God's Playground

[notHagoth7]

On 02/19/2017 at 11:38 PM, Tacenda said:

It's not what goes in the mouth that defilith, it's what comes out, according to scripture. 

I think the only thing the God of the Bible mentions as far as a drink, is not to be wine bibbers, or something like that. How do we know if it's truly a commandant, or at first just a suggestion in the D & C?...

Great question.

If our hearts are in the right place,  a mere suggestion or intimation by God should get the same rapid response from us as would a thundering command. Wouldn't you agree?

And your question...how do we know? We humbly live it. And patiently see, as Jesus of Nazareth taught,  if doing so bears the fruit promised.

I know that it does. In spades.

Thoughts?

Edited February 22, 2017 by notHagoth7

[Tacenda]

1 hour ago, notHagoth7 said:

Great question.

If our hearts are in the right place,  a mere suggestion or intimation by God should get the same rapid response from us as would a thundering command. Wouldn't you agree?

And your question...how do we know? We humbly live it. And patiently see, as Jesus of Nazareth taught,  if doing so bears the fruit promised.

I know that it does. In spades.

Thoughts?

Yes, I'll take what the Bible says Jesus said over a mortal man, especially since Joseph wasn't perfect. And people o.d. on energy drinks and diet coke verses something healthy like green tea is beyond comprehension. It's all coming down as an obedience law from a prophet/prophets. Are you going to obey no matter what they ask? Don't think about it just do it. 

[Bernard Gui]

9 hours ago, Tacenda said:

Yes, I'll take what the Bible says Jesus said over a mortal man, especially since Joseph wasn't perfect. And people o.d. on energy drinks and diet coke verses something healthy like green tea is beyond comprehension. It's all coming down as an obedience law from a prophet/prophets. Are you going to obey no matter what they ask? Don't think about it just do it. 

Quote

But make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters; in the months and years ahead, events will require of each member that he or she decide whether or not he or she will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions (see 1 Kings 18:21).

President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had “never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional, or political life” (CR, April 1941, p. 123). This is a hard doctrine, but it is a particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps, as Elder Maxwell suggested in 1978, the time is here when for our safety we might at least consider following  the First Presidency?

Edited February 23, 2017 by Bernard Gui

[Teancum]

On 2/22/2017 at 5:15 AM, Bernard Gui said:

With respect, this is not the place to share with you my personal communications with God. Perhaps some other time.

They are sufficient for me. You may have yours, too, if you wish.

With all due respect I am fine with what you share and don't share.  But my post was specific and your response implied a specific answer.  Thus I was seeking clarification.  With out it I will conclude your answer to my question is no.

[Stargazer]

On ‎2‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 6:50 PM, Teancum said:

So God has come to you in person, face to face and told you what you have in quotes above?

 

 

On ‎2‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 10:15 AM, Bernard Gui said:

With respect, this is not the place to share with you my personal communications with God. Perhaps some other time.

They are sufficient for me. You may have yours, too, if you wish.

 

On ‎2‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 9:51 PM, Teancum said:

With all due respect I am fine with what you share and don't share.  But my post was specific and your response implied a specific answer.  Thus I was seeking clarification.  With out it I will conclude your answer to my question is no.

Alma 12:9:

Quote

9 And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.

Of course you can assume that the answer to your question to Bernard is "no", but consider the alternative.

I will tell you that from time to time I have "heard" the voice of God through the spirit.  But in line with the verse above I do not often find myself permitted to go into detail about such times.  I will say that I am thoroughly convinced that God lives, and that He is deeply involved with our lives here, as we demonstrate to Him by our daily walk whether or not we can be trusted, in accordance with the Parable of the Talents, with His work. He gave us agency, to act for ourselves, but that agency must be exercised in ignorance and in faith, in order for the test to be true.  He must permit bad things to happen to good people, because to do otherwise defeats the entire purpose of our mortality.  What will you do today?  This is the question that He must know the answer to. 

[Bernard Gui]

On February 23, 2017 at 1:51 PM, Teancum said:

With all due respect I am fine with what you share and don't share.  But my post was specific and your response implied a specific answer.  Thus I was seeking clarification.  With out it I will conclude your answer to my question is no.

If you speak with respect and are fine with what I am wiling to share in a contentious public venue, then your conclusion is uninformed, illogical, and unjust. If we are ever together in a holy place, I will gladly share that which you seek to hear. Until then, conclude whatever makes you the happiest.

In the meantime, contemplate the staggering majesty of a tiny portion of God's creations.....

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap161226.html

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap161129.html

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap161108.html

Doesn't this make you want to go out and play?

Edited February 25, 2017 by Bernard Gui

[Teancum]

11 hours ago, Stargazer said:

 

 

Alma 12:9:

Of course you can assume that the answer to your question to Bernard is "no", but consider the alternative.

I will tell you that from time to time I have "heard" the voice of God through the spirit.  But in line with the verse above I do not often find myself permitted to go into detail about such times.  I will say that I am thoroughly convinced that God lives, and that He is deeply involved with our lives here, as we demonstrate to Him by our daily walk whether or not we can be trusted, in accordance with the Parable of the Talents, with His work. He gave us agency, to act for ourselves, but that agency must be exercised in ignorance and in faith, in order for the test to be true.  He must permit bad things to happen to good people, because to do otherwise defeats the entire purpose of our mortality.  What will you do today?  This is the question that He must know the answer to. 

  The problem of evil and suffering is a difficult one to wrangle with.  Right now IMO it is a brutal God and not a loving Father that submits His/Its children/sentient creations to such horror, pain and suffering that so many go through in this life that is speaks more to the likely answer that at least for me, such a being is either a brutal monster or does not exist.   A lot of people smarter than me agree and many disagree.

I try to respect all views.  But i struggle when someone says God told me so and then says it's to sacred to share with you.  Sorry.

[Teancum]

8 hours ago, Bernard Gui said:

If you speak with respect and are fine with what I am wiling to share in a contentious public venue, then your conclusion is uninformed, illogical, and unjust. If we are ever together in a holy place, I will gladly share that which you seek to hear. Until then, conclude whatever makes you the happiest.

In the meantime, contemplate the staggering majesty of a tiny portion of God's creations.....

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap161226.html

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap161129.html

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap161108.html

Doesn't this make you want to go out and play?

Well I am not sure I am being illogical.  Maybe uninformed and unjust but not intentionally so. And I honestly mean it when I say if you have experiences that convince you God is real I am very happy for you. I have two very powerful experiences in my life that keep me in the just don't toss it away mode.  Though I am ask myself were those experiences outside of me from a higher power or were they generated by my own expectations and desires as well as my Mormon upbringing.

 

Your links are a beautiful example of a natural Universe that can exist and may exist without a divine power getting it started.

 

Edited February 25, 2017 by Teancum

[Bernard Gui]

1 hour ago, Teancum said:

Well I am not sure I am being illogical.  Maybe uninformed and unjust but not intentionally so. And I honestly mean it when I say if you have experiences that convince you God is real I am very happy for you. I have two very powerful experiences in my life that keep me in the just don't toss it away mode.  Though I am ask myself were those experiences outside of me from a higher power or were they generated by my own expectations and desires as well as my Mormon upbringing.

 

Your links are a beautiful example of a natural Universe that can exist and may exist without a divine power getting it started.

 

Thanks. I don't think one should infer a negative based on insufficient information. Not all experiences can be attributed to my Mormon upbringing.

We can happily share the beauty however it came about. My hope is to be a participant even it is in an insignificant way. 

Then there's the other side of creation to contemplate...the microscopic.

 

Edited February 25, 2017 by Bernard Gui

[Stargazer]

13 hours ago, Teancum said:

  The problem of evil and suffering is a difficult one to wrangle with.  Right now IMO it is a brutal God and not a loving Father that submits His/Its children/sentient creations to such horror, pain and suffering that so many go through in this life that is speaks more to the likely answer that at least for me, such a being is either a brutal monster or does not exist.   A lot of people smarter than me agree and many disagree.

I try to respect all views.  But i struggle when someone says God told me so and then says it's to sacred to share with you.  Sorry.

If this life were all there was, then the problem of good and evil would be paramount -- although there would be no "problem", per se.  It would be just "we suffer and then we die" end of story.  I wish I could find the words to explain how I understand the matter, but there is a purpose for our existence, and no suffering is so deep, or pain so great, that after the end of this life we will not rejoice in the realization of that purpose.  I've been so sick that I could hardly move (back trouble), but once it was over and the pain was gone it was as if it had never happened.  When my wife died back in 2015, I was "comfortably numb" (to quote Pink Floyd) and wanted myself to be done with this life, too.  But in short order a marvelous woman found me and turned my life into a joy greater than my previous sadness.  And while I still mourn for her with whom I had spent most of my life, the realization that we will be together again brightens any remaining feelings of loss.  And I know that these are temporary.

Paul the Apostle spoke truly when he said that if we have hope of Christ in this life only, we have but a forlorn hope.  I feel great compassion for those who do not have the comfort of Christ for the Eternity, and see only the misery of the present.

As for saying God told me so but it's too sacred to share with you, that sounds like we're saying you are unworthy, or too unwashed, but that isn't it.  In fact, saying it that way perfectly illustrates the principle. Jesus told his disciples that telling the priceless story to those who are not ready for it is like casting pearls before swine.  Not that such people were swine, but that they were completely unprepared for it, wouldn't understand it, and would turn the story back against the teller - to the detriment of both the teller and the hearer.  I have more than once been restrained by the Spirit from telling close relatives or friends about precious experiences, not because there was something wrong with them, but because they were not ready to hear it. 

An example from my early post-baptism life.  A few months after joining the Church I had decided that I was entitled to a vision about the Church, and I proceeded to pray to ask for one.  I was just 15 years old and rather immature in more than one way, but there we are.  After diligent prayer, I didn't get the vision I sought, but I "heard" a voice telling me: "You don't have enough faith, yet."  The voice was not aural, and was extremely quiet ("still, small voice"), but it was real.  Foolishly I told about the experience to someone whom I thought would benefit from my experience, only to have them reject what I told them ("it was just your own voice you heard" -- wishful thinking, etc).  And later this person told a few others that I was now hearing voices in my head.  I learned that there were matters that should only be revealed to others when the circumstances were right, and that one should rely upon the Spirit as to when it is time to do so.  In the years since, I have occasionally related my experience to others, but only when I felt impressed by the Spirit to do so.  Such as now.

Is there some experience of mine, which, if I told you about it, would cause you re-evaluate your current position on God?  Or would telling you something you're not ready for make it worse?  I'm smart enough to realize that I'm not smart enough to know that of myself.

I think it might sometimes be unwise to intimate to others that one has had sacred experiences that one may not relate (that in itself might possibly be a kind of casting of pearls), but if one bears testimony of what one "knows" to be true, it can sometimes be helpful to indicate that one has had experiences that back up the testimony, not merely leave the declaration to stand on its own. 

Best wishes to you, T!