I have faith, I think?
I am going through a difficult time financially. I have been out of work, that is full time work for over a year. I am a professional. I am educated and skilled. I have been doing what I do for more than a quarter a century. I do not have a job. I am at the level of money called broke.
I have moments of worry and doubt. I have moments of highs and moments of lows. My high moments come when I get an interview and the possibility of qualified work and my low moments creep in when I go to the mail box and I find another bill I can not pay. Highs and lows are a part of life and I believe they are natural. Faith on the other hand is not natural. My mind has to wrap itself around a concept, “...the evidence of things not seen...”.
People are welded to their five senses and the evidence they present to the body. Most of our senses are tied to our heads, sight, hearing, smell, taste while touch is all over our body. The eyes and ears tend to link together in our processing center. Smell and taste are physically linked and one can heighten or fool the other as in the apple – pear test. Touch is tricky. From the top of your head to the bottom of your feet it varies in degree. Some areas of the body are more sensitive than others, yet those areas are not used in exploring the world for a variety of reasons pain being the biggest reason to not expose those areas to the world.
For reasons more than the word 'seen' implies we fail in faith. Actually all of our senses come into play at all times. Our sensorium is the areas of the brain that process and register incoming sensory information and make possible the conscious awareness of the world and when we are aware there is the tendency to deny any thing that is not processed through that area. That is my humble estimation is being human, it is what people do, automatically, without external influence. What people do not do is that which is learned. Faith is a learned behavior.
What we do with behaviors, is dependent on multiple factors some which we control and a few we do not. How well we learn is dependent on the educating procedure. It can be formal, informal or a mixture of both. Early Christianity was informal, education was by word of mouth and example.
Rom 10:8 But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart: that is, the word of faith of which we are the preachers:
The early Christians had no New Testament. Scripture is the Old Testament writings and the spoken words followed by the epistles that were written and shared. Their faith was created and grew by the evidence of things not seen as they were beyond the days of Jesus but they grew in faith as they looked about at the substance of things hoped for that appeared in their lives. They extended their trust.
Faith is implied trust, trust is allowing one's self to be manipulated in someway by one or more others. Faith implies that one expects no harm to ensue from the manipulation. Defining the untranslated Greek evidence is proof or conviction and it also gets translated as assurance.
It there evidence in my life of what God has done for me, to me, and with me of course there is. Can I turn and show others the proof of what has been done for me, is it part of my witness, my story. Can I with the conviction of my life show to anyone that with Jesus in my life I have a better life.
Faith is also “...the substance of things hoped for...” again in the Greek we find that it is a restatement of assurance. So we get the assurance and conviction of what is not seen but hoped for but one who has faith in Jesus. This whole exercise in verbal manipulation is so that maybe I can overcome my “humanness”. I had a person pass through my life who warned me not to be intellectual about scripture. Being intellectual is the nature of this beast. It is not that the thinking excludes feeling but is spiritual connection, that sentiment that leads to a reaction based on the impression given by the indwelling spirit. The greater the spiritual connection the greater the faith, yes?
It is hard for the human to just believe.

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I am one of "those" who celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and Easter (Resurrection Day) - and I AM A CHRISTIAN.

My focus on these holidays are on Jesus who is my Lord and Savior. As a matter of fact, I don't have to wait for these specific days to come around to celebrate Jesus; because of who He is and what He has done for me, it's a celebration every day.


Chaplain, i'm really not sure what your point is unless your looking for my view on your celebrating pagan holidays. my answer would be - hooray for you that you celebrate pagan holidays...but how you call this Christian is beyond me, as Christ would not have celebrated pagan holidays nor worshipped pagan deities. so lets be honest with ourselves and say you just like to keep traditions of men as opposed to say your celebrating Jesus on these days - as they have nothing to do with Jesus. He specificly tells you not to do these things. i know how hard it is to break these traditions from personal experience, but if weighed against eternal salvation, its not that hard to decide which to do. your obviously intelligent enuf to research these "holidays" to see where they came from.. if you choose to continue to observe them, then this is your salvation at stake. again...what i think is sad is that people that do these things have congregations - and they are teaching lies..usually to make a buck. so live it up and blaspheme all you want to by yourself - just be careful you pay attention to whos blood you have on your hands at the end of the day.
You would have to go back to the 3rd century and argue with the church fathers who made the decisions about Christmas in order to spread Christianity. This is no longer a pagan celebration.
It is a celebration for Christian of the birth of Jesus.
Christianity has many antecedents in rituals outside of Christianity, such as our marriage rituals.
Most Protestants only recognize two sacraments while the church from which all Protestants are based on have more.

What ever denomination you claim has ordered things to it's liking and all can be said to not adhere biblically to the NT.
Organized religion came into being in the second century and so on.
I am a AME Elder that some call Reverend. or Minister. these are titles of office as are pastor and priest. I am but a servant of Jesus.

Any day set aside (made holy) to celebrate Jesus is the proper day.
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@ Rev - there are so many things wrong with this post, i dont want to be redundant & address them all. as they have been argued b4...

in short, its no secret that a Roman Pope invented Xmas then slapped it right on top of the pagan holiday called Yule or Winter Solstice - just as they did with the churches in places where pagans worshiped, and on and on. its the same now as it was then. & i cant argue with those that initiated this lie cuz they are deceased...but i can correct you on it. and as i said before...pastor, elder, teacher, priest, reverend, deacon.... these are influential people who teach - and to be very blunt.... if this applies to you, you are teaching a lie

Exodus 20:3-6
3Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.


& i am sure youve seen this before:

Jeremiah 10:2-5
2Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
5They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.


furthermore, i claim no denomination - i consider myself a Bible Christian - i follow the Bible. The Lord has set aside days to celebrate him - you can find those in Leviticus 23.
you said:
Any day set aside (made holy) to celebrate Jesus is the proper day.

i am sure you dont keep your tree up all year round and wrap presents everyday, with that said, the Lord tells us how to worship him.
Ms. Rebekah:

your obviously intelligent enuf to research these "holidays" to see where they came from.. if you choose to continue to observe them, then this is your salvation at stake.

For the record, my salvation is not dependent on what holidays I celebrate. As a matter of fact, my salvation is secure in Jesus. Now, based on your statement above, we obviously have different beliefs on this subject as well. Therefore, I will not waste my time or yours going into this topic only to end up at the same place - disagreement.
For the record, my salvation is not dependent on what holidays I celebrate.

Where did you get this information? How did you figure this out?

As a matter of fact, my salvation is secure in Jesus

Psalm 119:165-167 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. LORD, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments. My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.

Luke 1:76-77 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Hezekiah:

For the record, my salvation is not dependent on what holidays I celebrate.

Where did you get this information? How did you figure this out?

I will not waste my time or yours going into this topic only to end up at the same place - disagreement.
I don't understand how you could disagree with the book you claim to follow.
okey doke - take care :)
Did you read my full post? I shouldn't have to point out the encouragement in my post:

"That's not a negative per se, simply that being in this situation is showing you something that you not have seen otherwise. And seeing it you can then do something about it."

Basically, I was saying that this experience could be a lesson. It's fine even if RevZ62 already knows the things I'm saying in my response. But my response is also for others who are in a similar situation. There are other things that can be done besides working for someone else. What RevZ62 is doing is up to him and I don't know him to have details or specifics about his particular case. My advice applies to anyone. Believe like a child believes. Don't allow situations to come in and challenge your faith. Be like Job. I added what I thought needed to added.

"And while you are working and doing well be making connections, be following leads. Maybe a better job will come along because of all you did in the mean time, plus having patience towards a greater blessing."

People do not do this enough in my opinion. They tend to think about themselves and wish someone would help them once they get in trouble even though they have done little to help others. And people tend to find excuses that keep them from helping others and doing charitable work. Having a job can be an excuse. So can not having a job. Whether one is doing well already doesn't really matter in this case.

"When you are going through a trial such as this, you have to be able to outwardly express yourself, because in a sense, you are ministering to yourself. I have done it many times and it has blessed me every time. There have been moments when I felt I was at my lowest point and God would speak to me through me."

I think we have all experienced this. At the same time it also helps to WORK. The benefits you often get from WORKING and helping other people is FAR greater than any encouraging words or sympathies you can get from others identifying with your situation. When you over come a negative with a positive you attract more positive things to you. And you'll feel much better in the process.

Shalom
wa alaikum assalam

While I appreciate what you have said, you could maybe find a little tenderness?
One of my many spiritual guides, my sister, already beat you to the punch on telling me what I should do.
She is my big sister even though she is years younger.

I am human, Oh, no I have been told, (by me, and others) that in Christ you are more than human.
I do fall prey to human faults. Despair, worry, depression, I suffer them, and then I get over it.

I had an Aunt, who has now passed, to whom I told the truth once. I have medical knowledge and I told her correct information about her condition. Just like you did to me.
She suddenly looked so downcast and pained.
I mean that was the question she asked.

She told me that I took all her hope away. I have never done that to another human being. Well almost never.
People who ask "Am I going to die?" The answer is always yes.
We are all going to die, When , Only God knows, certainly no doctor does, but they might have a good guess.

Anyway if you were giving good advice then temper it with compassion.

Salem
hold on, Rev. You and I are both men. You openly admit that someone else told you what you should do. I have also told you what you should do which is what you needed to hear. Tenderness? Tenderness is dancing around the issue of age and employment and focusing on a solution that may bring you work inspite of your age by networking and actually meeting people who will hire you without thought to your age. On a paper resume your age is a negative factor. If they KNEW you beforehand you might see better results. That is why I advised you to find alternative work/volunteer. I don't see any need for a pity party. You do not need to focus on whatever hoplessness is out there. Focus on solutions. Seek the kingdom first and everything else will be added to you. Yeshua did not have a pity party with the woman caught in adultery. He told her to go and sin no more. It was the act of intervention that contained the compassion. If I had no compassion for you and your situation I would not have offered advice at all. I wouldn't have cared.

Would you like to cry on my shoulder? That's impossible. Should I say "oh I am so sorry for you"? Trust me... my wife and I both lost our fathers this year. My father had a job up until the very day he died. He couldn't wait to retire; talked about it all the time. He wanted to move some place sunny, maybe even going back home to Jamaica if he could talk my mother into it. He had also started writing a book about his life. He got maybe three chapters done because he was waiting for retirement when he would have time to write. And he rarely ever took days off so after he died and my mother got his last pay check it was enough to buy a house because of all the time they decided to pay him for. But as he neared the final days of his life he was behind on most of his bills and the very money they paid him for after he died may have taken enough stress off his mind to.... who knows.... save his life? He had an irregular heart beat for some years but it wasn't bad enough that he could qualify for a pacemaker. When I asked him if he could help my wife an I out to get a house he just laughed... because I had no idea that he was the one who needed money. But he said nothing about it. He never asked me for a cent over what I borrowed. That was my father, may he rest in peace.

Hope? You are alive. You HAVE hope. I cannot give you hope. Nor can I take it away. I cannot make you believe. Nor can I take your belief away. If it seems that way it is because you never had it in the first place. There are plenty of people with jobs that are dirt poor and many people in third-world countries like the island my father was from who relied on the support of their brothers and sisters who had left the island to make money. Your situation is not nearly as bad as theirs. It is only because we live in this capitalistic society that enough is never really enough and you have to work until you die or until it kills you. The only way to be free is to make your own work. You could start your own in-home health care. I can even put you in touch with a lady who did it who is probably older than you. But if your mindset is dependent on someone ELSE giving you a job then... what should I say to you? "I'm sorry"?? I'm sorry but my compassion for you only goes so far before it gets to the place where you should not need it; where you should be finding other ways to support you and your family.


I'm not telling you that you're going to die. I'm telling you what you need to do in order to live.


My advice doesn't have to be tempered with compassion. My advice IS compassion. But you have to be a man to receive it. I'm not going to coddle you or rock you to sleep in my arms like a child. Even if that's what you want it is clearly NOT what you need. And frankly it offends me that people would ever lose faith simply because of their circumstances. Trials come to TEST your faith. If trials make you "lose" faith all it is doing is exposing the fact that your faith is not as strong as it should be. If YHWH can make someone live again who was dead I THINK he can help you get another job. But why would he want to if you don't believe he can? It is totally on you to believe. I can appreciate you expressing your weaknesses and frailty but the answer to weakness is strength.

PICK UP YOUR BED AND WALK. If you need more compassion than that, find a woman to give it to you.


Shalom
Great post Brother Zealot!!

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