Often we hear about how God has made one just for you - that there is only one person in the world created just for you, etc, and that we are to wait on the Lord for this one person to come into our life. Sometimes this is referred to as one's soulmate and it obviates real choice.
I disagree strongly with such thinking. There is no one person, there are millions of people of various degree that are potential mates for all of us and it has to do with our willingness to love them and their willingness to reciprocate. There is no perfect mate - this is a myth.
Biblically speaking, I find only two cases of there being a "One." Eve, who was created expressly out of Adam's rib for Adam alone and Rebekah who was directed by God for Isaac. In the second case, this may simply be a matter of direction by God and answer to prayer, rather than a "one".
Perhaps if there was no Fall, we all would have received our Eves the same way as Adam but in a fallen and corrupt world, we have no choice but to choose.
Yes God is sovereign i think if he wants you to be with someone, he can make that happen. He can give us desires or take away our desires as he so chooses however, i don't think that should be mistaken as God making the choice for us..
mine here
if you believe that GOD can make the choice and can make it happen , then how can you turn around and say yet GOD didnt make the choice for us? hehe i believe in free will except when GOD wants summin to go according to HIS perfect will then i believe HE can and will make whatever HE wants to happen, happen.. so therefore to me it is possible to be put with the one so to speak.. i just dont know if thats just one person only or if thats many people who could be the one for me.. who would still fit the bill for HIS will to be done.. i also believe you can recieve by prayer..
let me ask you summin have you ever prayed for the right woman for you?
see me i pray for her daily.. and i believe that shes comin good LORD willin.. because my track record aint been so good choosin hehe i ask GOD to just send or put the right one before me.. and let me find her.. and know its her.. and since HE does know best for me id rather have HIM choosin.. therefore surrenderin my free will to HIM.
now how can you be sure the LORDS hand is in it.. when you die and are still together ,,thats when hehe.. cause if its right itll work.. if its not it wont.. and when i do find her im not gonna be goin around goin whooo hooooo i sure can pick em.. lol nope im gonna be goin thank you LORD for this precious gift YOU have given me.
dear folks, the first mention of marriage and wife is found in genesis 2:24
genesis 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
proverbs 18:22 he who finds a wife finds a good thing. and obtains favor from the LORD.
now as we can see here.. marrying does not put one out of the will of GOD.. yet the bible says a man actually obtains favor from the LORD.. this is what was meant for man and woman.. to be married and become one flesh.. back in the day a man just took her and knew her and they was married.. not like todays fancy ceremonies... and legal stuff..
1 corinthians 7: 2 Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
He did not lay it as an injunction upon every man to marry without exception. Any man might marry. No law of God prohibited the thing. But, on the other hand, no law bound a man to marry so that he sinned if he did not. as long as he could keep himself from lust and fornication...
1 corinthians 7: 9 but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
the LORDS sayin to em hey yawl cut out all the fornication.. it is because the peoples had become so sexually immoral that they are told to let each man have his own wife. and each woman have her own husband.. therefore cutting out the sin of fornication and bein sexually immoral.. ... by being married to just one of their own..
marriage is the divine wisedom prescribed for preventing fornication..
1 corinthians 7:6 But I say this as a concession, not as a commandment.
1 corinthians 7:7 For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.
again this is not a commandment..
now if you get as i do in this verse that celebacy or living single witout a wife is a gift from GOD. than you also should see that being married is also a gift from GOD..
1 corinthians 7:25 Now concerning virgins: I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy.
again this is not a commandment from the LORD..
1 corinthians 7:32 But I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord-how he may please the Lord. 33 But he who is married cares about the things of the world-how he may please his wife. 34 There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world-how she may please her husband. 35 And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.
he makes the case that if youre single you can keep your focus on pleasing the LORD better than someone married as they must also worry bout pleasing thieir mates and contending to family matters.. so therefore you could loose a little bit of focus and be distracted a little easier... but yet if youre single and really desireing to be married or lusting or fornicating its better to marry.. for marriage is honorable..
let me ask you summin'. Have you asked God to take away your desire for women?
Did God give you the specific prophecy to get married or be single? If not then you are choosing to get married regardless of what God has revealed to you by prayer. If you are choosing to get married, why do you assume that he going to show you who to marry?
You are assuming God is going to give you an answer to something he has no obligation to tell you. You are under the assumption that God is going to reveal a specific prophecy about who you will marry. God guides the steps of a righteous man, that does not mean he will tell YOU where to step your foot, it means he will make sure your foot goes in the right place within his ultimate will.
God reserves the right to tell anybody anything and more power to you if he shows you who to marry but, don't just assume you have to get married, and that he is going to show you who to marry.
Your life is but a vapor that is here today and gone tommorrow. Has God guranteed that you will live to even see tommorrow? Yet you believe that God WILL show you who to marry!?
For those who say that God has someone picked out for them, you have already made the assumption that you will live to see that day.
I imagine many single Christians who have died asking God, "who was i supposed to marry?", and God replying i gave you plenty of options.
let me ask you summin'. Have you asked God to take away your desire for women?
mine here
are you crazy! lol you got to be kiddin as i dont wanna be impotent.. hehe i love women and i am a man that wants to be married and have a wife of my own..
summin else before i answer your other questions the first time you mocked the way i talk .. well i let that slide as it was a little amusing.. yet you continue to mock and make fun of how others talk and thats just plain ole bad manners.. and thats not so amusing. my advice is respect your elders and mind your manners.. thats biblical advice..
your words here
Did God give you the specific prophecy to get married or be single? If not then you are choosing to get married regardless of what God has revealed to you by prayer. If you are choosing to get married, why do you assume that he going to show you who to marry?
mine here
im not a prophet.. and yes i am choosing to get married, the good LORD willin.. and i find one thatll have me hehe..
below is why i assume and believe HE will help guide me to find the right one for me.. ya see ive never done it this away before.. so im doin it the right way this time.. see i believe in GODS word and the power of prayer. with man it may not be possible but with GOD all things are possible...
look youve already admitted that GOD could do it and yet you want man to get the credit for choosin even if in fact GOD done it for him.. thats not sound..
also ive only said it is possible that it could be just one perfect one or that it could be multiple persons that will fit the bill.. i dont know as to that for sure..
matthew 21: 22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."
1 john 5:14-15 14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
john 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
john 16:23-24 23 "And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
john 14:13-14 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
matthew 7:11 If you then, being 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!
mark 11:24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
your words here
Your life is but a vapor that is here today and gone tommorrow. Has God guranteed that you will live to even see tommorrow? Yet you believe that God WILL show you who to marry!?
mine here
as ive said the good LORD willin , and i do believe in answered prayers.
now since youve already admitted that it is possible to happen.. why do you keep argueing that it wont? hehe not sound again..
1. don't be so easily offended. if you are going to use southern boy slang yourself, don't be offended if someone else uses it. Thats just plain common sense.
2. yes, respecting your elders is good. However, it is not good for elders to assume that because they are elders they are right. That is simply pride and arrogance which will lead you to your fall. thats biblical advice.
3.False accusation is no way to prove your point. You talk about respect yet you do not take your own advice.
(your words)
"look youve already admitted that GOD could do it and yet you want man to get the credit for choosin even if in fact GOD done it for him.. thats not sound.. "
no where in here did i ever mention man robbing credit from God. You have made an unfair conclusion and then judged it to be unsound.
(back to the thread)
I think you are missing the point cattle. You quote a lot of scripture as "proof texting" (in other words your trying to support your pre concieved doctrine with scripture pulled out of context) Instead of going to the word first and developing your doctrine from sound interpretation.
All these scriptures that you quote about praying in God's name are good and great but perhaps you forgot one 1 john 5:14-15. "this is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us- whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him."
The key here is "according to his will". I cannot pray and use the name of Jesus as magic words to get my wish. If i ask for sack of hundred dollar bills to fall from the sky in the name of Jesus, is it going to happen?
read your own words again
(your words)
"im not a prophet.. and yes i am choosing to get married, the good LORD willin.. and i find one thatll have me hehe..
below is why i assume and believe HE will help guide me to find the right one for me"
The danger here and the point i have been trying to make is that you cannot ASSUME God's will.
then you have also contradicted your own words
(your words)
also ive only said it is possible that it could be just one perfect one or that it could be multiple persons that will fit the bill.. i dont know as to that for sure..
This is the one statement i would agree with. but if THIS statement is true then you are making a poor assumption and ruling out the possiblilty that multiple people could fit the bill..
It is POSSIBLE God will reveal one person for you but we must not assume he is GOING to reveal that piece of information to us.
Your logic is not backed up with scripture nor does it make sense. You are assuming God will show you the one because it is possible that God will show you the one.
Im not going to assume God will give me a prophecy about whether to marry or who to marry. If he does, then praise Jesus, hallelujah to him be the glory. My calling is to seek his righteousness not his blessing. if he doesn't tell me, praise him anyway
Nothin wrong with asking God to bless you but my warning to everyone is that you cannot assume that God will give you a specific piece of prophecy.
I think i've had enough of this thread ....for now.
Well....fury...I don't see why you're still arguing your points...I'm reading your posts....I'm reading Cattle's posts...and you're saying almost exactly the same things. I just think cattle has a little more faith then you do. He believes that as a christian...God will lead him. He has faith that God will answer his prayer(and I quote):
"as ive said the good LORD willin , and i do believe in answered prayers."
He knows "if it's God's will". You keep talking about him taking scripture out of context...but I think you're taking him out of context. You are right(and so far everyone has agreed) that there is no "predestined" marriage partner out there that you HAVE to marry. That's what the post was about. Nobody seems to be arguing with you about the topic. I'm not sure what this topic has turned into....but once again...what I think cattle is saying...and what I'm saying...is the same thing. IF YOU STAY IN GOD'S WILL, AND IF GOD IS WILLING...HE WILL SHOW YOU WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU. ALL IT TAKES IS FAITH! Sorry for the caps. Here is the point...Christians are not like unsaved people. As Christians we are supposed to submit our will to God and do His will. We CHOOSE to give our will to God! So if we're looking for a christian spouse...that means both parties hopefully would have their wills submitted to God. So, if God has decided that these two people would be good for each other...it's His will we are supposed to follow as Christians, right? Not the same as predestination....but there still is that God appointed choice. We don't have to choose it...but I'm sure it's pretty safe to say that if we follow God's will through faith(yeah yeah....if He wants us to get married)...He will show us the choice that will lead down the best path. I think I'll wait and pray and have faith that God will show me who is a good choice(unless He says "Don't get married"...which He hasn't yet) and then hopefully I'll make that good choice. One that God will bless. I have faith in that, and God says if you have faith you can move mountains and/or find a good marriage partner....if it's His will...which is what I'm trying to say...and I dunno Cattle...I think you're saying the same thing.
1. don't be so easily offended. if you are going to use southern boy slang yourself, don't be offended if someone else uses it. Thats just plain common sense.
mine here
again i say my advice to you is to respect your elders.. and the people of this forum.. does your bible tell you to disrespect your elders and go around makin fun of others, or mockin them, insulting them? mine surely dont..
your words here
2. yes, respecting your elders is good. However, it is not good for elders to assume that because they are elders they are right. That is simply pride and arrogance which will lead you to your fall. thats biblical advice.
mine here
even in this you had to throw out more uncalled for insults.. as when i said respect your elders ,that had nothin to do with us havin a discussion on our beliefs.. only about your insults.. and behavior.
your words here
3.False accusation is no way to prove your point. You talk about respect yet you do not take your own advice.
no where in here did i ever mention man robbing credit from God. You have made an unfair conclusion and then judged it to be unsound.
mine here
yes you did.. as seen below.in your own words..
your words here
Yes God is sovereign i think if he wants you to be with someone, he can make that happen. He can give us desires or take away our desires as he so chooses however, i don't think that should be mistaken as God making the choice for us
your words here
All these scriptures that you quote about praying in God's name are good and great but perhaps you forgot one 1 john 5:14-15. "this is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us- whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him."
mine here
i dont think you pay close enuff attention , if youll look i didnt forget that verse.. youre not even payin attention.. hehe
i believe that you just wanna be insultin and argumenative..
I don't know why you accuse me of have less faith.
It's not a matter of faith but rather exercising wisdom in not assuming God is going to give us the revelation we want. This is the same falsehood behind the prosperity theology.
The idea if you pray hard enough and have enough faith and pray in Jesus name, he will make you rich or cure you of all your sicknesses and God will solve all your problems etc...And if it doesn't happen well then people will say, Oh you didn't have enough faith.
Mark, you are making the same accusation. That i must not have enough faith and that cattle has more. Maybe he does or maybe he doesn't. But again, the point is you cannot assume God will show you his specific will for your life.
Sorry cattle i DID miss that verse. however, you ignored the point of it. That being God's will. IF God reveals his will to you, GREAT. But he is under no obligation to tell you or anyone anything just because you use Jesus's name as magic words in your prayer.
Are you familiar with the story Job, he believed God owed him an explaination for what was happening in his life. Mark, would you say he didn't have enough faith? Job was under the assumption that God had to bless him for all the good he did. Yes, God did reward him in the end but God made a point, that he is God and we are men and he does not bend to our will but we bend to HIS.
You did not seek God's will about choosing to get married but now you want God to choose who you will marry. Not sound logic..Not sound doctrine...
mark, you say you and cattle agree but this is religious slight of hand. You both say you should seek God's will in this matter but you have already made the choice to get married and now you're praying for God to show you the One.
cattle, if i am being insulting then report it as abuse. Otherwise, quit playing the victim to demean me and put me on the spot. You are simply taking offense at something to judge me unfairly.
I have read my words an i still do not understand how you come to the conclusion that because God gives us choice that i am robbing God of credit. Again this is a false accusation and you need to read my words in context and quit twisting scripture to justify your claims. You're going to have to break this down and tell me how im saying that i am taking credit away from God. Otherwise, your accusation is false.
My advice to you cattle is if you're going to cry and be argumentative and disrespectful and make false accusations, then get off the forum.
You can accuse me of such things all you want too but you simply show your immaturity and lack of respect.
I simply know the truth and will stand up for it. This is a very popular doctrine that many christians hold to and from what i read in scripture this doctrine dangerous because at best it is puting obligation on God to tell us something WE want to know. At worst, it can be using God's name to justify OUR plans.
dear fury, ya know, where i come from if someone informs you that you insulted or offended them in some way.. or offers one correction in their behavior. people usually say im sorry for offendin you.. do forgive me..its biblical too..
*sigh*.......if you're a praying christian you're already supposed to be under God's will...if God doesn't answer your prayer you say "Ok God, your will be done." In the Lord's prayer it says "thy will be done" and then we're supposed to continue and ask for bread, and for forgiveness....there is no proof that we will get these things...we ask in faith....and if we don't get what we ask for...then it isn't God's will. I just don't see what you're trying to say....sorry. I didn't see anywhere that I said I assume God will answer my prayer. But if you ask God for something that you don't think He can or will give you....then what's the point? That's a prayer with no faith! But as far as I can tell, we're saying the same thing...and it's kinda hard to argue from the same side. We ARE supposed to ask God for things through faith. Faith is belief. We're supposed to believe God can give us the things we ask for. And if He doesn't...we shouldn't say we didn't have faith. We should say it wasn't God's will. I have faith God will show me something specific in my life....and if He doesn't, then it wasn't his will.....simple as that.
