He was in the Beginning

 He was in the beginning

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.

The above scriptures say is all. Christians believe that Jesus is God.

 “That through him all things were made; and without him nothing was made that has been made...”

I know to non-Christians this seems foolish. Even the apostle Paul noted,

"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.

The way I look at it if Jesus wasn’t God Incarnate why would the writers of the New Testament say he was?

Which raises the question do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Saviour of all who would believe in him?

Before you answer take time to read the New Testament praying and asking God to show you the truths that are held within it.

Please think about it.

Egg, devil, or God

 Egg, devil, or God

Jesus said,

"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:37-40

This is an incredible statement. Jesus essentially states that he and God are equal. 

In another incident John records this incident between him and a crowd. John records,

“I and the Father are one.” 

Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” 

“We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” John 10:30-33.

Jesus knew the penalty of blasphemy yet he still kept to his claim that he was God. 

C. S. Lewis wrote,

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

So make your choice.

Please think about it.

Have you not heard

  Have you not heard

Isaiah the prophet wrote,

"Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God?

The Creator of the ends of the earth....”

                                               Isaiah 40:28a.

Here is a clear statement from Isaiah. God is everlasting, the Creator of the ends of the earth. 

The Bible does not debate whether or not God exists. In the book of Genesis it simply states,

"In the beginning 

God created the heavens and the earth." 

                                                     Genesis 1:1.

As for me I believe science done right will at the very least show God exists.

Werner Heisenberg said,

“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 father of Quantum Mechanics Nobel prize in physics.

The question is do you believe God exists?

Please think about it.

Do you believe it?

 Do you believe 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, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.”  Hebrews 1:1,2.

Here is if you think about it, is an incredible claim. The writer of Hebrews is saying, Jesus is the Son of God through whom the universe was made.

The apostle John writes,

"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.

John walked and talked with Jesus. So if anyone could know the truth about Jesus it was John.

Thus anyone reading what John wrote must make the choice. Is John telling a lie or is he telling the truth. There is no middle ground.

Who do you think Jesus is?

Please think about it.

 God’s fingerprints

The Psalmist wrote,

“The heavens declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

Day after day they pour forth speech; 

night after night they display knowledge. 

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.” 

                                                                                  Psalm 19:1-3.

I firmly believe that science done right will point to the fact the universe and everything in it was created by God.

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 another Nobel prize winner in physics said,

“I believe in God more because of science than in spite of it" William Philips Nobel prize winning Physicist.

The way I look at it. When I see everything, from the smallest subatomic particle to the greatest galaxy. I see a universe that is designed specifically for us. Even Stephen Hawing said, 

Stephen Hawking 

"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.

God’s finger prints can be seen throughout creation. It’s just a matter of honestly looking for Him.

So my question to you dear reader, are you sincerely looking for God?

Please think about it.

Concerning the Word of life

 Concerning the Word of life

The apostle John writes,

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.  

The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.   We write this to make our joy complete” 1John 1:1-4.

Here the apostle John who walked with Jesus, is clear. He states that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. Who was from the beginning of creation.

When someone reads this you can only come to one of two conclusions, either John is lying or he is telling the truth.

C. S. Lewis states,

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. 

That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. 

You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. 

You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

So the choice is yours. Who is Jesus?

Please think about it.

Can you say

  Can you say

The Psalmist writes,

"I lift up my eyes to the hills— 

where does my help come from? 

My help comes from the LORD, 

the Maker of heaven and earth.”

                                                      Psalm 121:1,2.

When you need help where do you turn for it? When things are going wrong do you turn to God first?

For me as a believer in Christ Jesus it is comforting to know that when I need help I can turn to God the “Maker of heaven and earth”.

While things in life may not turn out the way we want them. God is still there for us. There to comfort us through the hard times of life. And there to rejoice with us through good times in life. So can you say with the Psalmist,

"I lift up my eyes to the hills— 

where does my help come from? 

My help comes from the LORD, 

the Maker of heaven and earth."

                                                      Psalm 121:1,2.

Please think about it.

Who welcomes

  Who welcomes 

Jesus said,

“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me” Mark 9:37.

When I read this I cannot help thinking of all the child refugees and their parents that are fleeing war and bad situations in their homeland. Innocent people who only want to live in peace. And while I get the need for border security. I also think we as Christians need to do what is right. We should not be getting political and demanding the borders be closed and legitimate refugees sent back to unsafe conditions.

We should however be doing all we can to help those refugees both before they reach our borders and at our borders. 

Having said that there are many Christian organizations that are doing just that. As true believers in Christ Jesus we may not be able to go to the refugees but we can contribute to those organizations that are doing their best to help those in need both outside our borders and inside.

Remember the words of Jesus I quoted above,

“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not be but him to sent me” Mark 9:37.

In helping the innocent men women and children in the name of Christ we are receiving not just Christ but God the creator of the universe and everything in it.

Will you do what you can today to receive those in need?

Please think about it.

As the Deer

 As the deer

The Psalmist writes,

“As the deer pants for streams of water, 

so my soul pants for you, O God.”

                                                               Psalm 42:1

There is an old saying “you have to be looking for God to find God”. It’s true if you have the unwavering belief God dose not exist you will not find Him. You have to have faith that God exists.

The book of Hebrews tells us,

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  

This is what the ancients were commended for. 

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible....

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 11:1-3,6.

God however does not expect blind faith. He simply asks us to look around at his handiwork.

The Psalmist telling us,

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Psalm 19:1.

More and more we also see science pointing to a fine tuned universe. A universe so perfectly tuned for life as we know it to exist.

Dr. Arno Penzias 1978 Nobel Prize winner in Physics states,

"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 bottom line however is not what scientist my say or what Christians may say. The bottom line is do you believe in God?

Please think about it.

Is there a God?

Is there a God?

The Psalmist writes,

"The heavens declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

Day after day they pour forth speech; 

night after night they display knowledge. 

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard." 

                                                                                                 Psalm 19:1-3.

Voltaire wrote,

“I cannot imagine how the clockwork of the universe can exist without a clockmaker.” Voltaire.

We live in a perfect universe, at least when it comes to our existence. We are in what scientist call the goldilocks zone. The perfect place not just in the solar system but it in the universe in general. Scientist tell us that if the earth was just slightly closer to the sun or just slightly further away life as we know it would not exist. 

Even Stephen Hawking one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century admitted,

"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.

Nobel prize winner John O’Keefe wrote,

"We are, by astronomical standards, a pampered, cosseted, cherished group of creatures... If the Universe had not been made with the most exacting precision we could never have come into existence. It is my view that these circumstances indicate the universe was created for man to live in." John O’Keefe.

That being dear reader. You must decide for yourself whether or not God exists.

Please think about it.

Follow my Logic

 Follow my Logic

The Psalmist bluntly states,

"The fool says in his heart, 

"There is no God." 

                                Psalm 14:1.

The way I see it if there is no God then by following the teachings of God in the Bible I have lost nothing. All I have done is lived a good life.

But to say there is no God is to my mind ridiculous. 

Think of it this way in order to truly know there is no God, the person would have to know all things and been everywhere. And since knowing all things and being everywhere are attributes of God. The person saying there is no God would in fact be god.

Further more to unequivocally know there is no God one would have to have gone beyond the grave the one place no one living has gone yet. The very place where we would expect to see God.

Voltaire wrote

“To believe in God is impossible, not to believe in Him is absurd.” Voltaire.

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.

Jesus speaking of Himself said,

“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.

Please think about it.

On Nothing

 On nothing

In the book of Job we read,

"He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; 

He suspends the earth over nothing." 

                                         Job 26:7.

        Thousands of years before the above photo was taken by Apollo 8 on 24 December 1968 as it orbited the moon. Job described what they saw. The earth suspended on nothing.

The Psalmist writes,

"The heavens declare the glory of God; t

he skies proclaim the work of his hands." 

                                                               Psalm 19:1.

I believe that God created the heavens and the earth. Whether he did it in six twenty-four hour days or used the big bang and let it develop over millennia is unimportant. After all God is almighty and could have done it whatever way He wished.

What is important to me is that if we look into not just the heavens, but everything from the largest Galaxy to the smallest subatomic particle. We see that they all work together to make the not just the world we live in but the universe we live in, perfect for life as we know it.

I cannot believe this is by chance. There has to be a Creator behind the creation we live in.

I firmly believe that science done correctly will one day prove beyond a doubt that there is irrefutable evidence of God.

Dr. Arno Penzias 1978 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, writes,

"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 writes,

“I believe in God more because of science than in spite of it"William Philips Nobel prize winning Physicist.

That being said. The question becomes do you believe in God?

Please think about it.

He is

 He is

In John’s gospel we read,

"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.

In my previous two blogs I have written about who Jesus claimed to be and who his disciples believe him to be.

In this blog post I tell about what Martha a friend of Jesus believed Him to be and she makes it clear. She believes Him to be,

"I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world,".

So again as in my previous postings I ask you to consider who you believe Jesus to be?

I would however ask that before you make your decision. You read the New Testament and see for yourself what the writes of the New Testament believed Him to be.

Please think about it.

Is He or is He not?

  Is He or is He not?

John's gospel records this incident in the life of Jesus. John writes,

"Then came the lire of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade.  

"The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." 

Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.  

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.  

I and the Father are one." 

Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" 

"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." John 10 22-33.

Jesus was no dummy. He knew the Jewish law of the day. He knew what the penalty for blasphemy was, yet He still maintained to be God incarnate.

Which to me means anyone reading this portion of scripture has a black and white decision to be made. 

Either Jesus was and is who he says he is. OR He is a monumental lier in all of history. One nearly three billion people around the world today, and millions more throughout history have believed.

Thus the question for you dear reader is do you believe Jesus is who He said He is or not?

Please think about it.

I lift up my eyes

  I lift up my eyes

The Psalmist writes,

“I lift up my eyes to the hills— 

where does my help come from? 

My help comes from the LORD, 

the Maker of heaven and earth.” 

                                             Psalm 121:1,2.

I am so glad that I can say my help comes from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth.

I am so humbled that God in the form of His Son Jesus Christ came to this world to save me. To help me in times of trouble. To be my guide in life.

Can you say this?

Please think about it.

God's works

  God's works

“How many are your works, Lord! 

In wisdom you made them all.”

                                                Psalm 104:24

I took my young grandson to the Butterfly conservatory near where we live. As we slowly walked around butterflies of every conceivable variety flew around us. Then an amazing thing happened my grandson held his hand out and a butterfly landed on his finger and stayed for the longest time. He was over the moon.

As I looked at the delicate creature sitting on his hand I couldn’t help thinking of how wonderful God was. 

How incredible were His works. Everything from this delicate, intricately designed butterfly to the magnificent stars, planets, and galaxies. All designed for us.

The Psalmist writes,

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard." 

                                                                                                      Psalm 19:1-3  

Please think about it.

It's not Luck. It's God

  It’s not luck It’s God

In the book of Genesis we read,

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." 

                                                                          Genesis 1:1.

Can you imagine wining a lottery in which the odds are an astronomical 700 quintillion (7 followed by 20 zeros 700,000,000,000,000,000,000) to 1 against you. That’s what Discover magazine suggests is the odds of a planet anywhere in the universe having life as we know it on it.

Some scientists tell us that we got the winning ticket. Christians say it was God that designed the universe for us.

Even Stephen Hawking one of the brightest minds of the twentieth century noted,

“The universe and the laws of physics 

seem to have been specifically designed for us” 

                                                             Stephen Hawking.

Lord William Kelvin Noted for his theoretical work in thermodynamics,

“If you study Science deep enough and long enough, 

it will force you to believe in God”

                                 Lord William Kelvin

Werner Heisenberg father of Quantum Mechanics Nobel prize in physics said,

“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 

William Philips Nobel prize winning Physicist stated,

“I believe in God more because of science than in spite of it”

                                                                            William Phillips

All of these are distinguished all agree there is a God. So my question to you is, Do you have the faith to believe in God, because 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

“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.

Please think about it. 

I have not seen God but...

  I have not seen God but...

The Psalmist writes,

“The heavens declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” 

                                                   Psalm 19:1.

I am an unabashed creationist. I believe God created the heavens and the earth. Whether that took millions of years and started with the big bang is unimportant. God is God and He could have done it either way.

Ben Zion Bokser wrote,

“I have not seen the robin but I know he is there because I heard him singing through my window from the tree-top outside.

I have not seen God.  But I have looked at my child’s eyes, and have been overwhelmed by the miracle of unfolding life.

I have watched the trees bedeck themselves with new garbs of green in the spring, and have been stirred by the miracle of continual rebirth.

I have looked at the stars, and have been overcome by the miracle of the grandeur and majesty of the universe.

I know that God exists, because I have heard the song of His presence from all the tree-tops of creation.” Ben Zion Bokser.

To my mind the earth and indeed the universe is fine tuned so that like as we know it can exist and the one that fine tuned the universe is God.

Please think about it.

He came to Earth

   

He came to Earth

In the book of Job we read,

"He spreads out the northern  skies  over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing." Job 26:7.

Considering Job never went into space he certainly got his description right.

 In the book of Genesis we read,

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1.

God placed the earth in the exact spot in the universe for life as we know it to exist. I cannot believe this is purely by chance.

What is more amazing to me is that God in the form of Jesus Christ came into the world He created, John’s gospel stating,

"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.

If this is not true then those who wrote the Bible have created the biggest lie in all of history because at least three billion plus people believe this.

The question however is do you?

Please think about it.

They seen and touched Him

  They seen and touched Him.

The apostle John states,

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.  

The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  

We write this to make our joy complete. " 1John 1:1-4.

The apostle John makes it clear that he truly believed that Jesus was God the Creator of all things. That he and the other apostles interacted with Him.

John referring to Jesus also wrote,

"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.

If this is not true it is the greatest lie in the history of mankind. If on the other hand it is true each individual must acknowledge that Jesus is Lord.

The apostle Paul saying,

"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 10:12, 13. 

Please think about it.