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Walker311 -> Hard-Wired toward the Cross (4/16/2008 5:23:07 PM)

Hard-Wired toward the Cross

Some of us can't get enough of what we experience through our senses. Some of us can resist because we are not drawn toward the same things.

I recently read about some interesting research. When a trained flute player listened to flute music, his brainwaves lit up with an MRI scan but did not respond at all to violin music.

This made me think about my spirituality and how I am drawn to spiritual matters while someone else may not think twice about it.

I thought about how we all have to strive in different ways depending on our abilities and talents. I know someone who has a photographic memory and can remember anything he sees, hears, or reads... makes me sick! I have to work very hard by studying for hours while my friend can get IT the first time.

Some people may not have to work as hard to keep their minds set on God's plan for their lives or spiritual matters while others have to diligently seek the Lord continuosly... to keep from getting off course. I'm the latter!

Questions:

Why do you think God wired us so differently especially when it comes to our spirituality?

Do you believe many people struggle with a belief system due to not having early spiritual teaching?

Finally:

Do you believe that it all (easy for some and not for others) was designed this way for a reason? For instance, maybe some folks needed to be slow receivers and learners so that they would appreciate their salvation more once they were saved.

Are you one of the ones hard-wired toward Christ? In other words, did you have a propensity to being more of a reprobate or being like Christ?



sparkleingsnow -> RE: Hard-Wired toward the Cross (4/16/2008 5:55:33 PM)

I've never thought of it as being hard-wired to the Lord, but I guess in some ways I am. I've gotten off track many times, but He always drawn me back. (Thank You Father).

Yes, we are all different. Thats makes us all the more interesting. And all the more beautiful. Just think, the Lord could have made us all the same. But He took the time and effort to make us each different. How much He loves us!



TMeeks -> RE: Hard-Wired toward the Cross (4/16/2008 6:07:19 PM)

Since the Bible clearly says that Christ died for all men, then it should be clear that we aren't wired for NOT accepting spiritual things of Jesus Christ. But, that doesn't mean that there cannot be different degrees of readiness based on how we are wired.

For instance, if a person recieves and recalls primarily in the verbal parts of their brain, then they may not respond to Christian music in the same way they respond to a sermon or Christian book.

Of course, if a person recieves and recalls primarily in the music parts of their brain, then they may respond more positively to Christian music than they do to a sermon or Christian book.

Theologically, we have to comclude that all people are wired with a hunger for relationship with God; but, not all people develop that wiring dilligently. When neurons are exercised they grow and become more influential in our thinking processes. But, when they aren't execised, they become less influential relative to those areas that are growing.

So, it may be that hearing about Christ early and constantly constructs neurons and connections that make it easier to use this information to filter thoughts and concepts, throwing away anti-Christian thoughts and adding those thoughts that are compatible with Christ. The effect, then, would be what you are seeing in your own life.



CherishedbyGod -> RE: Hard-Wired toward the Cross (4/16/2008 7:04:08 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Walker311

Why do you think God wired us so differently especially when it comes to our spirituality?

I agree with what Sparkleingsnow so beautifully posted. God loves variety. One has only to look at the variety of birds He creates to appreciate that. Each one of us is a part of a beautiful piece of the whole. A special jewel in His crown - His poema, His poem[:)]

Do you believe many people struggle with a belief system due to not having early spiritual teaching?

I, personnally struggled more with belief due to an abusive background. I did have early spiritual teaching but it was not centered on Christ.

Do you believe that it all (easy for some and not for others) was designed this way for a reason? For instance, maybe some folks needed to be slow receivers and learners so that they would appreciate their salvation more once they were saved.

I would tend to think it all points more to what will glorify God the most.

Are you one of the ones hard-wired toward Christ? In other words, did you have a propensity to being more of a reprobate or being like Christ?

Initially, quite a rebel[8|], but God can take the worse of rebels and make them into the glorious image of His beautiful Son




Walker311 -> RE: Hard-Wired toward the Cross (4/16/2008 7:15:10 PM)

quote:

Theologically, we have to comclude that all people are wired with a hunger for relationship with God


I think that a majority of Christians can see how they were searching for something before they were saved.

I see many people trying to go a different direction to satisfy that hunger knowing all along that it is only temporary. I also believe that they see Christ in me but they are so lost in their sins, it seems that it would take a miracle to turn them around. However, we all know that God is still in the miracle business and I try to be sensitive to His leading in witnessing to these souls.



SonInMe1 -> RE: Hard-Wired toward the Cross (4/16/2008 9:20:07 PM)

God likes diversity.

God loves showing Grace and Mercy.

God has a good sence of humor.

God likes establishing the impossible situation..and then making it possible.

What better example of God's nature by saving the complete fool? Or humbling the accomplished?



sparkleingsnow -> RE: Hard-Wired toward the Cross (4/17/2008 8:29:33 AM)

Your right Walker. Jesus loves everyone, no matter who they are or what they've done. And we're to love them too. We never know how much impact what we say or do may have on another person.

quote:

Original: SonInMe1

God likes establishing the impossible situation..and then making it possible.

What better example of God's nature by saving the complete fool? Or humbling the accomplished?


1 Corinthians 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: :)



frankman -> RE: Hard-Wired toward the Cross (4/21/2008 4:04:34 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Walker311

Questions:

Why do you think God wired us so differently especially when it comes to our spirituality?

Do you believe many people struggle with a belief system due to not having early spiritual teaching?

Finally:

Do you believe that it all (easy for some and not for others) was designed this way for a reason? For instance, maybe some folks needed to be slow receivers and learners so that they would appreciate their salvation more once they were saved.

Are you one of the ones hard-wired toward Christ? In other words, did you have a propensity to being more of a reprobate or being like Christ?


[sm=dance.gif] We all make up the body of Christ with Christ being the head. Some of us are the eyes, others the hands, others the feed, ears, fingers, toes etc.. 1 Cor.12:18-20 tells us "But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body." That`s why we`re all so different with different gifts, talents and interests. We all work together as a unit, very different yet complementing each other as one body, the body of Christ.

Concerning struggling with a believe system due to not having early spiritual teaching can be a serious problem, specifically if you where saved out of a cult religion. What you learned as a child and in your early teen-age years will stay with you for life. Whereas it`s also very tough to teach us old [sm=elephant.gif] new tricks.

God designed all of us the way we are for a reason. God told Jeremiah in Jer.1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Some respond to the Gospel sooner than others, while still others never respond at all. Some of us are hard-wired and grow in the faith much slower than others. Why this is --- we`ll let heaven answer that one --- because I don`t know. [sm=icon_smile_question.gif] Am I hard-wired? Phil.1:6 says "being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."



makarizo -> RE: Hard-Wired toward the Cross (4/21/2008 6:31:33 PM)

1cor 12:14 For the body is not one member, but many.



Walker311 -> RE: Hard-Wired toward the Cross (4/22/2008 9:46:23 PM)

quote:

Are you one of the ones hard-wired toward Christ?


I'm pretty sure that am because I can't fathom not having God to call on all the time. I would be scared to death because without my belief in Jesus, there would be no security blanket. I could not rest. There would be no peace.



jbow -> RE: Hard-Wired toward the Cross (4/23/2008 9:36:33 AM)

Great post Walker, as usual.


I see this in people who go to church because they always went, because their family always went, people who seem to have a predisposition toward doing the right things morally, who may or may not be actually saved but they seem predisposed to be "nice". I am not one of them.
I am predisposed toward perversion, drug abuse, and any other sinfulness you can think up. I am definately with you in the struggle to stay on course, but I have found God to be faithful... thankfully.

I can be sanctified and delivered one week and if I am not careful I will be lost in the woods the next week.

I think the very thing you are talking about is the reason that God made a point to make it clear to us in His word that He see's and judges according to the heart of man and not strictly according to our actions. The heart is unknowable by man, we don't even know our own heart but God know's it. He said, "to whom much is given, much is required". Some of us are Joshua or Moses or Daniel types and others of us are Mephibosheth or Lot types. Some of us are more like Paul and some more like Peter. Some David, some Solomon, some Saul. None perfect, all in need of grace... some need more some less but the Lord has enough for each of us no matter how much more I may need than you.

I am 56 years old and the biggest thing I have learned through my long, stumble of a Christian walk is this... God is faithful. His grace is sufficient. He does not give up. If I run from Him, I run into Him. If I hide from Him, He find's me. If I go into some abomination He is there when I come to my senses.
I have learned that He love's me. I have learned that I am secure in Him and this security is not based on my performance but rather it is based on what I have learned of His nature. For instance, He does not give to me in response to my giving, rather, He gives to me because He want's to. He does not love me because I love Him, rather I love Him because He first loved me. I have learned to believe His word... even though I seem to be hardwired to rebelliousness and I easily wander, I am hardwired toward self destruction... He is my healer and my keeper.

I sometimes think thatI see a difference between myself and many others... some people seem to have come to a point in their life, (somewhere, sometime), where they attained some kind of perminate repentance, a point where they gained a control over their flesh and they seem to have managed somehow, to stay there. As for me I usually feel like a 56 year old child...
The apostle was talking right to me when he said, "let him who think's he stands, take heed lest he fall". It seems like anytime I think things are going well spiritually, I am about to stumble... (probably because I always seem to be about to stumble).
I am definately not hardwired toward the cross, God placed me there anyway. I keep trying to crawl off it but He keep's me there. He is faithful.

Julien



iamjc-s -> Response to Walker311 & jbow (4/23/2008 11:02:43 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Walker311

... I thought about how we all have to strive in different ways depending on our abilities and talents. I know someone who has a photographic memory and can remember anything he sees, hears, or reads... makes me sick! I have to work very hard by studying for hours while my friend can get IT the first time.

...

Do you believe that it all (easy for some and not for others) was designed this way for a reason? For instance, maybe some folks needed to be slow receivers and learners so that they would appreciate their salvation more once they were saved.
...

quote:

ORIGINAL: jbow
It seems like anytime I think things are going well spiritually, I am about to stumble.


To Walker:
Photographic memory can be a detrimate, for we need heart knowledge not just head knowledge.
I believe that it all (easy for some and not for others) because the Master Potter designed some Christians to be everyday pots, while others He is taking longer to make beautiful, extraordinary pots uniquely carved to be used for special purposes.

To jbow:
Sometimes when things are going smoothly we Christians tend to get more lax spiritually (pray less, listen less, read the Bible less, & let our eyes drift away from Him).
-



missleyna -> RE: Hard-Wired toward the Cross (4/23/2008 4:03:52 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: sparkleingsnow

I've never thought of it as being hard-wired to the Lord, but I guess in some ways I am. I've gotten off track many times, but He always drawn me back. (Thank You Father).

Yes, we are all different. Thats makes us all the more interesting. And all the more beautiful. Just think, the Lord could have made us all the same. But He took the time and effort to make us each different. How much He loves us!



I agree! I grew up in Catholic school- but that was not until I was 5, and there are stories that float about me that I believed and talked to God even before then! So, I'm not sure if the Catholic school taught me or if I was just "hard wired", but I have gone through times in my life where I put God on the backburner- before I finally accepted Jesus as my savior. Growing up Catholic did mean that I had a lot more religious doctrine in my life than people not- but when I was 14, I had a knowing that I should not complete the confirmation process. I couldn't explain it to anyone- but I knew that it was not where my heart was, it was not where God wanted me. I went through many different churches- methodist, episcopal, presbyterian, etc trying to find a relationship with God. It was not until this past year that finally I found what my soul was looking for- and for me, it was in the most untraditional place! In a charismatic non-denominational church! But it was this church that taught me about Jesus and God's grace and suddenly everything I had felt throughout my life clicked and I knew and I accepted and I dedicated my life towards God. For me- living for God was what I THOUGHT I had always done, but once I saw that while I was trying to live for God through being a good person and believing a lot of the media messages (about how all people are good, etc), I was not actually doing what God wanted. So now that I am actually living my life for God I am happy and content- even when things in my life are not going the way *I* want them to go (And yes, my faith has been tempted by some extreme circumstances in this past year, but I know that God will be by my side as I go through them and even more and so I still have hope!)

Once again I've rambled off topic (I think)...but for me, I think God has always been apart of my life, I just never understood the WHY before this year. I am not sure if that is because as my grandmother has told me all my life "He has a special plan for you" or what, but I do know that my belief in God is strong, while the rest of my family (except my grandma) remains agnostic...which I've always thought to be a bit odd.



Walker311 -> RE: Hard-Wired toward the Cross (4/23/2008 5:40:27 PM)

quote:

the Master Potter designed some Christians to be everyday pots,


iam,

I like this! This is an excellent example of me. I(the pot) am filled with liquid flesh and I try very hard to keep it a certain temperature. Sometimes it gets close to boiling and sometimes very cold. I sometimes fear I am going to be so busy trying to keep it stable that somehow I will not be observant and my pot will be broken.

quote:

sometimes think thatI see a difference between myself and many others... some people seem to have come to a point in their life, (somewhere, sometime), where they attained some kind of perminate repentance, a point where they gained a control over their flesh and they seem to have managed somehow, to stay there. As for me I usually feel like a 56 year old child...


jbow,

This is me too! I sometimes feel that I've reached a certain spiritual plane or level but I know it is a lie. I am a very emotional man and have not had anything to really upset me in a long time. When it happened in the past, I basicly went nuts. I can't get the thing out of my mind until there is some type of closure and will do just about anything to fix it which is not always the correct response.

So, I am a big baby without God. I am definitely co-dependent on the Holy Spirit if there is such a thing.



delete123 -> RE: Hard-Wired toward the Cross (4/23/2008 7:02:13 PM)

I do not know why some are "late" comers, so to speak. Although I know personally for me the Lord had showed me some things early, but I was a reprobate.
I could not understand many things that had transpired in my life before I even got a chance to live a life.
My choice was either to trust Him or say Good bye. Something in me knew I needed Him, so I accepted Him with little knowledge or information given. I just knew it was right.

Just a part of me
CRH



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