tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949422246633548404.post8154850185428712360..comments2024-02-07T11:31:44.141+03:00Comments on On Life in St. Petersburg: May 9 and my knight in shining armorElizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15283395756742923658noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949422246633548404.post-573729703260271262009-05-12T14:08:00.000+04:002009-05-12T14:08:00.000+04:00There are some interesting comments in Corinthians...There are some interesting comments in Corinthians (for example, 2 Cor. 10:17) about "boasting in the Lord." It's hard to give glory to the Lord for something in our lives without letting ourselves become the center of attention. This is true of Christians at any level of spiritual maturity. I don't even like the Apostle Paul's comments sometimes.<br /><br />I do believe in election. However, Christ, the Son of God, was the perfect picture of humility, and an example for us.Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15283395756742923658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949422246633548404.post-46905523688185242812009-05-12T03:55:00.000+04:002009-05-12T03:55:00.000+04:00A revised version: (Liz, please, delete the same p...A revised version: (Liz, please, delete the same post above. I am embarrassed at all the mistakes I have made there...)<br /><br />Thank you for your reply. I had a neighbor who used to say to me, inevitably, almost every Saturday, in a very Christian-like, spiritually uptight way: "I had such a wonderful time with the Lord this morning in my quiet time!"<br /><br />I, of course, would smile and mumble something like: "Great, thank you for praying for all of us..."<br /><br />And, of course, she would, again, inevitably, mention how she does pray for all of us and how she LLLLLOVES spending time with HER Lord.<br /><br />And then I would think to myself: "What a fool..."<br /><br />To be honest with you Liz, that religious mambo-jumbo made me wanting to puke quite a few times.<br /><br />Just today, I was at a home of some Christian couple (due to my work schedule) and they (being Pentecostals) quickly switched to talking about spiritual things (something about how Israel is God's chosen nation and that the current US president is a very bad guy and blah, blah, blah).<br /><br />I was sitting there, listening to them, thinking: "These people are just crazy!"<br /><br />Why am writing all of this? I guess, I am just trying to say that we, as Christians, need more humility. We just need to live our lives, work with our own hands, raise our families, relate to each other in love, and if God, at the end, wants to use us, he will. Ultimately, it is all up to him, not to us. I agree, the free will is important, but it is not something that supersedes his will.<br /><br />My non-Christian friends are just as much protected by God as I am. I can see that he loves them just as much as he loves me. None of us is special. Arrogant...? Maybe. But not special.<br /><br />I have people, here at work, who go to bars and cuss like sailors, yet I can see how much God loves them. I don't know why he loves them, but I know he does.V.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949422246633548404.post-24614954036483199892009-05-11T18:46:00.000+04:002009-05-11T18:46:00.000+04:00Very interesting question. I don't have any doubt ...Very interesting question. I don't have any doubt that God protects us. It says so in His word. However, what does He protect us against, and in what way? That is harder to answer. I believe that if God is sovereign, and if I am surrendered to Him, then He protects me from circumstances that are outside His ultimate will. And He protects my heart from faltering. That is, He protects me by assuring me that everything is in His hands.<br /><br />No, God doesn't protect us from everything. Then there would be no free will. What would be the point of living?<br /><br />Intimacy comes from God allowing us to recognize our need and our response in calling to Him for help.<br /><br />Since God's protection relates to His ultimate will, I think we often lack the vision to understand the purpose of a certain event here on earth. <br /><br />Any other thoughts?Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15283395756742923658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949422246633548404.post-59291240944681347292009-05-11T17:30:00.000+04:002009-05-11T17:30:00.000+04:00Thank you for your post, it was very good.Thank you for your post, it was very good.Elizabeth J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13607386168845608028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949422246633548404.post-76860677278633433412009-05-11T06:13:00.000+04:002009-05-11T06:13:00.000+04:00BTW, if you think I am wrong, try to explain why s...BTW, if you think I am wrong, try to explain why so many innocent Jews and people in general perished in the WW2, for instance.<br /><br />Did God not care? Or was not intimate with his people? <br /><br />He does what pleases him. We do what pleases us. We are fools, he is not.V.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949422246633548404.post-81911143705348892592009-05-11T06:09:00.000+04:002009-05-11T06:09:00.000+04:00I do not really think God is protecting us from an...I do not really think God is protecting us from anything. He set everything in motion from the beginning of time and nothing can change it. It's too complex to explain. People, from the first day of their existence, tried to explain God away. He is not really all that intimate with us, as we think he is. He is who he is and what he did and does is what he did and does. Americans are the worst in misrepresenting and misinterpreting the God of the Torah (aka the Bible).<br /><br />But... this is not the main point of my post. I just want to wish every mom "Happy mother's day!"V.noreply@blogger.com