Abigail, the Bible is the word of God. If you have to ask, you don't understand the Lord. Please turn your heart and soul, your life to Him. Faith will show you how. Talk to your pastor, rabbi, or another Christian. I'll pray with you. May the Lord reach out and touch your soul.
We live in a world where the is various sin and partiality is just one of them. To ask why is it partiality exist in a fallen world where sin has no boundaries, you would have to ask why do men kill, steal, lie, commit fornication, abortion, same sex marriage, ECT.. If we get our answer from the bible you will find the answer is "SIN" and if you did one you have done them all, no matter what color you are!
So the question should be why do anyone treat anyone bad.
Or why do white people treat white people bad?
Or why do black people treat black people bad? The same thing goes for any nationality. This is a evil and dark world we live in, and we all have fallen short of Gods commandments,
THERE IS A SIN PROBLEM!! We go to the world for a solution when we should go to the Lord and the word!
Jesus is calling people out of the world into his glorious light, There is no where in the bible where it says the Lord is coming back to make a better world, he is coming back to judge the world and destroy it and create a new Heaven and Earth. Man has never been able to solve mans sin problem.
Lets seek the Lord with all our hearts and let him fill us with his spirit.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2.
I know God had many fiery trials and he suffered and so will we. It's very painful living in a world where there is so much hate. Knowing that we're only here for a little while. We want to live comfortable. Why are we as Black People feel as if we don't belong? God created us just as he created other race of people. My Mom and Dad taught us to Love everybody and treat everyone with dignity and respect. I teach my kids the same. Why are we treated so bad as a people of color? This is a God created world. God Loves us all the same. God is Love.
Thank you Jesse! Yes my brewery days have been over for quite a while :).
This maybe was the most amazing event I ever witnessed in my almost 30 years of being a born again Christian. My friend (a male) who I still hear from every year or so was Jewish but not really practicing what he had been taught. We were on a similar path until that day. Time remains. :)
God Bless the work in Jesus Christ and God Bless those who live in Him and share His peace!
You have to forgive me for this, but sometimes I read things too fast and see words that are not there. When I was reading what you said, I thought I read that you were sitting next to a friend at an NYC Brewery. I thought what in the world is he doing at a brewery? Anyways, that's not what you said!
What an awesome testimony of the power of God's Word. His word is very powerful. Everyone has some sort of response to it. We either are drawn to it, or we want to get away from it. But there will always be a response. I pray for your friend that the seed which has been sown will take root in his/her heart and that he/she might see their need for Christ, and surrender their life to Him!
I have a close friend who was sitting next to me at the NYC Bowery Mission while the Gospel was being preached. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he listened. All of a sudden he tightened and shook and stopped what ever was happening inside of him.
No, not in that condition. The people in this section of the Parable of the Sower have hearts that are hardened. The word of God is just sitting there. There's no penetration. These are people who hear the gospel, but because of the hardness of their hearts, they do everything in their power to get away. As long as they continue on in this condition, they have no hope of salvation.
One of the most influential verses spoken by Jesus if you are searching for the truth or correct interpretation of the scriptures.
I found it that way a number of times when seeking truth .
Your intensity in listening with out bias or preconceived ideas when reading the Bible , Gods word gets louder than all other views or interpretations. It's up to you to give ear to what Gods word is saying , your future depends on it .
The only remedy for indoctrination that is so damning .
There's nothing in the narrative ( Mark 4:36-41) to suggest that Satan had anything to do with the storm. I feel that it was just a normal weather phenomenon as apparently was quite common at the Sea of Galilee. It could be quite calm & in the next moment a violent storm could build up. This was partly due to its location where the wind comes over the mountains in the East & drops suddenly & violently towards the Sea. However, Jesus always took the daily experiences of the people to teach them, not about nature, but of the deeper spiritual life & God's operation over mankind.
"Man was made in the image of God. All agreed?" Fully agree.
"So why does man not have 3 heads?" Does God have three heads?
"Or at least 3 distinct personalities?" The Bible speaks of man having a body, soul & spirit ( 1 Thessalonians 5:23), which doesn't in the least equate to the Persons in the Godhead, but does indicate that a trinity is necessary for man so that he is how God intended him to be & exist. If one aspect of our trinity is missing, then what do we have left?
Then the question should be: What is God's Image? There can be many answers to this as Scripture doesn't reveal it clearly, but one thing is clear, that our image is not of any physical appearance to God. God is Spirit & no one has seen Him, except the revelation of Him in and through His Son. So I see God's Image to be the character of God that He has imparted to mankind but for sin that has marred & distorted that image. Virtues as godly love, self-awareness, justice, mercy, kindness, hope, eternity set in our heart & many more no doubt, would count for Who God is & what He has imparted to us, that which animals don't possess.
What Jesus spoke of in Mark 4:11,12 is an echo of what God said to Isaiah in Isaiah 6:8-11. In that portion, Isaiah actually had to tell the people that they would not understand God's message to them as an indictment to the stubbornness of their hearts.
Jesus gives the same warning to those living during His times, as they too were hardly ready to receive great spiritual Truths when they had to first realize that 'indeed, the Messiah of God had come amongst them'. So it was through parables, using illustrations that the people could easily understand, that people would be drawn to listen as well as the many miracles He performed in their sight.
Many did believe that Jesus was the coming Christ as a result of this, but it was only after the Cross that Jesus' Words could be understood for the wisdom that was contained in them. However, to His disciples, they were given special insight, and even here, we often sense that they too were sometimes 'hard of hearing' & wondered as to the words of Jesus. For one such example, see Mark 8:14-16. But the Blessed Teacher was there to give them Light, drawing them closer to fully understanding Who He was & the purpose of His Coming.
The self righteous Jews of that time Jesus spoke in parables to them , if they really knew God as they claimed they would have understood Jesus is Of God and spoke truth .
This is not in reference to all men just the self righteous at that time . Another fulfillment of prophecy.
In verse 12 of this chapter he seems to imply that he doesn't want the people to turn away from their sins and be healed. Why is that, because He had said earlier the the sick need a physician not the well and that he cam to call sinners to repentance? I could use some clarification.
Indeed Fred, that's a blessed experience: to see our beloved Lord Jesus in the midst of our stormy lives, running to Him, cleaving to Him rather than focusing on the storm that seeks our ruin.
Truly i believe you are correct in saying that Jesus has power over everything. The storms are indeed a fact of life in everyone's life. What better way to lead an unbeliever into the realm of peace through faith in the gospel? Seeking the truth , the path of righteousness is not without trouble! This is the growing process of God, the bible calls sanctification! When we See a storm coming, we can take cover. Its the storm that happens suddenly, that will make us call on Him! st After we have experienced these sudden storms in our life we can look back and give Him the glory for saving us! The wind can be fierce, like you say it comes quickly on this lake. The same way the holy spirit will come on those that believe the gospel found in Jesus Christ.
Mark 4:35-41. It is a known fact that sometimes storms can suddenly start up on the Sea of Galilee so this occasion was no exception. However, you might be meaning: if Jesus was on the boat, then why should an afflicting storm arise? Jesus, of course has full authority over the wind & the waves, so He could have made sure that they didn't arise while He was out there with His disciples.
Since we're not given the exact answer to this, I see a couple of choices: storms don't matter to Jesus - He is Lord over all, so in the midst of anything 'dangerous', nothing can rob Jesus of His Peace & Power. Secondly, He could have allowed the storm to arise so that his 'faithless' disciples could have a further witness of Who He was & also learn a great lesson of faith - a faith that we today even need to have as we go through the 'storms' of life. We all have difficulties, the apostles more so, but by faith we take hold of God's Hand so we can ride out the storms.
It is historically and factually true, constitutionally protected speech.
There is nothing intrinsically offensive in those words.
We live in a world where the is various sin and partiality is just one of them. To ask why is it partiality exist in a fallen world where sin has no boundaries, you would have to ask why do men kill, steal, lie, commit fornication, abortion, same sex marriage, ECT.. If we get our answer from the bible you will find the answer is "SIN" and if you did one you have done them all, no matter what color you are!
So the question should be why do anyone treat anyone bad.
Or why do white people treat white people bad?
Or why do black people treat black people bad? The same thing goes for any nationality. This is a evil and dark world we live in, and we all have fallen short of Gods commandments,
THERE IS A SIN PROBLEM!! We go to the world for a solution when we should go to the Lord and the word!
Jesus is calling people out of the world into his glorious light, There is no where in the bible where it says the Lord is coming back to make a better world, he is coming back to judge the world and destroy it and create a new Heaven and Earth. Man has never been able to solve mans sin problem.
Lets seek the Lord with all our hearts and let him fill us with his spirit.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2.
God bless you.
You'll need to do some reading and meditating on these parallel Scriptures:
Mat 24:1-25:46
Mar 13:1-37
Luk 21:5-36
Never Read A Bible Verse!
Always, always, always read the verses BEFORE and AFTER.
Read parallel passages.
Context is king!
This maybe was the most amazing event I ever witnessed in my almost 30 years of being a born again Christian. My friend (a male) who I still hear from every year or so was Jewish but not really practicing what he had been taught. We were on a similar path until that day. Time remains. :)
God Bless the work in Jesus Christ and God Bless those who live in Him and share His peace!
Stay the course Jesse.
Carleton
You have to forgive me for this, but sometimes I read things too fast and see words that are not there. When I was reading what you said, I thought I read that you were sitting next to a friend at an NYC Brewery. I thought what in the world is he doing at a brewery? Anyways, that's not what you said!
What an awesome testimony of the power of God's Word. His word is very powerful. Everyone has some sort of response to it. We either are drawn to it, or we want to get away from it. But there will always be a response. I pray for your friend that the seed which has been sown will take root in his/her heart and that he/she might see their need for Christ, and surrender their life to Him!
:(
One of the most influential verses spoken by Jesus if you are searching for the truth or correct interpretation of the scriptures.
I found it that way a number of times when seeking truth .
Your intensity in listening with out bias or preconceived ideas when reading the Bible , Gods word gets louder than all other views or interpretations. It's up to you to give ear to what Gods word is saying , your future depends on it .
The only remedy for indoctrination that is so damning .
"So why does man not have 3 heads?" Does God have three heads?
"Or at least 3 distinct personalities?" The Bible speaks of man having a body, soul & spirit ( 1 Thessalonians 5:23), which doesn't in the least equate to the Persons in the Godhead, but does indicate that a trinity is necessary for man so that he is how God intended him to be & exist. If one aspect of our trinity is missing, then what do we have left?
Then the question should be: What is God's Image? There can be many answers to this as Scripture doesn't reveal it clearly, but one thing is clear, that our image is not of any physical appearance to God. God is Spirit & no one has seen Him, except the revelation of Him in and through His Son. So I see God's Image to be the character of God that He has imparted to mankind but for sin that has marred & distorted that image. Virtues as godly love, self-awareness, justice, mercy, kindness, hope, eternity set in our heart & many more no doubt, would count for Who God is & what He has imparted to us, that which animals don't possess.
So why does man not have 3 heads ? Or at least 3 distinct personalities?
It's obvious man is made in Gods image .
Jesus gives the same warning to those living during His times, as they too were hardly ready to receive great spiritual Truths when they had to first realize that 'indeed, the Messiah of God had come amongst them'. So it was through parables, using illustrations that the people could easily understand, that people would be drawn to listen as well as the many miracles He performed in their sight.
Many did believe that Jesus was the coming Christ as a result of this, but it was only after the Cross that Jesus' Words could be understood for the wisdom that was contained in them. However, to His disciples, they were given special insight, and even here, we often sense that they too were sometimes 'hard of hearing' & wondered as to the words of Jesus. For one such example, see Mark 8:14-16. But the Blessed Teacher was there to give them Light, drawing them closer to fully understanding Who He was & the purpose of His Coming.
This is not in reference to all men just the self righteous at that time . Another fulfillment of prophecy.
Here Jesus is instructing seekers the key to learning
You really do get what you put in , but beware you must keep what you find or lose it in the end .
If you can't hear clearly ask the lord to speak louder , he will , but keep what he said and sell it not .
Since we're not given the exact answer to this, I see a couple of choices: storms don't matter to Jesus - He is Lord over all, so in the midst of anything 'dangerous', nothing can rob Jesus of His Peace & Power. Secondly, He could have allowed the storm to arise so that his 'faithless' disciples could have a further witness of Who He was & also learn a great lesson of faith - a faith that we today even need to have as we go through the 'storms' of life. We all have difficulties, the apostles more so, but by faith we take hold of God's Hand so we can ride out the storms.