In whom you hope.
In Psalms we read,
"Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long." Psalm 25:4,5.
If you consider yourself a Christian a true follower of Christ Jesus do you go to the Lord and as him to teach his path? Do you ask him to guide you in his truth? Do you ask God to teach you what he wants to do in your life?
Is God truly your Saviour in whom you hope?
Please think about it.
My God
In the book of Psalms we read,
“You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalm 118:28,29.
As Christians. As believers in Christ Jesus. I think sometimes we forget to give thanks to God. Our prayers constantly ask him for things. And there is nothing wrong about asking God for things we need. But amid the hustle and bustle of everyday life we need to take time to stop and thank him for all we have. We need to thank the LORD for his goodness toward us. Remembering Gods love lasts forever.
Do you think you think you give thanks to God enough?
Please think about it.
Why Jesus came
In the apostle John’s gospel we read,
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16,17.
Notice verse 17 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
This is the reason Jesus came into the world. God knew that man could not live a life good enough for us to live in heaven. We all sin and fall far short of Gods ideals for our life. The apostle John writing,
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." 1John 1:9-10
That is why in love God reached down to us in the form of His One and Only Son. To die for our sin.
The apostle Paul writing to the Romans wrote,
"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8.
The apostle Paul also wrote,
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” Romans 10:13.
Have you called on the name of the Lord? Have you let Jesus into your life?
Please think about it.
What do you believe about Jesus?
Jesus speaking to Martha,
"Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
"Yes Lord" she told Him, "I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world," John 11:25,26,27.
Who do you think Jesus is?
Napoleon Bonaparte said of Jesus,
"You speak of Caesar, of Alexander, of their conquests and of the enthusiasm which they enkindled in the hearts of their soldiers; but can you conceive of a dead man making conquests, with an army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory? My armies have forgotten me even while living, as the Carthaginian army forgot Hannibal. Such is our power."
"I know men and I tell you, Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions would die for him."
"I search in vain history to find similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel. Neither history nor humanity, nor ages, nor nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or to explain it. Here everything is extraordinary." Napoleon Bonaparte.
So who do you think Jesus is? A mad man? A good man? Or The Son of God, God incarnate? Saviour of all who would believe in Him?
Please think about it.
To him be glory forever
I was challenged the other day to make a positive statement about God in less that two hundred words. The Apostle Paul made it easy for me.
This is what I wrote or rather what I borrowed from the Apostle Paul,
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” Romans 11:33-36.
Think about it.
Of Importance to God
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
On February 14, 1990, NASA at a distance of 6 billion kilometres (3.7 billion miles) had the Voyager 1 space probe take a picture of the Solar system. It showed earth as a pail blue dot smaller than the head of a pin.
Looking at it we see just how small earth is in the universe. Within the vastness of the universe it seems insignificant. Yet it is everything to those of us who live on it.
Some have said there may be more planets out there in the vastness of the universe that have life. While that may be true such planets are too far away from us to communicate with or to help us in anyway.
It is our planet and our planet alone that is important to us. We have no other place in the universe to live.
We must also remember that we on this pail blue dot is of importance to God and we who live here. For the Bible which God has inspired is directed at us. With the sole purpose of pointing us to God. Making it clear in a nutshell the choice we have.
In the gospel of John Jesus is recorded as saying,
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son". John 3:16-18
So what do you believe?
Please think about it.
Confessing Jesus
In the book of Romans the apostle Paul states,
"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" Romans 10:9-13.
Is this you? Do you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in you heart God raised him from the dead? Do you trust Jesus?
We who live in the twenty-first century have never seen Jesus in the flesh, nor seen his Myricales. For us it’s a purely faith thing. We either believe or we don’t.
In the book of Hebrews we read,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see....
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:1,6.
So where is your faith?
Please think about it.
In the book of Hebrews we read,
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,(Jesus) whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3.
Here the writer of Hebrews makes it clear that Jesus is “the radiance of God the exact representation of his being,...”
In the Gospel of John we read,
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men....
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. " John 1:1-4,14.
As I have mentioned in previous blogs, the apostles and those close to Jesus had no doubt that Jesus was the Son of God, God incarnate.
Thus the question becomes do you believe this?
Please think about it.
The Psalmist writes,
“You are my God, and I will give you thanks;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.”
If you claim to be a Christian you in all sincerity do what the Psalmist is saying here?
Do you truly believe all that is said here?
Please think about it.
In the Gospel of John we read,
“In the beginning was the Word, (Jesus) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men....
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ” John 1:1-4,14
The writer of Hebrews states,
"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, (Jesus) whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." Hebrews 1:1-3.
Quoted above are foundational scriptures in Christianity. They make it clear that the writers of the New Testament believed Jesus was God incarnate. That he “is the radiance of God’s glory the exact representation of his being”
That through him “all things were made ; without him nothing was made that has been made”.
This to me is a bold statement. That if not true literally billions of Christians around the world are believing one of the most incredible lies in human history.
If correct, and I believe it to be correct, it is the most important thing in human history. Still they choice is up to you.
Blaise Pascal wrote,
“Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.” Blaise Pascal.
So where are you going to place your wager?
Please think about it.
Science and the existence of God
In the book of Genesis we read,
"In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth."
The Bible doesn't debate the existence of God simply because it was written to believers and believers need no proof. They know God exists by faith but not blind faith.
The psalmist states,
"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands."
Science points us to the fact there is a creator.
William Philips Nobel prize winner in Physics wrote,
"I believe in God more because of science than in spite of it" William Philips Nobel prize winning Physicist.
Even Stephen Hawking who to my knowledge was not a Christian wrote,
“It would be very difficult to explain why the universe should have begun in just this way, except as the act of a God who intended to create beings like us," Stephen Hawking
Another Nobel prize winner Dr. Arno Penzias 1978 Nobel Prize winner in Physics noted,
"Astronomy leads us to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing, one with a very delicate balance needed to provide exactly the conditions required to permit life and one which has an underlying (one might say ‘supernatural') plan." Dr, Arno Penzias.
C. S. Lewis speaking of God said,
"He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others-not because He has favourites, but because it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition." C. S. Lewis.
The way I interpret this is we have to at the very least have an open mind as to whether God exists. If we close our mind to the existence of God then we will never see Him.
So do you believe in God?
Please think about it.
Do you truly worship God?
Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman said,
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24.
To my way of thinking there are three ways of viewing God.
You can simply say God does not exist.
You can give intellectual consent and say God exists, but have no real faith in Him.
OR
You can have complete faith in God.
The Bible makes it clear that it is the latter, faith in God that gets us to heaven. The writer of Hebrews telling us,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6.
Here is the question I leave you with. It’s a question only you and God truly know the answer to.
Do you truly worship God in spirit and truth?
Please think about it.
Who is the greatest
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
He called a little child and had him stand among them.
And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:1-4.
What makes a person great, education, being a great orator, Power, being a mighty hero, What?
Most people when asked to name a great leader they may mention the name of a politician, soldier, artist. And in human terms they may well be great. But in time their names fade from memory. I read an article that asked teenagers who Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt were. Few could answer. Fewer still in Canada could name the fathers of confederation. In the united states it was the same. Few could name those who signed the deceleration of independence.
One man’s name however is known around the earth. Jesus of Nazareth. Two point two billion people still follow him today.
Dr. James Allan Francis in 1926 wrote a poem called One Solitary Life, it reads,
He never wrote a book
He never held an office
He never went to college
He never visited a big city
He never travelled more than two hundred miles from the place where he was born
He did none of the things usually associated with greatness...
Nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race
And the leader of mankind's progress
All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that one solitary life
Christ Jesus.
Jesus taught us what it was to be humble. He came to do the work of God. To do the will of his Heavenly Father. In doing so he showed us what it was to be humble.
Jesus humbled himself to the point of washing the feet of his disciples.
Humility is in short supply among most people today. How many politicians have fallen because they refused to humble themselves and admit what they were doing was wrong.
How many wars have started because the leaders of a country have refused to back down because it was a case of honour. And to back down would be a disgrace.
Jesus the Son of God who was there on the day of creation. The one who created the world. Humbled himself to become a man and to die for the sins of man. To die for sins he didn’t commit.
We as individuals need to look at the teachings of Christ. We need to look at his life, learn the lesson of humility he taught and put that lessons into action in our life.
In doing so I believe we will make the world a far better place.
Think About it.
Here is the conclusion
The writer of Ecclesiastes writes,
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13,14.
To my way of thinking God exists. The world and indeed the universe and everything in it seems fine tuned to allow us to exist. Only God could do such a thing.
Even Stephen Hawking one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century and an Atheist noted,
“The universe and the laws of physics seem to have been specifically designed for us" Stephen Hawking.
And there are many other scientist that believe in God because of what they see in science.
Dr. Arno Penzias 1978 Nobel Prize winner in Physics
"Astronomy leads us to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing, one with a very delicate balance needed to provide exactly the conditions required to permit life and one which has an underlying (one might say ‘supernatural') plan." Dr. Arno Penzias.
William Philips Nobel prize winner in Physics stated,
“I believe in God more because of science than in spite of it" William Philips
Werner Heisenberg father of Quantum Mechanics, winner of the Nobel prize in Physics stated,
The first gulp from the glass of natural science will make you an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you" Werner Heisenberg.
The Psalmist wrote,
“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
Do you believe in God?
Please think about it.
So what do Christians believe?
In the book of Isaiah we read,
"Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God?
The Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable."
We Christians believe God is everlasting. The Creator of the ends of the earth.
The Apostles Creed while not written by an apostle of Christ states what Christians today believe. It states,
1.I believe in God the Father the almighty maker of heaven and earth
2. I believe in Jesus Christ God’s on and only Son, our Lord and Saviour.
3. I believe Jesus was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary
4. I believe Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate; That He was Crucified, died, was buried. That he descended in hell.
5. I believe He rose again on the third day from the dead.
6. I believe that he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
7. I believe Jesus will one day Judge the living and the dead.
8. I believe in the Holy Ghost
9. I believe in the Church which is the communion of the saints,
10. I believe in the forgiveness of sin.
11. I believe in the resurrection of the body.
12. I believe in life everlasting.
This is what we Christians believe. I leave it hear for you the reader to decide for yourself if you believe this.
Please think about it.
Maker of heaven earth and sea
In the book of Psalms we read,
“Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—the LORD, who remains faithful forever.” Psalm 146:5,6.
Are you blessed? Do you truly believe in the Lord God maker of heaven earth, sea and everything in them?
The apostle Paul writes,
“Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us;
if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself." 2 Timothy 2:11-13
Again I ask do you truly believe in the Lord God Almighty maker of heaven and earth?
Please think about it.
Who is Jesus to the Christian?
In the Gospel of John we read,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men....
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ” John 1:1-4,14
Jesus speaking to his disciples said,
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6.
These are two statements Christians make and ask the listener to believe by faith. The writer of Hebrews stating,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6.
God will never force himself on anyone. He leaves it in the listeners hands.
Many men over the centuries have tried to dispute who Jesus was all ultimately have failed.
Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate, (361-363 A.D.) an ancient adversary of Christianity. Said in his work against Christianity:
"Jesus…has now been celebrated about three hundred years having done nothing in his lifetime worthy of fame, unless anyone thinks it is a very great work to heal lame and blind people and exorcise demoniacs in the villages of Bethsaida and Bethany."
At the end of his life Julian was forced to say:
"Thou has conquered, O Galilean!"
What do you think about Jesus?
Please think about it.
Psalms, Voltaire, and Dr. Arno Penzias
The Psalmist writes,
“The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
Voltaire wrote,
“I cannot imagine how the clockwork of the universe can exist
without a clockmaker.”
Voltaire
Dr. Arno Penzias 1978 Nobel Prize winner in Physics
"Astronomy leads us to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing, one with a very delicate balance needed to provide exactly the conditions required to permit life and one which has an underlying (one might say ‘supernatural') plan." Dr. Arno Penzias.
The universe has a creator God who has placed us in the perfect place in which life as we know it can exist. This by itself tells me there is a God.
I was born in the 1950's. at that time black holes, planets in other star systems, many sub atomic particles, that we know of today were unknown. It didn’t mean they didn’t exist. It just meant scientist hadn’t discovered them.
Scientist speculated on their existence because of what they seen in the world around them, postulated a theory and quite often had to wait for science to advance to prove they existed. Some of Eienstein’s theories were not proven until long after his death. Yet Eienstein and others like him believed in their theories. They believed that they would one day be proven. In short they had faith in their theory.
The writer of Hebrews states,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for
and
certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1
So it is with believers in God. We look at the orderly universe around us. We see that everything from the largest galaxy to the smallest sub-atomic particle is perfectly in sync with one another to produce life as we know it on this planet.
The conclusion we come to is that there is a Creator God behind it all.
If we are wrong we have nothing to fear.
If we are right we enter into eternity knowing the very maker of the Universe.
Please think about it.
Knowing the clockmaker,
The Psalmist writes,
“The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
Psalm 14:1
“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
Psalm 19:1
Voltaire wrote,
“I cannot imagine how the clockwork of the universe can exist
without a clockmaker.”
Voltaire
We may not be able to prove scientifically today in the twenty-first century that there is a God but that does not preclude His existence. Science is an on going search for what makes up the universe we live in. And from what I understand the evidence for a created universe is coming to light.
I was born in the 1950's. at that time black holes, planets in other star systems, many sub atomic particles, that we know of today were unknown. It didn’t mean they didn’t exist. It just meant scientist hadn’t discovered them.
Scientist speculated on their existence because of what they seen in the world around them. Then postulated a theory and quite often had to wait for science to advance to prove they existed.
Some of Albert Eienstein’s theories were not proven until long after his death. Yet Eienstein and others like him believed in their theories. They believed that they would one day be proven. In short they had faith in their theory.
The writer of Hebrews states,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for
and
certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1
So it is with believers in God. We look at the orderly universe around us. We see that everything from the largest galaxy to the smallest sub-atomic particle is perfectly in sync with one another to produce life as we know it on this planet.
The conclusion we come to is that there is a Creator God behind it all.
If we are wrong we have nothing to fear.
If we are right we enter into eternity knowing the very maker of the Universe.
Please think about it.
Chariots horses or God?
The Psalmist writes,
"I love you, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold."
Psalm 18:1,2
In Psalm 20 we read,
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God”
Psalm 20:7.
Where I your trust? Do you trust in your own power or in God’s power? It is a question we must all answer.
So I ask you whom do you truly trust in the good times and in the bad times, is it in God or something else?
Please think about it.
