I was listening to Alistair Begg (Truth For Life Podcast) - he's a Scottish preacher with a church in Cleveland now, I believe. The website is http://www.truthforlife.org. He's a wonderful preacher with an amazing gift of teaching God's word. It's not saying fancy words or words in Greek or Hebrew, but he's more edifying and helpful to my daily walk then most preachers I have heard!
I was listening to him just now while working out in the garden and he said something so simple and so profound which I really needed to be remembered. He said "it's an amazing wonder, it's the law of God's providence, that those who fear God should have nothing else to fear - and those who do not fear God become slaves to a thousand fears"
This is from his podcast dated June 5th entitled Glory to God, Part B. "that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time--He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen." (1 Timothy 6:14-16)
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Monday, June 8, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
FoxNews Science: Mystery Roar Detected From Faraway Space
This interesting story was on Fox News recently: Mystery Roar Detected From Faraway Space.
2 Corinthians 12:2-4
"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago--whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows-- was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak."
Whether Paul was physically taken to heaven or it was shown him, even he could not say for sure; however, it's clear from this passage that he went to the place where the Lord resides, the third heaven. The first heaven is regarded by theologians as our earthly atmosphere, the second heaven: outerspace, and the third heaven as God's habitation. A paradise! I pray to see you there!
Radio waves are not sound waves, but they are still electromagnetic waves, situated on the low-frequency end of the light spectrum.
Many objects in the universe, including stars and quasars, emit radio waves. Even our home galaxy, the Milky Way, emits a static hiss (first detected in 1931 by physicist Karl Jansky). Other galaxies also send out a background radio hiss.
But the newly detected signal, described here today at the 213th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, is far louder than astronomers expected.
There is "something new and interesting going on in the universe," said Alan Kogut of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.A team led by Kogut detected the signal with a balloon-borne instrument named ARCADE (Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission).
In July 2006, the instrument was launched from NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, and reached an altitude of about 120,000 feet (36,500 meters), where the atmosphere thins into the vacuum of space.
ARCADE's mission was to search the sky for faint signs of heat from the first generation of stars, but instead they heard a roar from the distant reaches of the universe."The universe really threw us a curve," Kogut said. "Instead of the faint signal we hoped to find, here was this booming noise six times louder than anyone had predicted."
Detailed analysis of the signal ruled out primordial stars or any known radio sources, including gas in the outermost halo of our own galaxy.
Other radio galaxies also can't account for the noise — there just aren't enough of them.Source: FoxNews: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,477880,00.html
2 Corinthians 12:2-4
"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago--whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows-- was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak."
Whether Paul was physically taken to heaven or it was shown him, even he could not say for sure; however, it's clear from this passage that he went to the place where the Lord resides, the third heaven. The first heaven is regarded by theologians as our earthly atmosphere, the second heaven: outerspace, and the third heaven as God's habitation. A paradise! I pray to see you there!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Christian, Learn From Israel!
The more I study God's word, the Bible, the more I am convicted and relate to Israel! My own reading of the entire Bible, took me (reluctantly) into the Old Testament, and brought me from an initial position of criticizing the people of God for their unbelief to completely identifying with them! This completely took me by surprise.It became clear to me that it would be pure hypocrisy of me to be critical of them, when I myself did the same thing either by not being thankful for His blessings and leadings - or by a lack of faith over what He was working out in my life!
I often say I wish I had a "hot line" a red telephone straight to God so He could tell me what He wanted or expected of me. Eventually I realized I do have that, it's the Holy Spirit within me and everything He wants to say to me is in His Holy Scriptures. It was up to me to stay connected to Him!
As I read the Old Testament I felt Israel HAD that very intimate and tangible line to God. The more I read of their failures, the more I wondered at HOW a people who actually SAW and felt His presence in ways too numeous to name here are just a few:
Yet, isn't that what we Christians do when we allow the enemy to deceive us into thinking that God isn't listening to our prayer? Do we not often believe that He doesn't care or is too busy to attend to our supplications? It's that same liw that Satan used in the garden of Eden when in his first recorded spoken words to man he planted seeds of doubt in her mind by saying "Indeed, has God said.....?" (Genesis 3:1).
In Galatians 3:6-7 we read "Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham." I love that verse. Abraham's faith saved him, in the same way our faith makes us descendants of Abraham in God's eyes. By faith Abraham was saved, by faith in Jesus Christ we are saved and grafted on to the family of Abraham. Romans 11 is rich on this subject. It speaks to my heart, I hope it will equally to yours. I wouldn't even dare try to comment on one of God's mysteries!
Romans 11:17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree,
Romans 11:18 do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.
Romans 11:19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in."
Romans 11:20 Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear;
Romans 11:21 for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.
Romans 11:22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
Romans 11:23 And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
Romans 11:24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
Romans 11:25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery--so that you will not be wise in your own estimation--that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;
Romans 11:26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB."
Romans 11:27 "THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS."
Romans 11:28 From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies [Gk: hostile] for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers;
Romans 11:29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Romans 11:30 For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience,
Romans 11:31 so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy.
Romans 11:32 For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.
I once heard someone distinguish the difference between mercy and grace. He said "Grace is getting what you don't deserve, mercy is NOT getting what you DO deserve". No one ever deserved the Salvation which was freely (by grace) to anyone who will receive it, by the suffering of Jesus Christ for our sins. It is only by the grace of Yahweh, the God of Israel, that we ARE saved!
As I have shared before on this blog, it was only when I came to the realization that I was NO DIFFERENT than the people (Israel) that my own Christian walk changed! Primarily the shallow teachings of most (even so-called "evangelical") churches of today no longer satisfied me. I suppose this is when I moved from milk to meat! There is a time for milk in our Christian lives, as in a child's life........but a child quickly graduates to meat as must we..........by CHOOSING to know God through His Scripture. Only then can we be of use to the Kingdom of God.
I often say I wish I had a "hot line" a red telephone straight to God so He could tell me what He wanted or expected of me. Eventually I realized I do have that, it's the Holy Spirit within me and everything He wants to say to me is in His Holy Scriptures. It was up to me to stay connected to Him!
As I read the Old Testament I felt Israel HAD that very intimate and tangible line to God. The more I read of their failures, the more I wondered at HOW a people who actually SAW and felt His presence in ways too numeous to name here are just a few:
- the pillar of fire by night and cloud by day
- the direct speaking to his chosen leaders and prophets
- the proof though fulfilled prophecy
- the battles only He could have won for Israel
Yet, isn't that what we Christians do when we allow the enemy to deceive us into thinking that God isn't listening to our prayer? Do we not often believe that He doesn't care or is too busy to attend to our supplications? It's that same liw that Satan used in the garden of Eden when in his first recorded spoken words to man he planted seeds of doubt in her mind by saying "Indeed, has God said.....?" (Genesis 3:1).
In Galatians 3:6-7 we read "Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham." I love that verse. Abraham's faith saved him, in the same way our faith makes us descendants of Abraham in God's eyes. By faith Abraham was saved, by faith in Jesus Christ we are saved and grafted on to the family of Abraham. Romans 11 is rich on this subject. It speaks to my heart, I hope it will equally to yours. I wouldn't even dare try to comment on one of God's mysteries!
Romans 11:17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree,
Romans 11:18 do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.
Romans 11:19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in."
Romans 11:20 Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear;
Romans 11:21 for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.
Romans 11:22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
Romans 11:23 And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
Romans 11:24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
Romans 11:25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery--so that you will not be wise in your own estimation--that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;
Romans 11:26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB."
Romans 11:27 "THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS."
Romans 11:28 From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies [Gk: hostile] for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers;
Romans 11:29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Romans 11:30 For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience,
Romans 11:31 so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy.
Romans 11:32 For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.
I once heard someone distinguish the difference between mercy and grace. He said "Grace is getting what you don't deserve, mercy is NOT getting what you DO deserve". No one ever deserved the Salvation which was freely (by grace) to anyone who will receive it, by the suffering of Jesus Christ for our sins. It is only by the grace of Yahweh, the God of Israel, that we ARE saved!
As I have shared before on this blog, it was only when I came to the realization that I was NO DIFFERENT than the people (Israel) that my own Christian walk changed! Primarily the shallow teachings of most (even so-called "evangelical") churches of today no longer satisfied me. I suppose this is when I moved from milk to meat! There is a time for milk in our Christian lives, as in a child's life........but a child quickly graduates to meat as must we..........by CHOOSING to know God through His Scripture. Only then can we be of use to the Kingdom of God.
Hebrews 5:12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
Hebrews 5:13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.
Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
Hebrews 5:13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.
Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Acceptance is Unacceptable
Don't fall for today's mentality of acceptance. You don't have to hit everyone over the head with a Bible to be a witness, a mistake we too often make. The best witness is one which allows the Lord Jesus to shine through them and allows the Holy Spirit to guide their tongues.
However, we cannot be shy about our faith of fall into the all-accepting crowd. If Jesus is the Lord of your life, live that way...........the salvation of the person you meet today may depend on it. You are to plant the seed of God's word..........He says nothing about working the soil, that's up to the Holy Spirit. Read Matthew 13:1-52
I believe the Bible is clear on what the Lord considers an abomination and is not at all ambiguous about it. God never deals in "gray areas"! I won't get into the particular issues here, you can read the Bible and figure that out for yourself. A good start is to see who the Bible says will NOT be in heaven also see my post Whose Name Is In The Book of Life for more Scripture on this subject......
Revelation 21:8
But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
Before you go throwing stones, see how many of those sin YOU have committed. Perhaps never committed murder or adultery.........but how about lying? You'll be lying right now if you say "never" so there goes your so-called perfect record ;o). Without repentance - no matter how small your sin - you won't be in heaven after your death.
The Bible teaches us to hate the sin but love the sinner............NOT to accept or make excuses the sin. If you are a Christian you can act no other way and please God! Let HIM take care of the judging and the punishment.
The best thing you can do, that which give you the most strength, is to pray for those people to see the truth and be saved.
The point is too often we hear we should be "all encompassing" in religious beliefs. Don't let that sort of talk make you shy away from being a light to the world!
God bless you!
Lu
However, we cannot be shy about our faith of fall into the all-accepting crowd. If Jesus is the Lord of your life, live that way...........the salvation of the person you meet today may depend on it. You are to plant the seed of God's word..........He says nothing about working the soil, that's up to the Holy Spirit. Read Matthew 13:1-52
I believe the Bible is clear on what the Lord considers an abomination and is not at all ambiguous about it. God never deals in "gray areas"! I won't get into the particular issues here, you can read the Bible and figure that out for yourself. A good start is to see who the Bible says will NOT be in heaven also see my post Whose Name Is In The Book of Life for more Scripture on this subject......
Revelation 21:8
But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
Before you go throwing stones, see how many of those sin YOU have committed. Perhaps never committed murder or adultery.........but how about lying? You'll be lying right now if you say "never" so there goes your so-called perfect record ;o). Without repentance - no matter how small your sin - you won't be in heaven after your death.
The Bible teaches us to hate the sin but love the sinner............NOT to accept or make excuses the sin. If you are a Christian you can act no other way and please God! Let HIM take care of the judging and the punishment.
The best thing you can do, that which give you the most strength, is to pray for those people to see the truth and be saved.
The point is too often we hear we should be "all encompassing" in religious beliefs. Don't let that sort of talk make you shy away from being a light to the world!
God bless you!
Lu
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Genesis
This isn't Biblical knowledge, but it is so beautiful I couldn't NOT post it, it was in my "art of the day" on my Google page (iGoogle url to add to your page: http://www.artbible.info/art/artoftheday.xml). Naturally EVERYONE has seen the creation of man as painted by Michelangelo in the Cistine Chapel. Truly awesome!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Final thoughts on the book of Job
Following up on my post Prosperity Theology In The Bible, here are final thoughts on the book of Job (the last chapter, ch. 42, being full of insights):
It agreed upon by most Bible scholars that the story contained within the book of Job occurred (writer unknown) before Moses and the Law, mainly because within the last verses of the last chapter (ch. 42) contains the clue. V. 15 says that though Job had 7 sons, he gave his 3 daughters "inheritance among their brothers". In the OT this is only done if there are no sons. Also, I find it interesting that the 3 daughters' names are the only ones given, those are usually omitted in Bible.
The writing was post Moses (Torah) but obviously not pre-Abraham as we see that 2 of Job's friends are descendants of Abraham. See Job 2:11 (Eliphaz is a Temanite which is a descentant of Esau [cf Gen. 36:11], and Bildad is a Shuhite, descendant of Abraham by his 3rd wife Keturah [cf Gen. 25:2]....also, Job's 4th friend who doesn't come into the picture until ch. 37 is a Buzite, a descendant of Nahor, Abraham's brother [cf. Gen. 22:21].
The writing was post Moses (Torah) but obviously not pre-Abraham as we see that 2 of Job's friends are descendants of Abraham. See Job 2:11 (Eliphaz is a Temanite which is a descentant of Esau [cf Gen. 36:11], and Bildad is a Shuhite, descendant of Abraham by his 3rd wife Keturah [cf Gen. 25:2]....also, Job's 4th friend who doesn't come into the picture until ch. 37 is a Buzite, a descendant of Nahor, Abraham's brother [cf. Gen. 22:21].
Another interesting fact is the pre-law burnt offering (given by Noah, Abraham and Isaac). God Himself tells Job's friends to offer 7 bulls and 7 rams (42:8). This whole issue of pre-law burnt offerings is very interesting and deserves its own study.
Job 42:10 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible, we see that Job's fortunes were not returned to him two-fold after he repented (in 42:1-6), but rather (v.10) "the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends". Showing us the importance of prayer, but also of intercessory prayer and what Jesus said in Matt. 5:44 "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."
On a lighter note, I heard Chuck Swindoll's study on Job on the radio a while back, and recall his humorous observation was that God is full of grace...because He gave Job two-fold of everything he owned (42:12-15).....except children - restored to him were exactly what he had before: 7 sons and 3 daughters). That one made me LOL!
May the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob bless you!
Lu
Job 42:10 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible, we see that Job's fortunes were not returned to him two-fold after he repented (in 42:1-6), but rather (v.10) "the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends". Showing us the importance of prayer, but also of intercessory prayer and what Jesus said in Matt. 5:44 "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."On a lighter note, I heard Chuck Swindoll's study on Job on the radio a while back, and recall his humorous observation was that God is full of grace...because He gave Job two-fold of everything he owned (42:12-15).....except children - restored to him were exactly what he had before: 7 sons and 3 daughters). That one made me LOL!
May the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob bless you!
Lu
Friday, August 11, 2006
The Way of Wisdom
What is wisdom? In this age of moral relativism, God's word tells us without a doubt that wisdom is imparted by God. One of the 7 spirits before the throne of God is the spirit of wisdom (Isa. 11:2 = "And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might [strength], the spirit of knowledge and of the fear [awe] of the LORD; "). The original Hebrew word for wisdom here is חכמה (khok-maw') meaning "in good sense". Ergo, the Godless man is by definition both a fool and a man without sense, since "the fool has said in his heart there is no God" (Ps. 14:1 & 53:1)..........but I digress :o)
Exo 31:3 = "And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, "
Jer 9:23 cautions us about relying on our gifts as if they were apart from God. "Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:" When man allows the gift which is given by God to become his idol, he forgets God and relies instead on his own resources. He in essence feels no need for God since his bank account, his own brain or his power (be it impalpable, like the power a politician may yield, or tangible such as the sense of invulnerability such as a soldier which is both adept in man-to-man combat as well as yields firepower)
"What the world considers wise invariably is foolishness to God. Conversely, what God considers wise generally is foolishness to the world. You can walk in the world’s wisdom and be foolish to God, or you can walk in God’s wisdom and be considered foolish by the world—but you can’t have it both ways. The world has a way of wisdom and God has a way of wisdom." Nancy Leigh DeMoss (8/9/06)
Exo 31:3 = "And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, "
Jer 9:23 cautions us about relying on our gifts as if they were apart from God. "Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:" When man allows the gift which is given by God to become his idol, he forgets God and relies instead on his own resources. He in essence feels no need for God since his bank account, his own brain or his power (be it impalpable, like the power a politician may yield, or tangible such as the sense of invulnerability such as a soldier which is both adept in man-to-man combat as well as yields firepower)
"What the world considers wise invariably is foolishness to God. Conversely, what God considers wise generally is foolishness to the world. You can walk in the world’s wisdom and be foolish to God, or you can walk in God’s wisdom and be considered foolish by the world—but you can’t have it both ways. The world has a way of wisdom and God has a way of wisdom." Nancy Leigh DeMoss (8/9/06)
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