thoughts

willdo

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” Without God we can do nothing but, with God ALL things are possible.

stayingsane

Thank you both for those scriptures reminders. The key is trust God if you dont understand and know he will direct our paths. Sometimes it does get rough,but we can do all things not somethings

mrmacq

“It also makes clear that our strength lies in the confidence that comes from God’s presence”
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im sorry but this is so foreign to me
why do you need outside help in order to be confident? to be strong (in yourself)

nickstane

adjewleu, if your going to quote scripture, how about we get the context right. in acts 13:10, when saul, who is called paul, is calling them children of the devil and lost, hes talking about two men who are being false prophets and spreading the gospel wrong. in fact, ill post what it says and break it down for you.

“So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?
(Acts 13:4-10 ESV) "

so first, they are sent out to the holy spirit, skip down to where they meet bar-jesus. obviously, it says that he was a man of intellegence, as are you. and so they see that he is taking scripture and twisting it to his own devices, instead of actually considering the context of the words and using said context correctly. this is the reason that he was called a son of the devil, an enemy of all righteousness, and a villian. because he was just using the scripture to make himself look good. so i’m telling you what they told him all those years ago. will you not stop using the words of the lord to your own devices, because as long as you do, your heart will be hardened just as pharohs was in exodus with moses, and the worst part about this for you is its not even your choice to do so. it is for the glory of the lord that he makes you feel this way, it is for his sake that he clothes you in mist and blinds your eyes to the truth, and there isnt anything you can do about it. #gospeltruth

nickstane

ok so adjewleu, if your going to quote scripture, lets get the context down right.

“So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?”
(Acts 13:4-10 ESV)

so saul gets sent to cyprus by the holy spirit. they meet a false prophet, or someone teaching the gospel wrong. so when he is calling this man a son of the devil and an enemy of all righteousness, it is because he is twisting the words of god to satisfy his own means. so when you are “called” an enemy and a son of the devil, you know that in your heart, it is not us applying these labels. but even i do not know if you can be turned. god has apparently placed a veil over your eyes and made your heart hard, like pharoeh in exodus, and god does this for his glory alone.

“But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”
(Exodus 7:3-5 ESV)

it is for his sake that he has made you blind. it is not for you to decide whether you "have god " or not.

“But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
(Romans 9:6-24 ESV)

adjewleu

The story about Elymas is a fraud.
The Bible is generally a fraudulent text, too.
It never gives the opposition space/opportunity to declare its side.
Where do we hear Elymas explain anything from his side?
Not like that in modern times!
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Obviously, Paul was a VIOLENT character, a bloody fanatic.
That is my opinion about the guy – based on what is written.
Now, you appear here to defend a VIOLENT fanatic, which dangerously can turn you also into the same dysfunction, nick.
Are you a dysfunctional fanatic, nick?
Do you need Paul in your life?
I don’t!

briton

What a load of rubbish.