What to Do When it Feels Like God Is Far Away?

7/28/2018 47 Comments

Why God seem faraway

Question:

Why does it seem like sometimes when you really need God, when you're in so much pain and you're going through so much suffering, when you really pray, it seems like He's so far far away?

God is never far away from anybody.

ACTS 17:25-27
25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

God is never so far from anyone of us. He's just beside us, He is always watching us. He watches us, He knows everyone of us. That is God's capacity, to know everyone of us. Just like a computer has the capacity to know the fingerprints of every employee in a very big company. You will remember that there are machines that are used by companies now wherein the employee will come and place his finger on that machine, and he will be permitted to enter only after the computer has acknowledged his fingerprints. If we believe that a computer is capable of doing those complicated things, how much more is the One who put those prints on our fingers! And that is God.

JOB 37: 7
He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work.

See, He had sealed the hands of every man. Each one of us was given by God a seal in our hands proving that He knows every one of us. Not any single person that lives on earth is not known to God.

JOHN 2:24
But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,

The Lord Jesus Christ knew all men. God knows all men. He knows all men. He knows every one of us. So He can be reached, He is a reachable God. He is a God who feels our passions, our emotions; He understands our being, our weaknesses.

PSALMS 103:14
For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.

He knows our frame, our being, our infirmities, our weaknesses. He knows our frame; He remembereth that we are dust. God knows us. He understands our passions and feelings. Now, why can He be so far? Maybe it's just like that song that I remember.

Shy girl, shy girl
Don't shy away
Little shy girl
I'd like to make you my girl
But each time I try to catch your eye
You always look away
Little shy girl
I wish that you were my girl
If only you knew I'm shy like you
You might not run away
Then maybe you might stay
And even when you're near
You're like a distant star to me
How can you be so near
Yet seem so very far from me
Little shy girl
If only you were my girl
If only you knew I'm shy like you
Then maybe you might stay
Oh please don't shy away
I've got so much to say...

Sometimes, you experience somebody is just beside you but he seems or she seems to be very far from you like that shy girl. God is always near us; He is never far from us. But we have gone so far from Him in our thoughts, in our ways, in our attitude, in our characters, in our likes, in our inklings in life we have run too far from God.

MALACHI 3:7
Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

It is the question of people who do not understand God's will. “Wherein shall we return?”, they say. How far have we gone? The Lord said, “Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances.” While traversing a road, you will find signs that tell you to detour. People have detoured from the way that was prepared by the Lord, “mine ordinances”, He said. “Ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me,...” How do we return to the Lord? Return to the ordinances; return to the reproofs of God; return to the ways of God. Returning to the ordinances of God is returning to God. So, why does He seem so far away from our prayers? From our requests, from our petitions, from our likes? Because we have gone so far from Him. He's not so far away from anyone of us, instead we are so far away from Him because we have gone astray. We have taken a detour and la..la..la..la detoured. There's a song like that. There are so many detours that we have made in our lives. Just like what Frank Sinatra said. I remember this song because it is related to what I read in the Bible. Frank Sinatra said, “along the byway”.

I planned each charted course 
Each careful step along the byway 
But more, much more than this 
I did it my way...

That's the question, that's the problem. People are doing it their way not God's way. They have traveled their own way just like what Frank Sinatra said.

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew 
When I bit off more than I could chew

See, just biting more than what you could chew is improper in the sight of God.

But through it all, when there was doubt 
I ate it up and spit it out 
I faced it all and I stood tall 
And did it my way

And the last part is that,

I've lived a life that's full 
I've traveled each and every highway 
And more, much more than this 
I did it my way

So he traveled the highway of his own. He left the highway of God. What happened?

Regrets, I've had a few 

Had you traveled God's highway you will have no regrets.

But as Frank Sinatra said and observed,

Regrets, I've had a few 
But then again, too few to mention 
I did what I had to do 
And saw it through without exemption

I planned each charted course 
Each careful step along the byway 
But more, much more than this 
I did it my way

It's because it was traveled in his way, in the way he wanted to travel. But if we travel the road of life that is destined to us by God, I believe there will be no regrets.

The reason why we feel that our prayers are not answered is, not that God is far from us but, we have taken a road that made us very very far away from God. To be near Him and to find Him in our daily lives, let us go back to His ordinances because God laments in that verse, “Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.”

Let us return to His ordinances and we will find an ever compassionate and loving God who is always ready to hear our prayers.

47 Comments:

Evidences of the Authenticity of Christ's Story

7/21/2018 17 Comments

Evidences of Christ's existence

Biblical truths are supported even by enemies of the Bible.

While many enemies of Christ and the Bible delight in the stupid and defamatory story of Dan Brown’s “Da Vinci Code”, a perusal of written and archeological information can easily belie such make-believe bunch of stupidity.

Physical evidences are most welcome among people who judge by what they see; while logical and circumstantial evidences are more appreciated by a thinking mind.

ISAIAH 11:3 
And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

A wise judge considers other things than what he sees and hears as the saying goes “…more than meets the eye.” Logic and human promptings were used by Solomon in judging a very delicate case brought to his court.

1 KINGS 3:16-28 
16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.
19 And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it.
20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.
22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spoke before the king.
23 Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.
24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
26 Then spoke the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.
27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.
28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.

All evidences regarding the authenticity of the story of the true Christ and the Bible will easily be admitted by a fair and intelligent court of law.

DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

The history of the very empire who put Jesus Christ to death testifies that in the reign of Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judea, under Caesar Tiberius, Christ was nailed on the cross and died.

Roman History (Annals 15:44)

The Roman historian Tacitus wrote concerning the Great Fire of Rome, in book 15, chapter 44 of his Annals (c. 116):

Sed non ope humana, non largitionibus principis aut deum placamentis decedebat infamia, quin iussum incendium crederetur. Ergo abolendo rumori Nero subdidit reos et quaesitissimis poenis adfecit, quos per flagitia invisos vulgus Christianos appellabat. Auctor nominis eius Christus Tibero imperitante per procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio adfectus erat;

The following is a translation of the above Latin text:

But not all the relief that could come from man, not all the bounties that the prince could bestow, nor all the atonements which could be presented to the gods, availed to relieve Nero from the infamy of being believed to have ordered the conflagration, the fire of Rome. Hence to suppress the rumor, he falsely charged with the guilt, and punished Christians, who were hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius:

TANGIBLE AND PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

Before his death, Jesus Christ taught the unbelieving Pharisees upon presenting to Him a Roman coin with the inscription of the picture of Caesar to “give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God’s”.

MATTHEW 22:17-21
17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?
19 Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.
20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
21 They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.


Octavian who became “Augustus” meaning “exalted” in 27 BC. took Egypt as his personal estate which was ruled by a prefect. The Republic was replaced by imperial rule. This was the Caesar under whom Jesus was born (Luke 2:1). Caesar Augustus brought an age of Peace called “Pax Romana” meaning “Roman Peace.” This was the golden age of literature and architecture. (left)

Jesus’ ministry takes place under Tiberius Caesar. When Jesus said, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar” he was referring to Tiberius. Pilate is appointed and Jesus is crucified. (right)

A clay tablet dedicated by Pontius to his ‘boss’ Tiberius Caesar affirms further the authenticity of the story regarding Christ’s death on the cross. Jesus Christ died and was buried by two well-known figures in the Jewish community — one of whom is a Pharisee, the group that is bitterly against Christ.

JOHN 19:38-42
38 And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.
39 And there came also Nicodemus (a former Pharisee), which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight.
40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid.
42 There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulcher was nigh at hand.


His enemies even asked Pontius Pilate to guard the tomb to be sure that His corpse will not be stolen by His disciples.

MATTHEW 27:62-66 
62 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,
63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
64 Command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.
65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.
66 So they went, and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

Had there been anomaly regarding His body, and if His resurrection did not come true, there must be circumstantial evidences (bones, tomb, etc.) to prove that He did not resurrect.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:3-8
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures:
5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

After His resurrection, He showed Himself not to all, but to more than 500 people, with whom He stayed for another forty days before He ascended into heaven. The people that testify to His death and resurrection are more credible than the ‘incredible’ Dan Brown, and a host of his cohorts, who, if not ignorant, are blatant liars — among them are lawyers, tax collectors, fishermen of moral integrity, and many others.

ACTS 1:1-3
1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
3 To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

ACTS 10:38-42
38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:
40 Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly;
41 Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.
42 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.

CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE

Money deposited and withdrawn from a bank existing under definite laws have their paper-trail. The Christian faith started in the first century of our common era. There is a traceable historical trail that proves the authenticity of Christ’s death and resurrection. A declaration of the Apostle Paul will spark doubts and frustration among the first-century Christian community if the resurrection did not really happen.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:14 
And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

The fact that the Christians continued to embrace their faith even unto the start of the next century of our common era, circumstantially proves that the issue regarding the resurrection has been moot and academic.

The apostasy that happened later as predicted by the Apostle Paul was not able to erase the truth among the knowledge of Christians and in the Bible.

2 TIMOTHY 4:3-4
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

There are fragments of the Gospel of John existing now, which dates back to as early as the year one hundred twenty AD, that tells us the story of the death of the only religious leader and founder who came back to life to prove that the religion He taught is the Truth; and to prove further that there is a judgment day which all men will inevitably face!

MATTHEW 12:38-40 
38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah:
40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

ACTS 17:31 
Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

HEBREWS 9:27 
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:


From all admissible evidences, a fair and honest court of law will admit all evidences hereby being offered by this representation.

I REST MY CASE.

17 Comments:

Christ's Flesh and Blood Explained

7/14/2018 12 Comments


Dear William,

In your comment to my earlier post “The Church of God is Needed for Salvation,” you asserted without proof that it is not the physical body of Christ that delivered the Church. I am posting what you wrote in the red letters that follow:

“THE SPIRIT IS THAT WHICH MAKES ALIVE, THE FLESH PROFITS NOTHING, THE WORDS THAT WHICH I HAVE SPOKEN TO YOU ARE SPIRIT AND LIFE.”” …”The flesh profits nothing he said”.

Well, it doesn’t require a theologian to understand this, does it? Attentive children with eyesight of 20/20 would get his point.

It is the words, not the flesh and blood that delivered them, that one must eat and drink to receive eternal life, Is it not?”

You concluded that it is not the flesh and the blood (of Christ) that delivered them; it was not what they ate and drank but the words. May I advise you to be more careful next time in concluding anything without a due investigation first. In Colossians 1:22, it says:

“In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight…”

It is clear in the preceding verse that it is His body of flesh, which He offered through death. Your conclusion that it is the word that redeems is illogical because the word does not die, but the flesh does. Through the death of the ‘sinless flesh’ of Jesus, we are sanctified. The ‘we’ I am mentioning is the Church of God, for whom these epistles were written. Hebrews 10:10 clarifies that further.

“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

The Church, or the ‘we’, is the entity being sanctified by the offering of His body of flesh. It is not the Church (as body) being offered as sacrifice, but His body of flesh, that the body or the Church maybe sanctified.

EPHESIANS 5:25-27 
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

The act of giving Himself for the Church sanctified it. How? Through the washing of water by the word. Which water will sanctify the Church? The water and the blood which gushed from the body of flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ.

JOHN 19:34 
But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

The topic of discussion in John chapter 6 which you cited is not about redemption. The topic is how to have eternal life. Anyone who wants to live eternally with God must eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the entire chapter, the bread and the meat being mentioned refer to the word of God. It is the bread which came down from heaven that gives eternal life to anybody who will receive it.

JOHN 6:50-56 
50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 
51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 
52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? 
53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 
55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

When the Jews heard this, they were offended because they presumed that our Lord Jesus Christ was speaking of His physical flesh and blood, so, He clarified by saying that He is speaking of spiritual things.

JOHN 6:60-61,63 
60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it? 
61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? 
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

In your comment, you hastily concluded that the phrase “the flesh profits nothing” refers to the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ. I will copy your comment in red letters.

“So what about the flesh? once again which is very important to your doctrine. He said : “The flesh profits nothing” meaning from Jesus’ viewpoint (in contrast to St. Paul’ viewpoint), the flesh, his flesh with its blood gains nothing for anyone . Is flesh important or not? if not, then how is it possible to redeem your so called church by his flesh?”

You even have erroneously concluded that the viewpoint of Christ is in contrast with the viewpoint of the Apostle Paul. That is the greatest mistake that you have committed!

Let me scientifically prove this to you. Just what does the Bible mean “the flesh profits nothing”? Is it the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ? Or the flesh of those who hear His words? If you received the words of the Lord Jesus, symbolic of the bread and the blood, it is not your flesh that will profit, but the spirit in you. The food for spirit is spiritual.

1 PETER 3:4 
But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

“The flesh profits nothing” does not mean the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, as you concluded, “gains nothing for anyone”. It was His flesh that suffered, got afflicted, wounded, beaten, and died — not His word.

ISAIAH 53:3-5 
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

It is His body of flesh that was wounded that we may be healed or redeemed.

The Apostle Peter clarified this further (I hope you are not in bad terms with the Apostle Peter as you are with Paul).

1 PETER 2:24 
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

The ‘body’ on the tree is not the ‘word’. It (the body) bore our sins. It is the body on the tree that was stricken with stripes that we may be healed.

Let me tell you something to think about so that next time you will not be too hasty in your conclusions. Speaking of redemption, it is the body of Christ that was offered for redemption of sins. Speaking of having eternal life, the words of the Lord Jesus will provide it. These are two different topics which you mixed, and erroneously interpreted by your own preconceived idea.

Note the following verse:

JOHN 6:68 
Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.

Although redemption and eternal life are correlated matters, they are not the same thing. The ‘flesh profits nothing’ does not mean the flesh of Christ; after all, He is not speaking to Himself but to the Jews with bodies of flesh.

See the point?

This is a brotherly advice: Do not ever say again that the Church established by God through the Lord Jesus Christ is not vital to salvation. The only one true Church in the Bible did not branch into more than 38,000 denominations as you claim. These are not branches; they are fake churches founded by man.

ROMANS 10:3 
For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

If a tree produced branches, they are genuine parts of the tree. If there are 38,000 denominations, as you claim now (I do not know where you got the statistics), they are not branches (look it up in the dictionary).

branch [branch]
noun (plural branch·es)

1. part of tree growing from trunk: a woody limb of a tree that grows out from a larger limb or from the trunk

2. botany part of plant stem or root: a subdivision of the stem, root, or flower cluster of a plant

3. something like tree branch: something that resembles a branch of a tree in structure

the branches of the stag’s antlers

Source: Encarta Dictionary

The Mormons that practice polygamy is not a branch of Christianity. It is fake Christianity.

1 TIMOTHY 3:2 
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach…

Polygamy is not allowed to Christians, but the founder of the Mormon Church collected more than 40 wives, according to a book written by J. Oswald Sanders. (See clip below)


Do not ever say again that, “anyone who will say that the Church is not needed for salvation is not only ignorant but ignorant of his own ignorance.”, Who is now ignorant of his own ignorance? Is it me or you? I do not want to judge you.

May God enlighten you through His words.

12 Comments:

The Imprudent Freedom to Question Free Will

7/05/2018 6 Comments

God gave us free will

Good day Bro. Eli

I came across this article in one of the websites frequently visited by a lot of people and it caught my attention because of the words “free-will”. I know that scientists who claim that they are learned in their fields of expertise doubt the existence of God and believe in the evolution of man from apes. But I never thought that even the existence of “free-will” is also being questioned by these scientists.

I am posting this article on this blog site because I believe, with the help of God, if there is a person who can give a logical, biblical and sensible comment about this, it is you.

Anticipating your witty comment,

Godspeed, Bro. Eli!

alsie616

Dear Alsie616,

I do not know where you got the information that the scientist you are mentioning not only denies the existence of God but the reality of free will, also. But as you wish, I will tackle this very important topic about human life.

Free will or, better still, free choice is something existent in some, but not all, creatures. Free will is something done without compulsion and with willingness. The Encarta defines it as done voluntarily rather than by compulsion. I believe that giving us free will is the most loving and compassionate act of the Creator. It is in our free will on what He prefers us to do, that He is delighted.

ISAIAH 1:19
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land…

Although because of it also, we can do things that disgust Him; and will bring people to destruction.

DEUTERONOMY 30:19
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live…

The preceding verse gives us an insight that God wants us to use our free will or free choice in doing His will. He delights if we give generously according to our free will.

2 CORINTHIANS 9:6-7
6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

But giving to delight God must be coupled with good deeds.

HEBREWS 13:15-16 (ESV)
15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

As I said earlier, some (but not all) were given free will by God. Angels have their own free will. This is proven by the fact that other angels chose to leave their own habitation and rebel against God. Most famous of them is satan.

JUDE 1:6
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

REVELATION 12:9
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Even cherubim are portrayed in the Bible being evil because of improper use of free will.

EZEKIEL 28:14-17
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

The same thing is happening to man who is being led astray from the path of righteousness because of the abuse of their free will.

ROMANS 3:12
They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

And this is part of the history of mankind since time immemorial.

MALACHI 3:7
Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

Common sense and incidental happenings in our daily lives, prove the existence or the reality of free will in man. Anybody who will doubt this is a fool.

Here is a very simple example:

A. A man is being loved by two women B and C. He can freely choose from the two; but he chose B. Is it not free will?

B. In another case, he chooses both and made them both suffer at the end. Of course, suffering comes if you do something with your own free will which is against the will of God.

1 TIMOTHY 3:2
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach…

These are all irrefutable evidences that there really is free will among men. To understand the deeper part of it, we can just look on our being as an individual. In our bodies, there are what science calls as muscles acting voluntarily and involuntarily. The heart is one of them. It beats and pumps blood throughout the body unceasingly throughout one’s lifetime without the control of man himself; while voluntary muscles moves are controlled by the mind.


Cardiac Muscle

The muscle of your heart is also striped but it is involuntary. It is called cardiac muscle: cardiac means “of the heart”. Cardiac muscle contracts and relaxes automatically without you having to think about it. When you take exercise your heart beats faster and with a bigger volume. This increase in cardiac output (how fast the blood is pumped around your body) is produced by a hormone called adrenaline. The vagus nerve can make the heart go slower; this happens when you are sitting or lying down.

Source (2007): http://www.purchon.com/biology/muscles.htm

So in our being, the presence of voluntary and involuntary actions will tell our common senses that on this earth, there are things that happen because of man’s free will, and they can either be against or in accordance with God’s will. But life on earth is not exactly the same in all living creatures. There are things that happen in lower forms of life which are evidently not in conformity with their own will. While the female peacock may choose its mate in a particular mating period, in captivity, an animal doesn’t have a choice.

We, humans, are the most abusive users of free will in the animal kingdom. The free will of a bird to fly, it does not use for its own destruction. But we have used our free will throughout the entire history of humanity for our self-destruction.

REVELATION 11:18
And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

Whatever explanation or scientific studies done with the fruit fly that you are mentioning, they will not in any manner fit to humans, because according to the Bible, we have a different kind of brain and understanding very much superior and more complex than any other lower forms of life.

JOB 35:11
Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?

I hope you have learned a little from this.

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