Thinking about God, Jesus and The Big Questions

Until last night, I was always puzzled by this particular scripture: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God Matthew 5:8 This verse always seemed very generic to me.  What was it really saying, if anything? I figured it had to be saying something important, as these words were spoken directly by Jesus as part of the beatitudes during his famous Sermon on the Mount.  Last night I arrived at the answer, but from the reverse perspective.  I wasn't even thinking about this scripture at the time.  In fact, I had been contemplating the nature of forgiveness.  I had come to the conclusion that forgiving a fellow human is critical for one's relationship with God.  This is because holding onto feelings of anger and resentment will surely cause a barrier to communicating with God.  I realized that if I constantly held anger and resentment toward someone who had hurt me, it was equivalent to saying that I was choosing the negat...

A frequent complaint by atheists (and some Christians too!) is the question of if God is real, why doesn't He reveal himself more clearly and easily?  This is an intriguing question.  One part of the answer seems to come from God, another from us.   Let's look at God's part first.  Evidently, he doesn't wish to make himself visible to us easily.  Is this because he wanted us to have as much Free Will as possible? Or is it because we are too sinful to handle the sight of him? Or is it because (after the fall of Adam and Eve), we we are living in enemy-occupied territory - which surely cannot be a pleasing environment for him? On the other hand, recall that he sent his only son Jesus to live among us sinners (and not only to live among us for a time, but to die and rise again so that we may live). So while the current Earth is an abhorrent and sinful environment, it cannot be the sole reason that God doesn't reveal himself to us readily.  A clue i...

A period of worldwide suffering will occur at the End of Days just prior to the return of Jesus.  This suffering is due at least in part to oppressive governance that will occur here on earth and a dire economic situation  at that time.  Yet, there will be plenty of physical suffering that is additional to this.  Just a few of the many Bible verses describing the end of days say: Another horse came out, a red one.  Its rider was given the power to bring war on the earth, so that people would kill each other.  He was given a large sword. Revelation 6:4 I looked, and there was a pale-colored horse.  Its rider was named Death, and Hades followed close behind.  They were given authority over a quarter of the earth, to kill by means of war, famine, disease and wild animals. Revelation 6:8 Then those who are in Judea must run away to the hills.  Someone who is on the roof of a house must not take the time to go down and get any belongings ...

The Mary and Martha scripture is one which many people frequently find difficult to understand.  I was one of those people, until I heard a good sermon about it which was explained in a way that was easy to grasp.  Here is the Bible reading below: As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10: 38-42 Many people find it very easy to identify themselves with Martha in this scripture. After all, if Jesus came to your ...

Almost everyone has seen someone, or a group of people, do works in the name of God or Jesus which don't fit with the teachings of the Bible. The best way to describe these works is that they would not be consistent with a natural outpouring of faith in the form of works. Sometimes it is the aim of the work that is at odds with the Biblical teachings; other times it is not the aim but the way in which it is carried out that is inconsistent with God's teachings.  In either case, the root of this is usually the person's 'preconceived' view of God rather than really getting to know God by reading the Bible. This observation raises a very important question: how do we know whether our works are consistent (or inconsistent) with God's desires? Are our works are in line with God's plans for us? There were so many different types of 'big' things that happened in the Bible that were clearly consistent with God's desires (like Noah building an ark)...

Earlier, we found out about misguided works in Misguided Works Part 1: How Do We Know These?   Here, we'll find out what happens to the misguided works of someone who mistakenly but genuinely believes that these are God's desires.  At first this may seem like a complex theological question.  Misguided works surely cannot please God, but would he be pleased by the reverence and desire to serve that is evident in the person's heart? Fortunately, this question of what happens to such works has a direct answer to it from the Bible in the book of 1 Corinthians, which was written by the apostle Paul : For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, c...