to be a set written prayer. It is better if it comes from your heart in your own words.
      You could use others prayers as examples, sure, but this is your need not the others.
       Feel free to express your self to God. He wants to hear from you.
      

Faith Is Important

 What ever we ask for in prayer we should do in faith.
  Faith is not a hope for or something added on to make the request holy.
  In Hebrews, one of the epistles located in the Bible, we are told faith is needed to get things done. All the eleventh chapter is packed with people of faith.
   Faith has a paradox to it . We are believing on the basis of what God has said that we have what we ask for. It is not a magic formula. We need faith because life is messy and God is mysterious. We come to realize that faith  is often confusing
   God tells us to ask and believe when we pray. When we trust and obey that is when faith happens.
    Therefore, faith is a process not a product. It is journey.
    Faith is important because God is important. God is not absent. God wants to provide for His followers.
     Sometimes God waits before answering. Faith is needed to beleive that He hears and He is willing to provide your request. But you have to make the request.
    If you are a parent you no doubt want to provide all needs of your child. But you are waiting for the child to request the need before you release the answer. God may be like that also. He has what you need but He will not force the provision on you if you don't request it.
    Let me know how you are enjoying these posts.

Prayers May Be Answered

  Have you even had times when you have wondered--is God even listening to my prayers? Does He even incline his ear to my requests and answered them?
  That is a few questions. And the Bible infers the answer to the last two by what it does say.
   I consider the Bible to be God's communication with us humans in the revealing of Himself. All through the first half of the Bible He reveals Himself as a person who hears prayer and answers prayer of those who are in a relationship with Him.
   He gave a son to Hannah when she asked. He saved Lot form Sodom when Abraham asked Sodom to be spared if ten righteous people could be found. Only Lot was found.
   He heard Jesus when Jesus prayed. He hears us also according to 1John 5:14. "And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us.' (esv)
 It is my contention that our asking is what is being referred to here as God's will.
 this promise is only for Christians. I define a Christian as one who has a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is a family relationship.
  As for belief, this is where faith steps in. For without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith says that God exists and is one who rewards those who are His.

Prayer's Pipe Line

Open The Pipeline

   Maybe I handled this issue earlier in a post a few months ago. This is the issue of prayer getting to the throne of God to be answered.
   Of course we know that God hears the prayers of most everyone. Maybe not the muslim who is deep in his belief system. Not the Jehovah's Witness. Not the Mormon. Not the person who has no connection to God through the new birth.
    Sin blocks our prayers from getting to heaven to the throne room. Sin has to be removed or the prayer just hits the blockage and like a pool ball goes elsewhere. But not to God.
     The death of Jesus on the cross and the resurrection three days later and the ascension opened up the pipe line of prayer. Now it was possible for the prayer of a child of God to get to heaven, to the throne room ,and be heard.
   The connection was now there for the prayer to go up and the answer to come down.
    That is prayer's pipe line. Nothing we can do to keep it open. That is one of the gifts of God granted freely to His people.
    Of course on our end we need to keep confessing so that we can be assured of being heard and assured of getting an answer.. But we have nothing to do with the pipeline. That is already set. When we confess it is like using a Drano solution to keep the pipe clear.