Thinking about God, Jesus and The Big Questions

Human leaders are just as fallible as we ourselves are. We should not place our hope in human leaders. Instead we should place our hope and trust in God. God is so much better in all ways than any human leader. This passage of Psalms expresses this very clearly: Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.  Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God Psalms 146: 3-5 If you found this post interesting, you might also like these related posts on this blog: We should never swear anything on the Bible, even in a court of law Our leaders are imperfect. Even the best leader pales in comparison to Jesus. How to know the difference between God's plan and foolhardiness? God is not a crazy stalker. He will not inflict himself upon us. He lets us choose

Despite all of the bad things that are happening in the word, we do have the power to choose our own thoughts.  Yes, it's true that it's really hard to choose positive thoughts when we are busy, or have a lot of responsibilities, or deal with a lot of stress daily. But choosing positive thoughts is a habit we need to start if we haven't already.  If we instead decided to wait until the "perfect day" for those thoughts, when we are on vacation with no responsibilities.... hold on, that sort of thing doesn't exist! Exactly. We are responsible for choosing positive thoughts even in situations when it's easier not to . The Holy Spirit dwells within us, and wouldn't it be wonderful to let the Holy Spirit reside in a place that is beautiful on the inside?  If it's a mess of worry (and yes, I've been there, and sometimes keep going there!) then won't it be a little hard for us to hear the Holy Spirit? And wouldn't it be hard for the Holy Spiri...

In the Bible, it is made clear that Jesus will come to earth a second time. That time will not be as a sacrifice, as he did when he died on the cross the first time he was on earth. What will the second time look like? It is clear from the description in the Bible that it will be a cosmic event. Let's take a look. In the passage below from the book of Luke, it is Jesus himself speaking to the people: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke21: 25-28 From the description above, it seems that some cosmic event is clearly indicated at the time of the second co...

I was reading the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. You can read the full parable in Matthew 16: 19-31. There, a rich man who feasted each day did not share even scraps with a poor man called Lazarus who was hungry. They eventually both died, and the poor man went to heaven and the rich man to Hades (hell).  There, the rich man was in agony and asked Abraham in heaven to relieve him, but Abraham said there was a great chasm between the two places so it was not possible. Then the rich man pleaded to Abraham to at least send Lazarus to the rich man's father's house to warn his five brothers so that they would not wind up in hell. Let's examine what happens next: Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” Matthew...

A major question for most Christians is "How do I know if I'm doing God's plan under the protection of God, or going against His plan and protection?" In all times, but especially in Covid times, this is a question many people grapple with.  There are many examples in the Bible where God has made a plan and revealed it to a person or group of people, who can choose to either go with God's plan or not.  Going with God's plan offers His divine protection during the plan. By contrast, going one's own way does not offer this divine protection, because no protection is needed since the person isn't participating in the plan. Being unprotected does not necessarily mean the person will drop dead there and then, but it means they will be much more susceptible to attacks from Satan. One example of both aspects of this situation is when the Israelites went out of Egypt. The Israelites spied out the land which God had made it clear that it was his will to be thei...

 I was reading Deuteronomy and was struck by the following verse: The Lord will scatter you among the peoples; only a few of you will be left among the nations where the Lord will lead you. There you will serve other gods made by human hands, objects of wood and stone that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul. Deuteronomy 4: 27 - 29 This says that those living in secular societies, or in societies who worship other gods, still will find the one true God if they search for him with all their heart and soul. Note that it does NOT say that they just have to sit back and do nothing and then God will come to them. It says they will find him if they search after him with all their heart and soul . This means that God will not just ignore someone truly seeking him. He will not simply leave them to their own devices.  On the other hand, if someone isn't truly se...

“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.  Matthew 5: 33-37 This Bible verse above is the clearest instruction from God that we should never swear anything on the Bible. The words in the verse are Jesus speaking, so we know for sure that this is something God instructed. Yet, many court systems around the world ask witnesses to swear on the Bible. However, many of these courts also have alternative options to be sworn in that are available, such as an oath of affirmation to tell the truth. These alternative options do not involve the B...

At the end of times, Jesus will come again. It will be sudden when it happens. Here are some scriptures about this event: “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for th...

I've written before about why we should still enjoy today even when we know there is a difficult time coming up . Here is another way of looking at the same thing. Suppose someone nice gave you a glass of delicious lemonade every day. Then you learned that a mean person was going to take away one of those lemonades next week and leave you a glass of horrible-tasting kale juice that day instead. Suppose that you were so worried about the kale juice that you just couldn't enjoy today's lemonade, or tomorrow's either. In fact, you weren't planning on enjoying any of the lemonade until after the kale juice day had been and gone. Isn't that a little bit ridiculous? The lemonade is still being given to you by someone who loves you, so why not enjoy it on the days that it is there? On the kale juice day, sure, you don't need to be excited about the kale juice. But don't let the actions of a mean person stop you from enjoying the gift a good person has given to ...

There were scholars long ago in Biblical times. Scholars are not a new modern-day thing. Of course, scholars were rarer back then, since there were not many equivalents of universities. Let's look at some of the most well-known scholars of Biblical times: the three wise men who went in search of Jesus. It seems that these men were scholars of some sort, most likely astronomers. They had taken note of a new star that had appeared in the sky: Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the l...

The question of knowing whether something unusual is God's plan, or is foolhardiness, is not always easy. For those to whom God or an angel spoke directly, it was probably pretty clear. One example of being spoken to by God or an angel is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Another is Moses when he was told to lead the people out of Egypt. But in our lives, it's not always easy to know when we're solidly in God's plan, or if the unusual thing we might be doing is foolhardiness. Even when we have prayed about it, it's not always easy to be 100% certain about it. Did we misunderstand? Did we hear wrongly? Did we only think we heard something a certain way but really it wasn't that? It's not always as easy as hearing a loud voice that we identify clearly as the Lord's. It sure would be great if we could be certain 100% of the time! Of course, many people have heard God's voice incredibly clearly and with certainty - not just in Biblical days, but today too. One...

God still wanted to be with us, even though we are sinners. Let's take a look at when Moses led the people out of Egypt. As they trekked through the desert, God gave instructions to Moses: And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exodus 25: 8 I was struck by how amazing that was. God didn't say "well, I'll keep a good distance away from these crazy sinners of humans." Instead he told Moses to make him a sanctuary so that God might dwell among us. Among us?! That's amazing that He would want to do that! He is perfect and we are not, yet he still desires to be with us. This is why He made a path for us to be with him in heaven through Jesus. That way, we can be with Him. Yet He wanted people to choose this path freely. God did not force us to accept the sacrifice Jesus made. This is why it is so important to make our own choice about this. Don't wait until it's too late! If you found this post interesting, you may also like thes...

We've all heard about people who didn't believe Covid-19 would affect them. They thought "it's not real", or "it's no big deal." Some of these people put themselves at extra risk of catching it by having close contact with others. Some of these naysayers died from a disease that they just didn't believe in. This tragic situation is not all that different from when someone doesn't believe in God and Jesus. The only difference is that the consequences for not believing in God and Jesus are a much bigger deal. Covid-19 only has power over the physical body, but not the soul. God has power over your soul. Is Covid-19 any less real if you don't believe in it? Is Jesus? If you are not sure, why not pray? You can do this by yourself if you want. Ask Him if He is there. Listen carefully.  If you found this post interesting, you may also like these related posts on this blog: Why doesn't God reveal himself more easily? Why the coro...

The coronavirus Covid-19 has caused major problems all around the world. The pandemic has caused sickness and death. Besides that, it has caused economic mayhem. Does this mean that end times are upon us? No, and here is why. The Bible clearly says that there are going to be a number of signs showing end times. One of these is that Greece will go to war against Persia and Medea (modern-day Iran) . In this war, Greece will win. Here is the reading from the Bible that shows this: In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me at first. In the vision I was looking and saw myself in Susa the capital, in the province of Elam, and I was by the river Ulai. I looked up and saw a ram standing beside the river. It had two horns. Both horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up second. I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. All beasts were powerless to with...

I was reading Ezekiel today, and it was about personal responsibility. I think it is good to remember that we are responsible for our decisions and for our relationship to the Lord. Although that sounds a little grim at first, it's a good thing to remember when life seems complicated and overwhelming. God is not going to judge you for the sins of your parents. If you are Christian, you are saved through Jesus for your own sins. Your parents' sins were never your responsibility. Let's take a look at that verse: The Lord spoke to me and said, "What is this proverb people keep repeating in the land of Israel? 'The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.' "As surely as I am the living God," says the Sovereign Lord, "you will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more. The life of every person belongs to me, the life of the parent as well as that of the child. The person who sins is the one who will die. Ezekiel 18: 1 -...

Often, people today seeking for writings and advice of wisdom tend to look toward those who lived within the past 50 years or so. They look for wise men in that range, perhaps feeling that anything prior to that might be "out of touch". But let's take a look at our future: in another 100 years, will people still think of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Warren Buffet as intellectual giants? Will their names and their fame stand the test of time? Even if you think it's still possible they might still be heard of in another 100 years, how about in 500 years? 1000 years from now? How about 2000 or more? I doubt that any of these men, or for that matter any one of their contemporaries will even have been heard of 2000 years or more from today. Yet I can think of at least two who are truly visionary, truly wise, and their sayings and advice have proved to stand the test of time well beyond 2000 years. The first is Jesus, and the second is Solomon. There are others who are wise ...

One illusion that Satan would have you believe is that your past is something you need to dwell on, that it is right there at your heels, dogging your steps. Nothing could be further from the truth. I don't want to make light of the past. Especially in the cases where hurts have been done to us, perhaps big hurts during childhood, the emotional scarring is difficult. I'm not saying it isn't difficult, or that it shouldn't be. Yet, dwelling on the past and ruminating on it is not what God wants us to do . Think what better use of that same amount of time it would be if it were put toward worshiping God. Let's take a look at someone in the Bible who was a man of God and who experienced (through Satan's actions against him), a series of calamities so terrible that I'm sure it caused emotional scarring. This man was called Job. He was of good character and he happened to be wealthy. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was b...