Bill wrote: > ... the fact remains, Izzy, that once we have > both spoken what we believe is the truth from > God, we often find that our statements contradict > each other, and it hits us that at best only one of > us can be speaking from the vantage point of that > God's-eye view.
Sometimes, both are speaking from God because we all only receive a word of truth, not the entire truth. None of us have perfect understanding of the entire truth. Sometimes we have trouble seeing how our perception and that of another fits together, but we can be confident that they do fit together. Ever put a complicated puzzle together? Some people get frustrated and say, "what's the point." They quit. Others continue to work on it week after week. They are patient. They have confidence that the manufacturer made all the pieces to fit together, so even though they cannot make them fit right away, they are patient to work things out and cause them to fit together until in the end, the whole picture is there before them. Sometimes, when it gets tough, they back away from the pieces and look at the whole picture on the box to get an idea of how the pieces should come together. Then they stop looking at the whole picture and begin to work with the pieces again. Over time, with much work, they discover how the pieces fit together. Ever work on a big puzzle with several other people? Ever work on one with both children and adults? The children often are limited in their ability to cause the right pieces to fit together. Sometimes we need more patience to allow them to work on the puzzle with us. Sometimes the children get frustrated and reach their hand out to mess up the pieces that we had already fit together. They don't like the fact that you can do this but they cannot. They don't want anybody to do it. Then we get upset because they disturbed work that we had laboriously and diligently worked to get right. Taking our perspectives of truth and bringing them together is much like putting a big puzzle together. Sometimes we try and fit the pieces together, but they don't fit. We think, "who is right?" or "who is wrong?" but just because the pieces don't fit together right away in an obvious fashion does not mean either is wrong. Maybe we need some other pieces in between that then cause the pieces we have to be joined together through the other pieces. This is why we labor in study and in hearing one another, so that we can cause the truth to work. The problem is that there are fakers out there too. There are people who pretend to be good at putting the puzzle together, but the pieces they bring do not belong to the puzzle. They are counterfeit pieces. It is sometimes difficult to know whether a piece is a counterfeit or simply a truth that we have not yet been able to fit into the puzzle. We have to be cautious about not dismissing pieces which are not really counterfeits. I think it is more important to err on the side of continued consideration of a counterfeit piece than erroneously dismissing a piece as a counterfeit piece when in fact it really was a true piece. Bill Taylor wrote: > ... we do both believe we are right about what > we believe and that we have received this "truth" > from the Spirit of God, yet we often disagree, > and so, which one of us truly does have the > God's-eye view? Do either of us speak from > this vantage point? I think not. It may be that you are confusing terms here. There is knowledge that comes through study and then there is knowledge imparted by the Holy Spirit. If you primarily obtain your knowledge through reading others, it might be easier for you to assume that nobody speaks from God's viewpoint. However, those who have experienced the gift of prophecy are going to be much less reluctant to grant you the point that nobody speaks from God's vantage point. The enlightening power of prophecy to clarify a matter is too stunning to dismiss so easily. To accept the idea that nobody speaks from God's vantage point leads to rejecting the gift of prophecy for the church today. Prophecy is speaking a word from God's perspective, and so if nobody has that, then nobody has the prophetic gift. Peace be with you. David Miller. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
