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Why does God not bring teachings my way why do I have to ask questions?
why are the teachings not deep enough for all my questions and they are hard to find sometimes and I have to focus on them?
I feel my weakness in asking questions makes others stumble because they might despise weakness so why do I even have to ask questions. If I have something troubling me why doesn't God give me an easy solution why do I have to come here or other church billboards?
they stumble because they think I am being selfish. And it does seem ridiculous that you are my servants to save me while you yourself may not be saved. So why do I even have to ask anyone?
same with why does God need us to be servants as christians why can't He do it Himself? doesn't He send out laborers for Himself?
I wanted to ask from my last post I learned that it seems we pray for the dead as they are not assured they are going to heaven they just have hope in it according to their good life. I thought paradise was in the presence of Jesus. Or is Hades and Paradise the same place?
If we take the parable literally of Abraham and Lazarus both the unjust and lazarus knew where they were. Or is this parable talking of heaven and hell rather than hades and paradise?
And how come we say the old testament saints were never in paradise until Christ's death if God said He was not the God of the dead but the living and mentioned in the parable with lazarus both Abraham and lazarus being in paradise? Also God says even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me. I thought that might mean they do stand before Him but I guess He was referring to when they go to heaven or when they pray from hades.
Why would God not be able to transfer people from hades to paradise before the Cross? what were they doing in hades was there no God there did they know each other there? were the wicked and the righteous in the same place of hades?
Those verses on praying for the dead might only be applicable to those who died in the old testament
I feel my weakness in asking questions makes others stumble because they might despise weakness so why do I even have to ask questions. If I have something troubling me why doesn't God give me an easy solution why do I have to come here or other church billboards?
they stumble because they think I am being selfish. And it does seem ridiculous that you are my servants to save me while you yourself may not be saved. So why do I even have to ask anyone?
same with why does God need us to be servants as christians why can't He do it Himself? doesn't He send out laborers for Himself?
I wanted to ask from my last post I learned that it seems we pray for the dead as they are not assured they are going to heaven they just have hope in it according to their good life. I thought paradise was in the presence of Jesus. Or is Hades and Paradise the same place?
If we take the parable literally of Abraham and Lazarus both the unjust and lazarus knew where they were. Or is this parable talking of heaven and hell rather than hades and paradise?
And how come we say the old testament saints were never in paradise until Christ's death if God said He was not the God of the dead but the living and mentioned in the parable with lazarus both Abraham and lazarus being in paradise? Also God says even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me. I thought that might mean they do stand before Him but I guess He was referring to when they go to heaven or when they pray from hades.
Why would God not be able to transfer people from hades to paradise before the Cross? what were they doing in hades was there no God there did they know each other there? were the wicked and the righteous in the same place of hades?
Those verses on praying for the dead might only be applicable to those who died in the old testament
Comments
1. Why do we seek answers from God through other people (like spiritual brothers and sisters and priests, for example) who themselves have their own weaknesses? Doesn't it make more sense if God reveals Himself to me directly to avoid confusion, miscommunication, and stumbling (especially if the person I am seeking counsel from is himself or herself stumbling with the same issue but still gives an answer--blind leading the blind, so to speak--or misunderstands my situation and gives advice that solves a problem that is not my own, etc.)?
2. I think there are a few questions referring to Hades and Paradise. One of them I am picking up on (but am not sure if this was mikeforjesus' intention) is whether or not Hades and Paradise refer to the presence vs. the absence of God in one's eternal life as opposed to an actual physical place. Furthermore, there was a question about how the saints before Christ were in Hades (i.e. the absence of God and therefore death) and yet Christ still said that God was the God of the living and not of the dead.
3. Why was Christ's death necessary before the saints in Hades could be in paradise?
4. Did the saints know each other in Hades (as the saints would know each other in heaven) before Christ's redeeming them?
5. "Were the wicked and the righteous in the same place of Hades?"
6. Is the principle of praying for the dead just one of the leftover vestiges of the old testament for those saints who were in Hades awaiting Christ?
I apologize, mikeforchrist, for not knowing the answers to these questions. In many of your posts I feel a real yearning to get to these answers and that it ails you to not know them. Hopefully someone with real godly discernment and through the actual work of God through his or her answers to this post (in reference to the first question above) may provide an answer.
Whenever I tried, in my own spiritual life, to seek answers to questions like yours, even through tasbeha.org, I would pray to the Lord that He would guide me. No matter how much I tried to believe what was said on the forums or through my father of confession, I just wouldn't listen. I couldn't believe that God would speak to me through these means. I did not want to risk following advice from anyone for fear of losing my own spiritual relationship with God--where I felt accomplishment by only listening to the voices in my head (Remember my post regarding your tasbeha.org forum topic "Re: Need someone with the gift of healing but can't travel to egypt to find one?"). I felt I was actually doing something (good works) for God. To me, doing otherwise (even if it meant listening to my father of confession, to my parents, or to people on this forum) meant disobeying the voice of God through my head. I am not saying that now you should listen to and obey anybody who tells you to do something (as if what they say is the word of God speaking through them). However, I feel that if you start by just listening obediently to your father of confession or spiritual father (even if you feel he is not telling you anything that will directly solve your problem), God will bless you through them. If the spirit or essence of what your father of confession is telling you leads you to conclude that your father of confession wants you to act rationally and like a normal person, then go ahead and try to act like a normal person, not a highly spiritual person with a strong relationship with God. Even if your whole self, emotions, conscience, and/or the voices in your head (and whatever else may hinder you from listening to your father of confession) tell you that you will be losing it all; I think this is a practical first step to lead you away from many of your anxieties.
It may not be until some time after you start listening to your father of confession that you will begin to feel more peace. But I think that is your first practical step to being more at peace. That was the case for me. Try to reflect on what he is telling you and to act on it. If your thoughts and reflections lead you to do anything that you are even slightly uncomfortable about, relay these ideas, intentions, and potential actions to your father of confession. Do not do anything rash. I have a feeling that you will have internal dilemmas in situations when you feel you are called to act on these uncomfortable actions. You may begin to question whether or not what you are thinking about doing is truly "rash"--as I used to. My personal (not spiritual) recommendation is that when you encounter these situations, air on the side of caution and do not act on these impulses until seeking further help from your father of confession.
Keep praying. May God help you, whether it's through the words I have written or through other means of His own, to His way for you. If it would make you comfortable, you may print my post out and give it to your father of confession to see what he thinks about it. I have a feeling that you have been through a lot of what I have been through, and I don't want you to feel alone as you are going through this.