Posted by Dena on February 19, 2003, at 9:30:34
In reply to Re: Miracles-Dena, posted by rayww on February 19, 2003, at 0:42:47
Good morning Rayww! I'm really enjoying our running thread too! Being a homeschool mom of 7, some days I hardly get to use 1/8 of my vocabulary. And believe me, if I start going off into theology - their eyes glaze over! A Mom (like a prophet) is never appreciated in her own home!
Thanks for your inserts, I agree with all of them. Only one, though, I'd like to elaborate on. You inserted: >But sometimes the consequences of the <unrepented> sin happen anyway, because this world is fallen.
Yes, definitely, we sow what we reap when our sin remains unrepentant. It's a basic spiritual law, just as effective as gravity (although God retains the right/ability to supercede natural laws with His supernational power, i.e., stopping people from falling in the case of gravity, etc.). But back to my point, I've observed that many times, even when a person does repent, sincerely, consequences of the sin may still follow. Charles Colson, for example, broke the law during the Watergate scandal. Prior to his being incarcerated, he became a believer, & sincerely repented. Still, he had to go to jail. In hindsight, we know that God used his incarceration to launch a ministry that now reaches prisoners around the world. In my own case, I sincerely repented of the sins associated with being bulimic (lies I told, things I stole, relationships I harmed). I was truly forgiven. But the consequences for those sins remained: I still had a reputation of being dishonest; I had to pay for the things I'd stolen; I had to face the damaged relationships. But the good news is that God is in the restoration process. He's faithful to work everything together in our lives for good (especially as it makes us more like Jesus). Even when it doesn't look, feel or seem to be good at the time. We never get the big picture of God's perspective, so we have to learn to trust Him even when we don't understand. (which is most of the time, for me!)
If you don't mind my asking, what's your own testimony? How did you meet the Lord? Where has He led you to fellowship? Don't feel pressured to respond unless you want to. I'll be happy to share my own story, if you're interested. Maybe our stories would be helpful to others.
poster:Dena
thread:200423
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20021227/msgs/201817.html