Why Does God Hide Himself?

[add]

[quote name='mortify' date='25 July 2009 - 10:49 PM' timestamp='1248572958' post='1932071']
Why does he hide himself?


[/quote]
God is not hiding
- your eyes are closed
- the lens cap is on
- the lights are off
- contact your service provider

[mortify]

[quote name='Varg' date='11 October 2009 - 04:26 AM' timestamp='1255249610' post='1982998']
If he wanted you to have complete free will would he have made the 10 commandments?
[/quote]

Following the way of God liberates us

[Saint Therese]

Maybe God isn't hiding himself. Maybe our nature is just too small and limited to perceive Him.

[Mark of the Cross]

[quote name='apparently' date='12 October 2009 - 12:29 AM' timestamp='1255267774' post='1983068']
God is not hiding
- your eyes are closed
- the lens cap is on
- the lights are off
- contact your service provider
[/quote]

Exactly! Recently I went through a very bad time health wise. With the events that unfolded I could see that Satan was trying to destroy me. But there was also an amazing succession of 'Coincidences' that kept occurring that countered every bad one. Even though I felt doomed, I kept thinking to myself "God wants me to get through this." And then he started talking to me! As I lay in pain one night I heard him say "This will seem like nothing when you are with me in paradise." (Hey people I now know I'm going to heaven when I die) When things got really to their worst, I just wished for death. Then I heard him say "If you went now Mark, you would be very disappointed that you gave up so easily." When I asked him what I should do, I heard him say "Just carry on as you normally would." And this wasn't all! Every time I closed my eyes and prayed, I could feel the sign of the cross on my forehead. One night there were numerous tiny ones. I also thought I heard him say "You won't have to endure anything like that again" That one could have been wishful thinking but I hope not. I can say for sure that God has never hidden from me. We walk hand in hand. During this time a short poem kept coming to mind. I used it in my signature. I don't know if I read it or if it was implanted by himself. Has anyone heard it before? I assume it relates to when Jesus calmed the storm.

[reyb]

[quote name='apparently' date='11 October 2009 - 08:29 AM' timestamp='1255267774' post='1983068']
God is not hiding
- your eyes are closed
- the lens cap is on
- the lights are off
- contact your service provider
[/quote]

...and prepare to pay your bill. Because you eat too much of his flesh and drink too much of his blood. But still you said 'Why God is hiding?'

Edited October 14, 2009 by reyb

[add]

[quote name='reyb' date='14 October 2009 - 08:36 AM' timestamp='1255520161' post='1985074']
...and prepare to pay your bill. Because you eat too much of his flesh and drink too much of his blood. But still you said 'Why God is hiding?'
[/quote]

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

[Jesus_lol]

[quote name='Varg' date='11 October 2009 - 02:26 AM' timestamp='1255249610' post='1982998']
If he wanted you to have complete free will would he have made the 10 commandments?
[/quote]

i think the point there is that without free will you wouldnt be able to break any of the commandments. like if you have kids, and set rules for living in your house, they can still break or bend those rules because they have free will, otherwise they would just blindly obey you in every way. i guess.

[quote name='Varg' date='11 October 2009 - 02:43 AM' timestamp='1255250598' post='1983005']
You just can't win with you people!
[/quote]

hehe, tell me about it. i think in the coupleyears i have been here i might have won maybe 3 times. total flukes probably

[reyb]

[quote name='apparently' date='16 October 2009 - 05:19 AM' timestamp='1255688379' post='1986375']
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
[/quote]
Good. Do it and do not stop until so see Him.

Edited October 17, 2009 by reyb

[reyb]

[quote name='Jesus_lol' date='16 October 2009 - 10:49 AM' timestamp='1255708161' post='1986443']
i think the point there is that without free will you wouldnt be able to break any of the commandments. like if you have kids, and set rules for living in your house, they can still break or bend those rules because they have free will, otherwise they would just blindly obey you in every way. i guess.
[/quote]

Do you mean, because of 'free will' - you can break or make the commandment of God? I mean, do you think because of your 'free will' you can fulfill God's commanment? On the other hand, do you think because of man's free will he learn to disobey God? (it means man is not under the power of deceiving spirit then - because he is 'aware' in disobeying God's law.

[Jesus_lol]

im really not sure what your question is Reyb.

[reyb]

[quote name='Jesus_lol' date='17 October 2009 - 11:26 PM' timestamp='1255840019' post='1987199']
im really not sure what your question is Reyb.
[/quote]
In your above post, it seems you are saying that to obey the commandment of God is a matter of choice on our part. Thus, I asked. Do you really think that we can fulfill the commandment of God by our own?

[add]

[quote name='reyb' date='17 October 2009 - 07:28 PM' timestamp='1255818518' post='1987067']
Good. Do it and do not stop until so see Him.
[/quote]

then what?

[reyb]

[quote name='apparently' date='18 October 2009 - 07:06 AM' timestamp='1255867600' post='1987265']
then what?
[/quote]

I mean, Seek the Truth and do not stop until you see Him. Then, you will have your assurance to be with Christ forever.

[add]

[quote name='reyb' date='18 October 2009 - 09:19 AM' timestamp='1255868358' post='1987267']
I mean, Seek the Truth and do not stop until you see Him. Then, you will have your assurance to be with Christ forever.
[/quote]

I do not see this as a prerequisite or important or relevant. No doubt

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='reyb' date='18 October 2009 - 06:19 AM' timestamp='1255868358' post='1987267']
I mean, Seek the Truth and do not stop until you see Him. Then, you will have your assurance to be with Christ forever.
[/quote]
Ah, what a lovely truism.

[reyb]

Please, let us go back to our topic.

Mortify started this topic with a title and a question, Why Does God hide Himself? (in bread and wine). Actually, he is talking about the Eucharist - The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ based on the Teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.

And Katholikos posted

For those who may be reading this thread but do not know, the Church teaches that the substance of the bread and wine are changed into the substance of the flesh and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Can we discuss this ‘Eucharist’? Is this ‘transubtantiation for real? Or it is just another lie hidden in mystery.

Edited October 18, 2009 by reyb

[mortify]

[quote name='reyb' date='18 October 2009 - 12:13 PM' timestamp='1255882420' post='1987317']
Mortify started this topic with a title and a question, Why Does God hide Himself? (in bread and wine). Actually, he is talking about the Eucharist - The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ based on the Teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.
[/quote]

I was taking in general and using the sacramental veil as an example. Please note since making this thread I have gained a greater understanding of the question and answer. See my post #106 on this thread:

[quote]Since I've started this thread I've gotten a better understanding of the question and the answer to it. It deals with the one thing God reveres about man, the free will He has given him. God may will a man into suffering, but He will never will a man to believe, man must use his free will to make an act of faith. God will give us clues to motivate us to believe, but never knowledge, that is reserved for the Just in Heaven. So each person must make an initial step into the unknown, and there is no way around this. The problem is that it's not simply an intellectual question, whether a person can reasonably prove the existence of God or not. I once talked to a girl who told me she couldn't believe even though she wanted to, when we got to the core of the issue, it turned out the thought of changing her lifestyle seemed impossible, and the thought of being responsible for her actions too heavy. On the flipside I knew a Catholic doubting his faith, ultimately it turned out he was dispairing over vices he couldn't break free from. So there is really more to making an act of Faith than presenting reasonable arguments for theism or atheism. The will must choose whether God is worthy to be sought after, and this choice ultimately determines the fate of the soul. I am making the choice to believe, and that is beginning to cost me, but God willing I will make it to heaven, and I hope all you who read this pray that I get there, as I will certainly pray for you.[/quote]

Edited October 18, 2009 by mortify

[Mark of the Cross]

[quote name='reyb' date='19 October 2009 - 03:13 AM' timestamp='1255882420' post='1987317']


Can we discuss this 'Eucharist'? Is this 'transubtantiation for real? Or it is just another lie hidden in mystery.
[/quote]
It certainly is a mystery! I often feel the presence before the Eucharist although for me starting with the 'peace be with you ' the Eucharist is the climax of the Mass. As a 'special Minister' I feel Christ's presence within myself as if I am just the shell and it is he who is giving the communion using my body. When a small child comes for a blessing, I like to squat down so I can look into the eyes of the child, for there I see God. The act of blessing a child is often more powerful (for me) than giving someone the host.

[reyb]

[quote name='Mark of the Cross' date='18 October 2009 - 04:27 PM' timestamp='1255901267' post='1987460']
It certainly is a mystery! I often feel the presence before the Eucharist although for me starting with the 'peace be with you ' the Eucharist is the climax of the Mass. As a 'special Minister' I feel Christ's presence within myself as if I am just the shell and it is he who is giving the communion using my body. When a small child comes for a blessing, I like to squat down so I can look into the eyes of the child, for there I see God. The act of blessing a child is often more powerful (for me) than giving someone the host.
[/quote]

But from whom, this idea of 'transubtantiation' came from?

[reyb]

[quote name='mortify' date='06 October 2009 - 10:35 PM' timestamp='1254886558' post='1979639']
Since I've started this thread I've gotten a better understanding of the question and the answer to it. It deals with the one thing God reveres about man, the free will He has given him. God may will a man into suffering, but He will never will a man to believe, man must use his free will to make an act of faith. God will give us clues to motivate us to believe, but never knowledge, that is reserved for the Just in Heaven. So each person must make an initial step into the unknown, and there is no way around this. The problem is that it's not simply an intellectual question, whether a person can reasonably prove the existence of God or not. I once talked to a girl who told me she couldn't believe even though she wanted to, when we got to the core of the issue, it turned out the thought of changing her lifestyle seemed impossible, and the thought of being responsible for her actions too heavy. On the flipside I knew a Catholic doubting his faith, ultimately it turned out he was dispairing over vices he couldn't break free from. So there is really more to making an act of Faith than presenting reasonable arguments for theism or atheism. The will must choose whether God is worthy to be sought after, and this choice ultimately determines the fate of the soul. I am making the choice to believe, and that is beginning to cost me, but God willing I will make it to heaven, and I hope all you who read this pray that I get there, as I will certainly pray for you.
[/quote]

The more we need to talk about this because it leads to the question of God’s becoming unrighteous.

If God did not really want us, the entire generation of humanity to know Him and just like what you are saying, It is an act of God’s revere to his creation. Why then God reveal himself to Apostle Paul and other witnesses?

You even supported this idea that ‘ ….God will give us clues to motivate us to believe but never knowledge…’ – meaning, just to have the ‘will’ to believe in God although God is still in mystery. If God really ‘respect’ us in that way, do you mean, God respect you but not his chosen people of God? (Because He reveals himself).