Sufficient Self's Bible Study Group

[rebecca100]

Actually, I believe God allows many things like that just so people will be turned to him. Sure happened to SIL and niece. I'm not saying it can't be divine, but extra caution should be excercised in those cases. I look for one thing in those kind of stories and that is the truth that Jesus was born and came in the flesh, died and was resurrected. Then I know that they are of God. I DO speculate over the veracity of such stories, because without the truth it is easy to be lead astray of what the WORD truly says.

 

[BarredBuff]

Actually, I believe God allows many things like that just so people will be turned to him. Sure happened to SIL and niece. I'm not saying it can't be divine, but extra caution should be excercised in those cases. I look for one thing in those kind of stories and that is the truth that Jesus was born and came in the flesh, died and was resurrected. Then I know that they are of God. I DO speculate over the veracity of such stories, because without the truth it is easy to be lead astray of what the WORD truly says.

NICE, EXCELLENT REMINDER!!

 

[Beekissed]

True...there are some who could be easily led astray. Glad I'm not one of 'em!

 

[Shiloh Acres]

It's interesting what you said, Bee, about people not understanding if you yearn for heaven. Sometimes I think some people equate that to a deathwish, or a threat of suicide? I don't know, but it's definitely not something people tend to understand.

I think it's about believing God. DO we believe that He has prepared a place for us? DO we believe that we will be with Him? DO we believe that eye has not seen, nor has it entered into the hearts of man, the things God has prepared for us?

I think it's natural and healthy to have a desire to preserve our lives. I think God put that within us. But on the other hand ... I believe what comes after will be better. To be honest, the main reason I want to hang on here is for the sakes of others I care about. If I were the only person I knew, and God gave me the choice ... well, I might just choose to go. I love pleasant weather, I love hearing children's laughter, I love spending time with friends and family, I love watching my animals, I enjoy many things in life. But I'm also very sure that what God has in store for us ... is better.

It reminds me of something, and i can't remember where I heard it. Or if I heard part of it and changed it up in my mind (I think that's the case), or even made it up. But it's something I've thought about.

Imagine a child living in the ghetto, in bad circumstances. Summer is coming, and he is looking forward to playing in the vacant lot (which is really just a busted concrete foundation, a little dirt sifted in, graffiti on the walls, broken glass all around, and a chain-link fence barely standing around half of it. It's what he does in summer, gather there in the stifling heat with his friends and play stick-ball with an old worn-out ball. Maybe they get really lucky and the firemen open the hydrant sometime and he might get to play in the stream (do they ever still do that?). But he looks forward to it, and it's almost summer, it's almost here!

Now, we have a kids' camp we'd like to take him and his friends to. It's near the shore, and the sea breezes make it mild. Dolphins play in the surf, there's crab boils and lobster tails, and wonderful dinners every night. We have horses at the camp, and the kid can ride on the beach or through the beautiful hillside country with his friends. Every other weekend we pack them all up and take them to an amusement park. The camp itself is outfitted with swimming pool, tennis courts, craft cabins, sports to play, and wonderful counselors. And it's all free. We want to take him and his friends there out of the goodness of our heart.

But the kid ... he's been busy looking forward to stick-ball in the dirt yard with his friends. He can't even comprehend sea breezes, and the idea of a horse scares him. He doesn't know what those foods are, and really just can't wrap his mind around it, and is a little afraid to believe us. He'd rather STAY in his comfortable, familiar surroundings and enjoy what he looked forward to all along, playing in the dirt.

I think people are like that. They hold onto their lives, clutching them carefully and protecting them, not willing to give up what they have in the here and now, because they can't even imagine what wonderful possibilities await them, and they can't quite believe in it either. It's more comfortable, and more sure, to hold onto what they know and see and can touch, and they have grown to love it and are unwilling to give it up.

In reality, God gives life and takes it away (except for the few that take it into their own hands). And of course, I will die when I die, and not before. But I think I CAN understand those who are afraid to even think of losing what they have, and can't quite trust what they might gain someday. I once had dreams and things I wanted to do, to be a mother, make a home, and other things, and didn't want to think of losing this life before I had a chance to do those things. But now ... I realize that with pleasure comes pain, there will always be struggles here, nothing will be perfect, and no matter how wonderful something may be, it will always be tainted with that which is not what it SHOULD be. This life, no matter how good it may be, is a life of disappointment, fears, hard work, and heartache. (Not that I'm complaining ... I do actually love life!)

But I know that God's new creation won't suffer in that way. So ... I am certainly looking forward to it.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

I agree about wanting to go to heaven. We are all supposed to want to be with him. But I am always skeptical about anything that has to do with seeing deceased loved ones. I am probably going into dangerous waters here, but I believe satan can come as an angel of light. I am going to tell an ABSOLUTELY TRUE story that happened to my neice. When she was about 6 she started talking to someone and that someone would tell her things that she shouldn't know or couldn't have known. She told her mother that God was talking to her. Her mother was freaked out at the stuff she knew and asked her what his name was. She asked his name the last time she saw him and came to tell her mother that he told her that his name was satan. This child almost never been to church and didn't know who the devil was. She didn't make up the story. Needless to say her mother started taking her to church and going more herself. Take it or leave it it is a true story. He has more tricks than we can comprehend to confuse us from the truth. Now I am not saying one way or the other about that little boy's story, but I get chills whenever I hear a story like that.

My daughter used to say that angels came and talked to her. This was before I ever took her to church or taught her anything. All I can tell you is that I got a very uneasy feeling about that. She never told me anything they said, except the last time they "wanted her to go away through the window with them".

She also used to tell wild, imaginative stories. So who knows? But ... I never did feel right, or a sense of comfort from her saying that.

 

[BarredBuff]

Before my time on Earth we had a older relative who died and her last words were "I see the wings"................it was something like that.

 

[Beekissed]

Shiloh, you are certainly correct! Folks don't want to let go of the certainty of what they have to go towards something they can't imagine. But....then....what we have here has no certainty and life turns on a dime. I think your analogy about the little boy came from In Light of Eternity?

One minute we can be standing on the porch and laughing with our family and the next we could be sick, crippled, in mourning, homeless, childless, etc.

I long for the certainty of Heaven and the truth of the Lord's Word about what He is preparing for me....and that I will be going to a place where there is no death, illness, pain or suffering.

Rebecca, my middle boy was just old enough to talk when he told elaborate stories with great detail about "the old days". They were just too detailed and of experiences of which he had never heard of or been exposed to. We were mystified and often intrigued about these many stories....were they dreams he had had? Who knows?

If I were easily mislead, I could have wondered about reincarnation or past life experiences. But I'm not and I know I will know the truth about his wild stories one day....I'm content to believe what I already know until then.

 

[BookWorm77]

very cool barredbuff!

 

[BarredBuff]

very cool barredbuff!

(private joke)

 

[Shiloh Acres]

And now a question ... I need a bit of advice, and I was hoping to get a perspective of what is "right" to do from a biblical perspective.

A lady from church knew I was in financial difficulty last September, and she needed someone to work with kids at her Christian business. She offered me the job, and I gladly accepted. I enjoy the work, and love the fact that I am putting something into these kids that will hopefully have lasting benefit for them, and I love the kids.

My boss started forgetting to pay me, or misplacing checks she said she'd made out, etc. She was having all kinds of personal problems, and I really felt badly for her and her family, and hated to keep bringing it up that I needed the money. Finally, just before Christmas, I told her I really needed to talk to her. She forgot, and went home, and it got put off till January. When I did finally get to ask her about being paid, she was confused about how much she owed me (she didn't seem to understand that being paid a set amount twice a month didn't really work out hourly, since some months have 4 workweeks, and some 5). She said her daughter would talk to me the following week. My boss got sick and was out for a few weeks, and I finally saw her daughter and asked. It hadn't been brought up. The daughter talked to me and we figured it all out, and she said she'd catch me up for half my pay the next week. She never did, and won't return my calls. More weeks later, I finally got a check from my boss (for a very small amount) and another one that bounced. Now she is (I think) very drastically changing the amount she said she would pay me, and cutting the amount she would owe in about half.

I'm really at a loss what to do. She has broken so many promises to me, regarding pay and other things. I've just resigned myself to the fact that I can't rely on her to keep her word when she says she will do something. I think she has good intentions, but it never comes through.

It is made worse by the fact that it's such a small church, and she is my boss, at the church, and my whole social network revolves around church and work. The church is really one large family (pastor's children and grandchildren), with a few extra people added in.

I'm feeling really stuck. I can't pay for things that NEED to be paid for. I started out not in debt, but that is changing because utilities and feed had to be paid for. I don't want to become bitter against a sister in the Lord, but ... I'm fighting that right now.

Especially since there are other circumstances. I've been kept from someone I hold very dear, and if I had had the money before Christmas, I might have been able to see them. And the family is buying every gift in the word (seems like) for favored grandchildren, and going on ski vacations, etc. Not my boss, but the rest of her family, and it's just hard to keep coming to work and hearing about more gifts and more parties and vacations being planned and I can't even get money to pay taxes, register my car, and buy groceries. She's paid me about 30% of what she owes me, was already well below any wage I've had in about 10 years.

I've tried to address it, and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. I can't keep working for free, especially when it costs me to go to work (I get fair mileage but it's over 30 miles a day round trip). By the time I pay for gas and tithes, I barely have anything left over for working since September.

I dunno. To be honest, I find myself not even feeling like going to church, and that's not me. She leads the worship, and I can't worship God with those thoughts intruding. I think it needs to be dealt with, but I don't know how. And then I start to feel badly because she has had ALL KINDS of trouble, and maybe she's even worse off than me, I'm not sure.

But I know it's not right to hold something against someone in the church, and I just don't know what to do, since I've tried talking to her over and over, and her promises don't pan out.

Can y'all give any insights into how this should be handled? Thanks ...