For the Bible to say it's inspired is circular reasoning, but I'm sure you knew that. It can't be proven. The bible is nothing more to me than an ancient document still being used to control and misguide millions of people. Wake up.
reason on this....
by myelaine 46 Replies latest jw friends
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myelaine
Dear Funkyderek,
I believe the Bible is inspired because I personally have a power guiding my life right right now that I can only credit to the Holy Spirit. I have always believed there was "a God" and I wanted to be "good" in front of Him. I did good, ask anybody. I prayed regularIy, even taught children about God. God saw me but I never knew Him. I had been thinking about what kind of love it would take to actually quit smoking. I have smoked forever, my boyfriend doesn't, and loaths it. (he can't hide the fact that he loaths me when I smoke) Anyway while I was wondering how I could quit smoking for him, I couldn't ignore the "problem" that he has had forever. ( this problem has been eroding our relationship and my self esteem since I found out about it) It would take a powerful love for me to overlook his "problem" and quit smoking for him. I could not do it, for that matter I didn't even want to. I asked God to help me and if it was His will that I learn this kind of love then could He please help me. God, let your will be done in my life. (Just to note this was not the first time that I had asked this of God but it was the first time I really, really meant it) Well, God changed the topic running in my mind faster than I could say pardon, He said, "You left your gift on the alter before you settled with your brother." I knew instantly what He meant. How Did I know, My entire life flashed before my eyes starting now and working back. I was baptised,( very moving experience for me and my best friend, we were baptised together) before I devulged to my ex-husband a lie that I told him. Not just any lie, but the first lie that I told that would take me from a child into the adult world that I was taking myself.
I was 17 and I fooled around on him once, got pregnant and I decided that "Mike" would be able to support me and my baby better than the real father, who was just a boy. I made the decision to lie and say that the baby was "Mike's". I told this lie to him and everyone else for the next twenty years. By then It was accepted, not even "told" anymore. I certainly didn't think about it past is past right. I figured God must have forgiven me, I had asked him too from time to time throughout the years. If no one else does God always will, right?
I was shown that, because of my fear of having my "life," my selfish, lying, self... revealed to all that were close to me, all those I professed to love, because of my fear of being exposed and the lack of forgiveness that I expected were my wages. I hadn't even said a word to anyone but God. I hadn't asked for forgiveness from the very people that I had lied to.
I had to admit my lie to many people. I knew which ones God wanted me to speak to and I have told them and asked for forgiveness. My best friend was the first one I told, she stood up with me at my wedding. I told my son, he said he doesn't believe me, but he hasn't spoken to me since. I told everyone that God told me to tell, except my first husband. I will tell him because it is daily pressing on my heart, it makes me physically sick to think about asking him for forgiveness. I say asking him for foregiveness because he suspected from the beginning that the baby might not be his. I swore that it was, end of debate as far as I was concerned. I know God will help me when I go to speak with "Mike" I am hoping that my best friend will be able to accompany me as well. Did I mention why it is so hard for me to as "Mike" for forgiveness. I believe "Mike" is where he is at directly because of that lie.
"Mike" lived with his aging mother and raised my son after the marriage ended. One Fathers Day, not too long ago, "Mike" shot his mother in the head 3 times before trying to take his own life.
I asked God to do His will in my life and I was spept along on this new course. I personally didn't feel that I needed this upset in my life. I now see how I personally did need this upset in my life in order to live in the spirit of God's love. A simple lie can change everything, even if you don't see that it can on first inspection. If I want God's forgiveness and I want him to accept the gift of my life of service to Him. I have to righteously own up to my lie regardless of my fear. I have come to see that I should have more fear of Him that can kill the spirit, than one that can kill the flesh.
I am not coming up with this off the top of my head. There is a force at work in me helping me to see where I am wrong, and leading me to fix it. I never would have seen the consequences myself, and I never would have left myself open to the wages I have earned. People that know me see for themselves that there is something that is different. BTW my boyfriend (agnostic) thinks I went crazy for 2 days and wont accept any other reason for my confession.
This power, of and from God, now helps me to walk in righteousness before Him. I had the knowledge about God throughout my life, now that I actually know that God knows me I have been given the power to use that knowledge to walk in his ways. I never could have or would have or did before in the truest sense. That is why I can say.... GOD IS! and therefore the Bible that introduced me to Him is.
please excuse spelling mistakes etc.
love michelle
p.s. Is my life, as people see it, any better? Hell no, one might say it is worse, my son is gone from me. I do however feel like I am being comforted.
Is my life , as God sees it, any better? Yes! better every day. Thank you Jesus.
p.p.s. I have now experienced the love that I need to have, in order to quit smoking, that love is not inherently in me, I have to go to God to receive the love that is needed for me to quit smoking.
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funkyderek
myelaine,
Firstly, Little Toe is right (I don't get to say that a lot ). I'm a lot nicer than I might seem. When debating, I don't sugar-coat anything but do I try to make only fair and honest comments. All I've done on this thread is ask questions which you should really be able to answer if you're going to hold the beliefs you do.
Secondly, it sounds from your latest post that you've been through a lot and I hope you can work through it. Please don't take any criticisms of your argument as condemnation or lack of empathy.
Thirdly, nothing in your latest post answers the question of why you believe the Bible is inspired. From what I can see, the closest thing you have to an argument in this post is that:Your conscience bothered you, and you confessed to a lie you'd told. You believe this was a result of God's help, therefore the Bible is inspired by God. It's a complete non sequitur and I hope that, even if this doesn't get you questioning whether you have valid reasons for holding these beliefs, you will at least understand why an argument like that could never convince me.
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myelaine
Funkyderek,
Thank you for responding to my post so quickly. First of all, I would like to say my point in telling you all of this is not to unburden myself. I wanted to get the point across that I personally didn't feel guilty about my lie. The lie in my life meant so little to me I didn't even think about it ( the lie became truth). I know that my testemony cant change the way you see the Bible or God for that matter, but I hope that I shines light on the fact that God's ways (learned about through the Bible) are true despite how we as humans see His intervention in our lives and to a greater extent in the history played out in the Bible. Everything in there is to teach us,for our benefit, not only in this life, but ultimately in the life to come.
love michelle
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outbutnotdown
Michelle,
That's some pretty heavy stuff you had to unburden yourself of. I, like Derek, don't want to give you the impression that I am lacking in empathy, but I tend to have a little different opinion of how and why you feel differently after "confessing" your lie. IMO, you, like every other human, has an in-bred (or God-given.... if you choose to call it that :) ) ability to know and understand the most basic positive and negative feelings and effects in our lives. Whether you choose to call that a belief in God is your option, but it still makes it "real".
I feel that you likely do feel guilty about the big lie that you told. It was a very unfair thing to do. To cheat on your husband was one thing but then to selfishly USE him to benefit yourself was another matter entirely. Your confessing of that lie lifted that "guilt" that was hanging over your head. Good for you for doing it...... I'm sure it's what EVERY person involved needed to hear, esp. your son and husband... when you tell him.
But, the main point is that YOU freed yourself of that pain. At the risk of sounding like the "God" of the Bible, live the rest of your life to the fullest and be kind AND FAIR to all of mankind.
Brad
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LittleToe
Brad:
Be fair to her, as she's likely only posted a sketch of her experience.
Why something is profound to someone, with it's timing, emotions, etc., is almost impossible to commit to text.
To even attempt to enter into her experience, from the sidelines, is an impossibility (IMHO). -
SixofNine
What a sad story. Being dishonest with other people is not nice and is manipulative. It's the being dishonest with yourself though, that leads to insanity and sometimes, Christianity ;-)
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outbutnotdown
LT,
I thought I was being fair to her.
My comment was more of a generalization of the effects that we have on ourselves when we make mkistakes or use poor judgements and in no way was I suggesting that she is any more "guilty" than me or anyone else.
However, I do think that it is not logical for her to say that she doesn't feel guilty about what she did. All things being relative, could she feel so liberated by "confessing" it if it wasn't, first of all, an error in judgement? IMHO, that is not possible.
Brad
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myelaine
dear outbutnotdown,
When I first lied I did feel guilty very guilty, but as time went on (it has been twenty years) That guilt faded to nothingness. God put it before me again out of the blue, it was the furtherst thing from my mind. I was actually praying to God for help to quit smoking. When God put it before me again after all these years I was shocked(if you can believe that) that he remembered. I did feel guilty again after I was confronted though.
But my point was...If I had followed God's advice (do not lie), that I read in His Word....It would have been a benefit to me, and all those people that my lie touched. Everyone can benefit from the scriptures
michelle
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LittleToe
Brad:
Sorry dude, that wasn't a chastisement, I was just attempting to point out the obvious.
One of the main reasons that I rarely post about my own experiences is because there are so many nuances lost that you only get in face-to-face conversation. But even face-to-face conversation misses much.Her experience was what her experience was.
Anyhow, this isn't about me
~wanders off whistling dixie~