Bhai, I saw your invite. But apparently it has been closed. But I did get to some of the posts (not the shoutbox).
I say, if in the future some discussion flare up, as they surely will, we should just pull back. Otherwise both people will end up fighting (even if you are not at fault).
And I’m not blaming you, mind you. Just a concern. Because I also value okei!. And I will now have to mention the very same thing I did to you.
“You’ve already failed people so many times that they judge you for it. Some even walked out of your life after all that you were unable to do. God, on the other hand, is different. No matter how many times you disobey and fail Him, He will never leave you, forsake you, nor stop loving you. In His eyes, you are still beloved and precious.”
Dyal - Can you believe these words are from a 16 year old Malaysian girl? Can you see how much hope God’s word can fill you with?
It is not for your to condemn your soul. God has blessed us with a lot. You have blessed me a lot. I still remember and will remind you of that ‘Boommmm’ post. You are simply blinded by seeing your (possible) reality around you.
And you have no clue who all you bless as they read what you have to offer. On this site is just one of the things. So when I read ‘useless soul’ - mujhe bura lagta hai.
Here are some notes on what Jesus addressed on the cross.
The fall in the garden of Eden caused God to put a curse on Adam (and all unborn descendants).
Genesis 3:17-19 (Old Testament)
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
So the curses were on:
- the ground (also producing thorns)
- work and sweat now - instead of the dominion enjoyed earlier
How these curses were stopped? (Better to state “How were these requirements met/fulfilled?”)
In Mathew 4:4 (New Testament), He provided not only for bodily nourishment, but went beyond that. This redeems us from the curse in Genesis 3:17.
“But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
So,
The curse noted in Genesis 3:18 (Old Testament) met and nullified by Jesus as mentioned in Mathew 27:29 (New Testament).
“And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!”
Notice, He took the curse of the ground (thorns) and took it upon Himself. No longer to be a burden on us - for those who believe and accept Him as Lord and saviour.
In the crucifixion, His blood and sweat fell on the dust of the hill.
And the curse of death put on Adam in Genesis 3:19 (Old Testament), was met with John 3:15-16 (New Testament - through Christ)
“15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Also mentioned in Galatians 3:13-14 (New Testament)
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”
14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
I’m Very impressed, when I see the relevance of what Jesus did on the cross. Obviously, I missed this for a good 35 years of my life…
And obviously, the apparent death of Christ seems to be the one big thing most non-Christians know Him for.
And that Christians worship Christ.
How many know He did this not for ‘Christians’ alone?
1 Timothy 2:3-6
3For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
5For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
6Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
1 Timothy 2:4 indicates He wants *all* men to be saved.
This should explain why some Christians become painful/persistent to non-Christians when they ‘try to save their soul’. They are doing what is in God’s will.
And this does rile those who do not believe in this (Christians included).
I don’t know what the hammer signifies… Maybe the law (commandments) in which all humans do fail.
Maybe this image portrays that Jesus will uphold us even with our failings. (Unworthiness). After all - when He dies on the cross, He fulfilled *all* the requirements of the law as prescribed by His Father for all humanity - for all eternity.
Our part in this equation is to believe in what He did on the cross and obey what He told us to.
I am trying to do some readings on what all was actually fulfilled on the cross. It is actually fascinating… Very fascinating on what happened on the cross.
But I never paid attention to Him for years and years. Until the last two years. Till a lot of my life was a near mess.
Addiction. Alcohol. Bad workload, bad supervisor at work. Slogging my butt off and not getting promoted. Career going nowhere.
Till I prayed to the Holy Spirit. And as a ‘protestant’, we usually pray to Jesus. The Holy Spirit is not one we pay much attention to. And even at that time I didn’t really know Him. But I prayed to be delivered from p0rn and alcohol. But prayed more for deliverance from p0rn.
I was sick and tired of myself and how low I was sinking. Every weekend was a p0rn cd, beer. This was two years ago. And I got sick of myself. And I prayed to the Holy Spirit (thanks to a hindu friend who gave me a book, which had Holy Spirit references). She still believes that ‘God’ is not a he, it is a ‘universal energy’ and ‘The One’ and other such new age concepts that seem very very comforting, but are not the truth about God.
Anything that removes the reality of God as a person Who is there for us - and replaces it by some de-personalized ‘universal energy’ ‘vibrations’ ‘law of attraction’ is basically a doctrine that is removing God from the equation.
That is why you must be very very careful about what you let in your mind - particularly about God and ’spirituality’.
Haan. Though I didn’t quite understand Nusrat. Though I know he was very good. :-) (I’m a big fan of Nazia Hasan too. Can’t explain. I just love her voice.)
All the best for the exams. Don’t waste limited energies focusing on thoughts that tell you you can’t do things…