I agree that even if God could give you all of the money in the world, that it could be bad for him to do so because some might abuse it.
I'm looking for something more beyond feelings involving peace. I'm sure you can ask God questions, as many Christians claim to do.
Before we speak to other matters beside peace I want not in the least to UNDERESTIMATE peace.
I do not want to sweep aside peace as superficial, insignificant, and flimsy. So not so fast on "graduating" from peace.
Do no turn your nose up at peace for this is peace such as the world cannot give.
A teacher asked some students to draw a picture discribing peace.
One child drew a nice sunset over the sea.
Another child drew fluffy clouds over a field.
Then one student drew a tumultuous waterfall with tons of turbulent water cascading down with a roar.
But in front of the plunging vciolent torrents of water there was a limb, a branch of a tree.
And on the branch was a little bird pirched on it yet sleeping quietly. The picrture was called "Peace."
The peace of God in not in the outward circumstances or situation.
The peace of the presence of Christ is intrinsically inward where no one and nothing can touch it or disturb.
John 14:27 -
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Far be from me to quickly move on from
"the peace of Christ" which is not like anything the world, meditation, calm music, quiet undisturbed circumstances can give. No sir. It is too inward and uneffected by anything going on around me.
The peace of the Victor Christ reigning in our heart is the greatest Arbitrator having the final word about everything we do.
The peace of this One who overcame the world is the freat Umpire deciding the most critical decisions we make in life.
The Apostle Paul says to let this supernatural peace arbitrate in our hearts showing us the path we must walk on.
And let the peace of Christ ARBITRATE in your hearts, to which also you were called in one Body; and be thankful. (Col. 3:15)
Even the very very question you ask indicates you have a need for this
peace of Christ.
Your insistence that
"Oh, I don't need this peace of Christ stuff" does nothing to impress me that you can get along fine without this.
This peace of Christ is a great GUARDIAN protecting the believer to stay in the realm of His presence.
It is like the index of the face, the area around the eyes in a person where you can detect their thought.
In the face of Christ, His smile, His approval, His loving presence is priceles a totally irreplacable.
Men who died in flames at the stake would rather have this peace of Christ than anything.
Women with their children thrown to the lions would rather be filled with this peace that recant their faith in the Son of God.
This is the presence of the One who has
overcome the world.
These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction, but take courage; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
You seek from me "understanding". I tell you that the peace of Christ SURPASSING every man's understanding.
It GUARDS, it protects, it garrisons our inward being such that we prevail in victory over tribulation.
And the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:7)
Agnostic_Boy, I am not too impressed by your quick dismissal of the peace of God as if that is too flimsy for you.
You are seeking this assurance. Why act as though you are looking beyond it?
He is the God of peace. And He can crush the Devil under our victorious feet with this divine peace.
Now the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. (Rom. 16:20)
This is the peace which tears down the walls of cultural divisions allowing believers of different races to be one.
Dare we dismiss this peace as insignificant.
But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have become near in the blood of Christ.
For He Himself is our peace, He who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity,
Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace, (Eph. 2:13-15)
Did you think I would be impressed with an agnostic's attitude "Oh I need more than this peace stuff"?
I am not impressed by this in the least Agnostic one, not even a little bit.
He is the God of eternal encouragement and hope - that is peace stronger than the Rock of Gilbrater.
Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope in grace, (1 Thess. 2:16)
The peace that passes all understanding is priceless, irreplacable, and of infinite preciousness.
What ever mathematical formula you may wish to assure you of God's existence WILL NOT do for you what the peace of Christ's in your heart can do.
Do you have some chemical formula or mathemitical axiom which assure you of God's reality?
If you could with precision calculate the probabilty of God to the .00000000000009 degree would you be at peace?
We need His smile in our hearts.
We need to see in the index of His eyes His eternal love.
We need to know that our sins were judged, erased, taken away from us as far as the east is from the west - JUSTIFIED.
Not so fast on
"Hmmm, I need something more than this peace deal."
It grows with the encrease of trials.
Tribulation cannot drown it out.
Turmoils without or within cannot put out the fire of this divine comfort.
It was the God of peace who raised Jesus from the dead.
Hebrews 13:20 - Now the God of peace, He who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the blood of an eternal covenant,
And some also claim to get a response back. This is where your feelings example fall short. It would be unreliable to say that I feel God is leading me to do this or that I feel that this is the answer. But too often, this is all that Christians resort to. Some may go further and said they had a dream, but then I question how do they distinguish that dream from any other dream. Is it just a pick and choose.
I may have said this here. I am not sure.
But when I was a young believer I had a prayer which God answered.
I ask the Lord to put me with some Christians who would ENCOURAGE my faith rather than DISCOURAGE my faith.
He answered this prayer.
I do not look for Christian who will discourage me.
I always seek out brothers and sisters whose testimony is an encouragement and nourishing of my faith.
Stop looking around for religious people who will give you discouraging ideas.
Pray to the Father to place you with those who can help you to grow in the enjoyment and experience of Jesus.
My overall point is that there is a lack of ways to verify that God is there or that he's telling you to do something. Or perhaps this is really a problem of Christians and not Christianity itself. I say that because maybe God can or does provide clear signs that it's him but then Christians settle for less or don't ask for a clear sign.
Jesus told Peter -
"You follow Me."
I think we tend to want to point as Peter did - "What about this disciple? What about that disciple? What are they doing?"
Jesus' reply to Peter when Peter inquired about what would happen to John was . . . " You follow Me."
It was as if Jesus said to Peter "What does it matter if John goes to the Moon. YOU follow Me."
I wouldl encourage you to look less around at this reason to be discouraged and that other reason to be discouraged.
Resolve before God that whatever the other guy did you intend to follow the Lord Jesus.
That is if you really want God.
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Now having said this perhaps I can go on a little latter.
There is no assurance that is as assured as His WORD.
Sometimes a airplane pilot can see out the window and thus navigate the plane by sight.
At other times when flying through stormy clouds the pilot has to look at the RADAR screen.
Looking out the window will not do. He must check what the RADAR tells him.
This is something like the assurance of the WORD of God.
The Christians eventually will pass through experiences where SIGHT and OBSERVATION cannot be trusted.
God's promises in His WORD are like the radar blip which WILL bring the believer through to safety - to the intended destination.
This is a TRUST in God's promises. Yet our trust means nothing much if God is not TRUSTWORTHY.
Our faith by itself means nothing. It is our faith PLUS the FAITHFULNESS of God which works together.
In His curriculum of lessons of deeper and deeper walking with God, the believer learns that
nothing matters except His word. By testing he learns that His promises are rock solid.
Great is Thy faithfulness.
Look at creation and get the hint.
The sunrise, the sunset, the precision of the earth's motion, and the sun, and the stars.
The universe testifies of the faithfulness of the Creator.
The is the book of nature.
Then there is the book of God - the Bible.
Heaven and earth will pass away. But His word will not pass away.
There is the assurance of His peace within. And there is the assurance of His torture tested word.
He returns to this earth with a name written on Him - "The Word of God"
And His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems, and He has a name written which no one knows but Himself.
And He is clothed with a garment dipped in blood; and His name is called the Word of God. (Rev. 19:12,13)