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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Will Power and God | John 7:16 | Hank | 173586 | ||
Jason, young friend, I wouldn't get carried away with this "will power" thing and would be extremely wary of the mantra, "Where there's a will, there's a way," which has shades of meaning too uncomfortably akin to the superlatively unscriptural poem "Invictus" by William Henley. A comment on "Invictus" that you may find interesting is this: Timothy McVeigh, the heinous rebel bomber who murdered 167 souls and wounded some 500 others in Oklahoma City in 1995, was executed in 2001. At the end McVeigh chose not to make a "last words" statement from his own lips, but through a spokesman expressed the following sentiment taken from Henley's "Invictus": I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul." McVeigh, the master of his fate and the captain of his soul, is dead and his ashes scattered over the dust of the earth from which he came. Master? Captain? How much "free will" did he have, how much power did he possess to control his destiny? Read what Jesus said about the best laid plans of man in His parable of the rich man, Luke 12:16-21. ...... We've got to get our priorites straight and be sure we have things in their proper pecking order, my friend. There is no such reality as "a personal goal that you can control," to use your terminology. God is absolutely sovereign, absolutely omnipotent, absolutely in control. We are dependent solely on Him for each breath and each hearbeat. ...... I knew a man in his early forties. He worked hard and made a lot of money. He told me he "had it made" and was going to retire in a couple of years, at age 45, take it easy and enjoy life while he was still in his prime. Six months later the man was dead, the victim of an extremely virulent strain of cancer. ...... Jesus laid it down clearly for us in the Sermon on the Mount how we should live. He warned us against laying up for ourselves treasures on earth and taught us instead to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven, pointing out that our hearts will be where our treasure is. He taught us that it is impossible to serve two masters. We cannot serve God and riches. And He taught us not to worry, but to look at how superbly God takes care of even the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, and asks which of us can add to his stature by worrying. He teaches us that our heavenly Father already knows our needs, so seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added. Reference: Matthew 6:19-34. ....... The Book of Ecclestiastes is the account of a king going through what we might call a mid-life crisis, an enormously rich man who had seen all and done all, and yet through it all did not find happiness or fulfillment, but only vanity and grasping for the wind. Solomon of old was not unlike modern man today. He wanted happiness and satisfaction in life, but he, like Frank Sinatra, wanted to do it his way. And he found, as modern man ultimately finds, that there is a huge void when one tries to do things his way, and so masw the profoundly gloomy and dismal observation, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." But in Chapter 12, just before the Book of Ecclestiastes ends, the king comes to his senses and puts things in their right pecking order, wrapping up the book with these words, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Eccl. 12:13). ...... In conclusion of this post, Jason, I wasn't able to find much of anything substantive in Scripture about any good things that human "will power" can do, but it says much indeed about the power of Almighty God. And about the wisdom of trusting in Him and His Word. --Hank | ||||||
2 | Will Power and God | John 7:16 | Jesus777 | 173593 | ||
Hi NightJay0044: First of all I want to encourage you to keep looking the guidance of the Spirit, which is: John 16:13-KJV-Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. John 16:13-The Message-I still have many things to tell you, but you can't handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won't draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said. He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I've said, 'He takes from me and delivers to you. Hebrews 13:9-KJV-Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with graceā¦ Philippians 2:13-KJV-For it is God, which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Secondly, I can't agree more with Brothers Hank and John, You couldn't have said it better! I would like to make a little extra point and add this portion of the scripture where it makes very clear that is not with our strength but with the Lords strength that we get everything and for that we have to give him ALL the Glory, and with this said I am not implying in any way that anyone had said other wise. 28All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. 29At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. 30The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 31While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. 32And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 33The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. Humble servant of Christ. God Bless you all! Jesus777 |
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