Thank you! A lot of it has to do with having used the first-letter option since almost the beginning. One can review so many more that way ... although of course, to each their own. You yourself are going to reach 20 mil not long from now!
This number is an outward reflection of the hard work that you've put over the years into studying God's Word. Your dedication is an inspiration to us all!
Thank you! A lot of it has to do with having used the first-letter option since almost the beginning. One can review so many more that way ... although of course, to each their own. You yourself are going to reach 20 mil not long from now!
Wow! Blessings to you for treasuring so much of God's Word in your heart, joosep. May you have many occasions to use what you've stored up with those God places in your sphere of influence. 👏🏽
6 Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. 7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities. --Ps 51:6-9
I related to a lot of what you wrote in that post, onfire. This site is a wonderful tool, but it takes time to understand best for each user how to most efficiently use that tool. You've clearly made a lot of progress in your understanding :) And as you pointed out also, there is no one set best way for using this site -- each individual determines it according to their learning style and according to simply what God is calling them to do ... I look forward to the near future, and seeing you have a lot of verses reach "fully learnt".
Thank you for sharing that, onfire, that's a very good insight. Also I will need to think about it more later, I've only given it a quick read so far.
The "now" that you mention has (in my mind) to do with what some call practical theology. Our theology, our belief system in and about God, is intended to be entirely practical for application in our lives today and NOW.
The "not yet" aspect you mention, onfire, is also practical, in that it gives us (or should give us, if we believe) *hope*.
Hope is what helps us get up in the morning with a spring to our step!
Thank you also for your input, Goodnews and rvfc2.
As Goodnews mentioned: Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment.
Hebrews 5:8 -- Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.
Psalm 119:71 -- It is good for me that I was afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.
Hebrews 12:4-8 -- You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; 6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” 7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. (all quotations are from the NAS)
My reflection on those verses is this: I've made a lot of mistakes in my life. Some of those mistakes have had some bad results in the present time, with which I now, even today, struggle. So this is my testimony: I thank God for those circumstances, because of how He uses them to discipline me and to teach me about Himself. Of course, when I can improve or change a circumstance for the better, it is my responsibility to do so. But instead of complaining about bad things which are mostly my fault, I am learning to thank God for how He lovingly uses them for good in my life.
Welcome to the group, onfire247 and Goodnews. Feel free to share some verse (or verses) which are special to you for some reason, or which have caught your attention in some way recently.
Silent observers are also welcome. There isn't any obligation.
I erred here, Mark of course was most likely not a witness at all, but he did get his information from someone who was a witness, quite possibly Peter.
When I said "infallible" I mean that it has come to us precisely as our Heavenly Father determined and ordained. I'm deliberately choosing to exercise a child-like faith here.
I'm referring to the infallibility of God. He, in His own wisdom, permitted Matthew to refer to two individuals while Mark referred to one individual. He permitted that to take place, and it is my trust and faith that His choice in doing so was and is infallible.
I've also had a similar thought in the past, onfire, that seeming discrepancies do help confirm the fact that these events actually happened and that the accounts written by each author were greatly valued.
It's also worth considering that the actual event was not an orderly sane and sanitized sequence as we might imagine it. If you put the two accounts together, Jesus got out of the boat. He was immediately met by either one or two insane men. These men were "so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way" according to Matthew. This man (or these men) had the habit of "screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones", according to Mark. He (or they) ran up to Jesus and bowed down to Him and shouted "with a loud voice", according to Mark. It was a whirlwind and frightening event. To me it's quite believable indeed that two witnesses would remember something so intensely emotional and frightening with different details, i.e., Matthew says two men, Mark says one.