Jesus is the word we should follow

[Blev]

whether right or wrong, the Bible should always be taken literally first.
if it doesn't make sense, then look for the figurative or symbolic meaning instead.

I tend to take most of it literally first, but if it would seem to contradict other verses, then it would be symbolic. Sometimes people take everything spiritually and nothing literally, which changes what the Bible is really saying.

 

[elijah23]

Someone responded on another forum to my "What is the Bible" question with the below;

One thing that popped into my head when people said "God's word" was John 1--And the word became flesh (presumably Jesus)

Why then the focus on the bible? To me, it would be similar to hanging on to the instruction manual for an ipad instead of picking up the ipad and becoming familiar with it by using it.

Best thing I've read all day.

I'm not sure I understand the gist of what you are saying. My own personal belief is that Jesus and God are extensively quoted in the Bible, and we ought to be aware of what Jesus and God said. The rest of the Bible is very helpful, also.

 

[Davies]

Good afternoon,

A person who looks for a reason to dismiss the Bible is a person who seeks to do what is right in his own eyes.

- Davies

 

[Blev]

Good afternoon,

A person who looks for a reason to dismiss the Bible is a person who seeks to do what is right in his own eyes.

- Davies

Very good!

 

[wayseer]

Good afternoon,

A person who looks for a reason to dismiss the Bible is a person who seeks to do what is right in his own eyes.

- Davies

Now all you have to do is indicate how a person knows what is 'right'?

 

[Davies]

Now all you have to do is indicate how a person knows what is 'right'?

There are a number of verses we could use, so how about the first one that came to mind?
Proverbs 3:6

New King James Version (NKJV)

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct[a] your paths.

- Davies

 

[wayseer]

There are a number of verses we could use, so how about the first one that came to mind?
Proverbs 3:6

New King James Version (NKJV)

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct[a] your paths.

- Davies

The question remains - how do you know God is directing you path?

 

[Dustoftheearth]

Mat 4:1 Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit, to be tempted by the Devil.
Mat 4:2 And having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards He hungered.
Mat 4:3 And coming near to Him, the Tempter said, If You are the Son of God, speak that these stones may become loaves.
Mat 4:4 But answering, He said, It has been written: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every Word going out of the mouth of God." Deut. 8:3
Mat 4:5 Then the Devil takes Him to the holy city, and he set Him on the wing of the temple.
Mat 4:6 And he said to Him, If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it has been written: "He shall give His angels charge concerning You, and they shall bear You on their hands, lest You strike Your foot against a stone." LXX-Psa. 90:11, 12; MT-Psa. 91:11, 12
Mat 4:7 Jesus said to him, Again it has been written: "You shall not tempt the Lord your God." Deut. 6:16
Mat 4:8 Again the Devil takes Him to a very high mountain, and shows to Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
Mat 4:9 And he said to Him. I will give all these things to You if falling down, You will worship me.
Mat 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, Go, Satan! For it has been written: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve Him only." Deut. 6:13
Mat 4:11 Then the Devil left Him. And behold! Angels came near and ministered to Him.



When tempted by Satan, Jesus simply quoted what God did literally say.

There is authority in the word of God, not our interpretations or arguments.

Ever since the garden of Eden, Satan has been asking man, did God really say.
Satan has been busy equipping man with clever tools, to attempt to destroy what God really has said.

John 8:51 "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death."

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
John 14:24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.

John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

 

[Davies]

The question remains - how do you know God is directing you path?

Hi wayseer,

We know that God is directing our path, even though we may not understand our current circumstances, because we are trusting in His promise to guide us. I think God likes to see us trust Him, and there is no better way to express that trust than to believe God when everything else around you tells you the opposite. Think about Noah. If I'm not mistaken, they never saw a rainy day until the flood came. For Noah to build such a large boat in the middle of dry land, he had plenty of opportunity to express his faith in God. Job is another great example of a man of faith. Every circumstance around him informed all his friends that there was something that Job did to deserve such misfortune, but Job trusted in God. If your trust is in God, you don't have to worry about if God is leading you or not.

- Davies

 

[wayseer]

Hi wayseer,

We know that God is directing our path, even though we may not understand our current circumstances, because we are trusting in His promise to guide us.

So, how does God 'guide' you?

There are lots of people who claim they 'follow' or are 'guided' by God but no one ever actually tells me how God achieves this.

 

[Davies]

So, how does God 'guide' you?

There are lots of people who claim they 'follow' or are 'guided' by God but no one ever actually tells me how God achieves this.

Hi wayseer,

You might as well ask, 'Why does the sun shine,' or , 'How did God create the stars?' If I may, I would refer you to post #5 of my thread called "The Pilgrim's Progress." http://www.christianforums.net/showthread.php?t=47885

God's work of grace is done in secret. You remember when Jesus said to Nicodemus, 'You hear the wind, but you don't know where it comes from or where it goes...' This is one aspect of God we will come to adore in eternity because His wonder knows no bounds.

John 3:8

New King James Version (NKJV)

8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

- Davies

 

[digging]

I want to add to the great importants of trust.....you asked how can we know if God is guiding.

ONLY we can really know if we are trusting something or not.

Trust is completely personal.

Trust and faith are part of each other, so we need to have 'trusting faith'.

Find your trust and you will find your answer, because this is what God is leading us to.

Our own personal trusting relationship with him.

Digging

 

[wayseer]

Hi wayseer,

You might as well ask, 'Why does the sun shine,' or , 'How did God create the stars?' If I may, I would refer you to post #5 of my thread called "The Pilgrim's Progress." http://www.christianforums.net/showthread.php?t=47885

God's work of grace is done in secret. You remember when Jesus said to Nicodemus, 'You hear the wind, but you don't know where it comes from or where it goes...' This is one aspect of God we will come to adore in eternity because His wonder knows no bounds.

John 3:8

New King James Version (NKJV)

8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

- Davies

Yes, yes - thank you - but HOW do you know? What is it that triggers your knowledge.

 

[wayseer]

I want to add to the great importants of trust.....you asked how can we know if God is guiding.

ONLY we can really know if we are trusting something or not.

Trust is completely personal.

Trust and faith are part of each other, so we need to have 'trusting faith'.

Find your trust and you will find your answer, because this is what God is leading us to.

Our own personal trusting relationship with him.

Digging

I am not talking about 'trust' - I am talking about 'knowledge'. Apparently you 'trust' something but how do you know what to trust.

It's a bit like the person who claims they just turn to the Bible for guidance and opened the page at ' ... and Judas hanged himself'. Not liking that one little bit tried a different page and read ' ... now go and do likewise'.

What is it about this story that you don't like? What does this story reveal? What do you like about this story?

 

[digging]

I understand what you are asking, the answer perhaps is not what you are expecting.

So back to trust and knowledge......

Let me ask you...... how do we 'know' if we are in love?

To be a Christian is a combination between our deep feelings and our minds desire to understand facts.

So as I said find your trust and then you can begin to find other answers as well.
Many, many Christian are taught that their faith must be built on special understanding of various creeds. I don't agree with that any more.

faith is like the mystery of life, the very act of being alive, where as doctrine and creeds are like science trying to make sense of how life operates.

We can have life without the knowledge of science, but the knowledge of science doesn't create life.

Like wise with faith, it is a gift God gives us just like our life and as our knowledge grows our appreciation for our faith can grows as well.

We can know we are trusting God and have faith the same way we can know when we love.

Digging

 

[wayseer]

I understand what you are asking, the answer perhaps is not what you are expecting.

I am not 'expecting' anything.

So back to trust and knowledge......

Let me ask you...... how do we 'know' if we are in love?

Well, I guess it is the hormones racing around sending out all sorts of signals which inevitably leads to certain kind of behaviour.

To be a Christian is a combination between our deep feelings and our minds desire to understand facts.

So as I said find your trust and then you can begin to find other answers as well.

'Trust' does nothing.

We can have life without the knowledge of science, but the knowledge of science doesn't create life.

Well - actually it does.

Stick with the experience of love. But love comes from 'knowledge' even though we are not able to express exactly what it is with which we are afflicted. The same with music - with the beauty of a sunset.

These are 'feeling's which arouse emotions which held direct our actions.

Now I suggest something similar happens when you read the Bible.

So I am directed by the experience of my feelings - that is how I know. The only issue you have to address now is whether these 'feeling's are a response to Truth or a response to what I like.

 

[digging]

Ok here's one more answer to consider.......if you love something, like a moment when you are outside somewhere and something really beautiful happens or you see a beautiful sight, and you 'love' that moment. Isn't that love based on a relationship, a moment of interaction with the world around you more so than facts of knowledge?

Your last question ties back into trust which is based on a real relationship with God. We have the ability to tell the difference between may things, hot and cold, light and dark, soft and hard, noise and music, sweet and sour,love and hate......so with the question you asked, it is within you to tell the difference, you just need to trust your own love for goodness which is based on the foundation of trusting in your Creator who gave you these abilities in the first place.

Digging

 

[VirginShallConceive]

I am not talking about 'trust' - I am talking about 'knowledge'. Apparently you 'trust' something but how do you know what to trust.

It's a bit like the person who claims they just turn to the Bible for guidance and opened the page at ' ... and Judas hanged himself'. Not liking that one little bit tried a different page and read ' ... now go and do likewise'.

What is it about this story that you don't like? What does this story reveal? What do you like about this story?

:toofunny Loved it!

 

[Dustoftheearth]

So, how does God 'guide' you?

There are lots of people who claim they 'follow' or are 'guided' by God but no one ever actually tells me how God achieves this.

Spiritual Discernment.

Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant which I shall covenant with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind, and I shall inscribe them upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Heb 8:11 And by no means will they teach each one his fellow citizen, and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.

Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

1Co 2:9 But as it is written, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard," nor has it entered into the heart of man, "the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."
1Co 2:10 But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God.
1Co 2:11 For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of man within him? So also no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12 But we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit from God, so that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God.
1Co 2:13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1Co 2:15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged by no one.
1Co 2:16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

We are not given full discernment as a gift, but we are all given as a gift the ability to discern.
We grow to maturity as we practice and train our senses by the renewing of the mind to discern the will of God

 

[wayseer]

Ok here's one more answer to consider.......if you love something, like a moment when you are outside somewhere and something really beautiful happens or you see a beautiful sight, and you 'love' that moment. Isn't that love based on a relationship, a moment of interaction with the world around you more so than facts of knowledge?

Your last question ties back into trust which is based on a real relationship with God. We have the ability to tell the difference between may things, hot and cold, light and dark, soft and hard, noise and music, sweet and sour,love and hate......so with the question you asked, it is within you to tell the difference, you just need to trust your own love for goodness which is based on the foundation of trusting in your Creator who gave you these abilities in the first place.

Digging

But perhaps you need to ask yourself how you can tell the difference between hot and cold, light and dark. Experience is knowledge which we apply when we are confronted with something new in order to make sense of the new experience.

Certainly, as I have said on more than one occasion, reality is more than experience. But in saying this I do not detract from the importance of that knowledge.

So if I am confronted with a new moral problem what do I do? Do I not consult my knowledge concerning such matters? We, I, don't just turn the page and 'trust' that something will magically appear to solved my problem.

It is by God's grace that we are saved but it is by own knowledge that we can put things to right.