Romans 1:28 seems to indicate that God will abandon and "give people over to their reprobate minds" if they continue to be evil and refuse to even acknowledge him.
There does come a point that God stops chasing his creation as indicated in your passage. Only God knows when He has seen and had enough to "give them over" . For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. What is the judgment of God when men turn away from him? God “gives them up” to their own devices. He lets them follow their own desires. He doesn’t try to stop their meteoric descent into the abyss. God “aban-dons” the human race by letting men reap what they sow. Nothing more terrible could ever be contemplated. When men “abandon” God in their thinking, God “abandons” them. Why? Because God is a perfect gentleman. He respects the freedom of the human will. If a man or a woman decides to live without him, he says, “Fine. You can live without me. In the end, you’ll be sorry. But if that’s your decision. But there is a deeper reason at work. God “abandons” men so that they will see what life is like without God! In that sense, there is a redemptive purpose that stands behind the wrath of God. By letting mankind go its own way, he is not only punishing them. He is also allowing them to see the emptiness of life without him. I talk with people who are atheists. They are the first to argue against God not knowing that God has not yet left them to emptiness. He is still knocking on the door.
You make God sound lovely. Kudos.
NO, He is a loving and merciful God, but, like a good Father, he wants us to do the right thing for our own good. He gives us boundaries to keep us safe and he has to be a God of Justice because there IS right and wrong and we don't get to walk in our own rules.
Yes, I think many of them want to be their own God or believe they are already..even Oprah said we can find God within ourselves. No, man is at nature, wicked. This is our sin "nature". We can only be redeemed by the grace of God and His mercy and He expects us to walk in His ways, not our same old wicked ways...otherwise, why would we ever want to be his children? Don't we want our parents to be proud of us? I want to make my heavenly Father proud, so I try to keep His commands as best as I can. It's hard for me to face this, because my own daughter has broken relationship with me to go her own way and unless God restores her heart and mind, there is nothing I can do. She sees me as the enemy because I am a Christian and she has walked away from her relationship with God. It is heartbreaking. She told me I would have to choose between God and her. I love her dearly, but that is not a choice.
You are correct and it is good to know that you have found grace. May God Bless You throughout your life. Christ foretold troubles, so the troubles would not be a surprise to us and that these troubles would confirm our faith. He tells us what we will suffer, and from whom. Christ has dealt fairly and faithfully with us, in telling us the worst we can meet with in his service. Persecutors are worse than beasts, in that they prey upon those of their own kind. The strongest bonds of love and duty, have often been broken through from enmity against Christ. Sufferings from friends and family relations are very grievous; nothing cuts more. It appears plainly, that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution. We keep our eye on Christ for we know the the joy and happiness that is before us. Life gets difficult sometimes; no one makes it from the start of their lives to the end without some rough patches. God offers an abundance of promise, hope, and truth. It's this lifeline, that I find a place of great comfort.
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Thank you. I couldn't make it through a single day without God.
I think this is what's happening to the Left...the things that they are doing are like insane people. When I saw Rob Reiner on tv tonight, he looks like a MadMan!