Category: Improvement

Viewing the Bible as Truth?

I was thinking about various beliefs and why people may have the beliefs they do. It seems that culture may be a reason: what was taught, passed down generation after generation. The belief becomes something we don’t question, we just “know” because we heard it from when we were children, so we adopt the same belief as those around us. At some point growing up we realize other people have different beliefs because of their culture. For some, that can be when the questioning starts: What is the Truth? When we start asking this question, we can be influenced by people in our lives, by the friends we make. We can be influenced by religious leaders who are well spoken, interesting and tell compelling stories, or we can be turned away from a belief by religious leaders and people who identify themselves with a certain religion if we have a bad experience with them. We can abandon every belief and claim to be “scholarly” and believe in nothing. Belief, or unbelief, is a choice we make.

People have said to me: “You can’t trust the Bible, it was made and edited to control people.” People point out “contradictions.” But every point someone has made about it, after looking into it further, the point made doesn’t stand up. Most of the people who made these comments to me hadn’t ever read the entire Bible , they were repeating something they were told that seemed to make sense to them, or they heard an excerpt from the Bible out of context. In contrast, I’ve also heard many people say that it was reading the Bible that finally made them believe it is the truth and after reading it, they began changing their life because of what they read. Reading the Bible isn’t a small task; it’s a lengthy book, and many people don’t make the time it to read it for various reasons but it will have an impact.

When we truly believe something, we are compelled and take action because of our belief. This isn’t only regarding “faith”; it’s about anything in life that we believe, we take action according to our belief.

So what is it about the Bible that made me believe it?

  • The Bible answered many “why” questions about life for me, such as: Why do we exist? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do bad things even happen? Why do people die? Why do people become addicted to harmful things? Why do people still feel empty when they have so much in life? Why are relationships so hard? Why do so many marriages end in divorce? Why do people experience fear and anxiety? Everything finally made sense to me.
  • The Christian Bible incorporates the Jewish beliefs (the Old Testament), it doesn’t deny the foundation of Christianity which is Judaism. Jewish and Christians both believe what is found in the Old Testament Books of the Bible. This was affirmation to me from another faith that added validity to what is found in the Bible. The ability today to see the original Hebrew text (www.blueletterbible.org) provides additional insight and clarity. The main difference in Christian and Jewish beliefs is who Jesus is believed to be.
  • The New Testament of the Christian Bible has similar prophecies to what I’ve read and heard is in the Quran about what happens in the world leading up to Judgement Day, about Mary the mother of Jesus being a virgin, about Jesus being a respected prophet. The main difference is the belief in who Jesus is. But the fact that there are some similarities by different faiths seems to validate those similarities as truth.
  • The Bible was written by significant historical people and the main message is consistent throughout the Bible. This message is: God’s love, compassion for people and people’s rebellion and repentance (sometimes) or rejection towards God. There are times when God punishes people for their actions (to wake them up/cause them to change for the better) and there will be a day when justice will be served to all people by God for all of mankind’s actions (Judgement Day).
  • The Bible is partially a history book which adds to its validity. The collection of books by various authors in the Bible explain life, document the history of leadership and genealogy of Jesus, the books of the prophets told of events before they happened (warning people) and the events actually happened exactly as they were predicted to occur and some remain unfulfilled, but remain expected sometime in the future (especially because these future prophecies were told by prophets thousands of year ago who told other prophecies that occurred), and document the life of Jesus and what happened with his followers after he was killed.
  • Within the Bible it tells us: it is “supernatural” information inspired by the Holy Spirit. It isn’t just one person validating the information assembled into Bible, there were hundreds to thousands of people who validated much of the content. Eye witnesses documented and others interviewed people about these “supernatural events.” This Bible continues to be read today. Think about how long this book has lasted. It’s interesting because Jesus said that Heaven and Earth will pass away, but the word of God will remain.
  • People who knew Jesus personally wrote books: Two of Jesus’ original followers: Matthew and John, each wrote a book (the gospels) in the Bible that tells us the same thing (validates the story) but also provides a unique collection of events that happened.
  • Mark, who was another author of the Bible (gospel) was an acquaintance of Peter who was one of Jesus’ original followers. Peter also contributed books to the Bible about how people should live and what will happen in the future; Peter personally knew Jesus and was taught by him.
  • Luke who was another author of the gospel and was believed to be a medical doctor which probably gave him some credibility. He interviewed people who were still living from Jesus’ time, those who had witnessed Jesus’ life to assemble the book he wrote.
  • The 4 gospels tell similar stories but have additional accounts, yet all are consistent regarding the character of and the message from Jesus.
  • The Bible also has books from two who are believed to be Jesus’ half-brothers: Jude and James – family members of Jesus’ household. Family members certainly add credibility and validity.
  • A significant portion of the Bible contribution, primarily letters written to communities by a person who was persecuting Christians, but then had a life changing conversion after a supernatural experience with Jesus. This was Paul (originally named Saul) his name was changed when his life’s direction was changed. Think about this: the most drastic life change after a supernatural experience: becoming a person who supported and grew the believers community by his preaching but before he had been on the opposing side and was targeting and persecuting those same people, until his life was changed.
  • There are a wide variety of sources, people, authors, prophets who all tell the same message repeatedly over thousands of years, after having a vision, an angel visitation or revelation from God or experiencing life in person with Jesus. Multiple sources all telling the same message is what supports this as truth.
  • I personally had experiences that reinforced my belief in the Bible. After praying and asking God questions, I opened the bible to a page or book that answered by specific question numerous times. One question was about the future and what I understood did happen. When I’ve asked about the future, I regularly end up opening to a page that talks about the end times. Believe me, I didn’t want that to keep happening, but it did and it does, so I do think we may be closer than anticipated or God is wanting people to prepare and take this future event seriously.
  • In 2020 when things started happening, I personally saw the connection to the end time prophecies and was alarmed because the Bible foretells of these things and there are so many happening at the same time: the global pandemic and its effect on people, the on-going and escalating conflict in the middle east, the persecution of Christians today, the alliances of nations that appear to be forming, the growing anger towards Israel from surrounding nations and world leaders, the desire of nations to unite into a global governance, the removal of references to God, the rise in crime, the “all inclusive, “anything is acceptable” direction of some religions, the deception and corruption, the growing acceptance and encouragement of things the Bible identifies as immoral, the growing focus on “peace and safety” when the Bible tells us there will not be peace and safety leading up to the end, but that people will say that. All these things are prophesized in the Bible. We have been warned.

I don’t want to focus on this, I would rather just go about life and experience happiness and laughter. I miss feeling “carefree” to some extent, before when I was ignorant to what appears to be happening, before my eyes were opened to the reality of these times. But I have these thoughts sometimes when I wake that I can’t seem to ignore because they don’t go away until I take action. The thought I had for a few days now that prompted this was: people need to know and comprehend what is in the Bible, explore it for themselves, seek God, pray to God, so that He reveals the truth about all of this and then decide if you believe it or you don’t. If a person doesn’t believe the Bible, the main message won’t be known or taken seriously and a person may end up eternally separated from God. When a person understands this clearly, the Bible will have a positive impact on that person’s life. I want people to know Jesus because knowing who he is, why he was here and what he said will have a significant positive effect on our lives and our future. I want people to truly comprehend this and take action, not for my benefit, but for yours.

Please consider reading the Bible, then decide for yourself. God gives us the freedom to choose to believe or not believe.

by Categories: FAITH, FRIENDSHIP, God, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Make It Count, priorities, RELATIONSHIPS, WellnessTags: , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Eyes Opened after Looking Back

The end of the year is a logical time to reflect on life: What did we learn? Do we notice a pattern? What good happened? What are we grateful for? What do we want to change? What will our goals be heading into the New Year?

If you’ve read any of my prior blogs, you will understand this: our lives have a purpose, we are where we are for a reason. Do you know your purpose? Do you know the reason your life is the way it is right now?

I went through most of my life not thinking about this until my life was “shaken” in 2015 by an untimely death. That caused me to question everything in life: purpose, reasons, etc. I had no answers, only questions. I was confused about life and wanted answers, started searching. It led me to evaluating and making significant changes in life, taking action, but without knowing my purpose or the answers to the “reason.” I was lost, but moving, aimlessly, seeking, wanting life to be better but not knowing how to make it better.

2016 was continued seeking, transitioning to a “changed life.” I began praying more than I ever did in the past and in 2017 “surrendered” my life to Jesus, wanting his guidance. I was lost, I needed guidance, I didn’t have the answers, but I knew my way of doing things wasn’t effective; it was lacking. 2017 was a year of mild turbulence: ups and downs and I was wondering why since I surrendered but I kept my trust in God. 2018 seemed to be the turning point, everything seemed to be falling in place and I was grateful. 2019 brought a noticeable “dark cloud” into my life but I still trusted in God and went to Him for answers. I was led to the Bible and read it front to back for the first time and it literally made me want to change my life even more. My eyes were opened. I realized I was not living as God wanted me to. I decided to try to live better. I was hopeful heading into 2020. (LOL) I don’t need to explain 2020 to anyone; I think we all had the same year! But that’s when I “woke up” I realized what was happening in the world. I continued to go to God for answers to my questions and He revealed the answers in the Bible. It was amazing to experience this “communication” from God through prayer and the Bible.

2021 in summary was probably the worst year I’ve experienced in life, but not in every way: God was all I had to help me through it and He did. God is truly all I needed. When the Bible says God is faithful, God provides, God protects – all that is true. Throughout these past 6 years, I’ve learned to fully trust God. I’ve learned the answers to most of my questions (through the Bible). I have a different outlook on 2022, than I have in past years. In past years I looked forward to the hope of a better year. I don’t have that outlook this time. I don’t expect a better year. I actually expect a more challenging year, but I have all I need: God.

I have a mindset very different from a few years ago. I foresee the years ahead as getting tougher, but I KNOW (not just guess) this is only a transition to the greatest years of all time ahead, and I look forward to that with much anticipation. This is a time for endurance and perseverance. I don’t yet know how many future years ahead, but my intuition is that it won’t be too far away. Stay strong, stay connected with God and we will make it through.

by Categories: Face Fear, FAITH, God, Improvement, Make It Count, prioritiesTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Happily Ever After: The True Story Everyone Should Know

Once upon a time…yes, this is a true story, but it happened “once upon a time.” There was this creative King who enjoyed making beautiful things filled with joy and happiness. There is no one greater than Him in any way; He was the first King. He created the earth and everything in it, on it and surrounding it out of enjoyment. He created people and made them to look similar to Him. He used His own breath to breathe life into the people and make them living. He was delighted and interacted with His creation. The people He made were not like puppets or programmed a certain way, although He did give them unique abilities and skills. It was enjoyment for Him to see what they did. He gave the people complete freedom because complete freedom is love. This King became known as LOVE.

Because this King had been around for awhile, He had made other things prior to the earth. We only know a little about the prior creations He made because the beings live in a different realm than we do. There are spiritual beings that can travel between realms, unlike people who are limited. One of the spiritual beings began to think He was as good or better than the King and became competitive with the King. He convinced a few other spiritual beings that he was as good or better and they joined him in rebelling against the King, that’s how the spiritual war began.

Not very long after the earth was created, the Rebelling Being determined he would destroy everything the King created and went into action. He knew that people had certain limitations making them easily able to be manipulated and influenced by unseen spiritual forces and he knew the King loved the people. So that became the Rebel’s focus: separate the people from the King and destroy them. The Rebel was also creative in a manipulative, crafty way. He uses lies, deception, and fake promises to convince people to believe and be led by him. He started in the King’s garden and convinced the people to disobey the one rule the King gave them. He was successful at this because he put doubt in their minds and convinced them that the King was trying to limit their knowledge, keep them oppressed, and they believed the lie and disobeyed the King. At that point, the people unknowingly allowed the Rebel access to their lives and their children’s lives from that point forward. Not very long after this happened, the first murder on earth took place: one brother killed his own brother out of jealousy.

Things became even worse. Other rebellious spiritual beings from another realm came to earth and impregnated women creating unusual evil offspring. These rebellious spiritual beings also taught people things that were not meant to be known by the people of this world. The rebels taught people to contact the rebellious spiritual beings rather than the King for information and the people did. The people on the earth were quickly becoming influenced and spreading evil, killing, lying and reflecting the actions of the Rebels rather than the King. This angered the King because the good He created was being corrupted and dying, so the King decided to destroy the majority of the living beings, keeping only a small portion who remained loyal to Him. He destroyed everything with a flood and gave His people a new start.

It didn’t take long for people to be manipulated by the evil spiritual beings once again because the spiritual beings that can travel between the realms hadn’t been destroyed. So this began the cycle that continues today: people reconcile with the King, the evil spiritual beings manipulate the people, they separate from the King, the King disciplines the people so they learn a lesson, the people reconcile with the King and the evil spiritual beings manipulate people again.

As time goes on, the King finds loyal people who are willing to break this cycle and want Him to protect them from the evil beings. The King does, He is willing to do this for anyone who recognizes what is happening. The King is then able to work through the loyal people. But even the loyal people are not perfect and mess up, but the difference is that they ask for forgiveness and try to never do it again. The King gave the people 10 rules to live by and gives His Spirit along with protecting angels to help His loyal people. The King saw that the people had good intentions but were too weak to resist evil completely.

The King can’t be in the presence of evil, so this had to be solved so one day He could live with the people He created once again. He sent his Son to earth to break the curse that evil had placed on the earth. The Son lived on earth, taught people about the King and explained what was happening on the earth. Some people believed him, but others didn’t. He taught people for approximately 3 years and told those people who believed him to continue to let others know about the King. He told the people the King has future plans and everything will be made new again and the earth will be repaired and the King will once again live among the people. The Son told the people that he himself would be killed, but would continue to live (in another realm) but would someday return to to bring all who believe and love him back together, including those who had died already and those who would die in the future. All will be brought back to life by the King’s spirit, His breath of Life.

The Son was killed, but returned, living, as proof to those he had told of this. Thousands of people saw him, ate with him and communicated with him before he ascended to another realm. He promised he will return and today we are waiting for his (Jesus’) return. Those who are loyal, believe what Jesus taught and show God (the King) that we love Him by our actions (i.e. willingly obeying the 10 commands the King gave) will live forever with God after Jesus returns…happily ever after!

by Categories: FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP, God, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Love, Make It Count, priorities, RELATIONSHIPS, WellnessTags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Our Parents, Parenting and Jesus

Oh my gosh when information found in the Bible starts connecting to various scripture throughout the Bible about a single subject, an awakening/eye opening occurs and, I felt compelled to write about this even though there are so many other things I have to do right now.

Months ago, while reading in Genesis, I noticed something that stood out to me:

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring (seed) and hers; he will crush (strike) your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15

This is God speaking to the serpent. Does anyone else notice something odd? He is talking to a serpent and refers to your “offspring”. Look at this definition of a “serpent” too, then pay attention to a detail in Genesis 3:14:

So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You WILL crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

This statement refers to the future, not the current moment. Evidently the “serpent” WASN’T existing as a snake crawling on its belly UNTIL God cursed it! It (the serpent) was something specific, but not what we know as a “snake” when all this took place. What we understand from the bible comes from translations and depictions in artwork, but when we study God’s word, a deeper understanding occurs. Did you ever wonder why God, in the commandments He gave to Moses, told them not to make images of ANYTHING in heaven or on earth or below earth? (See Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 4) This was meant to discourage worshiping anything other than God, but also when we make an image in our mind of something we have not seen, it is only our imagination; it is not true reality! This is also the reason many people can mock this story, saying: wow a snake talking to people, right?!…but this isn’t just a “snake”!

So after we discover the fact that this wasn’t a hissing snake that deceived Eve, then there is the second part of this odd statement: “your offspring” or “your seed”. This implies that there are offspring from this serpent! This explains why God could justifiably wipe out or destroy a bunch of people.

Remember God is just, God is trustworthy, God is faithful to His people, God NEVER abandons His people. People abandon God, by their own choice.

People may bring up examples of good people who were hurt, destroyed or died untimely deaths and say: “that is not just, that is not fair, God is not just” but the answer to this is in the Bible too. When this happens, this is NOT God! Remember that. In God’s future Kingdom, there is no death, no weeping, no pain, no disease- this is God’s future plan for those who don’t CHOOSE to abandon God! The only reason for disease, pain, sadness, depression, etc. is due to the opposing evil forces working against God in an attempt to destroy our relationship and reliance on God. God is good; only God is good. Be careful, we need to be able to recognize evil and we only get that intuition from God (the Holy Spirit) who gives wisdom and discernment. Evil forces are deceiving, why do you think Paul said to put on the armor of God? Evil spiritual forces will appear enticing, to lure us in, and then after “the lure,” they destroy us. It’s like fishing bait, where we are the fish that gets fried if we can’t discern. That is the truth.

Bad things happen to good people for two reasons, found in the bible: 1) as a consequence to our own sin that we choose or 2) if God allows it to test us, to test our trust in God, our relationship with God. You may have heard this: “Whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” well that is the truth, and God does that to strengthen us. God could end our life, if He wanted to, but when He doesn’t, He wants us to be strengthened by that experience. We also have to remember or understand from the bible: God will RESTORE anything that is taken from us in the testing of us; this grows our faith in God. Read the book of Job if you want to understand this. This may happen in our life on earth, but it may also be reserved for eternity. Read about future blessings here. We need to trust God and have patience.

OUR PARENTS

I just comprehended this after studying the Bible. All of us are “adopted” in a sense. Our true parent, the one who created us, the one who enabled our parents to produce us, is God. We are His children. Our parents are ultimately given a purpose, from God, to raise us and to introduce us to God, to encourage us to seek God, to share the knowledge of God. And God gives our parents the choice in how they do it and if they choose to do it. Just like anything else, some are good at the job and others aren’t good at the job God gave them. But God knows parents are not perfect and He knows when a parent is trying their best or if they are not trying at all; that’s between God and that person but it doesn’t make any child less loved by God, if that child didn’t have parents who encouraged. God makes each child for a reason and with a purpose. The purpose, as we learn from the bible, is ultimately helping others so that others will enjoy God’s future Kingdom and will not be deceived by the evil spiritual forces and lose out on what God has planned for His children (us). Here is an example from the book of Jeremiah, the prophet. Get to know God personally, then help others to know God, to know the Truth.

PARENTING

If we truly comprehend the truth in the paragraph above, we will realize this is why abortion is so wrong. In an abortion, we are destroying a child that God thought of and has plans for, the child God created for a purpose. God can bring good from bad. So even if the physical connection between the parents was “bad”, trust God, seek God, God can do amazing things with that child and with us. Don’t forget that Rahab, the prostitute, was part of Jesus’ ancestry/lineage. So can good come from “bad”? Yes, Jesus was a descendant and proves this. Jesus also said there will be prostitutes entering God’s kingdom ahead of the people who know God’s word, appear religious, keep the commandments, but whose hearts are far from God. (Of course the prostitutes in this example are the ones who realize what they have done, ask God for forgiveness and change their ways; God forgives.) Remember: God forgives easier than people do; He knows what’s in our hearts.

God is our parent, he gives us guidelines to follow, but as rebellious children, we don’t listen to Him. Starting with marriage; God tells people in the bible to not intermarry with “foreign” people- this has NOTHING to do with race or nationality! This is about individuals priorities: who or what is their priority? It should be God. God is warning people that life WILL be more difficult if we don’t follow his guidelines. If one person has God as their priority and the other doesn’t, that is going to be a rough road ahead. He warns because often the person who doesn’t have God as their priority slowly turns the God focused person away from God. If you want examples of this, look at what happened in Solomon’s life, in Samson’s life, in the book of Ezra (these people took drastic measures to avoid separation from God), and those a just a few examples, there are many more. It’s ultimately about getting separated from God and loosing eternity with God (by our own choice) when we choose a partner who does not have God as a priority. History repeats, don’t think that this won’t happen today; it does. The bible is there to help us, not harm us. There is an eternity and it is one of two outcomes: 1. With God or 2. Without God.

“What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” Matthew 16:26 (Jesus’ words)

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 24 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.26Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.” (Jesus’ words of warning) Luke 11 This is scary, concerning and further evidence of this spiritual war that is happening.

Read all these verses in this link about Children. Tying this into the beginning of this article; God tells us in the bible, the first book of Genesis: there is an evil spiritual seed/offspring. How do you think this happens? By uniting with someone who has evil residing in them. This doesn’t mean that it is hopeless because you have to remember that Jesus is more powerful than evil, Jesus saves and Jesus can defeat this evil spiritual force, if we seek him, call upon Him. God is faithful and merciful. Despite our shortcomings and mistakes, He ultimately loves us and wants us back. Connect with God in prayer and He will rescue a person in this situation! Last night I came across this (visit the links for the details), “Ahab” kept showing up in my reading, Ahab was connected/married to Jezebel and when you read the bible about them, that is the worst combination, look what happens to their descendants, how their character is described in these verses: “did evil”. And notice their fate too. God wants to save His children from this. Jesus is how we are saved from this; seek Jesus.

JESUS

Getting back to the initial verse in Genesis: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring (seed) and hers; he will crush (strike) your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15

Jesus is the one that crushes the serpent/Satan’s head and Satan continually tried/tries to strike Jesus.

There are so many things the bible tells us about Jesus. He is the most powerful, and will defeat all of this evil as we are told through prophecies. Check out the numerous verses in this link.

Summary: Seek Jesus for any and all of your needs. It is only through Jesus that we will overcome the evil spiritual forces that attack and surround our broken world.

Please share this with others who may benefit in knowing this. In doing so, you may help others enjoy God’s future Kingdom.

by Categories: Dating, Face Fear, FAITH, FAMILY, God, Improvement, Love, Make It Count, Marriage, parenting, Parents, priorities, RELATIONSHIPS, SexTags: , , , , Leave a comment

Secrets of the Universe

…this is meant for you.

I woke up compelled to write about this because you may not hear this from someone close to you, maybe not even your local religious organization, for many possible reasons that may become obvious to you after reading this. I intend to condense 4,000 years of history into a brief summary hoping it will be relevant and worthwhile for you and answer many “why” questions. This is the truth, not a fictional story.

CURRENT TIMES

You and I are caught in the middle of, and and are living with the residual effects of a war continuing today, that started approximately 4,000 years ago, or maybe even before then. Unfortunately and unknowingly we have been brought into this war, as participants, and we don’t have a choice in participating. There is no way to avoid being involved; we can’t “opt out.” This is one of the most challenging types of wars to succeed in because it literally is invisible, so if we can’t see it, how are we going to defend ourselves?

THE BACKGROUND

We are not the only beings in the universe: there are angels (both good and bad ones), demons, cherubim, and other creatures and spiritual beings that have not been revealed to us yet and most importantly, there is a God, who created all of this. Despite the intelligence of many in this world, the human race is not all knowing or as wise as some want to believe. Just think of the “food chain”- the rank that exists in nature, we are part of a rank as well, different than the food chain. I don’t know where we rank relative to other beings in the universe, but since angels and demons can travel back and forth and we can’t, that may indicate we don’t rank that high compared with all that exists.

The hardest aspect to comprehend is God, probably because we don’t know anyone or any thing that has “no beginning and no end, is omnipresent, all knowing”- again we have limited knowledge, limited comprehension. It is hard to comprehend a divine Person who created everything, because we didn’t see it happen and haven’t seen God. That’s an obvious reason why many “logically” don’t believe this.

WHAT CAUSED THIS WAR

We aren’t given all the details, but there was a rebellion in heaven by Satan, by name, and some of the angels who began to think they were as good or better than their Creator. God had blessed them with beauty, limited power and limited knowledge (in comparison, more knowledge than the human race has) and they evidently felt they had the ability to be as good as, to compete with, or be better than God. We can easily see this reality in our everyday life if we think about our business world: we have creators of a product or service and we have people who help the creators. Some of those people who help the creator begin to think they can do something better (sometimes they can and other times it’s not as good as the original) but they venture out on their own. Same concept, but there is much more to gain when we are talking about the level of God and His Kingdom. Satan was given limited authority over the air and the earth, I’m not sure if this was before or after the rebellion; but it would make more logical sense if this authority was given before the rebellion, when Satan was in God’s good grace. Satan apparently didn’t start out evil, but something happened: pride occurred. In this rebellion, Satan is attempting to take away or gain a following from God’s created children, probably out of revenge, proving his ability to do this to God. Historically, Satan has been, and will be successful in doing this with many people, but not all.

THE ULTIMATE PLAN

God creates everything that is good and has good intentions for it, but when He gave “choice” to the beings He created not every thing or everyone chooses to love Him back, obey Him or recognize their “rank” in the Universe. God is going to get rid of everything that has turned bad, that doesn’t love Him, that doesn’t want to obey Him, that doesn’t recognize their rank. God created the universe with an order in His design and that order will prevail, despite efforts by any other being. Only God knows the timeline for this because he designed it. He has a new kingdom that will be revealed in the future, it will be on Earth (but it will be a new earth; this existing earth will be destroyed) and He will live among the people in His kingdom; but none of those who turn against Him will be part of it.

THE HISTORY

In the beginning, God was both physically (walking in the garden) and spiritually here interacting with humans, but when sin occurred, He could no longer be physically present and the earth was cursed at that point. That’s something else which is hard to comprehend: the law surrounding Holiness: not being able to be present where sin exists. Only God knows why He made the law this way. Perhaps this was part of the knowledge Satan had from being in God’s presence: if Satan created sin, God couldn’t be present and Satan could gain influence and rule?

Without God’s physical presence it obviously was a challenge for people to believe He exists and since the earth was cursed once sin was present, everything on earth was then under the influence of Satan. Other beings in heaven that rebelled against God came to earth too. In fact there is a very brief mention of this in the bible; these beings came from heaven because they became infatuated with, lusted after some women on earth. They had physical connections with these women producing children called Nephilim. There is a book of Enoch that is not certified as completely without error or incorporated into the bible, but IF this part is true, the angels who rebelled against God, took some of the knowledge they had and taught humans- that is where astrology originated and much of the occult. The bible is very specific about astrology being something bad that God does not want the human race to get involved with, it actually separates us from God. Just think about that, doesn’t this all make logical sense now?

Because the world was getting so corrupted by this and filled with sin, God decided to flood the earth, and destroy the majority of life, saving only a small portion of humans (those God determined were the most obedient to Him) and animals, and there was an opportunity, a new beginning for humans once again. In the beginning of the human race, people had much longer lives (hundreds of years), but after seeing the bad choices and sinful nature of humans, God changed the average life span to 120 years. After this “cleaning up” of the world through the flood, God promised the survivors He would never do that again and as a symbol of this promise for people to remember, He created the rainbow which appears after rain.

Due to the law surrounding holiness not being able to be in the presence of sin. God had to use other means to reach people, so He did. He used other people (prophets, and those who had faith and believed in Him) to reveal Himself, through miracles, supernatural events, letting people know that He truly exists, even though they don’t see Him. Remember this is part of a spiritual war, as it has been from the beginning: Satan is trying to take people away from God, gain them for Satan’s purpose. Both Satan and God use people who are willing to be used. This is where we only have two options: either we are being used by God, or we are being used by Satan. This is the participation we can’t avoid. From history, we see that despite these supernatural events, people were still skeptical and didn’t believe. Satan has much more influence in a cursed earth environment and easily manipulates people through money, greed, lust, perversion, pride and self-centeredness. None of these things have any value at the end of history, but somehow people are blinded by the deception, perceived value. We are not the most intelligent beings created! Satan uses temptation, lures people into thinking they are getting something of great value, for people only to be disappointed after a period of time. One of the supernatural events God used was giving Moses the 10 commandments (a collection of 10 rules that God wants His people to live by); people still didn’t keep them. Within a very short time, people were back to their sinful ways.

Finally God sent his son, Jesus to be a physical presence here on earth, interact with people, do supernatural things and fulfill in real life the events that the prophets told people about, so that this information would be believed. Still some people didn’t believe, but others did. Jesus told those who believed, he wanted them to spread this information to others, to save the others. When Jesus was here, he gave insight into the heavens and tried to give humans a better understanding of God, God’s nature, God’s expectations, God’s plans and to let people know how they will be able to be a part of God’s future kingdom, when Jesus returns again. This continues today, in an effort to save people.

WHY BAD THINGS HAPPEN

One misconception that people have is that if we are “good” nothing bad will happen to us. That is not true, unfortunately the earth has been cursed and there are two reasons bad things will happen to us: spiritual warfare (Satan’s power against God’s people) or a consequence of our sin. God does give blessings to his people and God will use the spiritual warfare to make us better people. He turns something bad into something good and promises us even more in the future. God stays true to His word. He is trustworthy.

HOW WE CAN BE A PART OF GOD’S FUTURE KINGDOM (A NEW EARTH AND HEAVENS)

  1. Seek God. Learn about the bible, study the bible, pray/talk to God, ask God to reveal Himself to you. Pray as often as you can.

2. Make a decision, but don’t take this decision lightly, because your intention matters: Are you willing to surrender to God and let God lead you? This means a willingness to give up the “valuable” things in this world, which are ultimately meaningless in the eternal world, but are very valuable to people in this world. A willingness to make God your priority, your #1 priority. A willingness to admit ‘I don’t know it all, I need God to provide. Admitting it when we are living differently than how God wants us to live and then committing to change that. A willingness to trust God. A willingness to let God use you, to serve God in some way with your abilities and help others. A willingness to accept God’s commands and do your best to obey them, knowing you won’t be perfect, but that you will keep trying. A willingness to put others first, rather than yourself. The honest intent is what matters, if you’re afraid you can’t do all these things, don’t be afraid of that, God will help you; you just have to be WILLING and give it to God. God has seen throughout history how hard it is for humans to be “good” he knows it’s impossible, and that is the main reason Jesus first came to earth: to save us (He became the required sacrifice to release Satan’s hold on us) when he was crucified, died on the cross and was the first to be resurrected (given a supernatural humanlike body, but better). That supernatural body is what all who surrender to God will be given in the future, because of Jesus. And we will be living with God in eternity, doing things/enjoying a NEW physical life on the new earth, not just floating around “in heaven” as some imaginations/teachings may have you thinking.

3. Get baptized. This is symbolic, but Jesus said it was required (baptism of the Holy Spirit) to gain eternal life and get this supernatural body. It symbolizes a “rebirth”: a death to our sinful natural self (old ways) and a new life (living according to God’s commands) This is where “born again” got its name, from a conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus.

4. Ask for the Holy Spirit. God’s spirit is what enables a person to be resurrected and live in eternity. When you have God’s spirit residing in you, you will know you are saved. You will feel like a different person, and the following character traits in you will be seen by others: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. God will be working within you. God’s spirit also give you courage, strength and power. We will need all these things to make it, endure until we are in God’s future eternal Kingdom.

5. Remain connected to God by prayers. The bible is also a way that God can communicate with us; so reading and studying the bible has many purposes: teaching, letting us know right vs wrong, correcting and training people in God’s ways.

I hope this makes a positive difference in your life! If you think this might be valuable to someone, please share it. Thank you.

by Categories: FAITH, God, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Love, Make It Count, priorities, RELATIONSHIPS, Sex, WellnessTags: , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

God Revealing or Strange Coincidence?

“Interesting” things seem to keep happening to me and it makes me wonder, is this God revealing, communicating through scripture, or strange coincidences? I’ve been telling people close to me about these occurrences when they happen, but I may start writing about them since they seem so frequent lately and if it’s only a strange coincidence, then it’s entertaining/intriguing (at least to me, maybe to someone else?).

Earlier this week, I opened up to a random page in the Bible after praying that God “speaks to or shows” me something from the Bible when I read it. If I don’t make an immediate connection, sometimes I think it’s meant for someone else possibly? This is how I often decide what I post on my “Faith” Instagram account when I don’t have a topic on my mind as soon as I wake up in the morning. As I was reading, my dog hops onto the couch, right next to me and puts his paw on the Bible. I just thought he looked cute, so I took a picture and laughed at him, then sent the picture to a few people I’m close to, who know this dog’s funny personality and might laugh. Here’s the picture:

This was one text response I received (posted with permission):

(Message about the picture I texted)

So that was on Monday, I thought nothing of it, didn’t make a connection with anything, but read it wondering what significance it might have, if any? Tuesday was busy, I ended work at 8 pm and then caught up on “news,” which was informative, but discouraging at the same time. I found a few Instagram accounts posting current events and pointing out biblical connections when appropriate, so I followed those accounts because I’ve been noticing some of that on my own (when I was reading “prophecies” in the Bible and started seeing current world events relating to them) so this would be interesting to me to see what they find. After that, I decided I had enough for the day and went to bed; I was exhausted.

Wednesday morning after I opened to a random page and posted the scripture from it like usual, I looked through the feed on my faith account. (I only follow the accounts of people or entities that I learn something from, or who have contributed to my growth in learning more about Christianity on my faith account.) The accounts I follow are “resources” that I’ve found in alignment with what I found in the Bible, not any particular denomination, more of a variety, with the exception of the “news” sources I just recently followed. Anyway, in the Instagram feed I saw a recent discovery by Israeli archaeologists with the inscription: ‘Jerubbaal’ believed to be from about 3,100 years ago and reading further the post states “after he broke down the altar of Baal”. This triggered my memory: I just read about that: it was in the picture with my dog! So of course I had to let the person I was texting with know about this update after we had been joking/laughing about me “being shown” something while reading the Bible! (Even though this does happen; I didn’t think this was one of those times.) But this gets even more personal later…

First, here is what I saw in the feed:

So this is the scripture my dog was covering:

So that connection was worth exploring more now: the photo with my dog was in the book of Kings, not Judges, but part of the account was about the Baal Temple destruction. Then I noticed “Joash” in the title of the next chapter, Chapter 11. I wondered, how many Joash are in the Bible? Is Joash, the son of Gideon mentioned by the archaeologist the same as this Joash? So I looked that up too: here’s what I found. There certainly appears to be a connection, even though it’s not the same book from the Bible. So the person I was texting with said, I just searched Baal and this popped up: The Largest Baal Worship Service on the Planet is in America. Of course I had to read that article because when we read the Bible about stuff like this (worship of idols/false gods) we always think, that was back then, people don’t do this now! Well this article hits even more personally to me as I read it further. In reading this, I am acknowledging: this is someone’s opinion, but at the same time, this is eerie too! Here is a factual account of this event (link).

Next is how it becomes personal to me: if you’ve been following my blog, or if not, you can even go back and look at prior posts, in 2017, I decided to “Surrender to God” (which for me meant praying every day, but I didn’t really change my lifestyle too much at first). I noticed shortly after I “surrendered” all sorts of “bad” things started happening to me, then “good” things, then “bad”, then “good” again. It was like wave after wave and it was tough. Anyway, in 2017, I was in this “baby stage” as a Christian, probably our most vulnerable time, in hindsight. And I also think this was the start of God testing my faith but also revealing things too and disciplining me. If you read my posts from 5 years ago you will see this. In 2017, I was always going somewhere and one of the events I happened to go to was an art festival with music (one of my favorite hobbies): “Burbs Music and Art Festival”…here are links to the photos from my personal Instagram account taken in August 2017, the same month and year of that linked article above (scary):

UFO by Gateway Burners, local chapter of Burning Man

Gateway Burners

Burbs Music and Art Festival

Burbs Music and Art Festival 2

Burbs Music and Art Festival 3

Burbs Music and Art Festival 4

When I realized the connection to Burning Man and Baal Worship after reading the article, I initially thought: I’m going to delete those posts! But then I reconsidered: we can’t change the past, I went completely ignorant to what was talked about in that author’s opinion, I was intrigued by the art and music festival. If the festival happened again, I wouldn’t go because of that article I read, which makes me question all of it. But it also made me think about all the “subliminal” things we are exposed to unknowingly. It also made me wonder how many other people are “innocent” to this in participating and what influence, if any this has on our lives? From the bible we are told we are the subjects of “spiritual warfare” It really makes me think, maybe we shouldn’t be so naïve to this? Maybe we shouldn’t brush this off as “meaningless, unimportant, not impactful?” Do we really know? Jesus told his followers they couldn’t understand earthly things he was trying to tell them about, so how could he tell them about the spiritual world, despite the fact that his followers actually witnessed demonic possessions in their travels along with miracles and healing. Because of all of this, I tend to think there very well could be subtle spiritual deception in our lives working for a greater purpose later on. Again, I think it’s good to be aware of this, don’t be “blind” to this. There are blatant things happening in our world right now that are completely against God. How we live is a personal choice we make, and this is between God and each of us; no one should judge anyone else because we honestly don’t know everything. But we should have a clear conscience with God about how we are living our lives, if we don’t, it may be the reason for a personal change, if we choose God’s Kingdom.

Also this morning, while getting ready, I listened to Tim Keller’s Gospel in Life: The Robber’s House (another good one!) when he said: as Christians we are either “all in” or “all out” it made me think about that statement in relation to how I live my life. He’s right. Jesus had that warning to one of the churches in Revelation, about people being “lukewarm” and if they didn’t change he was about to figuratively “spit them out” or “extinguish their lampstand.” It gave me much to think about today.

So what do you think about all these events? Is God communicating or is this a strange coincidence?

by Categories: American, Entertainment, Face Fear, FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP, God, HAPPINESS, Improvement, Love, Make It Count, MUSIC, priorities, RELATIONSHIPS, Sex, WellnessTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments