*This is a blog that I wrote back in April, but for some reason I never got around to posting it. Well this week the thought of "Redefining Love" has been on my mind again. I originally came across this post with the idea of using it for my personal study and/or just adding something to it. But as I read through it, I didn't see that there was anything that needed to be added or taken away. It spoke to my heart in a powerful way once again, and I pray it does the same for you.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I was able to be a part of an amazing move of God last weekend. Part of that awesome move happened around midnight Saturday after we left the church. Our FOCUS group was gathered in the living room of a generous church member's house, planning our lesson for Sunday School. We knew that we wanted to talk about the true meaning of love, but we couldn't seem to get any of our ideas to work. It seemed like we kept hitting a brick wall, and it was frustrating. Finally, one of the girls in the group asked if we could pray. Of course, we all quickly agreed. She didn't pray for a miracle, but God answered her prayer in a miraculous way. Immediately after she finished praying we decided on the scripture we were going to use. There were seven verses, and seven of us, so we each read a verse. I honestly believe that in that moment we were bound by a form of unity that I have never experienced before, and the Holy Spirit began to speak. When we finished reading the scripture someone made a comment about love being an action. Then someone else added to that, and we literally went around the room finishing eachother's sentences. We had the basic outline of our lesson planned in just a few minutes. I can't even begin to describe how awesome that was. We were overwelmed by the greatness of God, and it bubbled over in the form of joyous laughter. The only words that seemed to appropriately describe the moment was, "God is good!" :)
Our lesson that next morning was titled, "Redefining Love" and God has used that exact same message to minister to me all week. The basis of our scripture was 1 John 3:14-20 and the message we received could be summed up like this... Love is an action, so if you don't act on it then it isn't really love. God is love, so when we show love to others we are also showing them who God is. Love involves passion and sacrifice, therefore Jesus made the ultimate demonstration of love through His death on the cross.
You seem to be a woman of faith. I have an honest question that I need answered if you don't mind. I will follow your blog to get your answer.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe God works miracles on the sick? Like the ones with cancer?
Absolutely! James 5:14-15 says "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."
ReplyDeleteCool, thanks. I found another question since the last one. Do you think God knows everything that is going to happen in our lives? And if God can cure diseases, why doesn't he ever cure amputees?
ReplyDeleteI believe He does. Psalm 139 is a great chapter to refer to for that question. And as far as the amputee question - It's not always in God's will to heal. Have you ever seen the movie Soul Surfer? I highly recommend it if you haven't. Bethany Hamilton is a great example of that. She lost an arm in a shark attack and was quoted saying that she was able to impact more lives with one arm than she ever could have with two. That was God's plan for her life.
ReplyDeleteSo... If I got cancer and died, then it was God's plan, the same way it would have been if he would have cured me? What I'm asking is if God plans for every person's death.
ReplyDeleteI believe He does. Psalm 139:16 says, "...all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." God's plan is perfect (Jeremiah 29:11), even if we don't understand it at times. His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). For everyone there is a time to be born, and a time to die (Ecclesiastes 3). But as long as you've accepted Jesus as your Savior then there is nothing to fear in death, because you will spend eternity with Him. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm asking because my family is in a dispute over whether or not my aunt is to blame for her abortion. I said no because God planned for her to get pregnant, and he planned for the baby to killed. Also, if God could cure me of cancer, why would he let me get it in the first place? And about the Soul Surfer movie; I have not seen it, but I do know the concept and story behind it. I read an article on the girl, and it truly is amazing, but what I was pointing out is that God has never once healed an amputee. Nobody has ever woke up one day and suddenly had legs that they were missing the day before. So why would God separate people with cancer from people who have missing limbs?
ReplyDeleteGod puts us through trials to grow our faith and help us learn to trust Him. When we undergo difficult circumstances, such as cancer, we learn to depend on God. In the end, we come through it much stronger than if we had never had to endure it. (1 Peter 5:10, James 1:12, Romans 5:3) Trials are a part of our testimony. If we didn't know what it was to suffer, then we wouldn't know what it is to overcome. I'm not sure of the answer to your question about why God would heal someone with cancer, and not restore the limb of an amputee. As I mentioned earlier, His ways are so much higher than ours it's impossible to know why He does all the things He does. However, He does promise us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that He will not put more on us than we are able to bear. And Jeremiah 29:11 assures us that He plans to prosper us, not to harm us. We have to learn to trust God's plan, even when it's hard to understand. Because we are only seeing our circumstances as they are now, but He has seen the whole picture.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe in free will? Do you believe that God allows us to do whatever we want to do? And there is another point that I would like to bring up. I don't attend church. I was raised in church from the age of five, and I am now sixteen, and I refuse to go to church now. It may sound like I am totally against Christianity, but I am actually against the people who teach it. A lady at my church was diagnosed with cancer. The whole church spent an entire Sunday praying for her. After she left the church, she went to the hospital again and started chemotherapy for her cancer. Then, when she got healed, she gave God the credit. If she gives God the credit, and truly had faith in him, she never would have taken chemotherapy. If you would like to know my personal beliefs on the subject, I don't agree with people who say that God cures our sicknesses. I think God remains free from the Earth and does not interfere. I also don't think God plans our lives and deaths because then he is planning for millions of babies to be killed. None of it makes sense, and God is not the author of confusion. If God cures diseases, then he would have cured at least one disease that we could CERTAINLY give him credit for, like the missing limb of an amputee.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that caused me to quit attending church was the prayers for things like success on a history test or something totally insignificant when there are people starving and countries at war.
One thing that my church was teaching was the belief that God is all-knowing, or omniscient. If this is true, then he already knows which of us are going to heaven and which of us are going to hell. If he already knows that information, then there is know sense in us trying because we are already destined to go one way or the other.
Also, about the whole cancer and chemotherapy ordeal, I have a comparison that might let you see the incredible lack of faith and ignorance behind it. This would be comparable to me getting a stain on my shirt and asking God to remove it for me. Then, I proceed to wash the shirt repeatedly and when the stain disappears, I give God the credit. Does that make sense? No, it doesn't, because God didn't take out the stain, the Tide did. If God really cured diseases like cancer, then true Christians would not take any kind of medication, because it won't help you if it isn't in God's will. What I'm saying is that you can take medicine, or you can pray, but doing both probably angers God just a little. I mean, you are basically saying that, even though you prayed, you are going to go to the doctor, just in case.
Have you heard of the "ask and you shall receive" verse? It is somewhere in Luke. Is that supposed to be taken literally? If I ask God to give me wings, is he going to do it? Of course you will say no because it wasn't his will, but does that mean that you are going against what the Bible says?
If you would rather E-mail me about these things instead of writing this on your blog, I would gladly give you my E-mail address.
Thanks for your time, and I would love to hear your side of the debate because my church hates me.
For some reason it's not letting me post my response on here, so if you don't mind giving me your e-mail address I will try to send it to you there.
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ReplyDeleteBeen a while since I heard from you. I sent a reply E-mail two days ago, and I was just checking to see if you forgot to check your inbox lately. I'm looking forward to your response. Thanks...
ReplyDeleteI know, I'm sorry about that! I've had a busy couple of days, but I just replied to your e-mail.
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