Question on Faith and the bible...?

Question

I am struggling with a question, i waiver because things are so contradicting... on one hand we read the bible, we are expected to believe , walk by faith, not by sight. but can someone who truly believes help me with this one.. i can see how we are backed in a corner , couldn't christianity be like a placebo, you Think something is true, therefore you make it fit...? could faith be something created to help people through hard times, but is just in our minds? for instance, you go to a psychic, they tell you things, if you believe , you will find something to make it come true because you want to believe someone can do that, predict the future. I've even had someone give me a sugar pill, for a terrible headache, oh this will help you in like 5 minutes, great stuff, headache was gone. only to find out it had nothing in it! i'm NOT an atheist, or agnostic, but it does make sense that i've read also if there is a god why is it amputees pray, not one has ever
gotten limbs back?

Answer 1

Christianity is not a placebo. Yes on faith, when you first become a Christian, it is hard to learn, as it is usually just on the faith you agree to put in Jesus and by other testimony and reading the bible that you learn. However, when you learn more and when you build your faith, things really do become very clear. You actually do feel and learn God's presence with you. It is not something you can experience unless you call on the Lord and have faith. If you look for it, you will find it, Jesus promises that. Jesus also says though, that those whose eyes are closed and ears do not hear, will not gain that knowledge. Yes, knowledge is granted to those who have faith in Christ, that is why m,any who do not accept Christ, do not have the understanding of scripture.

Little story about psychics....before I became a Christian, I used to go to them and I learned tarot cards, etc. Satan and the demons (fallen angels) do have the ability to mess with you. They are not stronger than God by any means, but believe it, they are real and the can mess with you. Yes, I received quite a few accurate predictions and I even had so much anger in me that the power of the mind and wishing for things can be strong. Satan can accomidate you only to mess you up in the long run, but it looks good for the moment. I think some psychics can predict things, some may even appear helpful, its not the wok of God through them though, it is the devil. It may even help someone, the visions granted to the person through satan. It doesn't appear evil to that person and maybe they really think they are gifted, but God tells us, not to do fortune telling or to speak with the sead, it is a sin. Therfore, the price that they pay ends up being eternal damnation, satan tricked them into that by making them believe they were righteous. Again, God knows why he does things, and he has put appropriate warnings and commands for us to follow for that reason in his word. Example, a baby picks up one of those coated advils or any pill that the coating tastes good, but the outcome if swallowed could be fatal for that child when ingested.

As far as amputee's praying for their legs back, its not that God couldn't grant that, he can do anything. Think about it, maybe there is a bigger plan as to why that person is like that. Maybe down the road they are going to help someone else becasue of their situation. Maybe it is going to save them from doing something else that could be damaging even more so. You don't know the bigger plan, and you can't understand completely the bigger plan, as we, as humans, are not skilled that way, as it is divine and we are not. In the end though, everything will make sense and have been and served for a purpose. Back to the amputee, maybe the amputee became that way, just an example, during a war or during an accident. Satan put the circumstances for bad in the way, but God can turn that around for the good by something on the lines of what I said above, about like helping someone else or keeping them from a greater danger. There is really a lot to consider. hang in there and keep talking to God and ask him to give you knowledge and make your faith stronger. That is a prayer, by the way that does not need "if it is your will", becasue he has already told us that that is what he wants.

God Bless you!

One more thing, the mind is suggestive and yes, if your psychological state tells you a pill took your headache away, it probably could. The mind is powerful and God has given some doctors the gift of figuring out how our minds click, so it goes hand in hand, science and God!

Answer 2

you nee to look at the fact that there is no reason not to believe the your faith is real i have the same problem satin plays with my mind and trys to tell me i am not really shore that i am saved but when i pay i just get this really cool feeling and the fear shrinks away.
try praying about any problems you have.

if you think about it wouldn't you rather find out when you die there is nothing and know you were a christian than the other way round,you have nothing to lose form being a christian.

to try to answer your amputees question, i think it is because god wants us to have faith that he has a plan for all of us even if we lose a leg or some thing god can still use us.

stick with it and pray about it god will help you through your times of dout i promice.

Answer 3

You need to reflect more on a spiritual sense and less on a worldly sense. They are truly two different things. The power of belief is incredibly strong. It is even stronger when Jesus is a part of that belief. He DID exist! He DID live! He WAS Crucified! He WAS buried! He DID raise from the dead! All of these things have been accounted for in additional writing and accounts of these events than is even written in the Bible. It DID happen...is that a placebo?
In regards to amputees and others that are physically and/or mentally challenged...Perhaps there is a specific reason and purpose for their disability. Joni Erickson Tadda is a good one to reference on this subject.
Don't give up. This was a good question.

Answer 4

WOW! wouldn't that be an ultimate test of God's love...returning an amputated limb! BTW that person is whole and well in spirit with their limb in tact. It was materially removed, not spiritually removed.

We have the capacity to create with our thoughts...there is so much evidence to confirm this statement. So when you are told to believe something (even God) it can have that part to it. But there is also an innate something within the human being that 'knows' there is a higher power that is creative. It is just too evident to be denied.

Yes, you have creative thought. Yes, you can make things happen in your life. But, let's be realistic...having every one of our wishes fulfilled would never be possible. We change our minds too often.

Answer 5

you should take anything with a grain of salt. like you say, if you want to believe in something bad enough, you will find a way to make it true. i think religion or belief in a higher power is a combination of faith and logic. logic and reason are powerful tools that can serve you every bit as well as faith; only you don't have that 'blind' aspect to deal with.
i think one should also take the bible with a grain of salt. it's a 2000-5000 year old document that has been altered and edited to suit the needs of the group writing it. there are many good things in there but a lot of nonsense as well.
trust in yourself. you already seem to have great instinct about the true nature of things. you are already practicing logic and reason so i think you will be just fine.

Answer 6

Amputees don't get their limbs back when they pray asking God to give them back their limbs because God answers their prayers by saying, "No."

We are not to pray for favors, tricks, and the like. We are to pray that God's will be done on Earth. Too many people fail to follow what Jesus said in the Bible when asked how to pray. He offered the Lord's Prayer. To summarize: "May your name be holy. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Give us what we need to survive this day only, and forgive us so that we may forgive. Keep us away from temptation and deliver us from evil."

Where in there do you see any suggestion that we ask for our limbs to be restored, or for our children to get off the dope, or for us to win the lottery, or for us to get the job we want? Nowhere. The only thing we ask for ourselves is that we may be given what we need to survive this one day.

What you're not understanding is that faith in God does not bring with it all things that look "good" on earth. It brings duty. It brings responsibility. It doesn't bring a happy-pill or anything of that nature.

What faith does--if practiced right--is align our will with God's will.

Does it make me feel better that there is more to life than what humans have created? Well, yes, it does. But it doesn't remove me from living in a world that contains much of what humans have created. I must walk in the world--with death, disease, war, famine, cruelty, and so forth--while hoping for God's kingdom to come.

And I learn, very solidly, that what I want is of no consequence.

So you can view that as a placebo if you like.... But if you really look at what God is asking of us when we work out our salvation, you will see that it is not all hearts and flowers.

Answer 7

Jesus prayed passionately to not be crucified, yet added, but not my will Lord, but yours.

Great question! But even Jesus did not get his prayer answered as per se. He knew His destiny and feared it, like most of us would have. However, he did get many other prayers answered.

Many people say that the tragedies that happened to them, even though they prayed for relief, have opened up doors in later years that were far richer, than what they were asking for.

Why and how certain prayers get answered is something that we will never know. We do know it is better to pray than not. All I can say it pray and look for God's will in your life spiritually.

Take care and good luck.

Answer 8

First off, congratulations for questioning our faith. I believe God loves an honest question. Keep asking them.

As for faith, it is only what we make it and only as valuable as we value it. If it is blind it gropes aound in the dark when confronted. If it is truly strong, it can support as much as it needs, if it is weak, why is it weak (is it new, is it unlearned, is it skeptical?), if it is waivering what is the distraction, if it is fleeting, what has replaced it? Nevertheless, it is what it is for each of us.

Christ spoke so often about how weak his own disciple's faith was, and how strong a Gentile's was. But why was it this way? What's to learn? Keep asking, keep seeking. And my hope is that, throughout your search, you simply never stop hoping.

Answer 9

It is by faith and works that you should believe.
If you love god in faith than your love for God is real. That's what God wants. He wants your love (Hosea 6:6)
Maybe you should ask God to strength you. If everyone saw God than they can say they love God, but is it real. It is almost like saying, You love some one because they have money. It is fake love. The Bible, the word should make your faith stronger.
Study it and you'll see.

Jam 2:22 "Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?"

I hope this helps:
http://www.shepherdschapel.com/

Answer 10

catsrus2020,
Really good question!

It depends on what you base your faith on. If you base it on the belief of the Resurrection, then I thik that you were on solid ground.

If you get lost in the sea of what being a Christian is supposed to be to others, then you will not have that basis as a focus.

Is a Christian supposed to make him or herself better toserve God? Or is a Christian suppose to trust God's word more than the circumstance?

What you base something on is crucial. Waht will it be;
1) Building on the sand of human performance?
2) Building on the Rock of Salvation?

You decide.