Wednesday, 04 November 2009
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Near Death Experiences: Is There A Godly Advantage?
I've heard several people say, "They should have died when they went through some event," whether it be a car wreck, a tricky childbirth, or a near-fatal illness. "I'm convinced that their survival is proof that God has great plans for them." I heard it this weekend and I started thinking about it. Logically, the statement is...
Surviving a close brush with death is proof of a strong call of God on one's life.
Does that mean...
- If I've never been 'this close' to the reaper's scythe God has no great plan for my life?
- God had no great plan for my friend who died relatively young, leaving behind three children?
- Anyone, saint or sinner, who beats the odds - has the hand of God on their life?
I remember reading a book, Confessions of a Caffeinated Christian, and in one chapter the author tells his story of a near-death experience (at his birth) to somebody else. The other person said..."you know what that means? It (just) means that God wanted you to live."
It's just one of those cliches that Christians say that I really can't agree with.
What is your stance on near death experiences? Proof of God's plan for you or was God just feeling merciful?
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Comments (10)
Or random happenstance?
I'd like to think it's a sign that God's looking out for you, personally.
That's the problem I always had with people saying near-death experiences means God has a plan for them. Does that mean the people who actually died didn't deserve to live? What makes that person different than the people who die?
i'll never understand why God gets credit for lives saved, not never lives lost. either He's involved, or He isn't.
hm...where did the revelife people get that picture?
I once heard Francis Chan say that we are entirely immortal until God decides it's our time to go.
I don't think it's proof of anything to an outside observor, though the person experiencing it may rightfully or wrongfully interpret it as God's providence. We ought to stipulate that everything happens either because God wanted it to or because God permitted it to, so a landing in the Hudson river was just as much a part of God's plan as a plane crash.
I was born 2 months premature, so I was really sick for the first few months of my life. I had less than 10% chance of living but made it through. Does that mean God has a strong call on my life? I have no clue. I agree that it's a Christian saying, and not sure that it means much of anything.
God has a plan for everyone,and that plan is just as grand as you let it be in your life!
It is not the near death accidents, or signs that point at a person with great future,it is the person that seeks God, him shall follow signs and wonders!
Signs or random happenings are not the base of someone being selected for a grand task, but his ability to seek AND FIND God in his life, and lead a life devoted unto God, and where God is an integral part of his life!
I was a man with a great future, but let it all go to waste. And I know that for myself.
For 7 years I have not stepped into my calling, a tragedy happened and I was left in a place where I would not speak for years.
Only this year, 2009 I start stepping into that call again that God has over my life!
I think my relationship with God is restoring a bit!
And that alone,is the determining factor of the greatness of works that God will do in any person's life who is willing to walk within that which God has given him!
Sometimes you may never see the greatness of God in your life, but are unaware of what God has done through you when you wheren't looking!
Think of Moses,leading the israelites,
He never lived in the promised land, yet his call was to get people out of Egypt into the promised land!
His reward will be given to him in heaven!
The Hand of God is upon all man. The wonderous ways of God, who can understand His works in man? But we, should not forget His Mercies, which is revealed by God in many ways, more than one...let no man boast himself, but give all thanks and honor to the Lord. Romans 9:15, For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and will have mercy, and will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs but of God that shows mercy. Throughout reading this passage, we find that all power belongs to God our Maker and he does as it pleases himself. It is possible that mercy was also imparted to your friend, although it may not appear that way to others. But again the Lord works wonderous things in us all, even if it were by tragic sarifice for the saving of others, yet the man himself is saved by the Spirit of the Lord. By NO means, in place of the Lord's sacrifice, but the loss of one person has such a profound effect on others. I have been witness to many losses with such wonder and conclude we do not determined what God's unique purpose is or the time given to each of us. I have seen those that were young in years, but full of life as though their time was complete. I did find that a new work began by effecting the heart's of those who suffered such a difficult loss... especially with 3 children involved. My heart sorrows for the Mother and their Children. Life is a gift, we cannot judge the number of our days, which is appointed by God for His purpose. Neither should we judge a man when his time is suddenly ended, we are all the works of God's hands. Give thanks always for the mercies of the Lord, while it is still yet Today and count each day a blessing as we are yet tried in the earth. The trial of your heart continues with the Lord, I pray you endure it well and labor in the Lord. Keep your eyes on the path of life in all humility, your reward is with Him.
God has a plan for all of us. Sometimes we have to nearly die to realize it, sometimes we don't, and sometimes we have to die to fulfill it.