mizpeh, I certainly understand what you are saying, but I think that at times we do put our own flesh and deeds on too high of a pedestal. I respect that everybody has a routine that they are comfortable with, but I also believe that the true presence of God is powerful enough to move and transform no matter what we did in preperation. There have been many services in my life that I didn't even want to be at that became some of the most life-altering services I've been to.
I don't expect God to move any more or less or be more effective based on what I have done. However, if you do feel that way, then it can certainly become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If my approach is "If I do this, God will move" then I do it, there may be a greater expectation and reception to a move of God.
At our church I say in every service that I expect God to meet us there and to have a genuine encounter with Him. I even say it at funeral services, and it most often happens. Not because I said it, but because we expect that if two or more gather together...and if God be lifted up He will draw all men unto Him (even those who were not lifting in the first place.)
You have just described homeopathic medicine and why it works so well for some people, as well as the friend to all human-tested experiments, the placebo effect.
1 Corinthians 7:5 (Whole Chapter)
Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
If a husband and wife agree to abstain from relations for a time of dedication, that's one thing. But, to say that they HAVE to abstain on EVERY Sabbath (which is Saturday, by the way) is absolutely ridiculous. Even if it WAS a commandment under the law, Jesus addresses it as thus:
Mark 2:24
And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? Mark 2:27
And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
__________________ "Many people view their relationship with God like a "color by number" picture. It's easier to let someone else define the boundaries, tell them which blanks to fill in, and what color to use than it is for them to take a blank canvas and seek inspiration from the Source in order to paint their own masterpiece"
1 Corinthians 7:5 (Whole Chapter)
Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
If a husband and wife agree to abstain from relations for a time of dedication, that's one thing. But, to say that they HAVE to abstain on EVERY Sabbath (which is Saturday, by the way) is absolutely ridiculous. Even if it WAS a commandment under the law, Jesus addresses it as thus:
Mark 2:24
And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? Mark 2:27
And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
...and woman
__________________
Master of Science in Applied Disgruntled Religious Theorist Wrangling
PhD in Petulant Tantrum Quelling
Dean of the School of Hard Knocks
Some of this is brand new to me. I have recently heard a number of things I had never heard prior to joining AFF. That's either really good or really bad
Or as I just read on this thread, really NUTTY!
__________________
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
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