Posted on 05/05/2018 3:03:08 AM PDT by Patriot777
We don’t bless God. He blesses us.
I first thought this too.
But didn’t Job’s friends tell him to curse God and die?
That being the case can’t a person Bless God and live?
Matthew 13
24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Here's the explanation of the parable:
A person in whom there is arrogance will ultimately be diminished.... "They will wither like the tops of the ears of grain" (Job 24:24)..... It is like the man who enters his field and picks the tall ones. (Sotah 5a)
A father and son were walking through a field of golden wheat at harvest time. "Father" said the boy, "why do some of the stalks stand tall and straight, while others bend their heads?"
"The bent stalks" replied the father, "are full of ripe, healthy kernels, the weight pulls them down. They are like humble people full of wisdom and good deeds. The stalks that hold their heads high are empty, like worthless people who act superior."
Our Gemara, too, likens the arrogant to tall stalks of grain. A farmer walking through a field of full, bent stalks will uproot and discard any tall, empty ones so that they will not be harvested together with the rest.
The woman caught in adultery was not without sin, but neither were her accusers, yet they were quite eager to 'stand tall' and stone her. That's not how it works.
Defiled, denigrated America will shock the world, forcing all enemies (foreign and domestic) to shut their mouths. It's like the President has been saying: "Make America Great Again". There's the guy with the grain of faith.
I don’t know why you would think that is the unpopular opinion. The vast majority on this site are Israel Supporters. There are a few that disagree, and that is OK, but I believe that it is probably a minority.
Great point. He started blessing you when you took your first breath this morning. In fact, before that. Sometimes it is difficult to see God’s hand, but it is everywhere. God keeps the universe going everyday, and each day is a new gift and a new blessing from Him!
Many years ago I might have agreed with you, I've kind of changed my mind though. I have a tendency to believe that God doesn't bless and/or curse individuals per say for keeping his commands put blesses and curses groups of individuals for keeping his commands. I have several reasons for this thinking but the main reason is when God speaks to his people in the Old Testament through people like Moses he might say stuff like "...You People..." or just "...you..." In the case of just "...you..." he means it as a plural though as in you people that has been shorten to you. At first glance it may appear God is instructing individuals in his commands and he does that some times but more often he instructs his people. My gut feeling is the blessing and cursing he talks of in keeping the commands seem to be focus in his people and or a group of individuals, So having said that I don't really believe God focuses on ditching out blessing and curses to individuals as much as he does groups of individuals. It is kind of hard to explain, but if I am correct not only do we as individuals have to be concerned about keeping the law, we also have to be concerned about whether our neighbors, our small communities, our churches we goto, are keeping the law. One could extend this thinking beyond ones small communities in which we live to the cities, the States, and Countries we live in but that might be taking it a little bit to far but feel free to take it that far if you please. If we are blessed and/or cursed it might not be so much what we do or don't do in regards to our blessings and cursing but what our fellow men we know are doing or not doing. It is hard to explain but hopefully I've given you a sense of how blessing and curses go as I see it, I may be wrong about how I see it though but at least I hope you and the rest of the freepers that might read this might consider this idea.
You are wrong about this site not supporting Israel and you are wrong about Charles Stanley. Can you backup your accusations with some solid proof?
Did you even read my post? I said nothing about Charles Stanley except that when I used to listen to him daily a few years ago, he seemed doctrinally solid to me. I was merely asking why the poster said Charles had gone off the rails. Was news to me!
Why don't you go back and read -- carefully! -- my post? Can YOU back up your accusations that I slandered Dr. Stanley with some solid proof?
Geez!
Allow me to assist you. I wrote this:
Used to listen to his radio messages on my way to work every day. Was a few years ago, but he seemed solid doctrinally.
So what happened? Did he get into that believe-it, confess-it thing?
What did I say against Dr. Stanley?
I misread your post and apologize. But what about post number 2?
Unpopular opinion here, but whoever stands with Israel will fare better than those who stand against.
Can you backup why that would be an unpopular opinion here? Because I strongly disagree with you
I believe more often Gods blessing and cursing are more often dissed out over several generations in a slow creep so much so I can see God slowly cursing America through several generations all the way back to the teachings of John Wesley and Charles Finney. But hey why stop there, why not go back even further, but hey I may be wrong all together and maybe our curses, if God is truely cursing America is a result of the sins of the present generation etc. Blessing and Cursing are something you can't really tack down and put a finger on, there is a mystery in them, and God has design it to be that way other wise men would only keep the law for personal gain and not keep it in the sense of men wanting to please God as in worshiping him etc. I think you get the drift. And just to be fair and to press the point of blessing and cursing being over several generations, the Arminianist could say God is slowly cursing America because of the teaching of Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, and/or men like them that come from the reformed Calvinist cultural. The point is that our cultural whether good or bad is a direct result of several generations of good or bad teaching from the Christian culture whether it is good or bad, hopefully you all get the point by now. Lets not blame or praise one generation over what goes on in our cultural.
I did not say that this site, FreeRepublic, was anti-Israel. In fact, I know that Jim Robinson (aka Jim Thompson) is a strong supporter of Israel.
But I have been here for over 18 years, and I have seen my share of posts about “Israel runs US foreign policy” and the like.
“Unpopular” was a poor choice of words in terms of percent support of Israel on FR. I was thinking more in terms of how vocal the antis can be. And if I confused you, then I apologize also.
Are we good?
Yes.
I agree. I listen to Dr Stanley a lot. He’s a good man.
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. God’s promise to Abraham and warning to others.
I tend to agree. Can we bless God? We can follow his commandments & please him,but not sure that is blessing God. Have to mull that one over in my mind.
Are we good?
::::::::::::::
Absolutely. Appreciate the thoughtful response.
**IS AMERICA BLESSING GOD?**
NO! Not as long as abortion is allowed in the United States!
No The US does not bless God.
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