Thank you for the question about God, “Who can help me? The god of Israel says always the same words by the Bible. Is he dead?”
The reason why the God of Israel uses the same word about himself is because that is who he is to his people. The phrase, I am the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, is an affirmation that he is the self-existent one. He is the unchanging God but his actions may vary according to his plan, not ours.
As Creator God, his response to the created creatures is different from those who are children. The children of Israel are his people and he promise to respond to them if they lived according to his laws that he has given to them. The promises of God to the Israelites are not yes and no, but they are always yes in God. The answers may not be what one may expect, but it is always in alignment to his word.
Jesus makes that same declaration to those who believe and follow him. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. The answer to the prayer is dependent on how one walks with the Spirit of God and in alignment with his words. God will not grant the request of someone who lives in disobedience to him. The Spirit of God has to work more so in that person rather than through that person.
For a person who is not a Christian, the promises of God are not applicable to them. That person has no personal relationship and most likely lives a self-centered life rather that a Christ-centered life.
Having said that, God’s focus for his children is character transformation, not personal fame or increased status in life. Difficult circumstances will come to everyone but the one who loves God, he will work/use that circumstance for good, not for evil. Jesus said that in this world, his followers will have tribulation. The abundant life is not the exclusion of hardship or even pain for Jesus went to the cross.
Is God dead? I believe God is alive. He enabled a C student in high school and in the first two years of junior college to graduate third in his class at a Bible school. He opened a door to attend seminar with a job transfer that was only two blocks away from the seminary to become a pastor. God closed a door to return to the West Coast but sent him to the West Coast as an associate pastor in a multilingual Asian church. God allowed his wife to suffer a massive stroke in the 21 years of their 48 years of marriage. God used this couple to be a testimony of faithfulness to one’s spouse in sickness and in health. God provided funds when she was ill so that he can care for her. Life hasn’t been easy for them but God has been faithful. The future is unknown but he knows who holds the future.
SUMMARY: If one doesn’t have a relationship with God, then God is dead to that person, but if one has a relationship with God, then God is alive to that person. He promise never to leave or forsake his own children.
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