Absolutely God has something to do with it. Psalms 115:13-18 "He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great. The Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children. Ye are blessed of the Lord which made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's: but the earth hath been given to the children of men.The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence. But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the Lord." We should give God thanks rich or poor, and as long as we are alive. May God bless you.

Absolutely. God will help if you make an effort. He does it for the reason a mother doesn't do jobs for her child: She doesn't want to spoil him!

We are ALL responsible for our own condition. WE create our own realities every moment. An essential aspect of happiness and prosperity is a sense of gratitude and general thankfulness. We are all part of the ONE. The One experiences his/her majesty through us. Like individual cells that make up the entirety of our bodies, so are we in relationship to God. Individual and Collective all at once. This is one of the many dichotomies of the Universe...

I don't see a contradiction there. You're not saying that they did nothng to help themselves? Your just saying that they give God credit. Did you ever watch a sporting event and the winner says, "I couldn't have done it without my parents." Well, are his parents there physically pushing him. No. But, if nothing else, their inspiration did it for him. Same thing.

That's an easy one: everything good is done by god, everything bad is the devil's fault. Questioning anything else is blasphemous and asking for senseless, mind-numbing, ilogical rants like these: http://www.fstdt.com/fundies/publicadmin.aspx http://www.fstdt.com/fundies/publicadmin.aspx

No, god has nothing to do with it. I would suggest that this is the same phenomenon in where people see the beauty of god in a sunset, but earthquakes that kill people just happen. Lets be consistant people.

they're probably not the same people saying those things. and, your last question really depends on the person's religion. i've never understood that. when i was younger, i asked why god lets bad stuff happen, and you know the answer that i got. i don't get it. i just roll with the punches.

Everything. "blame it on the tetons, man i really need a scapegoat now '

i thank everyday, not only when everything goes well, i also thank him for the hardships in life for those things only make me stronger in my faith in the most high, when i was really sick it was the Lord who cured me, he put his hand on my head and blessed me and i was cured, my faith goes trough him, for every beautifull day i thank him, i thank him for my wonderfull family i have, i thank him for the friends around me, i think him i have food to eat everyday, i think him that i can life my life to the full, i think him for the Personal relationship i have with my Father in heaven, there arent enough praises for the most high we all fell astray for the beauty of his Glory, if he wanted he could have taken every life out of all the Sinners but rather he choose to be with you and that even the unbelievers sinners life their life to the fullest, in the Hope they will seek the Father trough their heart,

NOPE

If you live your life apathetically you will never know success regardless of faith.

That doesn't bother me as much as people saying, "There but for the grace of God go I," when talking about another's misfortune. Are they saying that God favors some over others? I don't buy that at all!

I dont know why they would say God helps those who help themselves unless that person keeps themselves in debt by spending large amounts of money on useless Items, or do not do anything to make money such as getting a job. God doesnt like laziness. but...if a person is behind and falling AND trying their hardest to stay afloat...God is still there. Its just a part of life to fall. It teaches lessons, opens up opportunities...makes you realize and understand there is more to life than just money and to be happy and content with what you have and try to make it work any way possible. It also helps you appriciate the life you have when you have enough money and to not just blow it, but use it wisely. and...a person that is doing well thanx God for all that they have becuase they appriciate what they have while they have it and realize living well and stable doesnt always happen but is a gift....

There is no Bible verse to that effect. Do we look at Job and see he was to blame. Do we look at Jesus and say He was to blame for dying? Do we look to the disciples and they are to blame for their deaths? God has everything to do with it. God teaches us we must seek to understand Him in His image, not ours. As soon as we judge God to fit in our own image, and never move away from that, we either deny Him or we choose not to know Him. The more we study His Word and learn from our own experiences, consciously choosing to want to know Him through any turmoil, the more we will know Him. If "God helps those that help themselves" then the poor deserve what they get and the rich deserve what they get. "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:24) But what do we see from Jesus with the Sermon on the Mount : Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. 5Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. 7Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. 8Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. 10Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11"Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Even atheists use those sayings. They are not referring to a religious "God", but rather using the word gawd, which is more of an exclamation than a prayer.

Because the truth is no one knows. They pretend they do by mentioning passages from the Bible, but for all any one really knows, is that the Deceiver (Satan/Lucifer/the Devil) was the one who really wrote the Bible and not God. Maybe the Devil won the battle in heaven. The reason why people say things is because to the best of their knowledge, which like ancient Egyptians was very little, to explain things they in all honesty can not. I can tell you some of the things that happen when you die, like cell degeneration and lack of functioning capabilities in eyes and ears, but someone else will tell you that you will go to heaven (or hell) and be able to experience everything as if you never died. To me that seems like someone else is trying to exert their authority over you.

It is true that GOD HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES but when we do well we thank GOD and when we can't do anything we blame GOD and we say it was not possible or etc. etc.

So what does that say for millions of people--half of them children--who don't have clean drinking water or food to eat and are dying everyday because of that, and yet the god of "justice" appears to be blind to the case and makes no rush to their rescue? Obviously those people have nothing to thank to that god. Aren't those kids god's children too? Does this god have preference over some of his children more than others? Take a pick to this link and, please, tell me if it makes any sense to you.(http://www.kerneythomas.org/

Would you help someone who was healthy and able to work, but laid on your sofa all day and ate your food? Probally not, but you would probally help someone who was doing everything they could to help theirself but still came up short, I think God may have the same attitude.

This is a joke, right? God has everything to do with everyone. Period. All this posturing about why is just your finite mind being finite.

If someone does well in life it doesn't have anything to do with god. If i have top grades and get itnto the highest school that has nothing to do with god. People like to say that god was the reason they got this far because they like to believe that god did most of the work for them. So if god helps people in the industrial world what about the people who live in the poor countries. Why does your god turn i blind eye to them but helps those who alredy have it better than most people in Africa. There are christians living there that believe in god but nothing happens. There is no god and he doesn't help people reach anywhere

When crap happens in life, we blame our god of love every time, do you think he sits up there thinking up more evil for us? What about the other person in this, Evil, is it never his fault.?

That is hilarious...I always thought it was more like we create our own opportunites, or mommy and daddy create them for us. This question reminded me a few months ago off how I saw someone I went to college with on myspace thanking god for his success as sales rep for an oil company...however when we were in college and he was flunking out horribly because he was a party boy, he was talking about how his dad was going to get him a job at the same oil company. Ahhh.. sweet.

God doesn't help those who helps themselves - he helps those he feels like helping. Look at the "Apple of God's eye" David - David didn't do anything to make God prefer him over all of the rest of mankind at that time. God decided he liked him and regardless of how much blood was spilt by David's sword he continued to be blessed of God. Solomon was even further blessed, even though he did "everything under the sun" good and evil. I don't see Bill Gates thanking God or evangelizing in any form or fashion - yet his fortunes make the most devout followers look like paupers. Of course we aren't supposed to be seeking the fortunes of this world - but on the other hand there were people in the Bible whom God blessed with massive fortunes and even superpowers - for seemingly no other reason than because God favored them. What was so special about Job, for example? Remember he was PROTECTED until Satan's challenge. Who couldn't be fruitful when they are virtually given everything and all roadblocks are erased? And why did God allow Satan to poke his hand in Job's life? Guess who is favored even above Job? Yes he is judged and condemned - but ever wonder why God didn't just get rid of him immediately? Think about it. Satan was even allowed to try and influence Jesus - why was he even existing? And STILL existing? It's called "in spite of love". There are some whom God loves in spite of themselves. Like Saul (Paul) - Paul was a well renowned Christian Hunter/Killer - yet IN SPITE OF THAT God chose him to be one of the greatest apostles in Christian history. God does what he wants, when he wants, with whom he wants - and the truth is, what we do or do not do doesn't have a dang thing to do with it. There is a lot of understanding that needs to be realized in all of this - but that will be for God to implement.

No, people just don't want to admit that their 'perfect' figure isn't helping them out. So they tell themselves that he-can-do-no-wrong and is only responsible for happiness.