MartyS

Repentant Servant, Your post reminded me of a book I read several years ago that gave me a glimpse into how God is speaking to Muslims in the world today and the special way He is revealing Himself to many. I thought you might find it fascinating and understand it better than I could. It is: Dreams and Visions: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World? by Tom Doyle, publisher Thomas Nelson Many blessings, beloved by God!

In these last days, as we wait for the return of our Savior, the Messiah, the Son of Man and Son of God, we are so very thankful for The mercy and grace and forgiveness of sins that was made available to all who believe in Him through His death upon a cross and resurrection from the dead. Thank you, Father God, for sending your only begotten Son to die in our place, take our punishment and death to sin to the grave and raise again to life to conquer sin and death and purchase our righteousness and holiness and eternal life!

Yes, thanks, I do remember. Job seemed safe from any real troubles, UNTIL... 1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 4 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, "It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did continually. 6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the Earth, and from walking up and down on it." 8 And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the Earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" 9 Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." 12 And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. 13 Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 14 and there came a messenger to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." 16 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you." 17 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." 18 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you." 20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." 22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. - Job 1 ...but 41 chapters later, after Satan got permission from God to even destroy Job's health, he repented to God for his arrogance and pride, THEN... 12 And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. 15 And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16 And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations. 17 And Job died, an old man, and full of days. - Job 42:12-17

When Jesus came, He was sent to deal with sin of all mankind. We don't have to understand all the mysteries of God. All that we have to do is put our faith in the One God sent. He does, He did, everything else to satisfy God's requirement for the redemption of mankind. I believe His perfect sacrifice completely satisfied the wrath of God against all unrighteousness. And once I believed, He sent His Spirit to live inside of me, give me understanding of His Word, made manifest in His Son, the ultimate revelation of Himself.

That's a GREAT question! Only in the person of Jesus, there is no difference. Jesus was fully God, incarnate by the Holy Spirit of God, and through the womb of Mary, a virgin, Jesus was given human birth, fully Man, the only one without sin. This qualified Jesus to identify with men and, because He was without sin, to give his life up to death as payment in full for the sins of those who would believe and be raised from the dead, literally the first-born from the dead, to show that we will live with Him after death, also. 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." 34 And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" 35 And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy-the Son of God. - Luke 1:26-35

Thanks for opening this very interesting discussion to other religions. Here are some verses I was studying today. I HAVE DIED TO THE LAW Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. - Romans 7:4 I have died to the Law through Jesus' dead body, so that I may belong to Jesus, raised from the dead, and bear fruit for God. 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. - Romans 6:17-18 I was once a slave to sin, but now I am a slave to righteousness!

Our Christian Bible assures us that if we seek for God, He will reveal Himself to us. I am praying you will find what you are seeking. 7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! - Matthew 7:7-11 35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. - John 6:35-37

And Christians believe Jesus paid our debt to God, so heaven is guaranteed to all Christ-followers. We no longer have the fear of hell. But we believe it exists. Our belief in God's purpose of sending Jesus to live and die as a man to secure our salvation from hell, is worth sacrificing everything and everyone else.

We Christians believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. It tells us Jesus said... 30 I and the Father are one." 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?" 33 The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God." 34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'? 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came-and Scripture cannot be broken- 36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." 39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. 40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. 41 And many came to him. And they said, "John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true." - John 10:30-41

Do you know God wants closeness with you even more than you want it with Him? He wants you to have His peace more than you desire it. No greater love has anyone than to lay down One's life for the object of His love. Before you were born, God knew you. He knew you would sin and fall short of Himself. So you cannot be with Him until you are made like Him in holiness and righteousness. Because He is perfect, you must become perfect, too. But how? Only God could make a way. He took your judgment and satisfied it with His death on a cross in the person of His own Son.

Hi, 3wliya_maryam. What if a polytheistic religion worships the same God you do? What if God reveals Himself differently to one flock of His creation, for His own purposes, than to another? What if the doctrine of the Trinity is just another way of trying to understand the infinite complexity of God? I read this week a sermon by Christian pastor/teacher Alistair Begg. He said this about the triune nature of God... The “triune nature of God” is one of the most controversial of doctrines. People, nonbelievers, and cult leaders have argued against it for ages. Even believers struggle with it. The simple truth, when it comes to mathematics is that 1 cannot be 3 and 3 cannot be 1. But there’s a secret here. Those laws only apply when you’re dealing with finite entities – finite numbers. But the Bible declares that God is not finite – but infinite. So we have to look at the realm of infinite entities or infinities. What does 1 infinity + 1 infinity +1 infinity equal? 1 infinity! 1 infinity divided by 3 still equals 1 infinity. Thus, the infinity of God plus the infinity of God plus the Infinity of God equals…. The infinity of God. Can we fully understand infinity? No. Nor can we fully comprehend God – and we don’t have to. Rather we just have to believe in Him. For there is no real problem with the tri-unity of God – the only problem is how to open up our hearts, our minds, and our faith to that which is so much bigger.

Peace. Yes. Job repented of his spiritual pride. He acknowledged all he learned about the holiness of God through his suffering. But I look at how God blessed him afterwards! 10 And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold. 12 And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. 15 And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16 And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations. 17 And Job died, an old man, and full of days. - Job 42:10-17

When Jesus was asked to explain the parable about the weeds, this is what He said... 36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." 37 He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. - Matthew 13:36-43

That is so wise. It is profound! That is compatible with God creating Satan. Satan is actually God's Satan. He can do nothing without God's permission and for God's purposes. Thank you, Raheel!

I love to quote Jesus. He explained it in a story. 24 He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?' 28 He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' So the servants said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' 29 But he said, 'No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, "Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn."'" - Matthew 13:24-30