Reciprocity :GOD WILL OR GOD MAY?

Taken from another thread (to avoid thread jacking)

Rainman wrote:
Quote:

question: I heard a guy on the 700 club talk about gods law of reciprocity. The way he explained it it was kind of leaning to a reciprocity in this current age. Is gods reciprocity towards us limited to "kingdom come"?

Mar 10:29-30
(29) And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,
(30) But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

Reciprocity now and in the world to come. Do we really think we can sacrifice for Christ and not have Him repay us. This does not mean we can sacrifice a lot as a means of fulfilling lust for things now. Even that concept does not make sense. But we do have Jesus promise of reciprocity in the now and in the then.

There are poor everywhere. "The poor you will have with you always." Some are so because of choice, some because of sin, some because of hard times that were not their own making. All are loved by God and He desires us to minister to them. I cannot meet the needs of every poor person in my community but I can follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in finding a way to minister to those who I can.

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Travis

Thanks for the answer. The reason i asked about recipocity is that in my fear of false prophets i believe that my theology may have gotten a little out of balance.

My imbalance is that i believe in Gods sovereign providence in all areas of my life, i believe that if i cry out to him in the times of trouble he will answer and if he doesn't it must be part of his greater will i do not understand.

My problem is now with faith. Believing in sovereign providence seems to affect the outlook i have. I dont have an expectation that God will always heal, provide etc I believe he may and this is what i think where i may be in error. Sometimes i believe he will sometimes i believe he may but i would rather believe he will even though i have studied myself into believing he may.

Is it GOD WILL OR GOD MAY?

The man who works for a wage is one who cannot be counted on in a time of trouble. Didn't the Lord make that plain? Yet he who works for the sake of working, not counting what is owed, is one who will hold to his master to the very death.

The Lord's promise will stand regardless of timing. It belongs to His servants to serve as those who will not be paid. We serve because He is worthy. Those who listen to His word do not count their bounty against Him. There is no time in their soul for such childish ways.

Let us die the death with Him!

The man who works for a wage is one who cannot be counted on in a time of trouble. Didn't the Lord make that plain? Yet he who works for the sake of working, not counting what is owed, is one who will hold to his master to the very death. The Lord's promise will stand regardless of timing. It belongs to His servants to serve as those who will not be paid. We serve because He is worthy. Those who listen to His word do not count their bounty against Him. There is no time in their soul for such childish ways. Let us die the death with Him!

I would agree with that argument. Those arguments is what makes me lean towards he MAY. As regardless of what happens we serve him. But then id read something along the lines "those who come to God must believe that he is" then i begin to think [he is] points to he WILL.

RAINMAN’S WORD: I dont have an expectation that God will always heal, provide etc. I believe he may and this is what i think where i may be in error.

Rainman, I do not think you are in error! Your conviction is supported by countless saints of the past and present. For example Amy Carmichael, whom God used to bring miraculous healings to many, also suffered on a sick bed for the last 20 years of her life. She believed that God doesn’t always heal, if that serves his purpose. She believed it is wrong to insist that God heal, but instead one should submit their prayers to God's will, not their own. God works according to his purposes.

Paul Washer says the same thing. Paul himself suffers from a debilitating and painful bone condition. He would love to be healed, and believes that God could take his condition away in an instant if that would fulfil his purposes. However, if his suffering fulfils God’s purpose, then, as Paul Washer says, ‘Let God pulverize me’.

What is God's purposes? This is not something we "cannot know". On the contrary we MUST understand it, and Scripture tell us. We see it in Rom. 8:29 (right after the oft quoted words in vs. 28).

Romans 8: 28. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29. For those God foreknew he also predestined TO BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON.

God often uses suffering to conform us to the image his Son.

A good portrayal of the "image of his Son" can be found in the beatitudes. Matt. 5:3-12

Diane