A Fool for Christ

One of the titles the world has given to Christians is "fool".  From the view point of the world we seem to be crazy, delusional people who will believe the most idiotic things imaginable.  To us it is rational but to them our beliefs are totally irrational.  Do these 12 things sound sensible?

1. Creation took six days and not billions of years.

2. Death began throughout all of the universe because a man and woman ate a fruit.

3. God became a man.

4. A loving God kills whole nations.

5. Jesus was killed, rose from the dead and lives now in Heaven.

6. By simply repenting and accepting Jesus as Savior anyone can go go Heaven.

7. Jesus is coming back to rule for 1000 years.

8. The Bible is inerrant.

9. The sun stood still so a battle could be waged.

10. Moses divided the Red Sea.

11. Jesus walked on water.

12. Jesus fed thousands with a few fish and loaves of bread.

Believing those things are actually true seems crazy to the world.  Believing that prophecies in the Bible are taking place today is also seen as crazy.

Am I crazy simply because I believe and trust in God and what He says?  If that is a fool then may I be the worse of fools. 

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18

Photo Credit: Easter_EmptyTomb by Donut_Diva

The Brink of War

I don't watch the news on TV but I do read the Newspaper. Very little is said about what is happening in the Middle East.  What is happening is that war is almost inevitable and the United States is in the Middle of it.  With the gassing of people in Syria by Assad, the United States is almost forced to strike back at the Syrian regime.  I won't go into details (you will have to do some research yourself or trust me) but Russia says it will defend its allies even to the point of using nuclear weapons.  Russia is backing Assad in Syria, as well as an alliance between Russia, Turkey, and Iran.

That alliance is in Syria and building up their military there.  They are eyeing Israel with covetous eyes.  Iran especially is setting up to attack Israel with plans to destroy it.  War is coming just as the Bible prophecied.

I fought in Viet Nam.  War is not glorious and should be shunned whenever possible.  It is death, destruction, and horror.  This Middle East war is going to be full of so much death that it will be a bloodbath.

In spite of knowing that, I am excited and not fearful.  I do believe that the Rapture will come very soon and this war is a sign of it being near, but that is not what excites me.  There will be great tribulation starting soon and it will be the fires of those trials which cause people throughout the world to seek God.  Sometimes you have to lose everything and be down in the lowest points of your life before you look up to find help from God.

Seeing the world today makes me sad.  People are so far from God and more people are walking away from Him everyday.  We are comfortable living in this sinful world and that is so sad.

The end is near.  Do not fear.  God is in control and will bring people to Himself so that they might know God and His love.  If you do not know Him, you need him now.  If you do know Him, you need to follow Jesus even closer.

"You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.  Such things must happen, but the end is still to come." Matthew 24:6

Get Rid of the Clutter From the Past

I just returned home from a five-day trip up to the Minneapolis area where my mother-in-law was moved from her apartment to assisted living.  It was great to see people up there but it is so nice to be home again.

It is amazing how much a small apartment can hold.  Books, pictures, souvenirs, pots, pans, magazines, clothes, lamps, and thousands of other things were all packed up and taken away.  The apartment was well cared for and not messy or cluttered, but there was still so much of it.

This got me thinking of the clutter in my life.  Oh, I do have clutter, especially on my computer desk, but I mean clutter in my spiritual life.  How many things from my past do I store away in my memory and bring out to view later?  Wrongs which were done to me by others as far back as elementary school I bring to memory and I still feel the pain.  I think of great successes I performed and bring to mind just to feel that pride again when I should be taking joy in successes of today.  Perhaps I need to get off my rear end and make those successes happen instead of glorying in the past?

Those things are all clutter.  Things which should not be brought out today but placed in the past and left there.  Today is a new day where God will lead and victories will be won.  Past victories, defeats, and pains are to be given over to God and not used to control us today.

"... But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13b-14

Why Would a Loving God Kill a Whole Nation?

Most people can not understand why God, who the Bible says is love, would command a nation of people to be killed.  Not just the soldiers, but every man, woman, and child were to be put to death.  It seems counter to what any caring and loving person would do.

In 1 Samuel 15, God orders Saul to kill all the Amalekites.  Every man, woman, child, and baby were to die. Even the animals were to be put to death.  Saul disobeyed God. You might think that Saul was more loving than God was, but that is not true.  God had ordered the death of the Amalekites because of His love for Israel.

God did love the Amalekites, but He also knew their hearts and what the future held if they were to live.  God looks not only at what is happening now but also what the results of today's actions will bring tomorrow.

Because of Saul's disobedience to kill every Amalekite, the people of Israel suffered.  A wicked man named Haman devised a plot to kill all the Jews in the Persian Empire.  Haman was an Amalekite. He didn't succeed because God used Queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai to stop Haman's plot.

God is the Great Physician not only of our bodies but of our lives.  When a Doctor finds a cancer it must be removed before it affects the rest of the body.  The Amalekites had a heart that was godless and dark.  Israel tried to befriend them, but their hatred for Israel brought them to war against Israel. God knew that this Amalekite cancer would only get worse.  Just as a Doctor would never want to remove an arm from a patient, God did not want to kill all the Amalekites.  But just as a Doctor does remove a cancerous arm before the cancer spreads and kills the patient; God ordered the Amalekites removed.

God never wants to cause pain in the world or in our lives, but because He knows what the future holds in this world, He does bring pain in order to save us.  We can not judge what God does because we can not see what He sees.  We can only trust Him and His love for us that it will all works out for good.

How to Find the Secrets of the Bible

Yes, there are hidden secrets in the Scriptures.  Many things of God are deeper and harder to find than just the surface information we read in the bible. So how do we find those deeper secrets?  It is very simple once you learn the key, but one truth that we must always keep in mind is that the Bible will never contradict itself.

God sent a tutor, the Holy Spirit, who will help you to find more and more, deeper and deeper truths of the Scriptures.  The Holy Spirit is the only one who can help you.  On your own, you might find some of those deeper secrets but without the Holy Spirit, the truth of them and the complete understanding will be lost to you.

How do you get the Holy Spirit to help you with finding and understanding Scripture?  God reveals Himself more to those who humbly seek Him and His Word.  The Christian who realizes that all he has is God's, the believer who puts all his trust in God, the one who gives all glory to God and not themselves is the person that God will entrust with deeper truths.

You read a section of the Bible and find a truth of God.  Later you read that same section and find even more.  Years later and having read that same section of scripture a hundred times, you can still find more of the truths of God.  This is because of the Holy Spirit revealing it to you.  1 Corinthians 2:10-16

God wants you to find out more of the hidden truths of God, but it requires you to die to self and trust God more.  It is in humility that we will find the heart of God.

"He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way." Psalm 25:9

The Most Important Chapter in the Bible

First let me say that every book, every chapter, every verse, word, and letter are important and integral to the Scriptures.  There is one chapter that I believe everything is founded upon and without it, the rest of Scripture would be weakened and much more easily warped by Satan and those who follow him.

Genesis chapter one is so important for the Christian to understand and believe.  Satan is constantly trying to tear this chapter apart and diminish the work of God.  Evolution is a Satanic tool to undermine God.  If Satan can get the world to question this one Chapter, then people will question all that follows.  If God was not telling the truth about creation, then what else is God lying about?

Throughout the Bible, the word "day" is translated as a 24 hour day, but some say that creation is an exception.  All of a sudden people translate that word as meaning eons.  No!  God is able and did create the world in six literal days.

Some say that God created everything using evolution.  Than God lied when he said that death entered the world when man sinned. Romans 5:12  Millions of years with no death would have put Adam and Eve in a world where animals completely covered the world several stories deep.  People accept evolution because they never search for the truth, but dismiss creation without even investigating it.  Many also know the fallacies of evolution but because they do not want to accept that there is a God, they allow their hearts and minds to be hardened.

Genesis 1 is key to all of Scripture.  This is where everything springs forth from.  This is where God reveals Himself and His work.  All the Bible events and people are founded on this chapter.  Read it. Believe it. Live it.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correction and training in righteousness." 2 Timothy 3:16

Do you think a different chapter is more important? Do you disagree with what I said?  Leave a comment.  I would love to hear from you.

It is All About Jesus

It is all about Jesus.  Hmm.  What is "it"?  I have come to the conclusion that "it" is everything.  It has taken me many years to come to this conclusion, but I don't think there is anything in all of existence that is untouched by Jesus and his life.

The Bible is about Jesus from the very beginning because nothing was created without him. Even the animal skins used to cloth Adam and Eve represent the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to cover our sins. And it ends with Jesus saving the world from destruction and ruling for a thousand years before a new Heaven and a new Earth are created.

Your life is about Jesus.  You exist so that Jesus can bless you with salvation, spiritual gifts and care for you while in this world.  You also exist so that Jesus can guide you in telling others about salvation found in Jesus and to worship and glorify him.  You exist so that Jesus can love you and so you can love him. 

Everything in the world you see exists to be a part of God's Plan in this world.  In some way, everything fits into God's plan to bring people to Christ and to bless His people.  Many times something may be used for evil, but God will use that event for His purpose.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."  Romans 8:28