How much control over our own lives do we have?

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JohnB

JohnB

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Calif
#1
Abraham, Sarah, and Abimelech
Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. Genesis 20:6

Israel divided.
So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. 1 Kings 12:12

Eli’s sons
His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death. 1 Samuel 2:25

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:15

So how much control do we have over our own lives?
 
BonnieClaire

BonnieClaire

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#2
JohnB said:
So how much control do we have over our own lives?
Click to expand...

Matthew 10:29
Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. ~NKJV

Luke 12:7
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. ~NKJV
 
JaumeJ

JaumeJ

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Jul 2, 2011
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Everyone sins, so what does this conclude?
 
J

jb

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JohnB said:
Abraham, Sarah, and Abimelech
Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. Genesis 20:6

Israel divided.
So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. 1 Kings 12:12

Eli’s sons
His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death. 1 Samuel 2:25

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:15

So how much control do we have over our own lives?
Click to expand...
So, what's your take on this?
 
Blain

Blain

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Aug 28, 2012
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I would like to say that this question is personal one gor me and involves more than the question itself. In the past six months I have done everything I can to get my health and life in order yet no matter which way I went no matter how hard I tried it seemed some unseen force always either blocked my path or any effots I put in it seemed like I just wasnt allowed to go this way or that way and if I kept trying it would just blow up in my face so eventually it seemed that my effort or any attempt I made didnt matter and for a good while I wondered what the point of even trying was like why bother trying at anything I was left in a state of powerlessness and even became furious at God as I have been through absolute hel in the last couple of years and any attempt to make things better somehow ended up making it worse I didnt know if this unseen force was the enemy or God or just life once again having its way with me either way it seemed all powerful and I just had to bow down to its will.

But then I looked back on my entire life and realized that though I always tried to do things or go my own way my fate has always been in the hands of others often times leaving me to be the one to pay for it for some reason no one in my life listens to me doctors have akmost killed me even though I told them not to do this or that my family have caused me more pain and suffering throughout my life than anyone even though had they listened to me i could have been spared so much of it but then I also saw every step I myself took whether it was the right choice or wrong and as I connected the dots of everything that happened in my life whether my choice or not I saw the cause and effect of everything and had I not gone through the things I have I wouldnt have seen how not to be I wouldnt have learned how observe and learn from my mistakes and the mistakes of others and I saw how even when I screwed up or even wehn I went through horrible things I met certain people because of it I wouldnt have otherwise even just recently I made a major screw up in my life causing me a lot of pain yet because I did I met this lady who was amazed at me when I told her my view and understanding of what being a good parent is and I had an amazing encounter with God that was only brought on because I was suffering

If you ask a person if they could go back and undo a mistake in their lives or have a different life you generally get two kinds of answers one will gladly have changed things while others wonder about it because it was those mistakes oe the kind life they had that made them who they are.

And think of this way everyone knows the butterfly effect theory right? say you go back in time and do one thing or say one thing that somehow causes something to be changed in the future just one minor variable and suddenly reality is chaos but there is also another theory that being that any action or word you say in the past in the end doesnt change anything because it already happened you were always going to say or do that and thus doesnt change anything

So the butterfly effect relies on your action causing a split time line meaning there isnt a singular time line anymore and a new one branches from the original while the original still techincally exists but in a different time line and that second branch causes more branches of time lines because the order of the original timeline has been ruined so basically you just caused not just a different future and timeline but also countless other time lines each one causing another timeline like dominos all because the core timeline was disrupyed

Now back to the theory of a singular timeline and nothing you do or say in the past matters because you were always going to back in time and say or do this so in a way your really only fulfilling your own original timeline you just think ehst you say or do in the past will make things have a different outcome
Now consider God and the concept of eternity as far as we understand it eternity is seen as as past present and future endless in all directions and with God who is beyond time and space there is only eternity there isnt branches of eternity there is only eternity he has always existed he exists and will always exist he knows the beginning and the end he has seen every outcome of every step of any being and nothing is beyond his control because he himself is eternity there is only one God and one eternity and yet eternity is a concept the human mind is simply incapable of comprehending if we truly tried to understanding we would go mad

People debate about predestination and salvation the idea of free will always with the same outcome an endless argument each side thinking their right yet the funny thing is no one can ever truly debunk the other because though we think we understand and thus think we are right and the other is wrong we are trying to prove a concept we dont understand at all we only have a look into the window we can only bring bits and pieces to the table that we think is is right yet its like bringing a plate of food to the table when there is an entire feast and we are only bringing a small plate that we consider to be a lot when the table has so much more food that we couldnt possibly see the end of it

Yet you have to consider that we are given commandments we are warned of sins not to do we are told how to follow God and are either blessed or cursed in the end based on whether we decide to accept him as a savior and follow him or not but at the same if he knows all and is all knowing then wouldnt he know every choice we would make and every step we would make?

Sure we could ignore that idea to try to fit our idea and understanding but there is a reason no one can truly every debunk another in the idea of all this we simply were not made to understand it we will wrack our brains and try to move things around find loop holes pull verse from verse idea after idea yet it never really fits does it other wise we could completely debunk any other understanding and nothing they tried to conjure up or bring to the table could stand against it

The truth is we were never in control because because control of our own lives is thinking way to small it was never about our own lives we are only a tiny tiny piece of the giant platform he created our lives were never our own from before we were born and control is not something any human all through out history has ever been able to handle why do you think we give him control and say his will be done?

We think we are in control of our lives that we call our lives yet in what we call our lives we cant even change the color of a single hair on our head we have no idea what is going happen today or tomorrow we just have the delusion of thinking we have an idea and make plans we put in all this effort and yet as far as I can tell God's plans are the only ones that ever work out exactly as planned

We think we want control but honestly we really dont its not something humans deal with well
 
JohnB

JohnB

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BonnieClaire said:
Matthew 10:29
Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. ~NKJV

Luke 12:7
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. ~NKJV
Click to expand...
He also has control of people's actions and thoughts.
 
Eli1

Eli1

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Is this a free-will argument? And are you asking this because of your bad history with that church John?
Personally I’d like to believe that I do have free-will, mainly because God wants free-willed humans for fellowship and not robots because through free-will you have more appreciation about God or anything else, but with that being said get me to an angel-state or robot-state already because I get it and I appreciate it.


Also the other reason why I don’t like the idea of having no free-will is because I don’t like the idea of Calvinism.
 
JohnB

JohnB

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jb said:
So, what's your take on this?
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He has control of your actions, thoughts and path your life takes. I have told people, who have boasted of what they have. The only reason you have what you have is because GOD allowed it. Do not look down on those who have less.
 
JohnB

JohnB

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VARob said:
If that was true, nobody would sin and there would be no differences in beliefs.
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1 Sam 2:8 – He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the beggar from the ash heap, to set them among royalty, and make them inherit the throne of glory
 
V

VARob

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JohnB said:
1 Sam 2:8 – He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the beggar from the ash heap, to set them among royalty, and make them inherit the throne of glory
Click to expand...
Anyone can misuse scripture to support almost any point they want to make.
 
V

VARob

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JohnB said:
He has control of your actions, thoughts and path your life takes.
Click to expand...
If that was true, everyone would be saved, nobody would sin, and we would all believe the same things.

1 Tim 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
1 Cor 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
 
Godsgirl1983

Godsgirl1983

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JohnB said:
He has control of your actions, thoughts
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:unsure: So why have I spent so many years teaching my kids to control their actions and think good thoughts? After all, if He controls them all then there is no point in cultivating and exercising self control right?
Well, glad to clear that up, guess I don't have to be a bad parent anymore and can let my kids run around doing whatever, whenever......
after all, Gods controlling them, right?
 
Blain

Blain

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Aug 28, 2012
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Godsgirl1983 said:
:unsure: So why have I spent so many years teaching my kids to control their actions and think good thoughts? After all, if He controls them all then there is no point in cultivating and exercising self control right?
Well, glad to clear that up, guess I don't have to be a bad parent anymore and can let my kids run around doing whatever, whenever......
after all, Gods controlling them, right?
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no offense but quite frankly you dont understand the question the question you asked in your original point and trust me you can try to prove it and you can debate it all you want but the depth of the anser to your question is far beyond any of our understanding
 
Blain

Blain

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Blain said:
no offense but quite frankly you dont understand the question the question you asked in your original point and trust me you can try to prove it and you can debate it all you want but the depth of the anser to your question is far beyond any of our understanding
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sorry I didnt mean to quote you these dumb eyes make it hard to see on here
 
Blain

Blain

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#18
I would suggest everyone consider what I said I said in my earlier post there is no winning this debaye on any side
 
Nehemiah6

Nehemiah6

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Jul 18, 2017
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How much control over our own lives do we have?
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We have limited control over our own lives. As Blain has pointed out, there are external forces at work which impact on our lives (including spirit beings).
 
Blain

Blain

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Aug 28, 2012
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Nehemiah6 said:
We have limited control over our own lives. As Blain has pointed out, there are external forces at work which impact on our lives (including spirit beings).
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its great to see you again and im glad you understand where I was coming from
 
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