Do you believe.... (Full Version)

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deliveredarling -> Do you believe.... (4/18/2008 5:47:27 PM)

Do you believe an addict/alcoholic can hear from God? Why or why not?



tiffywal -> RE: Do you believe.... (4/18/2008 6:00:15 PM)

i believe anyone can hear from God, but do they have a heart to hear and listen.



NoDumbBlonde -> RE: Do you believe.... (4/18/2008 6:06:22 PM)

Why wouldn't they? If in doubt, ask the Holy Spirit for discernment.



deliveredarling -> RE: Do you believe.... (4/18/2008 6:36:44 PM)

I suppose I should have clarified a little better....I meant an actively using addict/alcoholic. A few friends and I were discussing this issue the other day and I thought I might get more perspective on it. i don't believe that they can. If i could have heard from Him, I would have gotten sober a lot sooner. I was very closed off and rejected Him. I just don't think you can say you love Jesus and have a needle sticking out of your arm or a case of have drunk beer sitting in front of you at the same time. Sin separates us from God and to compound that not having a sound mind makes it seem even more impossible.



tiffywal -> RE: Do you believe.... (4/18/2008 6:47:55 PM)

When we are in the world, I believe that sometimes God can be trying to reach you, but when we live in sin, we are not going to hear when he is trying to talk to us. Or you may hear him and not even know that it is him. The question is do you have a heart to hear? God can speak to you in a variety of ways. He can use someone to speak to you. He is God. With him anything is possible. He can speak to a sinner any way he wants. Through other people, circumstances, anything.



crh737 -> RE: Do you believe.... (4/18/2008 7:28:56 PM)

An addict can hear from God, but their spiritual growth is stunted. To think or limit God in His wisdom to reach these folks is a mistake.

CRH



CherishedbyGod -> RE: Do you believe.... (4/18/2008 7:35:13 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: tiffywal

He is God. With him anything is possible. He can speak to a sinner any way he wants. Through other people, circumstances, anything.


Amen.

Let us remember that the Father sent God the Son to the woman at the well.

The town she lived in and the town the men lived in was called Sycar. Sycar, according to Strongs means drunken.

They heard God the Son quite well, thank you....



designed -> RE: Do you believe.... (4/18/2008 8:23:58 PM)

Yes I do believe God speaks to addicts in their sin just as He would speak to anybody else who is dealing with a different kind of sin. If He only spoke to the sinless, who would there be for Him to speak to? When I answered the call to live for Jesus I was deep in a physical addiction and I heard God not only calling me to Him, but calling me to come out of the sin I was in. It (release from the physical bondage of my addiction) didn't happen over night but through out the entire process I was growing closer to the Lord, as I listened and trusted His faithfulness to deliver me from it. Before I was born again, I often thought that if there actually was a God, that He would not want anything to do with me, because I was too much of a mess for Him to care to reach me, or I was too messed up to know or hear Him. I'm so very thankful that I was wrong about that. He invited me to come as I was.
I also agree with this statement:
quote:

An addict can hear from God, but their spiritual growth is stunted. To think or limit God in His wisdom to reach these folks is a mistake.



GroupW -> RE: Do you believe.... (4/19/2008 1:17:51 AM)

Having read some of Brennan Manning's work (has a constant struggle with alcaholism) I would have to say clearly yes.

BT



deliveredarling -> RE: Do you believe.... (4/19/2008 6:10:36 AM)

Would this not be a prime example of our faith meeting the road? We say one thing yet do another? Where is God in that? I would say one thing, yet when it came right down to it, my faith was in words only. I agree that it is a growing processing. I wasn't immediately delivered. i do believe that God can use anything or anyone to get his message across. Yet, I have to wonder, was I listening to the deceiver acting like God while I was using? Not having a sound mind makes it so easy to believe what we want to hear. Could it be the lack of a head knowledge and heart knowledge connection?

The woman at the well was of sober mind. She could comprehend what Jesus was telling her. Would a heroin addict or drunk person be able to comprehend who He was and understand fully what He was offering her? Or do you think they might miss the boat? I definitely missed the boat for many years. I'm comparing my story with this question because of my example. I think the deceiver really did play a big part in my "deafness".

I am by no means denying the power of God. I know He can do whatever He feels the need to do. After all, He did make me sober. When He made me sober, I had absolutely nothing to rely on but Him. He took that small bit of head knowledge and slowly few it while connecting it with a changed heart. Just by the realization that I was alive, planted a small seed of faith and had everything to do with my choice to trust Him. My thinking was, " He did this, can He really make me sober too?" At this point I had absolutely nothing to lose by giving Him a chance. i am so thankful that I did. Looking back over my life, I can see that He was with me all those years. He didn't leave me, I left Him. I couldn't hear Him because I choose not to hear Him. I choose to continue in the state I was in. Even considering Him, I felt shame, remorse and guilt. That wasn't near as "freeing" as a case of beer. So I knowingly, willingly, and continually stayed a drunk. I think the answer to my question has everything to do with choice.



SonInMe1 -> RE: Do you believe.... (4/19/2008 8:00:15 AM)

Its hard for us to focus on more than one thing and when we are addicted our focus is on the addiction, over all else.



Calea37 -> RE: Do you believe.... (4/19/2008 8:18:48 AM)

I believe that God lets us exercise our free will, and if we aren't seeking Him or trying to hear Him we won't. However, I also know that if God has something to say that He decides He wants us to hear (for whatever reason) we will be able to hear (whether we like it or not). What we do with what we hear is another story.



heavensmailman -> RE: Do you believe.... (4/19/2008 8:35:07 AM)

One can not hide from God in anyway. When we sin, which we all do, we say to God: Not your will, but my will. To follow Jesus, we must say as he did: Not my will but your will, Father.
Peace



kmangel -> RE: Do you believe.... (4/19/2008 5:40:40 PM)

God can speak to anyone, regardless of who they are or what they are doing. Some people are very stiff necked and refuse to listen so God goes up a notch in what He uses to gain a person's attention. Being an addict will compound the stiff neckedness IMO. I remember a former alcoholic believer telling me that he was a very stiff necked individual. It took a lot for God to get through to him--some really serious consequences. I came away thinking how I was glad that God didn't have to go to the same lengths with me to get my attention. I never have been fond of pain. My son once asked me (he was who God used to get my attention during his teenage years) if we would have started going to church had he not been "bad" (he did not like going to church). I told him God used him to get my attention and I was grateful, but had I not listened He would have done something else--and I don't even want to think what that "something else" would have been! Fortunately for me and my son, a little bit of pain was all it took for me to turn to God.



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