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guanophore
Guest
You make a good point. God will respect our free choice, and if we choose to refuse the gifts He offers, He will not force them on us.Code:I told the man who gave the talk 'God touches people when He sees fit. And the problem I have is you said that after going to the retreat people WILL be touched.
No, I don’t like it either, but the speaker was not speaking his own promise, but that of Christ, and we can always trust that He will keep His promises.And I don’t like people making promises they can’t keep.
11*If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Matt. 7:11
2*“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:32
Human beings often miss out on all that God has to give us because we are put off by other human beings who fall short of perfection. We have trouble looking past the messenger to the Message.
If God does not see fit for a person to be touched on a particular day, we must trust God’s wisdom. Besides anyone can pray anytime for the Holy Spirit and if God sees fit the person will receive it’
Anglewannabe;13625934:
I am not really sure what this means, but it is true that when two or more are gathered in prayer it increases the faith of all those present. It is also much easier to have the gifts of the Spirit released in one if you are gathered with others who have already had this experience, and who are already seeking it. That being said, there is no reason that a person cannot take longer to seek a release of the charismatic gifts in themselves by doing it in a solitary fashion. St. Teresa of Avila writes about a number of charismatic gifts she experienced, always in solitary prayer.The man responded ‘If you pray outside of the retreat it will take you longer. Until you try, you will not know’
The last part of this comment really does resonate. The charismatic gifts are, by nature, experiential. Must cooperate with the Holy Spirit in expressing them, that is the way they are designed to work.
I am not sure why this would irk you so much, but the bottom line is that God has already touched us for this purpose in baptism and confirmation. We are already “wired” for the Spirit filled life, we just have not turned on the light switch. To that extent, as the scriptures above state, He has already made His decision known to us. It is US who need to agree to what He has already gifted us, and to walk in it. We ourselves are the greatest blockade to God’s working in and through us.What really irked me is he was not willing to agree that God decides when people are touched