Blessing our enemies

[Major]

That is a really good question.

And, for arguments sake, why does God create people who are serial killers.

He dosen't. It is that old Free will thing. Most of us have a love-hate relationship with freewill. We like it when it suits us, but when others make a choice that affects us in a negative way, we wonder why God didn’t stop it.

I do not pretend to have the acceptable answer. But I do know that God is good and that He is on our side!

 

[Annie]

So, you seriously think, that a person, who has a lovely happy life, suddenly decides, through choice, "Hey, I'll become a serial killer".

I don't think so.

I've given birth to 2 children (boys ..eek). And I've been astounded at the stuff they've gotten up to. Monsters, the pair of them. But, I think that now I can honestly say that I had no idea how they would turn out.

My question remains. How do people turn out to be serial killers.

God makes us all?

 

[Siloam]

So, you seriously think, that a person, who has a lovely happy life, suddenly decides, through choice, "Hey, I'll become a serial killer".

No, I would say that violent nature or otherwise great sin cones from not confronting one's own thoughts and selfish desires and letting them have free reign in one's life rather than bringing such thoughts before the Lord and submitting to His counsel.

That's hardly a well adjusted happy person suddenly deciding to kill.

Cain was jealous of Abel well before the first murder.

 

[Siloam]

There are many things that can be unsettling and disturbing to ponder regarding the edges of salvation, and what awaits one who dies who is very young or mentally deficient or the willfully evil.

In my meditations, I find several ways to approach this, but none that leave me truly satisfied.

I must understand and accept that God will do as He sees fit for His purposes does not owe me an explanation. This is the basically the answer He gave Job. My not seeing or understanding is immaterial.

His love is made manifest to me by His provision for me in the body and blood of Christ and not by my understanding of His dealing beyond that. My only responsibility beyond myself is to share my experience and understanding of Him.

My understanding does not preclude His expression of love in salvation for any of these with the exception of the willfully and unrepentant evil.

It is also consistent with the picture of God as the potter and us as the clay. Just as a potter can take the same clay and make either a vessel used to hold the wine ( or juice ) for communion or he can use the same clay to make a chamber pot to hold night soil.

By faith I can accept that His will, including this aspect is an expression of love, even it I do not understand.

 

[Lanolin]

Adam and Eve weren't exactly the best parents...

Cain and Abel weren't living in the Eden garden paradise with their parents anymore. They both had to work their butt off to survive. Outside of the garden, it wasn't THAT happy.

When I say normal, I say Cain didn't grow up having two heads and claws.

 

[Lanolin]

There are many things that can be unsettling and disturbing to ponder regarding the edges of salvation, and what awaits one who dies who is very young or mentally deficient or the willfully evil.

In my meditations, I find several ways to approach this, but none that leave me truly satisfied.

I must understand and accept that God will do as He sees fit for His purposes does not owe me an explanation. This is the basically the answer He gave Job. My not seeing or understanding is immaterial.

His love is made manifest to me by His provision for me in the body and blood of Christ and not by my understanding of His dealing beyond that. My only responsibility beyond myself is to share my experience and understanding of Him.

My understanding does not preclude His expression of love in salvation for any of these with the exception of the willfully and unrepentant evil.

It is also consistent with the picture of God as the potter and us as the clay. Just as a potter can take the same clay and make either a vessel used to hold the wine ( or juice ) for communion or he can use the same clay to make a chamber pot to hold night soil.

By faith I can accept that His will, including this aspect is an expression of love, even it I do not understand.

I always find it kinda strange when some people 'play God' and say well this person is hopeless because...blah blah blah. Like they just write off someone and judge them according to their prejudices. Or they say God can't do this or that. Who are we to tell God what He can and cannot do?

Besides isn't the hope of resurrection for all believers? Not just those who've reached a certain age or passed an IQ test.

 

[Annie]

I think this post has gotten a bit off track. The original question was about blessing your enemies.

Bless them, move forward, move on. Don't let mean people rule your life. Chose to live your life through God.

 

[Lanolin]

I think the OP was asking exactly HOW to bless one's enemies.

If you don't know how, you can't move on can you, and you'll always want to curse them or confront them when you see them. Or avoid them.

 

[Major]

So, you seriously think, that a person, who has a lovely happy life, suddenly decides, through choice, "Hey, I'll become a serial killer".

I don't think so.

I've given birth to 2 children (boys ..eek). And I've been astounded at the stuff they've gotten up to. Monsters, the pair of them. But, I think that now I can honestly say that I had no idea how they would turn out.

My question remains. How do people turn out to be serial killers.

God makes us all?

Well I personally have no idea.

If I did I would write and book, turn it into a movie and move to Hawaii.

I would say however that pornography may play a big roll.

Then I would think that many killers suffer from mental issues with psychosis of one kind or another. There may be an internal hallucinatory voice tells him that he must do this to stay alive.

Many years ago I had a Phycology class where it was said to us that Killers are anachronisms whose primal instincts are not being moderated by the more intellectual parts of our brain. I accepted that then as it made common sense to me.

Now as I have lived, witnessed things and talked with lots of victims, it seems to me that a lot of us are made, by good parenting and socialization.
What remains behind is these un-fully-socialized beings with this capacity to attack and kill. And often that capacity is grafted onto a sexual impulse – aggression sexualized at puberty.

We see them walking around with their pants down to their knees showing the world their underware.

Many serial killers are survivors of early childhood trauma of some kind – physical or sexual abuse, family dysfunction, emotionally distant or absent parents. Many people who know about this subject say that Trauma is the single recurring theme in the biographies of most killers.

 

[Lanolin]

The mother of columbine boy who did the mass shooting did write a book. It's called 'A mother's reckoning' by Sue Klebold.
Mostly she was in denial, but then the dad didn't make any input into the book. So for anyone reading it you don't get the dad's side of the story. Or the older brothers.
She seemed to blame his 'friend' a lot for being the bad influence as they both shot the school students together.

To the mum, she thought her son was the 'golden child' who could do no wrong.
People surprise you though.

She also claimed her child suffered from depression. But seriously, I know lots of people suffering from depression, and having suffered it myself, does not automatically make one a serial killer.

I'd recommend reading the book for the mum's perspective though. You might not like what she has to say about it or her excuses though.
What we do know is a lot of bullying went on in the school, and violence was kind of normalised in Colorado. After all most of the town was employed in weapons manufacturing.

 

[Major]

The mother of columbine boy who did the mass shooting did write a book. It's called 'A mother's reckoning' by Sue Klebold.
Mostly she was in denial, but then the dad didn't make any input into the book. So for anyone reading it you don't get the dad's side of the story. Or the older brothers.
She seemed to blame his 'friend' a lot for being the bad influence as they both shot the school students together.

To the mum, she thought her son was the 'golden child' who could do no wrong.
People surprise you though.

She also claimed her child suffered from depression. But seriously, I know lots of people suffering from depression, and having suffered it myself, does not automatically make one a serial killer.

I'd recommend reading the book for the mum's perspective though. You might not like what she has to say about it or her excuses though.
What we do know is a lot of bullying went on in the school, and violence was kind of normalised in Colorado. After all most of the town was employed in weapons manufacturing.

Well.....We have a nephew who may wife believes can do wrong as well. He is here brothers child and he is the tops.

Now the rest of the story. We found out that he was getting his beer money by stealing the cooper wiring out of new home air conditioners.

When he was arrested and out on bail, he got drunk, beat up a woman in the bar and then raped her.

When out on bail for that he tried to kill himself by shooting himself in the stomach with a gun.

He has been in prison now for the last 10 years and my wife still insists that all 12 of the jurors were wrong.

Go figure!

 

[2404]

How do we bless an enemy who is persecuting us?

this is hard, Because:
I don’t know what to bless my enemies with.
Am I supposed to ask God to bless them with the things I think they lack or just believe they are blessed in general?

You can't bless anyone unless you are in a position to do so.
God being the source of all things can bestow favor on people - blessings.
So one must have a relationship with the Creator to intercede. If we know who we are - positioned in high places with Christ - we really have no enemies because that spirit comes from the enemy.
Jesus being our example loved us while we were yet sinners/enemies. So if we are found in Him we can do the same.
The question is - can the person receive it?

 

[harriet]

"Can the person receive it?"

Sigh, look at the political ad from Chuck Schumer with the mask on, stating, "we take Georgia (Senate) , we take the country."

Can you bless the enemy if they are from Satan? He looks like an Isis leader in the ad, and he is of course a secular Jew.

I hope we can defeat Satan, as in the Bible.

 

[2404]

"Can the person receive it?"

Sigh, look at the political ad from Chuck Schumer with the mask on, stating, "we take Georgia (Senate) , we take the country."

Can you bless the enemy if they are from Satan? He looks like an Isis leader in the ad, and he is of course a secular Jew.

I hope we can defeat Satan, as in the Bible.

Thank you Harriet for your thoughts. As a Canadian we are greatly affected by what happens in your country but i don't follow politics as closely as I should. But as a Christian I don't believe church and state mix. I believe God had everything under control an so I want to rest in that.
God bless

 

[harriet]

Yes 2404, but when I saw what the demoncrats were capable of, ruining people's businesses and lives with their violence - I'm still calling on God to show up and save the country from the evil left of our government.

 

[bobinfaith]

Yes 2404, but when I saw what the demoncrats were capable of, ruining people's businesses and lives with their violence - I'm still calling on God to show up and save the country from the evil left of our government.

Hello Harriet;

Amen, sister. Your post reminds me of the governments led by Egypt, Babylon and Rome's empires. In each instant God delivered His people while increasing the faith.

In these times we are to fervently call on God and have all the faith He is heeding prayers to His obedient followers of Christ.

God bless you, Harriet, for sharing. Merry Christmas!

 

[Lanolin]

Is it democrats or is it just people. How do you know the people who are violent are all in the democratic party or even voters?
I can't automatically tell if people vote Labour or National or any other party in my country, unless they say so. And most of the time they are BOTH fighting EACH other so making things worse.

Most people I know aren't partial to either as both can be pretty rotten.

I'm thankful God is above our petty politics.

 

[bobinfaith]

Is it democrats or is it just people. How do you know the people who are violent are all in the democratic party or even voters?
I can't automatically tell if people vote Labour or National or any other party in my country, unless they say so. And most of the time they are BOTH fighting EACH other so making things worse.

Most people I know aren't partial to either as both can be pretty rotten.

I'm thankful God is above our petty politics.

Hi Lanolin;

I agree with you and am thankful God is above our petty politics. I'm not singling out any specific party, but the people.

How do we know the people who are violent is a broad question. When we compare this to the Bible, how do we know the people who were violent within the Jews, Gentiles, Samaritans, and later the Pharisees, the political Sadducees or the Romans?

There was division within the Pharisees which in Hebrew means to separate, was formed after the return from Babylonian captivity, to separate from the practices of the Gentiles.

The Gentiles, who inhabited Palestine and had a profound part of Jesus' ministry, were at odds by the Jews for receiving Christ instead of siding with Judaism.

The Samaritans were racially different from the Jews which caused them to be looked down as lowly citizens and with disfavor.

When we survey the New Testament we can go on and on, and in these times not much has changed within the strife and violence amongst the people. Regardless, through fervent prayer then and today;

God delivers His people and the lesson remains the same, His love increases our faith.

God bless you and Merry Christmas.

 

[Lanolin]

I guess we don't really know whats in people's hearts, but Jesus does, he knows whats in the hearts of men. Jesus knew straight away that Judas for example was a thief and was going to betray him, but the other disciples had no idea.
And God sees into people's hearts.

We think we may know, especially of the people we are close to, but we can deceive ourselves. I also think in matters of the heart, a great many couples come a cropper, they think they love, but when tested many don't remain faithful, which is heartbreaking!!

 

[Major]

I’m going to guess they go to heaven.
Because if I’m in heaven, only heavenly beings will be allowed right?
And if I come across a serial killer in heaven, he will be a reformed one.... and I can say, “ hey, glad you made it”

Or.... they may still really be serial killers , but they won’t kill mee

Only those who are washed in the BLOOD of Jesus can go to heaven. Even those who are mentally unable to make informed choices are still under the BLOOD.

Speaking of that. in 2 Samuel 12:23 (ESV)
"But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

The CONTEXT is that of the new born son of David....an infant and God said that the baby will go to heaven.

For anyone to tell you that the unborn, or babies or mentally hadicapped will not go to heaven is to make our loviing heavenlt Father out to be something akin to Godzilla.

We can postulate that mentally handicapped people are covered by this principle as well. The Word of God does not specifically say this, however. Knowing the love, grace, and mercy of God, this would seem consistent with His character. Any person who is mentally challenged to the extent that he could not be aware of his sinful state and believe in Christ for salvation is in the same category as a child, and it is not unreasonable to assume that person is saved by the grace and mercy of the same God who saves babies and small children.

Amen?????