"So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, 'Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?'"
-Matthew 27:17
In this season of Christmas, I've been trying to spend time reflecting on who the person of Jesus Christ is. It's so easy to get caught up gifts, friends, winter break, and movies (for me, anyway). The whole point of celebrating Christmas is to remember Jesus who was born as a gift for us. We are supposed to celebrate the salvation that came through Jesus Christ and the hope that He gave us when He was born. For some reason I've been thinking about the story of Jesus and Barabbas. Today I thought I would share some of my thoughts on this passage.
I'm sure most of you who read my blog already know the story of Jesus standing trial before Pilate, but it's always good to have context when studying anything in the Bible. Before Jesus actually is arrested and brought to trial, He is adored by crowds of people. He has been among the people for years; teaching them and healing them. However, the chief priests and elders find Jesus to be a threat to their social status, so they decide they want to kill Jesus. They are able to convince one of Jesus's disciples, Judas, to give them Jesus. Jesus is then arrested and taken to trial before Pilate.
As Jesus is standing trial, the very people who had been following Him began to falsely accuse Jesus. Jesus does not respond to any of their accusations, to Pilate's amazement. The people get more aggressive, and they start demanding that Jesus be crucified. Pilate knows that Jesus is an innocent man, yet he does not want to anger the demanding crowd and perhaps start a riot. In an attempt to please the crowd and release Jesus, Pilate offers the people a choice; the death of Jesus or the death of Barabbas.
Barabbas was a murderer and a violent man, and the people knew it too. Jesus was full of grace and truth, and He never hurt anyone. Barabbas deserved punishment for his crimes, and Jesus deserved respect from the people. However, the crowd was so riled up against Jesus that they chose Barabbas to be released and Jesus to die. Pilate still wants to release Jesus, so he tries to get the people to think rationally by asking, "why, what evil has He done?". The crowd at this point cannot be reasoned with, and they start chanting "crucify Him". Pilate finally gives in to the demands of the crowd, and hands Jesus over to be crucified.
So what can learned from this passage? One of the first things I always try to look at when studying a passage is how I can be like Jesus. Jesus was constantly accused by the people for things He had not done, yet He remained silent. Jesus wasn't angry at the people, He simply let them accuse Him and He even let them sentence Him to death instead of Barabbas. Perhaps we can learn to remain faithful to God even in times of distress. Or perhaps we can learn to bear the burdens of other people, as Jesus took the burden from Barabbas.
However, in this passage I think what we learn is not how we can be like Jesus, but what Jesus has done for us. I once heard in a message that in this passage, we are not like Jesus; we are actually like Barabbas. Think about the truth of that statement for a second. We have done nothing to help other people, and ultimately there is nothing we can do to save anyone's soul. Jesus has done all of the work on the cross, all we can do is lead others to Him. We are Barabbas; when we were condemned to death because of our sin, Jesus took our place. We were standing trial before God, "but God demonstrates His own love for us in this; that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)". It was not only the crowd that wanted Jesus on the cross, it was God's will also. God would rather send His own son to die than to allow us to suffer the consequences of our sin. That's the true story of Christmas.
-Smart
Ten Thanksgiving Topics
"In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
-1 Thessalonians 5:18
Thanksgiving was yesterday (as of writing), so I decided to share ten things I am thankful. Why should you read about what I am thankful for? The point is that hopefully you will learn more about me and are encouraged to think about what you are thankful for. I've written about Thanksgiving every year I've had this blog, so this year I thought I'd just share my personal thanksgiving topics. Here we go:
-1 Thessalonians 5:18
Thanksgiving was yesterday (as of writing), so I decided to share ten things I am thankful. Why should you read about what I am thankful for? The point is that hopefully you will learn more about me and are encouraged to think about what you are thankful for. I've written about Thanksgiving every year I've had this blog, so this year I thought I'd just share my personal thanksgiving topics. Here we go:
- I am thankful for my life. It's funny how often I forget to be thankful that I exist. God didn't have to create me, yet He chose to. There are billions of people in the world, and I'm blessed to be one of them. Simply existing seems like something very simple to be thankful for, yet I am thankful for it. However, even more than just existing, I'm thankful that I have life- life that comes from God.
- I am thankful for my youth. The older I get, the more I realize that I am blessed to be young. Age is such an interesting concept; the older you become, the more you realize how valuable youth is. I've seen myself change so much from my younger years, and most of that change has been for the better. Although I am not as young as I once was, I'm thankful that I am still a young person. I thank God that I have good health and energy to do things. Sadly, I do know this will not last forever, so I am thankful now.
- I am thankful for my family. My parents have spent so much time, effort and money to raise me and my brothers. Sometimes I try to imagine how much money they could have saved if they did not have to raise me, but I always fail. The amount of time, love, money, and effort they spent to raise me is incalculable. I am also thankful for my brothers, who bear with my many faults. They also are fun to hang out with every once in a while.
- I am thankful for my church. My church, UBF, is such a great place to be. Every time I go to church, I just feel so welcome and loved. The people there are great people who love each other and readily welcome anyone who attends our church. I really feel like I belong to my church, and I am so thankful for that. There are people of all ages, and it is always fun hanging out with the youth group and college group.
- I am thankful for my Bible teacher. My Bible teacher is awesome. Although we often don't meet because we are busy, every time we do meet I am blessed. Many times we will just chat about the Bible or just different topics on our minds. My Bible teacher is a great listener, and he always has good input to the things we end up talking about. I have really been blessed through my Bible studies with him.
- I am thankful for my country. People often say that America is great, and they are absolutely correct. The United States is a very developed country, and we get to enjoy many things that other people simply are not able to. Here in the US we are able to live very comfortable, which unfortunately doesn't happen all over the world. Although I am thankful for the privilege of living in a developed country, I do realize that living here often makes me forget that not everyone can live in this way.
- I am thankful for my job. The past summer, as I have mentioned before, I got my first job. It's definitely a struggle to keep up with work and put in my hours, but it definitely is worth it. Having a little bit of financial freedom has really made me grateful. I no longer have to keep bugging my parents for money, and I also can buy more things that I like. Even more than the money though, I am thankful that my job has taught me how to be patient.
- I am thankful for my blog. Having this blog is a great way for me to write out my many thoughts on different things. I remember that before having this blog, I often would have thoughts and forget them easily. Now that I am able to write down my thoughts, I can look back and remind myself of different things. Most of my blog posts are me simply writing about a topic that I have been thinking about, with no real structure to it. I also hope that this blog has encouraged you all that read it.
- I am thankful for my Bible. The Bible is a source of wisdom, knowledge, and life. Although I don't read the Bible as much as I should, I realize how true it is. It has so much wisdom to be learned in it, if I would just take the time to read it. The Bible also tells me who God is, and how great He is. I learn about how I should live my life, and how I can honor God. Reading the Bible is fundamental to growing in Christian faith, and I thank God for it.
- I am thankful for my God. What can I say about God that hasn't been said before? A hymn I recently heard again has a very good lyric about God's love- "Could we with ink, the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made; were every stalk, on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of God above, would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll, contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. (The Love of God)" That lyric pretty much sums out the vast love that God has for us. I am so thankful for God and His love.
Testimony
"He then answered, 'whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see."
-John 9:25
I've meaning to write this for a long time but I kept putting it off because of schoolwork and different things. My church has been learning about the Gospel of John, and I wanted to write about the story of the blind man who was healed (John 9). We had actually studied this passage many weeks ago, but again I hadn't gotten around to writing about it. Regardless, the passage is quite simple, but is a great reminder of how we should live. Jesus is passing through an area, and He sees a man who was blind from his birth. Jesus then spits on the ground, and puts the newly formed mud onto the man's eyes. Jesus then instructs the blind man to go to the Pool of Siloam and wash. After the man washes in the pool, he is completely healed from his blindness.
Obviously the healing of the blind man is an incredible miracle, but I want to focus on the man's response to his healing. When the man is healed, the Pharisees come and question his healing. They conclude that because the man was healed on the Sabbath day, the healer must be a sinner. The Pharisees continue to question the healed man, but the man's response never changes. The previously blind man insists that Jesus is a man of God because only a man of God could heal blindness. The Pharisees decide to just ignore the man and leave.
When Jesus heals us from our sin, our response should be one of thanks. In addition to thanking Jesus, we must give testimony to what He has done for us. The man who was healed of his blindness is a great example of this. He was not afraid to tell others of the great miracle that Jesus had done for him. Even against great opposition, the man still proclaimed that Jesus was a man of God. When Jesus healed the blind man, the man put his faith in Jesus. He wanted everyone to know that it was Jesus who healed Him, and continued to give his testimony to the Pharisees.
We learn that the Pharisees end up not listening to the healed man. Not everyone will listen when you give testimony to what Jesus has done in your life. However, we should not let this discourage us. If we truly believe that Jesus changed our lives and He is able to change lives, we must continue to testify of Him. We sometimes think of this as some kind of burden we have to carry, but it is actually a privilege. The blind man didn't testify about Jesus because he felt obligated to, he testified because he wanted to. He knew that Jesus had changed him, and he didn't hesitate to testify. We too must testify to others who Jesus is and what He has done for us.
-Smart
-John 9:25
I've meaning to write this for a long time but I kept putting it off because of schoolwork and different things. My church has been learning about the Gospel of John, and I wanted to write about the story of the blind man who was healed (John 9). We had actually studied this passage many weeks ago, but again I hadn't gotten around to writing about it. Regardless, the passage is quite simple, but is a great reminder of how we should live. Jesus is passing through an area, and He sees a man who was blind from his birth. Jesus then spits on the ground, and puts the newly formed mud onto the man's eyes. Jesus then instructs the blind man to go to the Pool of Siloam and wash. After the man washes in the pool, he is completely healed from his blindness.
Obviously the healing of the blind man is an incredible miracle, but I want to focus on the man's response to his healing. When the man is healed, the Pharisees come and question his healing. They conclude that because the man was healed on the Sabbath day, the healer must be a sinner. The Pharisees continue to question the healed man, but the man's response never changes. The previously blind man insists that Jesus is a man of God because only a man of God could heal blindness. The Pharisees decide to just ignore the man and leave.
When Jesus heals us from our sin, our response should be one of thanks. In addition to thanking Jesus, we must give testimony to what He has done for us. The man who was healed of his blindness is a great example of this. He was not afraid to tell others of the great miracle that Jesus had done for him. Even against great opposition, the man still proclaimed that Jesus was a man of God. When Jesus healed the blind man, the man put his faith in Jesus. He wanted everyone to know that it was Jesus who healed Him, and continued to give his testimony to the Pharisees.
We learn that the Pharisees end up not listening to the healed man. Not everyone will listen when you give testimony to what Jesus has done in your life. However, we should not let this discourage us. If we truly believe that Jesus changed our lives and He is able to change lives, we must continue to testify of Him. We sometimes think of this as some kind of burden we have to carry, but it is actually a privilege. The blind man didn't testify about Jesus because he felt obligated to, he testified because he wanted to. He knew that Jesus had changed him, and he didn't hesitate to testify. We too must testify to others who Jesus is and what He has done for us.
-Smart
Who are We? (Part 2)
"...being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus."
-Romans 3:24
My last blog post talked about the nature of human beings and the fact that we are spiritual beings. We know this because we do not treat each other simply as physical beings, and we do not treat ourselves as purely physical beings also. For example, we encourage one another not because our physical bodies need to be encouraged, but because encouragement lifts out spirit. We feel guilt when we hurt someone, we feel anger when someone hurts us, we feel sad when someone insults us. These feelings are our spiritual nature that God has given us.
Today I want to dive a little deeper into who we are. If we all agree that we are spiritual beings, the natural next question is the nature of our spirits. Are we naturally good or evil people? Why? According to the world's standards, a "good" person is one who follows the law, helps other people, and pays taxes (silly example but you get the point). An "evil" or "bad" person is precisely the opposite; one who breaks the law, and hurts others. However, if I were to ask people whether the nature of a human is good or evil, I bet that there would be no common answer. Some people would say good, others would say evil, and still others would say both.
The unfortunate reality is that we are evil beings. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". We are naturally evil and our inclinations are always to sin. We were created in order to have a relationship with God and to glorify Him, yet because of Adam's and consequently our sin, we broke that purpose. We no longer glorify God, but we live to glorify ourselves, and because of this our relationship with God is broken.
An interesting thing I heard while listening to a podcast by Ravi Zacharias is that everyone knows that they are not good, yet they are so quick to reject the idea that they are evil. We all know that we are not good people, yet our nature is to believe that we are. Our sinful nature says that if we do enough good things we can be "good", yet we know that are not. Without acknowledging that we are not good people, we can never accept ourselves and we will never give ourselves the chance to know the truth. Knowing who we are is an essential step in living in the way that we were intended to live.
Another effect of our evil nature is that we are broken and incomplete. We were never intended to rely on ourselves, but we reject the idea that we need someone to help us. If you want some evidence to this claim, just take a look a your life. How many times have you said that if you get this one thing, or this one job, or one boy/girlfriend that your life would be better? We think is this way but we know that these things can never satisfy our need for a fulfilled life. Nothing in this world can repair our broken lives.
Of course I cannot end without discussing what we are supposed to do knowing that we are evil and incomplete. Thankfully, there is a solution to our broken lives, and yes, I am talking about Jesus. Jesus Christ came into this world not to condemn us for rejecting Him and sinning against Him, but to restore our relationship with Him. He came because He knew that we are sinful and lost people, and He came to save us from sin. We cannot accept Jesus' offer for an eternal life if we cannot accept who we are. We are not people who can live on our own; we need someone to save us from our sin. That person is waiting for us with open arms.
-Smart
-Romans 3:24
My last blog post talked about the nature of human beings and the fact that we are spiritual beings. We know this because we do not treat each other simply as physical beings, and we do not treat ourselves as purely physical beings also. For example, we encourage one another not because our physical bodies need to be encouraged, but because encouragement lifts out spirit. We feel guilt when we hurt someone, we feel anger when someone hurts us, we feel sad when someone insults us. These feelings are our spiritual nature that God has given us.
Today I want to dive a little deeper into who we are. If we all agree that we are spiritual beings, the natural next question is the nature of our spirits. Are we naturally good or evil people? Why? According to the world's standards, a "good" person is one who follows the law, helps other people, and pays taxes (silly example but you get the point). An "evil" or "bad" person is precisely the opposite; one who breaks the law, and hurts others. However, if I were to ask people whether the nature of a human is good or evil, I bet that there would be no common answer. Some people would say good, others would say evil, and still others would say both.
The unfortunate reality is that we are evil beings. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". We are naturally evil and our inclinations are always to sin. We were created in order to have a relationship with God and to glorify Him, yet because of Adam's and consequently our sin, we broke that purpose. We no longer glorify God, but we live to glorify ourselves, and because of this our relationship with God is broken.
An interesting thing I heard while listening to a podcast by Ravi Zacharias is that everyone knows that they are not good, yet they are so quick to reject the idea that they are evil. We all know that we are not good people, yet our nature is to believe that we are. Our sinful nature says that if we do enough good things we can be "good", yet we know that are not. Without acknowledging that we are not good people, we can never accept ourselves and we will never give ourselves the chance to know the truth. Knowing who we are is an essential step in living in the way that we were intended to live.
Another effect of our evil nature is that we are broken and incomplete. We were never intended to rely on ourselves, but we reject the idea that we need someone to help us. If you want some evidence to this claim, just take a look a your life. How many times have you said that if you get this one thing, or this one job, or one boy/girlfriend that your life would be better? We think is this way but we know that these things can never satisfy our need for a fulfilled life. Nothing in this world can repair our broken lives.
Of course I cannot end without discussing what we are supposed to do knowing that we are evil and incomplete. Thankfully, there is a solution to our broken lives, and yes, I am talking about Jesus. Jesus Christ came into this world not to condemn us for rejecting Him and sinning against Him, but to restore our relationship with Him. He came because He knew that we are sinful and lost people, and He came to save us from sin. We cannot accept Jesus' offer for an eternal life if we cannot accept who we are. We are not people who can live on our own; we need someone to save us from our sin. That person is waiting for us with open arms.
-Smart
Who are We? (Part 1)
"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
-Romans 3:23
I realize that it has been almost a month since I have written on my blog, but I've been a bit busy with school. That being said, I started listening to the podcast titled "Let my People Think" by Ravi Zacharias. Ravi is an apologetic speaker and I really enjoy learning more about apologetics (in case you couldn't tell). If you don't know what apologetics is, it's defined as defending a position. It's almost exclusively used to refer to defending a religion through use of theology and reason. Today I want to talk about one important question that we should ask ourselves, "who are we?" This seems to be a very simple question, but not everyone would answer it in the same way.
To try to answer this question, I want to start off with the viewpoint of an atheist. Atheists believe that there is no God, and that everything can be explained by science in one way or another. Atheism has become much more popular than it used to be, due to a number of reasons I don't want to get into right now. If I were to ask an atheist "who are we?", or "what is a human", they would most likely answer with a scientific explanation. An answer may be that "we are just atoms", or that "we are just a biological thing".
I think even atheists would have to admit that those answers aren't quite complete. If we are just products of biology and evolution, how are we able to think? How are we able to feel? How do we have moral standards? In one of the podcast episodes, the speaker proposed a great and profound question- "if we are just biology, why is it wrong to treat each other as such?". If we're just a collection of atoms, what's wrong with hurting each other? Why is it wrong to mistreat each other?
It's my belief that we are not simply "biology". We have things within us that can't be explained with just "biology". We have morals, emotions, logical reasoning and intellect. Many Christians would call this our soul. Christians might answer the question of "who are we?" by saying we are a body with a soul. However, I would have to agree with Ravi Zacharias when he says that we are not a body with a soul, but a soul with a body. Our body is not the essence of who we are, our soul is. Our soul is who we really are, not our body. Your intellect, emotions, moral standard, character and personality are not part of your body, but your soul.
Why does having this view of who we are matter? Does it even make a difference if we are just a body or something more? Of course it does. Our soul is not something that can be explained in the context of this world. We're more than just flesh and blood, more than just biology. This is crucial to understand because it defines how we should live. We shouldn't just live only thinking of the body, but also the soul. In other words, we can't just focus on the physical, but also on the much more important spiritual.
-Smart
-Romans 3:23
I realize that it has been almost a month since I have written on my blog, but I've been a bit busy with school. That being said, I started listening to the podcast titled "Let my People Think" by Ravi Zacharias. Ravi is an apologetic speaker and I really enjoy learning more about apologetics (in case you couldn't tell). If you don't know what apologetics is, it's defined as defending a position. It's almost exclusively used to refer to defending a religion through use of theology and reason. Today I want to talk about one important question that we should ask ourselves, "who are we?" This seems to be a very simple question, but not everyone would answer it in the same way.
To try to answer this question, I want to start off with the viewpoint of an atheist. Atheists believe that there is no God, and that everything can be explained by science in one way or another. Atheism has become much more popular than it used to be, due to a number of reasons I don't want to get into right now. If I were to ask an atheist "who are we?", or "what is a human", they would most likely answer with a scientific explanation. An answer may be that "we are just atoms", or that "we are just a biological thing".
I think even atheists would have to admit that those answers aren't quite complete. If we are just products of biology and evolution, how are we able to think? How are we able to feel? How do we have moral standards? In one of the podcast episodes, the speaker proposed a great and profound question- "if we are just biology, why is it wrong to treat each other as such?". If we're just a collection of atoms, what's wrong with hurting each other? Why is it wrong to mistreat each other?
It's my belief that we are not simply "biology". We have things within us that can't be explained with just "biology". We have morals, emotions, logical reasoning and intellect. Many Christians would call this our soul. Christians might answer the question of "who are we?" by saying we are a body with a soul. However, I would have to agree with Ravi Zacharias when he says that we are not a body with a soul, but a soul with a body. Our body is not the essence of who we are, our soul is. Our soul is who we really are, not our body. Your intellect, emotions, moral standard, character and personality are not part of your body, but your soul.
Why does having this view of who we are matter? Does it even make a difference if we are just a body or something more? Of course it does. Our soul is not something that can be explained in the context of this world. We're more than just flesh and blood, more than just biology. This is crucial to understand because it defines how we should live. We shouldn't just live only thinking of the body, but also the soul. In other words, we can't just focus on the physical, but also on the much more important spiritual.
-Smart
Loss
"More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ..."
-Philippians 3:8
Some of you may already know, but recently I lost my grandfather. Today I attended his funeral with my family. This is the second funeral I have attended (that I can remember), the first being my grandmother's. My father and his siblings especially were distraught in this time because they had lost their father who had loved them so much. There were also many other people who knew my grandfather from various things, like church or folk dancing. This was a sad time for me as well because my grandfather was the only grandparent I really knew at all. My mother's parents died before I was even born, and my grandmother had Alzheimer's disease so I only ever really saw her in a nursing home.
No matter how prepared you may think you are to lose a loved one, you never are. My family all knew that my grandfather was sick and close to death, but his death still brought much sorrow. It's hard to lose something that you hold dear to yourself, especially when it's someone who has loved you as best as they could. However, nothing you do can stop someone from dying, because everyone dies eventually. This is just an unfortunate reality of life.
The good news is that there are many things in life that we can choose to give up. Often we don't want to give things up, but that's because we don't see the point. We think that losing these things we hold dear will make us feel upset and leave an emptiness in our heart. The reason we have this mindset is because we aren't looking at what we can gain from giving certain things up. If I offered you a million dollars and all you had to do was give me your shoes, you would not hesitate to give them up. This is a humorous example, but the point remains the same. We can choose to give things up and gain something worth so much more.
God is offering us a chance to live a blessed life, if we would just choose to give up certain things. God is asking us to give up our plans, our desires, our pride, and to simply trust in Him. The trade off is that we get to know the "surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus". Paul understood that he would have to suffer the loss of everything he had, but knowing Christ was worth the cost. Compared to knowing Christ, Paul considered everything he had to be worthless, even "rubbish". If we could just see the greatness of Christ, nothing would hold us back.
-Smart
-Philippians 3:8
Some of you may already know, but recently I lost my grandfather. Today I attended his funeral with my family. This is the second funeral I have attended (that I can remember), the first being my grandmother's. My father and his siblings especially were distraught in this time because they had lost their father who had loved them so much. There were also many other people who knew my grandfather from various things, like church or folk dancing. This was a sad time for me as well because my grandfather was the only grandparent I really knew at all. My mother's parents died before I was even born, and my grandmother had Alzheimer's disease so I only ever really saw her in a nursing home.
No matter how prepared you may think you are to lose a loved one, you never are. My family all knew that my grandfather was sick and close to death, but his death still brought much sorrow. It's hard to lose something that you hold dear to yourself, especially when it's someone who has loved you as best as they could. However, nothing you do can stop someone from dying, because everyone dies eventually. This is just an unfortunate reality of life.
The good news is that there are many things in life that we can choose to give up. Often we don't want to give things up, but that's because we don't see the point. We think that losing these things we hold dear will make us feel upset and leave an emptiness in our heart. The reason we have this mindset is because we aren't looking at what we can gain from giving certain things up. If I offered you a million dollars and all you had to do was give me your shoes, you would not hesitate to give them up. This is a humorous example, but the point remains the same. We can choose to give things up and gain something worth so much more.
God is offering us a chance to live a blessed life, if we would just choose to give up certain things. God is asking us to give up our plans, our desires, our pride, and to simply trust in Him. The trade off is that we get to know the "surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus". Paul understood that he would have to suffer the loss of everything he had, but knowing Christ was worth the cost. Compared to knowing Christ, Paul considered everything he had to be worthless, even "rubbish". If we could just see the greatness of Christ, nothing would hold us back.
-Smart
Asking God
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."
-Matthew 7:7
I've been meaning to write about this for a while now, but I've kept putting it off due to school and other things. The topic I want to discuss is asking God. There are many times in life where I had to make a decision, and without consulting God I would make them. It's very natural for us as people to try to make decisions based on our own knowledge. However, I don't believe God wants us to live in this manner, because relying on ourselves only brings trouble.
During a message, I heard a preacher talking about how he deals with his kids. When his kids would do something they should not have done, such as watch a bad movie, he would ask them a series of questions. The most interesting thing he would ask them is whether they asked to Holy Spirit about their choice. I thought this was very strange, and I'm sure most people would. The preacher wanted his children to understand how to live under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
I think we too should learn how to ask God about choices we have to make in life. Often it is easy for us to ignore God in order to suit our best interest. For example, when I had to choose classes, I didn't even think to ask God about it. I just chose the classes I thought would be best for me. God must find it funny that we think that way, because God knows us much better than we know ourselves. God not only knows what is best for us, and He also wants the best for us. Asking God is a simple thing we can do to honor Him, and help ourselves at the same time.
Many Christians would believe that it is important to obey God, but I would bet that most don't ask God about different things in their life. One of the best examples of this is "grey" areas in life, such as dating, drinking, etc. People don't ask God whether they should or should not do certain things, and claim that because the Bible does not explicitly say otherwise, they are justified in what they do. This mindset totally ignores that fact that God wants what is best for us. God loves us too much to allow us to indulge in things that will hinder us from loving Him back.
It's easy to ask God about difficult decisions in life, but not so easy to ask Him about things will feel strongly about. If we don't ask God, how will we know what He wants in our lives? Even if we are convinced that we are doing the right thing, God may feel otherwise. God doesn't lead us in certain ways so that He can control us, but so that He can bless us. In my life I know it is difficult to even remember to ask God what He wants, but I'm learning that it is critical. He is willing to bless us, if only we would ask.
-Smart (P.S. This didn't turn out quite as I expected)
-Matthew 7:7
I've been meaning to write about this for a while now, but I've kept putting it off due to school and other things. The topic I want to discuss is asking God. There are many times in life where I had to make a decision, and without consulting God I would make them. It's very natural for us as people to try to make decisions based on our own knowledge. However, I don't believe God wants us to live in this manner, because relying on ourselves only brings trouble.
During a message, I heard a preacher talking about how he deals with his kids. When his kids would do something they should not have done, such as watch a bad movie, he would ask them a series of questions. The most interesting thing he would ask them is whether they asked to Holy Spirit about their choice. I thought this was very strange, and I'm sure most people would. The preacher wanted his children to understand how to live under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
I think we too should learn how to ask God about choices we have to make in life. Often it is easy for us to ignore God in order to suit our best interest. For example, when I had to choose classes, I didn't even think to ask God about it. I just chose the classes I thought would be best for me. God must find it funny that we think that way, because God knows us much better than we know ourselves. God not only knows what is best for us, and He also wants the best for us. Asking God is a simple thing we can do to honor Him, and help ourselves at the same time.
Many Christians would believe that it is important to obey God, but I would bet that most don't ask God about different things in their life. One of the best examples of this is "grey" areas in life, such as dating, drinking, etc. People don't ask God whether they should or should not do certain things, and claim that because the Bible does not explicitly say otherwise, they are justified in what they do. This mindset totally ignores that fact that God wants what is best for us. God loves us too much to allow us to indulge in things that will hinder us from loving Him back.
It's easy to ask God about difficult decisions in life, but not so easy to ask Him about things will feel strongly about. If we don't ask God, how will we know what He wants in our lives? Even if we are convinced that we are doing the right thing, God may feel otherwise. God doesn't lead us in certain ways so that He can control us, but so that He can bless us. In my life I know it is difficult to even remember to ask God what He wants, but I'm learning that it is critical. He is willing to bless us, if only we would ask.
-Smart (P.S. This didn't turn out quite as I expected)
Paradigms
I watched the film "Lincoln" starring Daniel Day Lewis, directed by Steven Spielberg. It was an excellent portrayal of the struggles Abraham Lincoln had to go through to pass the thirteenth amendment to abolish slavery. He had to do some shady things as president to get support to pass this amendment. The main obstacle that Lincoln had to face was the fact that people did not think slavery was wrong. People in that time believed that black people were lesser than white people. African Americans were treated as property, and were unjustly forced into slavery.
It's interesting to look at different periods of time and to observe the trends. These days we hold the belief that all men (and women) are equal and that slavery in wrong. However, in Abraham Lincoln's time, people thought that there was nothing wrong with enslaving blacks. Therefore, Lincoln had to change the way people viewed slavery, which was very difficult to do because slavery was an accepted practice. People seriously believed that blacks were not equal to whites and that they deserved to be slaves.
Another shift in beliefs that has happened more recently is how people view Christianity. In previous times, Christianity was the dominant religion that people in the United States had. Being an Atheist was viewed as a bad thing, because Christianity was pretty much the norm. However, these days people are starting to move away from Christianity. Christians are being attacked for believing in what they believe, and Atheism is becoming the norm. People think that you have to be a fool or an idiot to believe in Christianity, but even more than that- it's becoming acceptable to say so.
I find that the movement towards Atheism is an unfortunate reality. People simply don't care about Christianity anymore, and think that those who follow Christ are not "keeping up with the times". Unfortunately, not all paradigm shifts are good, like the change of view on slavery. People are much more aggressive against Christians and Christian beliefs than they have been before. Personally, I believe that everyone should have the right to believe what they believe without being insulted. I don't think it's right to look down on someone because they don't believe what you believe. I think it's okay to tell them what you believe, but it's not okay to insult their beliefs.
So why are people moving against Christianity? I think one part of it is that we aren't representing what Christianity is. It's not supposed to be some religion, but a relationship with a Savior and Redeemer. We are called to be salt and light of this world, but we aren't. Salt changes the flavor of bland foods, and a light in a dark room cannot be ignored. In the same way, we should be changing the way people view Christ. Our lives should reflect the love of Christ, and our lives should not be ignored. How are you being salt and light?
-Smart
It's interesting to look at different periods of time and to observe the trends. These days we hold the belief that all men (and women) are equal and that slavery in wrong. However, in Abraham Lincoln's time, people thought that there was nothing wrong with enslaving blacks. Therefore, Lincoln had to change the way people viewed slavery, which was very difficult to do because slavery was an accepted practice. People seriously believed that blacks were not equal to whites and that they deserved to be slaves.
Another shift in beliefs that has happened more recently is how people view Christianity. In previous times, Christianity was the dominant religion that people in the United States had. Being an Atheist was viewed as a bad thing, because Christianity was pretty much the norm. However, these days people are starting to move away from Christianity. Christians are being attacked for believing in what they believe, and Atheism is becoming the norm. People think that you have to be a fool or an idiot to believe in Christianity, but even more than that- it's becoming acceptable to say so.
I find that the movement towards Atheism is an unfortunate reality. People simply don't care about Christianity anymore, and think that those who follow Christ are not "keeping up with the times". Unfortunately, not all paradigm shifts are good, like the change of view on slavery. People are much more aggressive against Christians and Christian beliefs than they have been before. Personally, I believe that everyone should have the right to believe what they believe without being insulted. I don't think it's right to look down on someone because they don't believe what you believe. I think it's okay to tell them what you believe, but it's not okay to insult their beliefs.
So why are people moving against Christianity? I think one part of it is that we aren't representing what Christianity is. It's not supposed to be some religion, but a relationship with a Savior and Redeemer. We are called to be salt and light of this world, but we aren't. Salt changes the flavor of bland foods, and a light in a dark room cannot be ignored. In the same way, we should be changing the way people view Christ. Our lives should reflect the love of Christ, and our lives should not be ignored. How are you being salt and light?
-Smart
Change
"And He said: 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.'"
-Matthew 18:3
As I mentioned earlier I have a job working at a technology store. I find it strange when people pay for computers in cash, but it does happen from time to time. Whenever someone pays in cash, the amount is almost never the exact amount of the computer. Therefore the person expects to receive change. After all, they did pay for more than the computer is worth, so I have to give them the leftover balance. So why am I talking about change? Today I want to discuss change that comes from knowing Jesus.
Suppose there are two men who are exactly the same. One man lives a normal life, just as many do in this world. Now say that the other man gets into a car crash and loses a leg. His life is now changed, even though otherwise he is exactly the same as the first man. However, because of this one life incident, he can no longer have a normal life as the first man did. He can't jump, run, or play soccer, and he has to live in a wheel chair. This man now has to live a changed life.
When we meet Jesus, our life isn't supposed to be the same. Imagine that if at the technology store I refused to give a customer their change. That would be ridiculous and I would probably get fired. Or imagine that if the man that lost his leg expects to live a life that is completely the same as everyone else. That would be a ridiculous proposition, because this man can no longer do tasks that normal people can do. Just the same, God doesn't expect us to be the same as other people, our encounter with Jesus is supposed to change us. Jesus paid for us with His life, and He expects that we reflect His life.
Why can people "meet" Jesus and still not be changed? This is a great question which I heard the answer to in a message on the radio. The answer is in the form of a story. Jesus is preoccupied in a city, with people surrounding Him and asking Him for His help. He then stops, and asks "who touched my garments"? The disciples are confused, because there are many people who are touching Jesus in the crowd they are in. A woman reveals that she touched Jesus because she wanted to be healed.
There were many people who encountered and touched Jesus that day, but not all of them were changed. In fact, only one of them was changed; the woman. She had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had went to every doctor to try to resolve her problem. None of the doctors were able to fix her, and she ran out of options for healing. When she no longer could expect help from people, she looked to Jesus for her help. As she touched Jesus cloak, she was healed from her hemorrhage and could life a changed life.
So what was different about the woman compared to the crowd? The woman touched the edge of Jesus' cloak. What does that mean? This means that she must have been low to the ground, implying that she was humble before Jesus. As I said before, she had ran out of options for healing. The only person she could put her hope in was Jesus. The crowd was not as desperate and as humble as this woman was. She understood that she could be changed by Jesus and Jesus alone. She no longer had any faith in anything else. We too must humble ourselves and place our complete faith in Jesus. We can't expect to be changed if we are still relying on ourselves or on any human means. We have to empty ourselves of our pride, get on our knees, and then meet with Jesus- only then can we be changed.
-Smart
-Matthew 18:3
As I mentioned earlier I have a job working at a technology store. I find it strange when people pay for computers in cash, but it does happen from time to time. Whenever someone pays in cash, the amount is almost never the exact amount of the computer. Therefore the person expects to receive change. After all, they did pay for more than the computer is worth, so I have to give them the leftover balance. So why am I talking about change? Today I want to discuss change that comes from knowing Jesus.
Suppose there are two men who are exactly the same. One man lives a normal life, just as many do in this world. Now say that the other man gets into a car crash and loses a leg. His life is now changed, even though otherwise he is exactly the same as the first man. However, because of this one life incident, he can no longer have a normal life as the first man did. He can't jump, run, or play soccer, and he has to live in a wheel chair. This man now has to live a changed life.
When we meet Jesus, our life isn't supposed to be the same. Imagine that if at the technology store I refused to give a customer their change. That would be ridiculous and I would probably get fired. Or imagine that if the man that lost his leg expects to live a life that is completely the same as everyone else. That would be a ridiculous proposition, because this man can no longer do tasks that normal people can do. Just the same, God doesn't expect us to be the same as other people, our encounter with Jesus is supposed to change us. Jesus paid for us with His life, and He expects that we reflect His life.
Why can people "meet" Jesus and still not be changed? This is a great question which I heard the answer to in a message on the radio. The answer is in the form of a story. Jesus is preoccupied in a city, with people surrounding Him and asking Him for His help. He then stops, and asks "who touched my garments"? The disciples are confused, because there are many people who are touching Jesus in the crowd they are in. A woman reveals that she touched Jesus because she wanted to be healed.
There were many people who encountered and touched Jesus that day, but not all of them were changed. In fact, only one of them was changed; the woman. She had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had went to every doctor to try to resolve her problem. None of the doctors were able to fix her, and she ran out of options for healing. When she no longer could expect help from people, she looked to Jesus for her help. As she touched Jesus cloak, she was healed from her hemorrhage and could life a changed life.
So what was different about the woman compared to the crowd? The woman touched the edge of Jesus' cloak. What does that mean? This means that she must have been low to the ground, implying that she was humble before Jesus. As I said before, she had ran out of options for healing. The only person she could put her hope in was Jesus. The crowd was not as desperate and as humble as this woman was. She understood that she could be changed by Jesus and Jesus alone. She no longer had any faith in anything else. We too must humble ourselves and place our complete faith in Jesus. We can't expect to be changed if we are still relying on ourselves or on any human means. We have to empty ourselves of our pride, get on our knees, and then meet with Jesus- only then can we be changed.
-Smart
My First Job
So today I finally am going to talk about something other than Genesis because the Genesis Academy is over. Some of you know that I got my first job at the start of the summer at the technology store on campus. I really enjoy working there and I have learned a lot about computers and also about how to treat people. So today I thought I would share some things I have learned so far while working at the tech store. (The ones marked with asterisks (*) are mostly only applicable to my specific job.)
Be nice to people. This sounds so incredibly simple and obvious, especially in a retail environment, but it's necessary. Customers feel much more comfortable shopping when you are nice to them, and are more likely to trust your recommendations. The easiest way to be nice is to just smile at people. People will feel happier and more relaxed while they are there. At the end of the day, if you are kind to them, they will enjoy being there and will most likely come back if they need something else.
Try to address concerns before they are made. What I mean by this is that you want to try to cover as much information as possible so people don't have to ask too many questions. For example. when I am describing a computer's warranty, I also try to talk about what the warranty covers. That way, they don't have to ask me what the warranty covers, which is what they will most likely ask anyway. By doing this, you sound more professional and the customer will feel better about their purchase.
Help people choose the right computer*. People are often uninformed about the advantages and disadvantages of different computers, so it's best to ask them what they need the computer for. People often think that buying the most expensive computer is necessary, when often times it is not. I don't try to sell the more expensive computers, I try to help the customer. I judge what the person will use their computer for, then recommend one they would like.
Try to answer more than the question requires. When people ask questions, sometimes they don't quite know what they are asking. This is especially true where I work, because most people do not know as much about computers as I do. So when they ask a question, I try to find out what they are trying to learn, and then tell them what I think it is they are asking me about.
Never say "I don't know". This is a lesson that I had to learn while answering phone calls. The person asked me a question I did not have the answer to, so I said "I don't know the answer to that question". This may seem like a weird thing to not be able to say, but after my manager explained it to me, I understood why. When you say "I don't know" or anything along those lines, you sound unprofessional. Your job is to help the customer in as much as possible, which means if you don't know the answer to a question, you have to find it. What I say now instead is "let me ask my manager", or "let me look that up for you".
Visual is always better than audible. People understand things much better if you show it to them rather than if you tell it to them. One way my coworkers and I use visual aids is by giving every customer that walks in a price sheet. This way they don't have to keep asking us about prices. Another way I use visual aids is by showing customers the computers we have on display. They feel more confident in their choices if they can look at the actual computer.
Learn from other people. In my case, I try to learn how to speak and act by observing my manager when he interacts with others. He does a very good job being professional and kind to customers. I also learn from the customer when they bring up questions I don't know the answer to. If a customer asks me a question I don't know the answer to, 9 times out of 10 I will know the answer next time the question is asked.
These are just a few things I have been learning at my first job. Some are more straight forward than others, but they are all very important where I work. Most of these are applicable in daily life, such as being nice to others and learning from others. I still struggle to do all of these things, but I get better the more I practice. I hope you can learn from these tips I've learned.
-Smart
Be nice to people. This sounds so incredibly simple and obvious, especially in a retail environment, but it's necessary. Customers feel much more comfortable shopping when you are nice to them, and are more likely to trust your recommendations. The easiest way to be nice is to just smile at people. People will feel happier and more relaxed while they are there. At the end of the day, if you are kind to them, they will enjoy being there and will most likely come back if they need something else.
Try to address concerns before they are made. What I mean by this is that you want to try to cover as much information as possible so people don't have to ask too many questions. For example. when I am describing a computer's warranty, I also try to talk about what the warranty covers. That way, they don't have to ask me what the warranty covers, which is what they will most likely ask anyway. By doing this, you sound more professional and the customer will feel better about their purchase.
Help people choose the right computer*. People are often uninformed about the advantages and disadvantages of different computers, so it's best to ask them what they need the computer for. People often think that buying the most expensive computer is necessary, when often times it is not. I don't try to sell the more expensive computers, I try to help the customer. I judge what the person will use their computer for, then recommend one they would like.
Try to answer more than the question requires. When people ask questions, sometimes they don't quite know what they are asking. This is especially true where I work, because most people do not know as much about computers as I do. So when they ask a question, I try to find out what they are trying to learn, and then tell them what I think it is they are asking me about.
Never say "I don't know". This is a lesson that I had to learn while answering phone calls. The person asked me a question I did not have the answer to, so I said "I don't know the answer to that question". This may seem like a weird thing to not be able to say, but after my manager explained it to me, I understood why. When you say "I don't know" or anything along those lines, you sound unprofessional. Your job is to help the customer in as much as possible, which means if you don't know the answer to a question, you have to find it. What I say now instead is "let me ask my manager", or "let me look that up for you".
Visual is always better than audible. People understand things much better if you show it to them rather than if you tell it to them. One way my coworkers and I use visual aids is by giving every customer that walks in a price sheet. This way they don't have to keep asking us about prices. Another way I use visual aids is by showing customers the computers we have on display. They feel more confident in their choices if they can look at the actual computer.
Learn from other people. In my case, I try to learn how to speak and act by observing my manager when he interacts with others. He does a very good job being professional and kind to customers. I also learn from the customer when they bring up questions I don't know the answer to. If a customer asks me a question I don't know the answer to, 9 times out of 10 I will know the answer next time the question is asked.
These are just a few things I have been learning at my first job. Some are more straight forward than others, but they are all very important where I work. Most of these are applicable in daily life, such as being nice to others and learning from others. I still struggle to do all of these things, but I get better the more I practice. I hope you can learn from these tips I've learned.
-Smart
God tests Abraham (Genesis 22)
"Abraham said, 'God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.'"
-Genesis 22:8
This is the last lesson of the Genesis Bible Academy, and I'm really glad I decided to do it. I learned a lot about God and different characters in the Bible, and I hope you who read this blog learned something as well. This chapter discusses Abraham's "final test", where God tests his faith. God tells Abraham to take his son Issac, and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. Keep in mind that Abraham had to wait 25 years for Issac to be born, and that Issac is now about 10-15 years old now. This means that Abraham has been walking with God for about 35 years.
When God told Abraham to sacrifice Issac, Abraham was probably very confused and angry. If he felt these things, he did not show it. Instead, Abraham wakes up early the next morning to go and do as God commanded him. Issac and Abraham go to a mountain, and Abraham gets ready to kill his son. As he lifts the knife, an angel calls to Abraham and tells him to stop. The angel tells Abraham that God saw that he was willing to sacrifice Issac and that he fears God.
This is a crazy story of Abraham's faith in God. Abraham was overjoyed when Issac was born, and cherished him as he grew older. When God tells him to sacrifice Issac, Abraham immediately obeys, and he would have killed Issac if God did not intervene. Abraham had a choice to listen to God, or to ignore God's insane command. Abraham now had to prove that he loved God more than he loved Issac. Now that Abraham had seen God's power and faithfulness, Abraham chose to trust God and sacrifice Issac. Abraham believed that God could resurrect Issac, because God had promised that Abraham's descendants would be through Issac.
There are times when we will have to choose whether to obey God or ignore Him. The choice will not always be easy, as He may ask us to give up what we value the most. Issac meant the world to Abraham, and giving him up would crush Abraham. However, because Abraham trusted God, he decided it was worth giving up Issac in order to obey God. When we have to give up something we value a lot, we have to keep in mind that God is greater than everything. If something is getting in the way of us loving God, we have to make the decision to give it up. We have to trust that God loves us more than we could ever deserve.
-Smart
-Genesis 22:8
This is the last lesson of the Genesis Bible Academy, and I'm really glad I decided to do it. I learned a lot about God and different characters in the Bible, and I hope you who read this blog learned something as well. This chapter discusses Abraham's "final test", where God tests his faith. God tells Abraham to take his son Issac, and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. Keep in mind that Abraham had to wait 25 years for Issac to be born, and that Issac is now about 10-15 years old now. This means that Abraham has been walking with God for about 35 years.
When God told Abraham to sacrifice Issac, Abraham was probably very confused and angry. If he felt these things, he did not show it. Instead, Abraham wakes up early the next morning to go and do as God commanded him. Issac and Abraham go to a mountain, and Abraham gets ready to kill his son. As he lifts the knife, an angel calls to Abraham and tells him to stop. The angel tells Abraham that God saw that he was willing to sacrifice Issac and that he fears God.
This is a crazy story of Abraham's faith in God. Abraham was overjoyed when Issac was born, and cherished him as he grew older. When God tells him to sacrifice Issac, Abraham immediately obeys, and he would have killed Issac if God did not intervene. Abraham had a choice to listen to God, or to ignore God's insane command. Abraham now had to prove that he loved God more than he loved Issac. Now that Abraham had seen God's power and faithfulness, Abraham chose to trust God and sacrifice Issac. Abraham believed that God could resurrect Issac, because God had promised that Abraham's descendants would be through Issac.
There are times when we will have to choose whether to obey God or ignore Him. The choice will not always be easy, as He may ask us to give up what we value the most. Issac meant the world to Abraham, and giving him up would crush Abraham. However, because Abraham trusted God, he decided it was worth giving up Issac in order to obey God. When we have to give up something we value a lot, we have to keep in mind that God is greater than everything. If something is getting in the way of us loving God, we have to make the decision to give it up. We have to trust that God loves us more than we could ever deserve.
-Smart
Issac is Born (Genesis 20-21)
"So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him."
This passage includes a great spiritual defeat as well as a great spiritual victory. In the previous passage we see that Abraham did the right thing by welcoming God into his home and serving Him. Abraham also intercedes on behalf of the people of Sodom, learning the heart of God. This was a great spiritual victory for Abraham, but it did not last for long. When Abraham goes to Gerar in chapter 20, he lies about his relationship to his wife, claiming that she is his sister. This should sound very familiar, as Abraham has used this tactic before in Egypt. Even despite this lie, God still manages to bless Abraham.
Chapter 20 is a good reminder to us that spiritual victories can sometimes lead to compromise. After we have done something great for the Lord, sometimes we begin to get used to being victorious. When trials come our way, it is easy for us to stumble and fall. Life is full of victories and defeats, but we must not focus on either. Life will always be full of good and bad things, but we must focus on Jesus Christ. Only then will we learn to live a life that pleases God.
In Chapter 21, Abraham's son is finally born. Abraham has been waiting for 25 years for God to deliver His promise. Abraham is now 100 years old, and it seems ridiculous that he could have a son at this age. Against all human understanding and power, Issac is born to Sarah and Abraham. This must have been a great time of celebration for them, because they have been waiting for a son for a very long time.
God is a faithful God, whether or not we are faithful to Him. Abraham did not live a perfectly faithful life, as we saw in chapter 20, where he lies about his wife. However, God still delivered on His promise, and He granted a son to Abraham. Abraham must have known that it was only through God's power that he got a son, because Abraham was much too old to have a son, and Sarah was also very old. We can learn that "for nothing will be impossible for God (Luke 1:37)". God will do what He promises, because He is faithful and He has the power to do what it is He promises to us.
Even though God is faithful to us regardless of our faith, we still must have faith in Him. "Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6)", so we must put our faith in God. Sometimes this seems like a difficult task, especially when life is not going our way. When Abraham was going through those many years without his promised son, he probably doubted God many times. However, against all hope, Abraham chose to believe God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. We too must choose to believe in God, and He will credit our faith as righteousness. On our own we cannot be righteous, but through faith God will treat as if we were. This is because Jesus paid for our sanctification, and only through Him can we be saved.
-Smart
This passage includes a great spiritual defeat as well as a great spiritual victory. In the previous passage we see that Abraham did the right thing by welcoming God into his home and serving Him. Abraham also intercedes on behalf of the people of Sodom, learning the heart of God. This was a great spiritual victory for Abraham, but it did not last for long. When Abraham goes to Gerar in chapter 20, he lies about his relationship to his wife, claiming that she is his sister. This should sound very familiar, as Abraham has used this tactic before in Egypt. Even despite this lie, God still manages to bless Abraham.
Chapter 20 is a good reminder to us that spiritual victories can sometimes lead to compromise. After we have done something great for the Lord, sometimes we begin to get used to being victorious. When trials come our way, it is easy for us to stumble and fall. Life is full of victories and defeats, but we must not focus on either. Life will always be full of good and bad things, but we must focus on Jesus Christ. Only then will we learn to live a life that pleases God.
In Chapter 21, Abraham's son is finally born. Abraham has been waiting for 25 years for God to deliver His promise. Abraham is now 100 years old, and it seems ridiculous that he could have a son at this age. Against all human understanding and power, Issac is born to Sarah and Abraham. This must have been a great time of celebration for them, because they have been waiting for a son for a very long time.
God is a faithful God, whether or not we are faithful to Him. Abraham did not live a perfectly faithful life, as we saw in chapter 20, where he lies about his wife. However, God still delivered on His promise, and He granted a son to Abraham. Abraham must have known that it was only through God's power that he got a son, because Abraham was much too old to have a son, and Sarah was also very old. We can learn that "for nothing will be impossible for God (Luke 1:37)". God will do what He promises, because He is faithful and He has the power to do what it is He promises to us.
Even though God is faithful to us regardless of our faith, we still must have faith in Him. "Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6)", so we must put our faith in God. Sometimes this seems like a difficult task, especially when life is not going our way. When Abraham was going through those many years without his promised son, he probably doubted God many times. However, against all hope, Abraham chose to believe God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. We too must choose to believe in God, and He will credit our faith as righteousness. On our own we cannot be righteous, but through faith God will treat as if we were. This is because Jesus paid for our sanctification, and only through Him can we be saved.
-Smart
God meets Abraham and Lot (Genesis 18-19)
"Abraham came near and said, 'Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?'"
-Genesis 18:23
Ever since Abraham shows up in the Bible, we see how his relationship with God grows. Abraham's faith always gets stronger every chapter, even though God does have to remind him of His promise many times. Abraham has done many things in his life at this point, such as saving Lot from four powerful nations. Whenever we hear of Lot, it seems that he has not really learned to trust in God like Abraham. Lot is living in Sodom, a wicked city. Lot is surrounded by sinful people and wicked acts while living in Sodom.
In both of their lives, Abraham and Lot have both experienced God's grace. Abraham was called from Ur, as a man that had no special qualities. Abraham was chosen simply because of God's mercy on him. Lot experiences God's mercy when Abraham saves him from the four nations that had taken him captive. Also in Genesis 19, Lot is rescued from the destruction of Sodom, the place he was living. In Genesis 18, God visits Abraham in the form of a human being. Abraham immediately welcomes Him into his home, not knowing that it is God. Lot also is visited by God in human form, and he also promptly welcomes Him into his home.
When Abraham realizes that it is God that has visited him, God tells him of His plan to destroy Sodom. Abraham remembers that Lot is living in Sodom, so he pleads to God to spare the city of Sodom, if ten righteous people are found. Abraham's first thought was to help other people, even people who deserved not to be saved. Realize that Abraham did not only plead for the life of Lot, but also for the entire city of Sodom. Abraham is learning the love that God has for people, and intercedes on behalf of others.
Lot is visited by God, and when he recognizes that it is God, he is very hesitant to listen to God. God tells Lot to leave his home and to get away from the city of Sodom, because it will be destroyed. When Lot hesitates to leave Sodom, God actually has to pull Lot away from the city. Lot only ever thinks of himself, never even considering to plead on behalf of others. While this is understandable considering the situation, Lot doesn't even listen to God right away. Here we see that Lot doesn't have a good relationship with God, and doesn't understand who God is.
Both Abraham and Lot had received grace from God. However, they respond to His grace in different ways. Abraham responds to it by developing a relationship with God, and learning His heart. Abraham loves people and intercedes on behalf of them. Lot responds to God's grace by continuing to live a normal life. He makes no effort to build a relationship with God, or understand God. Lot only concerns himself with earthly matters and material gains.
We all have received amazing grace from God, and we have to choose how to respond to it. Are we going to sit around and not let it change our lives? Or are we going to develop a relationship with God and make an effort to understand His character? Building a relationship with God can only begin once we accept the grace that God has given us and respond to it. A sign that we are having a relationship with God is that we start to love others and intercede on behalf of others. Our relationship with God should make us more like Him. We cannot let the grace of God simply pass us by.
-Smart
-Genesis 18:23
Ever since Abraham shows up in the Bible, we see how his relationship with God grows. Abraham's faith always gets stronger every chapter, even though God does have to remind him of His promise many times. Abraham has done many things in his life at this point, such as saving Lot from four powerful nations. Whenever we hear of Lot, it seems that he has not really learned to trust in God like Abraham. Lot is living in Sodom, a wicked city. Lot is surrounded by sinful people and wicked acts while living in Sodom.
In both of their lives, Abraham and Lot have both experienced God's grace. Abraham was called from Ur, as a man that had no special qualities. Abraham was chosen simply because of God's mercy on him. Lot experiences God's mercy when Abraham saves him from the four nations that had taken him captive. Also in Genesis 19, Lot is rescued from the destruction of Sodom, the place he was living. In Genesis 18, God visits Abraham in the form of a human being. Abraham immediately welcomes Him into his home, not knowing that it is God. Lot also is visited by God in human form, and he also promptly welcomes Him into his home.
When Abraham realizes that it is God that has visited him, God tells him of His plan to destroy Sodom. Abraham remembers that Lot is living in Sodom, so he pleads to God to spare the city of Sodom, if ten righteous people are found. Abraham's first thought was to help other people, even people who deserved not to be saved. Realize that Abraham did not only plead for the life of Lot, but also for the entire city of Sodom. Abraham is learning the love that God has for people, and intercedes on behalf of others.
Lot is visited by God, and when he recognizes that it is God, he is very hesitant to listen to God. God tells Lot to leave his home and to get away from the city of Sodom, because it will be destroyed. When Lot hesitates to leave Sodom, God actually has to pull Lot away from the city. Lot only ever thinks of himself, never even considering to plead on behalf of others. While this is understandable considering the situation, Lot doesn't even listen to God right away. Here we see that Lot doesn't have a good relationship with God, and doesn't understand who God is.
Both Abraham and Lot had received grace from God. However, they respond to His grace in different ways. Abraham responds to it by developing a relationship with God, and learning His heart. Abraham loves people and intercedes on behalf of them. Lot responds to God's grace by continuing to live a normal life. He makes no effort to build a relationship with God, or understand God. Lot only concerns himself with earthly matters and material gains.
We all have received amazing grace from God, and we have to choose how to respond to it. Are we going to sit around and not let it change our lives? Or are we going to develop a relationship with God and make an effort to understand His character? Building a relationship with God can only begin once we accept the grace that God has given us and respond to it. A sign that we are having a relationship with God is that we start to love others and intercede on behalf of others. Our relationship with God should make us more like Him. We cannot let the grace of God simply pass us by.
-Smart
Sarai and Hagar (Genesis 16-17)
"Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless."
-Genesis 17:1
Today marks my one hundredth blog post, which I never thought would happen. When I first started this blog I thought I would just stop writing after a while, but I have been going strong for almost two years now. I thank God for blessing me and giving me the strength and the will to continue writing. I also want to thank all of you who read my blog, and I hope it has encouraged you. I know that my posts tend to be long and sometimes difficult to understand, so I really appreciate your support. Enough thank yous, let's talk about Genesis.
In Genesis 16 we see that Abram is starting to lose faith in God's promise. In Genesis 15 we learned that God promised Abram a son, and Abram believed His word. However, it has been a very long time, and Abram still does not have this son that God promised him. Sarai, Abram's wife, suggests that Abram should try having a son with their servant Hagar. This was custom at the time, and Abram thought it was a good idea. So Abram sleeps with Hagar, and Hagar becomes pregnant.
This pregnancy causes great tension in the household, as Hagar despises Sarai, and in turn Sarai mistreats Hagar. Hagar is so badly mistreated that she decides to run away from Abram's house. She ends up in a desert near a spring, where God speaks to her. God then promises Hagar that she will have many descendants. God instructs her to go back to Abram's house, and submit to Sarai's authority over her. Hagar's son is born, and he is named Ishmael.
Genesis 17 talks about God's renewed covenant with Abram. God tells Abram to circumcise all of his household, including non-family. In turn God will bless Ismael and give Abram a son through Sarai. God also changes Abram and Sarai's name to Abraham and Sarah. Abraham again puts his faith in God, and he circumcises everyone just as God commanded him.
What is quite easy to miss in this part of the Bible is the passage of time. It seems like only a short period of time, because it's only been two chapters. What we have to realize is that these chapters span the time period of twenty-five years. When we realize that it has been a very long time since Abraham was promised a son, we can understand Abraham's concern and doubt. He perhaps thought God forgot him again, or that he was doing something wrong. After Hagar gives birth to Ishmael, Abram probably assumed that this was the son he was promised such a long time ago.
It's easy to lose sight of God, especially when it seems that He has not spoken in a long time. It's also easy to forgot that God is always watching us and doing things for our good. When Hagar is out in the desert and God speaks to her, she realizes that God was always watching her, declaring that He is "a God who sees (Genesis 16:13)". Even in our worst moments, God is always there, watching over us. God is faithful, even when we are not faithful to Him.
When Abraham is waiting for all these years, he probably started to seriously doubt God's promise. Abraham probably felt a sense of defeat, having to wait for so long just to hear from God again. When Abraham was in one of his darkest moments, God again promises him a son from Sarah. This gives great hope to Abraham, and he probably didn't feel so defeated. In our own lives, it's very easy to doubt that God is with us. Life is filled with moments of great heights and great depths. Even when we are in our darkest times, God is a God who sees. He is there, watching over us. He has a plan for us, and it may include going through rough times. However, in everything, whether good or bad, nothing can separate us from the love of God.
-Smart
-Genesis 17:1
Today marks my one hundredth blog post, which I never thought would happen. When I first started this blog I thought I would just stop writing after a while, but I have been going strong for almost two years now. I thank God for blessing me and giving me the strength and the will to continue writing. I also want to thank all of you who read my blog, and I hope it has encouraged you. I know that my posts tend to be long and sometimes difficult to understand, so I really appreciate your support. Enough thank yous, let's talk about Genesis.
In Genesis 16 we see that Abram is starting to lose faith in God's promise. In Genesis 15 we learned that God promised Abram a son, and Abram believed His word. However, it has been a very long time, and Abram still does not have this son that God promised him. Sarai, Abram's wife, suggests that Abram should try having a son with their servant Hagar. This was custom at the time, and Abram thought it was a good idea. So Abram sleeps with Hagar, and Hagar becomes pregnant.
This pregnancy causes great tension in the household, as Hagar despises Sarai, and in turn Sarai mistreats Hagar. Hagar is so badly mistreated that she decides to run away from Abram's house. She ends up in a desert near a spring, where God speaks to her. God then promises Hagar that she will have many descendants. God instructs her to go back to Abram's house, and submit to Sarai's authority over her. Hagar's son is born, and he is named Ishmael.
Genesis 17 talks about God's renewed covenant with Abram. God tells Abram to circumcise all of his household, including non-family. In turn God will bless Ismael and give Abram a son through Sarai. God also changes Abram and Sarai's name to Abraham and Sarah. Abraham again puts his faith in God, and he circumcises everyone just as God commanded him.
What is quite easy to miss in this part of the Bible is the passage of time. It seems like only a short period of time, because it's only been two chapters. What we have to realize is that these chapters span the time period of twenty-five years. When we realize that it has been a very long time since Abraham was promised a son, we can understand Abraham's concern and doubt. He perhaps thought God forgot him again, or that he was doing something wrong. After Hagar gives birth to Ishmael, Abram probably assumed that this was the son he was promised such a long time ago.
It's easy to lose sight of God, especially when it seems that He has not spoken in a long time. It's also easy to forgot that God is always watching us and doing things for our good. When Hagar is out in the desert and God speaks to her, she realizes that God was always watching her, declaring that He is "a God who sees (Genesis 16:13)". Even in our worst moments, God is always there, watching over us. God is faithful, even when we are not faithful to Him.
When Abraham is waiting for all these years, he probably started to seriously doubt God's promise. Abraham probably felt a sense of defeat, having to wait for so long just to hear from God again. When Abraham was in one of his darkest moments, God again promises him a son from Sarah. This gives great hope to Abraham, and he probably didn't feel so defeated. In our own lives, it's very easy to doubt that God is with us. Life is filled with moments of great heights and great depths. Even when we are in our darkest times, God is a God who sees. He is there, watching over us. He has a plan for us, and it may include going through rough times. However, in everything, whether good or bad, nothing can separate us from the love of God.
-Smart
The Lord's Promise to Abram (Genesis 15)
"Then (Abram) believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness."
-Genesis 15:6
At this point in his life, Abram was probably very fearful. He had just defeated four very powerful nations, and they were probably seeking revenge. Also, he was getting old, and wondered if God would really give him a son that He promised. Abram probably did not feel secure, and questioned God's sovereignty. God knew these fears Abram had, and told Abram, "do not fear, I am a shield to you, Your reward shall be very great". Abram immediately doubts God, and tells God that he has no son even though God has promised him one for a very long time now.
God then takes Abram outside and tells him to count the stars, if he can. God then says that Abram's descendants shall be as numerous as the stars. I want to stop in the story and talk about this part for a bit. Remember that Abram had many fears and doubts, and these things were consuming his thoughts. God realized this, and He took Abram outside into the cool night. Often times when we have problems our minds are filled with worry and fear. We have to learn to step outside of our problems and turn to God. Our focus should not be our fears but God's promises.
Continuing the passage, God tells Abram to bring certain animals and cut them in half. Abram falls into a deep sleep, and God promises to give his descendants land and possessions. Abram was even concerned about land, but God promised it to him anyway. After God speaks, a fire blazes in between the pieces of the animals, signifying the closure of a covenant. Animals cut into halves were used as a reminder to people that if they did not keep the covenant, they would surely die.
Notice that in this passage Abram never actually has to do anything for God. God is promising him a son and great lands, and meanwhile Abram is doing nothing. Abram even falls into a deep sleep while God is promising him these things. Also, only God walks through the pieces of the animals. Abram has no commitment to this covenant, only God. This is known as a one way covenant, or an unconditional covenant. Abram had no requirements in this covenant, only God had responsibility.
God has promised us a son as well. This son is not a son of our own, but God's one and only son. Even more, God has already completed this covenant. This too is an unconditional covenant, only God has to do the work. Jesus was sent down and He paid for our sins, giving us a chance for true life. He completed the covenant when He cried out "It is finished! (John 19:30)". Some may say, well how can this be unconditional if we have to believe? Isn't that a condition? Not really. Regardless of whether or not we believe, God has already done His part of the covenant. All we have to do is accept or deny His grace to us. What do you choose?
-Smart
(p.s. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments)
-Genesis 15:6
At this point in his life, Abram was probably very fearful. He had just defeated four very powerful nations, and they were probably seeking revenge. Also, he was getting old, and wondered if God would really give him a son that He promised. Abram probably did not feel secure, and questioned God's sovereignty. God knew these fears Abram had, and told Abram, "do not fear, I am a shield to you, Your reward shall be very great". Abram immediately doubts God, and tells God that he has no son even though God has promised him one for a very long time now.
God then takes Abram outside and tells him to count the stars, if he can. God then says that Abram's descendants shall be as numerous as the stars. I want to stop in the story and talk about this part for a bit. Remember that Abram had many fears and doubts, and these things were consuming his thoughts. God realized this, and He took Abram outside into the cool night. Often times when we have problems our minds are filled with worry and fear. We have to learn to step outside of our problems and turn to God. Our focus should not be our fears but God's promises.
Continuing the passage, God tells Abram to bring certain animals and cut them in half. Abram falls into a deep sleep, and God promises to give his descendants land and possessions. Abram was even concerned about land, but God promised it to him anyway. After God speaks, a fire blazes in between the pieces of the animals, signifying the closure of a covenant. Animals cut into halves were used as a reminder to people that if they did not keep the covenant, they would surely die.
Notice that in this passage Abram never actually has to do anything for God. God is promising him a son and great lands, and meanwhile Abram is doing nothing. Abram even falls into a deep sleep while God is promising him these things. Also, only God walks through the pieces of the animals. Abram has no commitment to this covenant, only God. This is known as a one way covenant, or an unconditional covenant. Abram had no requirements in this covenant, only God had responsibility.
God has promised us a son as well. This son is not a son of our own, but God's one and only son. Even more, God has already completed this covenant. This too is an unconditional covenant, only God has to do the work. Jesus was sent down and He paid for our sins, giving us a chance for true life. He completed the covenant when He cried out "It is finished! (John 19:30)". Some may say, well how can this be unconditional if we have to believe? Isn't that a condition? Not really. Regardless of whether or not we believe, God has already done His part of the covenant. All we have to do is accept or deny His grace to us. What do you choose?
-Smart
(p.s. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments)
Abram Rescues Lot (Genesis 14)
"'And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.' He gave him a tenth of all."
-Genesis 14:20
Genesis Bible Academy is turning out to be a great learning experience for me. I hope that you are learning a lot about it through these posts. Yesterday we learned about Genesis 14, when Abram rescues his nephew Lot. In Genesis 13, Lot had chosen the better land for himself, only thinking about his well-being. In this passage we learn that Lot had moved as far as the city of Sodom, which is a wicked and sinful city. Five nations rebel against their king, causing a war between nine nations, a four on five battle. The four nations are able to defeat the five and restore the kingship of Chedorlaomer, who had ruled these nations before. Among the defeated nations was Sodom, resulting in the capture of Lot.
Abram learns that Lot has been captured by these powerful nations, and he decides that he will go rescue Lot. Abram gathers some men and some allies, and they go to war against these four nations. Abram is able to defeat them, and he rescues Lot from them. Afterwards Abram meets with one of his allies, Melchizedek and one the enemies, the king of Sodom. Melchizedek worships God and gives Abram and his men food and wine. Abram refuses to take anything from the king of Sodom, because he knew that if he did the king of Sodom could use that as leverage against Abram.
In this passage, I noticed that it has a striking resemblance to the story of the Jesus. When Lot had been captured, it was because he was selfish and decided to live in the wicked city of Sodom. Lot had chosen to live precariously, and this caused him to become a prisoner. Abram had every right to leave Lot captured, because Lot had brought this upon himself. However, Abram still loved Lot, so Abram risks his life for Lot. He couldn't allow Lot to remain a prisoner and possibly be killed. In a war that looked foolish and seemed like certain death for Abram, he was able to defeat Chedorlaomer and rescue Lot.
Like Lot, we too are prisoners. We have chosen to live wicked lives and to live for our own selfish reasons. God has every right to leave us trapped in our sin because we brought wrath upon ourselves. However, God loves us too much to let us remain trapped and die in our sin. In a plan that seemed foolish and ridiculous, Jesus died and rose again to save us. He defeated Satan and rescued us from the power of sin, and gave us life.
Before I end, I want to talk about Abram's decision not to take anything from the king of Sodom. When Abram meets with Melchizedek, they worship God, and Abram gives Melchizedek a tenth of everything he had. When the king of Sodom tries to lure Abram into taking the spoils of war for himself, Abram refuses because he had made an oath to God. Abram could have taken everything from the defeated kings, and made himself very rich. Abram also did not have to give Melchizedek anything and keep everything for himself. Why doesn't Abram do this?
Abram could have made himself very rich and powerful; in fact, He could have made himself a king. However, by this time in his life, Abram knew who the real King was. Abram refuses to allow himself to become consumed in riches because he wanted to honor the King and Lord of his life. We too have to resist the temptations of this world and honor the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. God loved us so much that He sent His only son to die for us, and He is the only one that deserves our praise.
-Smart
-Genesis 14:20
Genesis Bible Academy is turning out to be a great learning experience for me. I hope that you are learning a lot about it through these posts. Yesterday we learned about Genesis 14, when Abram rescues his nephew Lot. In Genesis 13, Lot had chosen the better land for himself, only thinking about his well-being. In this passage we learn that Lot had moved as far as the city of Sodom, which is a wicked and sinful city. Five nations rebel against their king, causing a war between nine nations, a four on five battle. The four nations are able to defeat the five and restore the kingship of Chedorlaomer, who had ruled these nations before. Among the defeated nations was Sodom, resulting in the capture of Lot.
Abram learns that Lot has been captured by these powerful nations, and he decides that he will go rescue Lot. Abram gathers some men and some allies, and they go to war against these four nations. Abram is able to defeat them, and he rescues Lot from them. Afterwards Abram meets with one of his allies, Melchizedek and one the enemies, the king of Sodom. Melchizedek worships God and gives Abram and his men food and wine. Abram refuses to take anything from the king of Sodom, because he knew that if he did the king of Sodom could use that as leverage against Abram.
In this passage, I noticed that it has a striking resemblance to the story of the Jesus. When Lot had been captured, it was because he was selfish and decided to live in the wicked city of Sodom. Lot had chosen to live precariously, and this caused him to become a prisoner. Abram had every right to leave Lot captured, because Lot had brought this upon himself. However, Abram still loved Lot, so Abram risks his life for Lot. He couldn't allow Lot to remain a prisoner and possibly be killed. In a war that looked foolish and seemed like certain death for Abram, he was able to defeat Chedorlaomer and rescue Lot.
Like Lot, we too are prisoners. We have chosen to live wicked lives and to live for our own selfish reasons. God has every right to leave us trapped in our sin because we brought wrath upon ourselves. However, God loves us too much to let us remain trapped and die in our sin. In a plan that seemed foolish and ridiculous, Jesus died and rose again to save us. He defeated Satan and rescued us from the power of sin, and gave us life.
Before I end, I want to talk about Abram's decision not to take anything from the king of Sodom. When Abram meets with Melchizedek, they worship God, and Abram gives Melchizedek a tenth of everything he had. When the king of Sodom tries to lure Abram into taking the spoils of war for himself, Abram refuses because he had made an oath to God. Abram could have taken everything from the defeated kings, and made himself very rich. Abram also did not have to give Melchizedek anything and keep everything for himself. Why doesn't Abram do this?
Abram could have made himself very rich and powerful; in fact, He could have made himself a king. However, by this time in his life, Abram knew who the real King was. Abram refuses to allow himself to become consumed in riches because he wanted to honor the King and Lord of his life. We too have to resist the temptations of this world and honor the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. God loved us so much that He sent His only son to die for us, and He is the only one that deserves our praise.
-Smart
Abram and Lot Separate (Genesis 13)
"The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, 'Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.'"
-Genesis 13:14-15
After Abram escapes from Egypt through God's intervention, he settles down and becomes very rich in livestock and gold. Lot, Abram's nephew, follows Abram and settles down with him. Both Abram and Lot are now very rich, and it becomes difficult for them to live together because the land cannot support both of their livestock. Abram realizes this, and he comes up with a plan to avoid conflict between Lot and himself. Abram allows Lot to choose where he would like to live, and Abram would live elsewhere. Lot agrees to this, and so they separate.
Lot's decisions reflects his heart and his mindset. First of all, he does not allow Abram to choose where he will live, even though Abram is older. Even if Abram refused to choose where to live, Lot could have come up with a different solution, such as flipping a coin to make the selection fair. Instead, Lot takes advantage of Abram's kindness and chooses to live in the valley of the Jordan, near Sodom. Lot sees that this land is very good, so he takes it for himself. This eventually becomes a disaster because Sodom is a very sinful and wicked place, but that is for a later time.
Abram's decisions show how he changes from who he was in the previous passage. Abram sees that the valley of the Jordan is a good land, and if he allows Lot to choose, Lot will most likely choose that land. Despite this, Abram gives the choice to Lot, because he knows that fighting for this better land is not beneficial to either of them. Abram's priority was to preserve peace in his relationship with Lot, so he sacrifices the better land.
In this passage there are two different kinds of people. Lot makes his decisions based on what he wants. He's looking out for his own interests and well-being. He sees that the land is good, and he takes it for himself. On the other hand, Abram makes his decisions based on faith. He knows that Lot will choose the better land, but he has faith that God will bless his decision. Instead of looking out for himself, Abram is looking to keep peace with his nephew Lot. In the previous passage Abram lies to protect himself, but here he sacrifices material possessions to protect his relationship with Lot.
It's very easy to do things just for our own benefit and well-being, even at the expense of others. When we see something we want, we want to take it for ourselves. However, we have to realize that having things for ourselves should not be our top priority. Our top priority should be to love God and love other people. True love demands sacrifice, as demonstrated by Abram in this passage. Even though Abram lost the better land, later God blesses him and reminds him of the promise He gave to him. When we do our best to love others, that is when God is glorified. Don't live for yourself, live for Christ.
-Smart
-Genesis 13:14-15
After Abram escapes from Egypt through God's intervention, he settles down and becomes very rich in livestock and gold. Lot, Abram's nephew, follows Abram and settles down with him. Both Abram and Lot are now very rich, and it becomes difficult for them to live together because the land cannot support both of their livestock. Abram realizes this, and he comes up with a plan to avoid conflict between Lot and himself. Abram allows Lot to choose where he would like to live, and Abram would live elsewhere. Lot agrees to this, and so they separate.
Lot's decisions reflects his heart and his mindset. First of all, he does not allow Abram to choose where he will live, even though Abram is older. Even if Abram refused to choose where to live, Lot could have come up with a different solution, such as flipping a coin to make the selection fair. Instead, Lot takes advantage of Abram's kindness and chooses to live in the valley of the Jordan, near Sodom. Lot sees that this land is very good, so he takes it for himself. This eventually becomes a disaster because Sodom is a very sinful and wicked place, but that is for a later time.
Abram's decisions show how he changes from who he was in the previous passage. Abram sees that the valley of the Jordan is a good land, and if he allows Lot to choose, Lot will most likely choose that land. Despite this, Abram gives the choice to Lot, because he knows that fighting for this better land is not beneficial to either of them. Abram's priority was to preserve peace in his relationship with Lot, so he sacrifices the better land.
In this passage there are two different kinds of people. Lot makes his decisions based on what he wants. He's looking out for his own interests and well-being. He sees that the land is good, and he takes it for himself. On the other hand, Abram makes his decisions based on faith. He knows that Lot will choose the better land, but he has faith that God will bless his decision. Instead of looking out for himself, Abram is looking to keep peace with his nephew Lot. In the previous passage Abram lies to protect himself, but here he sacrifices material possessions to protect his relationship with Lot.
It's very easy to do things just for our own benefit and well-being, even at the expense of others. When we see something we want, we want to take it for ourselves. However, we have to realize that having things for ourselves should not be our top priority. Our top priority should be to love God and love other people. True love demands sacrifice, as demonstrated by Abram in this passage. Even though Abram lost the better land, later God blesses him and reminds him of the promise He gave to him. When we do our best to love others, that is when God is glorified. Don't live for yourself, live for Christ.
-Smart
The Call of Abram (Genesis 12)
"And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, and so you shall be a blessing."
-Genesis 12:2
I actually was not able to attend this Bible study, but I will share my thoughts on the passage. Abram is introduced, as a man who has no real significance. God then speaks to Abram, and tells him to go to a country where God will lead him. I don't know about you, but if I'm told to go somewhere, I would like to know where it is I am going and why. However, Abram obeys God and follows His lead. Later Abram goes to Egypt, and he lies to the Pharaoh hoping to save his own life. Abram is exposed of his lie, and Pharaoh kicks Abram out of Egypt.
In this passage we can learn the effects of faith. When God tells Abram to go, Abram does not doubt God or question Him. He just goes. God gives Abram a promise that if he goes, that he will become a blessing to all people and his name will be great. Abram decides to take God at His word, and Abram eventually does become a blessing. He is the father of all nations, and God blesses him throughout his life.
We also can see the effects of not having faith. When Abram is about to approach Egypt, he recognizes that he may be killed. To avoid this, he decides to lie about his relationship with his wife, in hopes that the Pharaoh will not kill him. Instead of praying to God and trusting that He will do something, Abram takes matters into his own hands. Abram lacked the faith to allow God to handle this situation, and as a result Pharaoh has Abram escorted from Egypt.
One last thing I see in this passage is the faithfulness of God. God promises that He will bless Abram and make him into a great nation. In later passages we can see the result of this promise, but in this passage we see a glimpse of God's faithfulness. When Abram decides to lie to the Pharaoh, the Pharaoh is very angry at him. God strikes the Pharaoh's house with a plague, protecting Abram and Sarai. Pharaoh does not kill Abram because God was protecting him. God had plans for Abram, and He would not let Abram die without keeping His promise to him. God will never disappoint us if we have faith in Him.
-Smart
-Genesis 12:2
I actually was not able to attend this Bible study, but I will share my thoughts on the passage. Abram is introduced, as a man who has no real significance. God then speaks to Abram, and tells him to go to a country where God will lead him. I don't know about you, but if I'm told to go somewhere, I would like to know where it is I am going and why. However, Abram obeys God and follows His lead. Later Abram goes to Egypt, and he lies to the Pharaoh hoping to save his own life. Abram is exposed of his lie, and Pharaoh kicks Abram out of Egypt.
In this passage we can learn the effects of faith. When God tells Abram to go, Abram does not doubt God or question Him. He just goes. God gives Abram a promise that if he goes, that he will become a blessing to all people and his name will be great. Abram decides to take God at His word, and Abram eventually does become a blessing. He is the father of all nations, and God blesses him throughout his life.
We also can see the effects of not having faith. When Abram is about to approach Egypt, he recognizes that he may be killed. To avoid this, he decides to lie about his relationship with his wife, in hopes that the Pharaoh will not kill him. Instead of praying to God and trusting that He will do something, Abram takes matters into his own hands. Abram lacked the faith to allow God to handle this situation, and as a result Pharaoh has Abram escorted from Egypt.
One last thing I see in this passage is the faithfulness of God. God promises that He will bless Abram and make him into a great nation. In later passages we can see the result of this promise, but in this passage we see a glimpse of God's faithfulness. When Abram decides to lie to the Pharaoh, the Pharaoh is very angry at him. God strikes the Pharaoh's house with a plague, protecting Abram and Sarai. Pharaoh does not kill Abram because God was protecting him. God had plans for Abram, and He would not let Abram die without keeping His promise to him. God will never disappoint us if we have faith in Him.
-Smart
The Tower of Babel (Genesis 10-11)
"The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them."
-Genesis 11:6
Today we studied chapters ten and eleven, but we mainly focused on the story of the tower of Babel. After the flood, Noah's descendants begin to live on the Earth and repopulate it. Some years go by, and the people begin to forget about God again. They decide that they want to build a tower that is so tall that it reaches the heavens. The reason they decided to build this tower is so that they could make a name for themselves and not be scattered over the Earth. God is displeased by this decision to build a tower so He confuses the people by giving them different languages.
This is a well known story, but there are lessons to be learned from it. The people built this tower because they wanted to have a sense of pride and security. They felt that by building this huge tower that they would be powerful. We can see that God disapproves of this building because they made it out of pride and to glorify themselves. Man was not made to honor himself, but to honor God. A man is made in God's image, and therefore should strive to glorify God. As soon as someone starts to do things to build up themselves, they go against their purpose.
We should be very careful and examine our motives. I mentioned this before, but it is crucial to our lives. These people making this tower thought that they were doing a good thing; making a name for themselves and unifying the people. They thought this tower was something that could save them and strengthen them. Let's be clear, nothing a man builds from his hands will ever be enough to save him. People eventually die, and they can do nothing to stop that. People also can do nothing to earn their way into heaven, the only thing they can do is accept Jesus and have faith in Him.
Another thing I noticed in this passage is the remarkable thing that God says. He says that "nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them." In other words, because the people were one, and they all spoke the same language, they could do great things. As I have written in my last post, unity is a powerful thing. As seen in this passage though, it can be used for the wrong things. These people worked together to glorify themselves rather than God. We should work together to honor God and spread the gospel to the ends of the Earth. Imagine if the whole world came together and sang a song of praise to God, and how amazing that would be. I pray that we could learn to work together to praise God forever.
-Smart
-Genesis 11:6
Today we studied chapters ten and eleven, but we mainly focused on the story of the tower of Babel. After the flood, Noah's descendants begin to live on the Earth and repopulate it. Some years go by, and the people begin to forget about God again. They decide that they want to build a tower that is so tall that it reaches the heavens. The reason they decided to build this tower is so that they could make a name for themselves and not be scattered over the Earth. God is displeased by this decision to build a tower so He confuses the people by giving them different languages.
This is a well known story, but there are lessons to be learned from it. The people built this tower because they wanted to have a sense of pride and security. They felt that by building this huge tower that they would be powerful. We can see that God disapproves of this building because they made it out of pride and to glorify themselves. Man was not made to honor himself, but to honor God. A man is made in God's image, and therefore should strive to glorify God. As soon as someone starts to do things to build up themselves, they go against their purpose.
We should be very careful and examine our motives. I mentioned this before, but it is crucial to our lives. These people making this tower thought that they were doing a good thing; making a name for themselves and unifying the people. They thought this tower was something that could save them and strengthen them. Let's be clear, nothing a man builds from his hands will ever be enough to save him. People eventually die, and they can do nothing to stop that. People also can do nothing to earn their way into heaven, the only thing they can do is accept Jesus and have faith in Him.
Another thing I noticed in this passage is the remarkable thing that God says. He says that "nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them." In other words, because the people were one, and they all spoke the same language, they could do great things. As I have written in my last post, unity is a powerful thing. As seen in this passage though, it can be used for the wrong things. These people worked together to glorify themselves rather than God. We should work together to honor God and spread the gospel to the ends of the Earth. Imagine if the whole world came together and sang a song of praise to God, and how amazing that would be. I pray that we could learn to work together to praise God forever.
-Smart
Lessons from Softball
"Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing."
-1 Thessalonians 5:11
If you've followed this blog or know me personally, you know that I love playing sports. When I was in the 6th grade, I joined my youth group's softball team. None of us had any experience playing either softball or baseball, so our team was very bad. When we entered the softball tournament, we did very bad and I believe we may have lost every single game. Of course we got better as the years went on, but it took a long time for us to start looking like an actual team.
Throughout my years playing softball, I noticed a couple things. Even in the first year, when we did horribly, there were many people who came to cheer for us. Every time someone would make a simple play, like get on first base, catch a pop fly, or even get a walk, people would cheer. I always remembered walking up to the plate and hearing people encourage me. I would hear things like "let's go Andrew", "keep your eye on the ball", "you got this", "keep it low", etc.
I am a pretty stoic person, so as I walked up I never smiled or showed any sign of appreciation for the people cheering for me. Actually, I don't think anyone on our team did, because that would mean showing the other team that we weren't disciplined. The people may have thought that their cheering was useless, because nobody really showed any sign of appreciation while on the plate. However, they cheered constantly for every single person who walked up to plate.
Encouragement is something that many people undervalue. Although I did not show any outward signs, I did appreciate people's encouragement. Knowing that there were people who wanted me to do well, people who took time out of their day to come watch and cheer for me, was very encouraging. It made me want to play well and win the tournament. Eventually we did, but it took us a couple of years for everyone to develop their skills and get better.
Another thing I learned while playing softball is the value of teamwork. Every person on the team has a different responsibility, each of which must be carried out. Having a couple of good people is not enough to do well in softball. Even if there are some people on your team who can field well and bat well, you have to keep in mind that everyone has to field and bat. If the ball is hit to someone who is not a good fielder and they lose the ball, the whole team suffers. If a bad hitter is at the plate and strikes out, it affects the entire team.
In many situations, co-working is crucial. People may think that they have no real value in a group, but everyone has to do their part. If one part suffers, the whole body suffers along with it. A person should not look down on another person, because everyone is important. So what is the best way to build up a team? I gave away the answer before- encouragement. People do better when they are being encouraged, not when they are being looked down upon. Those are some of the things I learned while playing years of softball at my church.
-Smart
-1 Thessalonians 5:11
If you've followed this blog or know me personally, you know that I love playing sports. When I was in the 6th grade, I joined my youth group's softball team. None of us had any experience playing either softball or baseball, so our team was very bad. When we entered the softball tournament, we did very bad and I believe we may have lost every single game. Of course we got better as the years went on, but it took a long time for us to start looking like an actual team.
Throughout my years playing softball, I noticed a couple things. Even in the first year, when we did horribly, there were many people who came to cheer for us. Every time someone would make a simple play, like get on first base, catch a pop fly, or even get a walk, people would cheer. I always remembered walking up to the plate and hearing people encourage me. I would hear things like "let's go Andrew", "keep your eye on the ball", "you got this", "keep it low", etc.
I am a pretty stoic person, so as I walked up I never smiled or showed any sign of appreciation for the people cheering for me. Actually, I don't think anyone on our team did, because that would mean showing the other team that we weren't disciplined. The people may have thought that their cheering was useless, because nobody really showed any sign of appreciation while on the plate. However, they cheered constantly for every single person who walked up to plate.
Encouragement is something that many people undervalue. Although I did not show any outward signs, I did appreciate people's encouragement. Knowing that there were people who wanted me to do well, people who took time out of their day to come watch and cheer for me, was very encouraging. It made me want to play well and win the tournament. Eventually we did, but it took us a couple of years for everyone to develop their skills and get better.
Another thing I learned while playing softball is the value of teamwork. Every person on the team has a different responsibility, each of which must be carried out. Having a couple of good people is not enough to do well in softball. Even if there are some people on your team who can field well and bat well, you have to keep in mind that everyone has to field and bat. If the ball is hit to someone who is not a good fielder and they lose the ball, the whole team suffers. If a bad hitter is at the plate and strikes out, it affects the entire team.
In many situations, co-working is crucial. People may think that they have no real value in a group, but everyone has to do their part. If one part suffers, the whole body suffers along with it. A person should not look down on another person, because everyone is important. So what is the best way to build up a team? I gave away the answer before- encouragement. People do better when they are being encouraged, not when they are being looked down upon. Those are some of the things I learned while playing years of softball at my church.
-Smart
The Flood Subsides (Genesis 8-9)
"But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided."
-Genesis 8:1
On Tuesday I discussed the seriousness of sin and how devastating it is. God does not treat sin lightly, and neither should we. In today's passage I want to talk about Noah and how he recognized how merciful God was to him. As Noah sits in this ark that he has built, everyone and everything outside of the ark is being destroyed. After awhile, nothing remains on the Earth except for the ark. Noah waited as the flood filled the earth for about one year. Finally, the flood subsides and Noah and his family can walk on the earth once again, which is now completely lifeless.
Noah must have been absolutely stunned and terrified at the damage that the flood has caused, but the first thing Noah does is worship God. Noah is a great example to how we should respond to God's mercy. Noah saw the flood wipe out everyone, and must have realized how much God cannot tolerate sin and evilness. Noah also realizes that God has spared him from death, and immediately gives thanks to God. We too should give thanks to God, because He has shown mercy to us all.
So why does Noah thank God? Wasn't Noah a righteous man who deserved to live? Noah did not do the evil things the people around him did, and Noah did his best to live a righteous life. However, later in this passage we see that Noah sinned as well. He drank to much wine and became drunk. I believe that Noah was not a perfect man, but because he had faith in God, God credited it to him as righteousness. Noah knew that he was not sinless, and that he did not deserve God's love and grace to him, so he praised God with thankfulness.
Noah also realized that God was with him throughout his whole life. Noah walked with God, living faithfully and doing his best to go against the sinful nature of his people. Noah probably prayed to God often, and we see that God talks to Noah when He warns him of the flood. When Noah is building the ark, God gives him the instructions to build it. God closes the door of the ark after Noah and his family enter into it. As the flood begins to recede, "God remembered Noah." God does not forget anything, but this shows us that God cared about Noah.
Noah recognized that he could do nothing about his situation. There was a huge flood, and even though he had built an ark, Noah could do nothing to lessen the waters of the flood. Also, Noah had been in the ark for a year. Even if the ark was huge, I wonder how Noah could have possibly stored enough food for all the animals and people for one year. I believe God was with him the whole time, providing for him. When God finally decides to end the flood, Noah thanks God because he knew that it was only because of God that he was saved.
We should give thanks to God as well. God has not saved us from a flood, but God has saved us from something just as serious, if not more serious. Like Noah, we have to realize that we are sinful people and do not deserve God's help. We also must recognize that there is nothing we can do about our situation. We are trapped in the flood of our sins, but God gave us an ark to survive on- Jesus. Our sins are not something that we can stop, just as Noah could do nothing to stop the flood. Only God can save us from our sins, and He has given us Jesus. We must learn to be grateful to God and thank Him everyday for the grace He has given us.
-Smart
-Genesis 8:1
On Tuesday I discussed the seriousness of sin and how devastating it is. God does not treat sin lightly, and neither should we. In today's passage I want to talk about Noah and how he recognized how merciful God was to him. As Noah sits in this ark that he has built, everyone and everything outside of the ark is being destroyed. After awhile, nothing remains on the Earth except for the ark. Noah waited as the flood filled the earth for about one year. Finally, the flood subsides and Noah and his family can walk on the earth once again, which is now completely lifeless.
Noah must have been absolutely stunned and terrified at the damage that the flood has caused, but the first thing Noah does is worship God. Noah is a great example to how we should respond to God's mercy. Noah saw the flood wipe out everyone, and must have realized how much God cannot tolerate sin and evilness. Noah also realizes that God has spared him from death, and immediately gives thanks to God. We too should give thanks to God, because He has shown mercy to us all.
So why does Noah thank God? Wasn't Noah a righteous man who deserved to live? Noah did not do the evil things the people around him did, and Noah did his best to live a righteous life. However, later in this passage we see that Noah sinned as well. He drank to much wine and became drunk. I believe that Noah was not a perfect man, but because he had faith in God, God credited it to him as righteousness. Noah knew that he was not sinless, and that he did not deserve God's love and grace to him, so he praised God with thankfulness.
Noah also realized that God was with him throughout his whole life. Noah walked with God, living faithfully and doing his best to go against the sinful nature of his people. Noah probably prayed to God often, and we see that God talks to Noah when He warns him of the flood. When Noah is building the ark, God gives him the instructions to build it. God closes the door of the ark after Noah and his family enter into it. As the flood begins to recede, "God remembered Noah." God does not forget anything, but this shows us that God cared about Noah.
Noah recognized that he could do nothing about his situation. There was a huge flood, and even though he had built an ark, Noah could do nothing to lessen the waters of the flood. Also, Noah had been in the ark for a year. Even if the ark was huge, I wonder how Noah could have possibly stored enough food for all the animals and people for one year. I believe God was with him the whole time, providing for him. When God finally decides to end the flood, Noah thanks God because he knew that it was only because of God that he was saved.
We should give thanks to God as well. God has not saved us from a flood, but God has saved us from something just as serious, if not more serious. Like Noah, we have to realize that we are sinful people and do not deserve God's help. We also must recognize that there is nothing we can do about our situation. We are trapped in the flood of our sins, but God gave us an ark to survive on- Jesus. Our sins are not something that we can stop, just as Noah could do nothing to stop the flood. Only God can save us from our sins, and He has given us Jesus. We must learn to be grateful to God and thank Him everyday for the grace He has given us.
-Smart
Noah and the Flood (Genesis 6-7)
"God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon earth."
-Genesis 6:12
I often talk about God's mercy, grace and love on this blog. I talk about these things because I want to stress that God is not an angry god who wants to control our lives, or make us live a bad life. Also, because of His mercy anyone that turns to Him can be saved, no matter their past. God accepts anyone that will turn to Him, because He loves everyone. Today I want to talk about something I don't normally talk about- the seriousness of sin.
After Adam and Eve sinned against God, their sin spread to their children, most notably Cain. When Cain becomes jealous he murders his brother Abel. After this tragic event, Adam and Eve give birth to another son, named Seth. Seth is similar to Abel; one who follows God and His ways. Now there are two different kinds of people being born, the children of Cain and those of Seth. Cain's line is one that is full of sin, disobedience, and disregard for God. Seth's line is one that is full of people who follow God.
In Genesis 6 we see that "the sons of God" took "the daughters of men" as their wives. It is not clear who these sons of God are or who the daughters of men are, but it is a safe assumption to say that they are the sons of Seth and daughters of Cain. What we do know for sure is that these "sons of God" married the "daughters of men" because they were beautiful. Seth's descendants began to live according to their flesh desires, marrying whomever they chose. Later in the passage God sees corrupt and wicked people, who stopped following God. Today I want to share with you three things we should be aware of in our own lives that may indicate if we are falling into sin that I see in this passage.
We forget about God. Seth's line was one that followed after God. It is not clear exactly what they did, but we can see that Seth's descendants are called "sons of God." These people probably lived faithful lives to God, constantly praying to God. However, they being to lose sight of God, and they forget about Him. People usually begin to forget about God when they replace Him with something else, such as money, other people, or pleasure. This reminds me of Philippians 3, where Paul warns the Philippians to be aware of the enemies of God, "whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite...". Which brings me to my next point...
We begin to do whatever we want, regardless of our intentions. Seth's descendants began to fall away from God because they lived for their pleasure. They married based of their feelings and lust, disregarding the fact that the daughters of Cain were sinful people. When we do whatever we want without considering why we are doing these things, it is very easy to fall into sin. We are people of flesh, and our flesh desires sinful things. When people live for pleasure, they fall easily into sin, and start believing that they are living a fulfilling life. Make sure to think about your intentions when you do anything.
We start to fit in with others. It's sad to say, but people of this day are quite similar to the people of Noah's time. People only live for pleasure, and do not bother to follow God. The norm is not following God or living a righteous life, but living a sinful and pleasure-seeking life. If people cannot tell us apart from other people, we have to consider our lives. It is definitely very difficult to live a righteous life because everyone else is not. Also, people will look down on you if you don't fit in with them. I'm sure that when Noah began building the ark that God had commanded Him to, people were making fun of him all the time. Living for God is not easy because you will not fit in with the world.
So why is it so important to live a righteous life anyway? Why fight against sin when it is inevitable that we will sin? These are valid questions. I believe that if we understand who God is, and what His view of sin is, that will be enough to convince us to live for Him. God is a righteous and just God, and He does not take sin lightly. When the people began to sin against God, His heart became deeply troubled because He was forced to take action. God decided to send a massive flood to destroy everyone, except for Noah. Noah found favor in God because Noah did his best to live a righteous and blameless life.
"The wages of sin is death". Although God does not wipe out everyone who sins through a flood, a person who sins and does not repent will die. I am not just talking about a physical death, because everyone dies, even the righteous. Unforgiven sinners will die an eternal death, far worse than dying in a flood. Sin is a very serious thing, and we cannot treat it lightly. We must realize that God is just and He will punish sin. Having this in mind, we also know that we have a savior who died in our place. Jesus took the punishment for our sin, but we have to repent and accept God's forgiveness.
-Smart
-Genesis 6:12
I often talk about God's mercy, grace and love on this blog. I talk about these things because I want to stress that God is not an angry god who wants to control our lives, or make us live a bad life. Also, because of His mercy anyone that turns to Him can be saved, no matter their past. God accepts anyone that will turn to Him, because He loves everyone. Today I want to talk about something I don't normally talk about- the seriousness of sin.
After Adam and Eve sinned against God, their sin spread to their children, most notably Cain. When Cain becomes jealous he murders his brother Abel. After this tragic event, Adam and Eve give birth to another son, named Seth. Seth is similar to Abel; one who follows God and His ways. Now there are two different kinds of people being born, the children of Cain and those of Seth. Cain's line is one that is full of sin, disobedience, and disregard for God. Seth's line is one that is full of people who follow God.
In Genesis 6 we see that "the sons of God" took "the daughters of men" as their wives. It is not clear who these sons of God are or who the daughters of men are, but it is a safe assumption to say that they are the sons of Seth and daughters of Cain. What we do know for sure is that these "sons of God" married the "daughters of men" because they were beautiful. Seth's descendants began to live according to their flesh desires, marrying whomever they chose. Later in the passage God sees corrupt and wicked people, who stopped following God. Today I want to share with you three things we should be aware of in our own lives that may indicate if we are falling into sin that I see in this passage.
We forget about God. Seth's line was one that followed after God. It is not clear exactly what they did, but we can see that Seth's descendants are called "sons of God." These people probably lived faithful lives to God, constantly praying to God. However, they being to lose sight of God, and they forget about Him. People usually begin to forget about God when they replace Him with something else, such as money, other people, or pleasure. This reminds me of Philippians 3, where Paul warns the Philippians to be aware of the enemies of God, "whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite...". Which brings me to my next point...
We begin to do whatever we want, regardless of our intentions. Seth's descendants began to fall away from God because they lived for their pleasure. They married based of their feelings and lust, disregarding the fact that the daughters of Cain were sinful people. When we do whatever we want without considering why we are doing these things, it is very easy to fall into sin. We are people of flesh, and our flesh desires sinful things. When people live for pleasure, they fall easily into sin, and start believing that they are living a fulfilling life. Make sure to think about your intentions when you do anything.
We start to fit in with others. It's sad to say, but people of this day are quite similar to the people of Noah's time. People only live for pleasure, and do not bother to follow God. The norm is not following God or living a righteous life, but living a sinful and pleasure-seeking life. If people cannot tell us apart from other people, we have to consider our lives. It is definitely very difficult to live a righteous life because everyone else is not. Also, people will look down on you if you don't fit in with them. I'm sure that when Noah began building the ark that God had commanded Him to, people were making fun of him all the time. Living for God is not easy because you will not fit in with the world.
So why is it so important to live a righteous life anyway? Why fight against sin when it is inevitable that we will sin? These are valid questions. I believe that if we understand who God is, and what His view of sin is, that will be enough to convince us to live for Him. God is a righteous and just God, and He does not take sin lightly. When the people began to sin against God, His heart became deeply troubled because He was forced to take action. God decided to send a massive flood to destroy everyone, except for Noah. Noah found favor in God because Noah did his best to live a righteous and blameless life.
"The wages of sin is death". Although God does not wipe out everyone who sins through a flood, a person who sins and does not repent will die. I am not just talking about a physical death, because everyone dies, even the righteous. Unforgiven sinners will die an eternal death, far worse than dying in a flood. Sin is a very serious thing, and we cannot treat it lightly. We must realize that God is just and He will punish sin. Having this in mind, we also know that we have a savior who died in our place. Jesus took the punishment for our sin, but we have to repent and accept God's forgiveness.
-Smart
Real Money
"Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith..."
-Hebrews 12:2
For those of you that don't know, I recently got a new job at my college. I work at the technology store, where I sell computers and computer accessories. Recently, a customer bought a Macbook Pro, paying for it in cash. This reminded me of the first week of the job, where I learned about a marker that we have, which we use to check for counterfeit money. If you write on the money and a black marking comes up, the cash is fake. If you cannot see a black marking, the money is good.
This reminded me of two sermons I have heard that talk about the antichrist. Many people, when they hear about an antichrist, immediately being to look for them. This is not how it should be. When a person is determining whether money is fake or not, without the aid of any tool (like the marker), they compare it to real money. A person has to study real money in order to determine if the money is real or not. Similarly, a student doesn't study wrong answers on a test, but the answers that are correct. Studying false answers wold be highly impractical.
In the same way, we should not be looking for the antichirst. Doing that would be impractical and a waste of time. In the verse at the beginning, we are told to fix our eyes on Jesus. The only way we will be able to test an antichrist is if we know who the Christ really is. If we spend time reading the Bible, praying, and obeying God's word, we will know who Christ is. When an antichrist comes around, we will know that they are not the Christ, because we know who Christ really is. So don't spend your time looking for antichrists; look for Jesus.
-Smart
-Hebrews 12:2
For those of you that don't know, I recently got a new job at my college. I work at the technology store, where I sell computers and computer accessories. Recently, a customer bought a Macbook Pro, paying for it in cash. This reminded me of the first week of the job, where I learned about a marker that we have, which we use to check for counterfeit money. If you write on the money and a black marking comes up, the cash is fake. If you cannot see a black marking, the money is good.
This reminded me of two sermons I have heard that talk about the antichrist. Many people, when they hear about an antichrist, immediately being to look for them. This is not how it should be. When a person is determining whether money is fake or not, without the aid of any tool (like the marker), they compare it to real money. A person has to study real money in order to determine if the money is real or not. Similarly, a student doesn't study wrong answers on a test, but the answers that are correct. Studying false answers wold be highly impractical.
In the same way, we should not be looking for the antichirst. Doing that would be impractical and a waste of time. In the verse at the beginning, we are told to fix our eyes on Jesus. The only way we will be able to test an antichrist is if we know who the Christ really is. If we spend time reading the Bible, praying, and obeying God's word, we will know who Christ is. When an antichrist comes around, we will know that they are not the Christ, because we know who Christ really is. So don't spend your time looking for antichrists; look for Jesus.
-Smart
Cain and Abel (Genesis 4 and 5)
"'If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.'"
-Genesis 4:7
This is a very sad story, as it shows a very serious and deadly (literally) sin. After Adam and Eve sin against God by eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we see how sin can spread. Cain and Abel offer up a gift to God, but Abel's gift is superior to Cain's gift. This stirs up jealousy in Cain, and he murders his own brother in cold blood, even after God warns him not to. This again is very unfortunate, because we see how sin spread from Adam and Eve to their son Cain. Sin indeed is a very powerful enemy, and is very difficult to prevent, especially if you allow it to enter your life even once.
In this passage I noticed people's capacity to do great evil. Although people are made in the image of God, because of sin people have done very bad things. Adam was made from the image of God, but he sinned, therefore passing the sinful nature to his son, Cain. Adam's sin was bad, but Cain's sin was very extreme and evil. He murdered his own brother out of jealousy and anger, and then lies to God about it. His murder was premeditated, as we see that he calls Abel out into the field in order to kill him there.
The good news is that people are also capable of doing great good. In chapter five Enoch walks with God his entire life, and God rewards him by taking him into heaven. Another example is Job, who despite being afflicted with many misfortunes is able to live a faithful life. Paul is a great example of both evil and good; before knowing Christ he persecuted the church, but after he preaches the gospel and suffers for Christ.
One thing that determines if someone does good or evil is how much they value God. In Genesis 4, it is clear that Cain has no regard or respect for God. Cain probably only thinks about himself, and doesn't care about God. This is seen when he does not offer God his best, and when he does not listen to God's attempts to help him. Cain is more concerned with his life and his emotions than what God has to say. In other words, Cain does not give God his due worth.
Something to keep in mind is that God believes that we are worth it all. He sent Jesus to die for our sins, because He cares about us and He values us. No one dies for someone else unless they believe they are worth something. In this passage, God wants Cain to repent and do good things, but Cain does not accept God's offer. Cain rejects God and does not think listening to God is worth his effort. God does not need us to give Him anything, but He wants us to love Him with all our heart. When Abel offers God his best, God is not only pleased in the offering but in Abel. For reasons I don't know, God loves us and wants us to be saved. He doesn't need anything from us, but He wants us to follow Him because that's how we can get eternal life with Him. He believes that we are worth saving. How much is God worth to you?
-Smart
-Genesis 4:7
This is a very sad story, as it shows a very serious and deadly (literally) sin. After Adam and Eve sin against God by eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we see how sin can spread. Cain and Abel offer up a gift to God, but Abel's gift is superior to Cain's gift. This stirs up jealousy in Cain, and he murders his own brother in cold blood, even after God warns him not to. This again is very unfortunate, because we see how sin spread from Adam and Eve to their son Cain. Sin indeed is a very powerful enemy, and is very difficult to prevent, especially if you allow it to enter your life even once.
In this passage I noticed people's capacity to do great evil. Although people are made in the image of God, because of sin people have done very bad things. Adam was made from the image of God, but he sinned, therefore passing the sinful nature to his son, Cain. Adam's sin was bad, but Cain's sin was very extreme and evil. He murdered his own brother out of jealousy and anger, and then lies to God about it. His murder was premeditated, as we see that he calls Abel out into the field in order to kill him there.
The good news is that people are also capable of doing great good. In chapter five Enoch walks with God his entire life, and God rewards him by taking him into heaven. Another example is Job, who despite being afflicted with many misfortunes is able to live a faithful life. Paul is a great example of both evil and good; before knowing Christ he persecuted the church, but after he preaches the gospel and suffers for Christ.
One thing that determines if someone does good or evil is how much they value God. In Genesis 4, it is clear that Cain has no regard or respect for God. Cain probably only thinks about himself, and doesn't care about God. This is seen when he does not offer God his best, and when he does not listen to God's attempts to help him. Cain is more concerned with his life and his emotions than what God has to say. In other words, Cain does not give God his due worth.
Something to keep in mind is that God believes that we are worth it all. He sent Jesus to die for our sins, because He cares about us and He values us. No one dies for someone else unless they believe they are worth something. In this passage, God wants Cain to repent and do good things, but Cain does not accept God's offer. Cain rejects God and does not think listening to God is worth his effort. God does not need us to give Him anything, but He wants us to love Him with all our heart. When Abel offers God his best, God is not only pleased in the offering but in Abel. For reasons I don't know, God loves us and wants us to be saved. He doesn't need anything from us, but He wants us to follow Him because that's how we can get eternal life with Him. He believes that we are worth saving. How much is God worth to you?
-Smart
The Fall (Genesis 3)
"Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, 'where are you?'"
-Genesis 3:9
Genesis 3 is all about how man and woman first fall into temptation and sin against God. Satan (represented by a serpent) begins to tempt Eve by asking her about God's command. Eve tells the serpent that God told her that she could not eat or touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What is interesting is that God never said that they could not touch this tree. Eve added that part in, perhaps because she thinks of God as being restrictive. However, this cannot be known for certain, it is just what we speculated in Bible study today.
What we can see is that the serpent uses God's command and twists it to tempt Eve. Eve knows what God has commanded her; "from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat (Genesis 2:17). Despite knowing this, she still eventually eats the forbidden fruit after believing the lies that the serpent has thrown at her. I believe that Eve listened to the serpent because she did not understand God's intentions in His command. Although she knew the command, she did not understand why God forbade the fruit from the knowledge of good and evil. Perhaps she thought that God was being selfish, because this fruit would unlock the knowledge of good and evil, which only God had at that time.
In this we can see that knowledge and understanding are not the same thing. It is possible to know something but not understand it. A child can know that 2 multiplied to 2 is 4, but not understand why. More relevant to this passage, a child can know that a parent disciplines them when they cross the street recklessly, but not understand why. Knowledge is a good thing to have, but understanding is an even greater thing. Eve knew the command that God gave her, but she did not understand why God would restrict her from eating it. It is unclear what she did believe God's reasons were, but we can assume that she didn't understand God.
Eve listens to the serpent and eats the forbidden fruit because she does not understand God's intentions. God's love was clearly seen in the previous passage, where God creates a perfect environment for Adam and Eve- a place with good food, nice scenery, and no shame. The serpent is able to make Eve question God's love, and because she does not understand the extent of God's love, she eats of the fruit. I do not understand why God (other than to offer choice) would restrict Adam and Eve from eating of this fruit, especially since God created the tree in the first place. However, I do know that God loved Adam and Eve very much, and His intentions could not have been bad. Perhaps God wanted to allow them to eat the fruit at a later time, but wanted to test their love for God. I do not know.
I hope I have made clear the difference between knowledge and understanding. We need both, and I encourage you to ask God for both, especially while reading the Bible. If you do not understand a command that God gives in the Bible, just remember that God loves you. He does everything for our good, even if it means disciplining us. I can guarantee that we will not understand everything, and that we will fail, just as Adam and Eve did. God didn't allow us to remain hopeless, He gave us redemption and grace.
Another thing we can learn from this passage is that we need to allow God to have His rightful place. God is greater than us, and we should never try to take the place of God. When Eve considers eating the fruit while being tempted by Satan, he tells her that God is not allowing them to eat the fruit because they will become like God. I believe this made Eve think that God was being unjust and selfish, and she wanted to become like Him. Pride is very dangerous if you allow it to make you think that you don't need God. Although God is not one who will forcefully control your life, He still deserves to be worshiped and honored above ourselves.
Even though Adam and Eve sinned against God, it did not stop Him from loving them. God promised them that He would send someone who would conquer Satan. Although God punished Adam and Eve, He still gave them grace. He did not simply kill them and forsake them, but He did discipline them. One interesting idea I heard today is that God did not let them live forever not just as a punishment, but as a gift of grace as well. Adam and Eve's sin caused them to have great guilt and shame, which they would have carried forever if God had allowed them to live forever. Even when we cannot understand things, God is always working for our good. We should always do our best to understand God and be humble, but know that God will always love you.
-Smart
(Sorry this was a long post. If you read until this point I encourage you to comment and let me know if you like this series so far.)
-Genesis 3:9
Genesis 3 is all about how man and woman first fall into temptation and sin against God. Satan (represented by a serpent) begins to tempt Eve by asking her about God's command. Eve tells the serpent that God told her that she could not eat or touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What is interesting is that God never said that they could not touch this tree. Eve added that part in, perhaps because she thinks of God as being restrictive. However, this cannot be known for certain, it is just what we speculated in Bible study today.
What we can see is that the serpent uses God's command and twists it to tempt Eve. Eve knows what God has commanded her; "from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat (Genesis 2:17). Despite knowing this, she still eventually eats the forbidden fruit after believing the lies that the serpent has thrown at her. I believe that Eve listened to the serpent because she did not understand God's intentions in His command. Although she knew the command, she did not understand why God forbade the fruit from the knowledge of good and evil. Perhaps she thought that God was being selfish, because this fruit would unlock the knowledge of good and evil, which only God had at that time.
In this we can see that knowledge and understanding are not the same thing. It is possible to know something but not understand it. A child can know that 2 multiplied to 2 is 4, but not understand why. More relevant to this passage, a child can know that a parent disciplines them when they cross the street recklessly, but not understand why. Knowledge is a good thing to have, but understanding is an even greater thing. Eve knew the command that God gave her, but she did not understand why God would restrict her from eating it. It is unclear what she did believe God's reasons were, but we can assume that she didn't understand God.
Eve listens to the serpent and eats the forbidden fruit because she does not understand God's intentions. God's love was clearly seen in the previous passage, where God creates a perfect environment for Adam and Eve- a place with good food, nice scenery, and no shame. The serpent is able to make Eve question God's love, and because she does not understand the extent of God's love, she eats of the fruit. I do not understand why God (other than to offer choice) would restrict Adam and Eve from eating of this fruit, especially since God created the tree in the first place. However, I do know that God loved Adam and Eve very much, and His intentions could not have been bad. Perhaps God wanted to allow them to eat the fruit at a later time, but wanted to test their love for God. I do not know.
I hope I have made clear the difference between knowledge and understanding. We need both, and I encourage you to ask God for both, especially while reading the Bible. If you do not understand a command that God gives in the Bible, just remember that God loves you. He does everything for our good, even if it means disciplining us. I can guarantee that we will not understand everything, and that we will fail, just as Adam and Eve did. God didn't allow us to remain hopeless, He gave us redemption and grace.
Another thing we can learn from this passage is that we need to allow God to have His rightful place. God is greater than us, and we should never try to take the place of God. When Eve considers eating the fruit while being tempted by Satan, he tells her that God is not allowing them to eat the fruit because they will become like God. I believe this made Eve think that God was being unjust and selfish, and she wanted to become like Him. Pride is very dangerous if you allow it to make you think that you don't need God. Although God is not one who will forcefully control your life, He still deserves to be worshiped and honored above ourselves.
Even though Adam and Eve sinned against God, it did not stop Him from loving them. God promised them that He would send someone who would conquer Satan. Although God punished Adam and Eve, He still gave them grace. He did not simply kill them and forsake them, but He did discipline them. One interesting idea I heard today is that God did not let them live forever not just as a punishment, but as a gift of grace as well. Adam and Eve's sin caused them to have great guilt and shame, which they would have carried forever if God had allowed them to live forever. Even when we cannot understand things, God is always working for our good. We should always do our best to understand God and be humble, but know that God will always love you.
-Smart
(Sorry this was a long post. If you read until this point I encourage you to comment and let me know if you like this series so far.)
Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:4-25)
"Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it."
-Genesis 2:15
Today I went to the second lesson in the Genesis Bible academy and we learned about Genesis 2. This passage talks about the creation of Adam and Eve, the first two humans, in more detail. One thing that was stressed in this Bible study was that people were made from the dust, and the breath of life. What does this mean? People aren't just physical beings, but spiritual as well. The dust represents the physical, earthly nature of man, and the breath of life represents the spiritual, heavenly nature of man.
This wasn't what I wanted to focus on though. I want to talk about how we sometimes miss the things that God does for us. The Garden of Eden is a great example of this idea. Some things are quite obvious when you read the chapter; God gives Adam food, water, shelter, and a wife. However, God gives Adam everything that His physical self could desire. The trees of the garden not only gave Adam food, but also something pleasing to look at. God knew that Adam would enjoy having nice scenery to look at, so He creates trees that were beautiful.
So what things does God give Adam that we may not think of at first glance? God gives Adam two very important things, a choice and a mission. I've talked about choice before in this context, so I won't get into too much detail. What's interesting is that when we think of choice, we think of it as something we have to do for God. We think of Adam having the choice to disobey God as something that hurts Adam. Now Adam has to choose to obey God, which will show that Adam truly loves God.
God also gives Adam a mission to take care of the creatures of the earth. When we think of missions, we usually also think of it as something we have to do for God. We think of it as Adam having to take care of the creatures and name them to help God establish rule. This is not the case; God can do anything He wants and does not need our help for anything. God knows that without a mission, people begin to live boring and meaningless lives that feel hopeless. God doesn't give Adam a choice and a mission to benefit Himself, but to benefit Adam.
The point I'm trying to make is that God does everything for our good. It may seem that God does things to benefit Himself, but I don't think that is the case. When God tells us to pray, it is not so God benefits somehow from people praying to Him, but so that we can be blessed by God. God doesn't ask us to worship Him just so that He can be praised, but so that we can draw closer to Him. God doesn't give us choices to make life difficult, but to discipline us. God doesn't give us missions so that we can do His work for Him, but so that we can live a meaningful life. He does everything out of love for us.
-Smart
(P.S. Do you think this is a good series for me to keep up? Comment below and lemme know what you think.)
-Genesis 2:15
Today I went to the second lesson in the Genesis Bible academy and we learned about Genesis 2. This passage talks about the creation of Adam and Eve, the first two humans, in more detail. One thing that was stressed in this Bible study was that people were made from the dust, and the breath of life. What does this mean? People aren't just physical beings, but spiritual as well. The dust represents the physical, earthly nature of man, and the breath of life represents the spiritual, heavenly nature of man.
This wasn't what I wanted to focus on though. I want to talk about how we sometimes miss the things that God does for us. The Garden of Eden is a great example of this idea. Some things are quite obvious when you read the chapter; God gives Adam food, water, shelter, and a wife. However, God gives Adam everything that His physical self could desire. The trees of the garden not only gave Adam food, but also something pleasing to look at. God knew that Adam would enjoy having nice scenery to look at, so He creates trees that were beautiful.
So what things does God give Adam that we may not think of at first glance? God gives Adam two very important things, a choice and a mission. I've talked about choice before in this context, so I won't get into too much detail. What's interesting is that when we think of choice, we think of it as something we have to do for God. We think of Adam having the choice to disobey God as something that hurts Adam. Now Adam has to choose to obey God, which will show that Adam truly loves God.
God also gives Adam a mission to take care of the creatures of the earth. When we think of missions, we usually also think of it as something we have to do for God. We think of it as Adam having to take care of the creatures and name them to help God establish rule. This is not the case; God can do anything He wants and does not need our help for anything. God knows that without a mission, people begin to live boring and meaningless lives that feel hopeless. God doesn't give Adam a choice and a mission to benefit Himself, but to benefit Adam.
The point I'm trying to make is that God does everything for our good. It may seem that God does things to benefit Himself, but I don't think that is the case. When God tells us to pray, it is not so God benefits somehow from people praying to Him, but so that we can be blessed by God. God doesn't ask us to worship Him just so that He can be praised, but so that we can draw closer to Him. God doesn't give us choices to make life difficult, but to discipline us. God doesn't give us missions so that we can do His work for Him, but so that we can live a meaningful life. He does everything out of love for us.
-Smart
(P.S. Do you think this is a good series for me to keep up? Comment below and lemme know what you think.)
In The Beginning (Genesis 1:1-2:3)
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
-Genesis 1:1
Today my church started a program called the "Genesis Bible Academy". What this program entails is a series of lectures based on the book of Genesis in the Bible. The goal of this program is that the attendees learn more about God and are able to teach Genesis to some degree. I decided to join this program because I have some free time in the summer and I always want to increase my knowledge of the Bible. During the study today I decided I would post my thoughts of the passage for every day we have a lecture.
The story of creation is something I have heard many times. God creates the world in six days and He rests on the seventh day. Two things are immediately obvious when reading this passage; God is powerful and He is wise. In verse 3, God says "let there be light," and "there was light". God did not create light with His hands, or with materials. He simply said a command, and light was created. This is a clear example that God has authority and power over everything, even creation. No human could say "let there be light" and create light in that way; only God can.
God's wisdom is seen in creation as well. On the first four days God creates light, the sky, land and sea, vegetation, and the sun, moon and stars. Notice that all of these things are part of an environment and are self sustaining. On the fifth and sixth day God creates creatures of the sea and the land, including people. These things require an environment to live in, but God already created the environment. The order of creation is purposeful and intelligent, revealing God's wisdom.
This passage reveals more than just God creating the world. Creation shows how God is able to put something seemly lost and in disarray together in a beautiful display. Verse 2 states that "the earth was formless and void". The earth was completely in disarray and there was no order, and darkness covered it. God does not leave the earth in this fashion, He slowly pieces things together and creates order and life. God continually says that "it was good", claiming His satisfaction in His work. On the seventh day when the world is complete, God is able to rest and enjoy His creation.
In case you couldn't see the analogy earlier, this also refers to our lives. Before knowing Christ, our lives can seem lost, broken, and in disarray; we are spiritually dead. God didn't leave us like this, He sent His son in order to restore us. This process may seem slow at times, but God is very purposeful and wise. He knows the best way and timing to restore our lost souls. God continually wants to form our lives and create something that is good. When's God's work is done and we are made complete, we can rest and enjoy His presence.
-Smart
-Genesis 1:1
Today my church started a program called the "Genesis Bible Academy". What this program entails is a series of lectures based on the book of Genesis in the Bible. The goal of this program is that the attendees learn more about God and are able to teach Genesis to some degree. I decided to join this program because I have some free time in the summer and I always want to increase my knowledge of the Bible. During the study today I decided I would post my thoughts of the passage for every day we have a lecture.
The story of creation is something I have heard many times. God creates the world in six days and He rests on the seventh day. Two things are immediately obvious when reading this passage; God is powerful and He is wise. In verse 3, God says "let there be light," and "there was light". God did not create light with His hands, or with materials. He simply said a command, and light was created. This is a clear example that God has authority and power over everything, even creation. No human could say "let there be light" and create light in that way; only God can.
God's wisdom is seen in creation as well. On the first four days God creates light, the sky, land and sea, vegetation, and the sun, moon and stars. Notice that all of these things are part of an environment and are self sustaining. On the fifth and sixth day God creates creatures of the sea and the land, including people. These things require an environment to live in, but God already created the environment. The order of creation is purposeful and intelligent, revealing God's wisdom.
This passage reveals more than just God creating the world. Creation shows how God is able to put something seemly lost and in disarray together in a beautiful display. Verse 2 states that "the earth was formless and void". The earth was completely in disarray and there was no order, and darkness covered it. God does not leave the earth in this fashion, He slowly pieces things together and creates order and life. God continually says that "it was good", claiming His satisfaction in His work. On the seventh day when the world is complete, God is able to rest and enjoy His creation.
In case you couldn't see the analogy earlier, this also refers to our lives. Before knowing Christ, our lives can seem lost, broken, and in disarray; we are spiritually dead. God didn't leave us like this, He sent His son in order to restore us. This process may seem slow at times, but God is very purposeful and wise. He knows the best way and timing to restore our lost souls. God continually wants to form our lives and create something that is good. When's God's work is done and we are made complete, we can rest and enjoy His presence.
-Smart
Where are you Looking?
Today I want to write about three stories in the Bible and connect them all together. I was having trouble thinking of a new topic to write about, when I heard one of these stories on Sunday during church. Story number one comes from Numbers 21. The Israelites are traveling following Moses' lead, and they became impatient. The people then began to complain and blame Moses and God for their suffering. God heard these complaints and He sent snakes that bit the people and poisoned them.
Anyone who was bitten by one of these snakes would die. The Israelites realized their mistake and repented and asked God to forgive them. Interestingly, God did not simply remove or kill the snakes, but commanded Moses to make a bronze snake and place it on a staff. Anyone who looked at this bronze snake would not die of the snake bites, and anyone who did not look would die.
The second story comes from Matthew 14. Jesus is teaching people near a lake, and commands the disciples to leave by boat. The disciples are now far from Jesus, because the winds are strong and the waves carry them far out in the water. Then they see a man walking on the water towards them. They do not know who it is, and even think it is a ghost. Jesus assures them that He is the one coming towards them, to which Peter replies "if it is you, command me to come to You on the water". Jesus tells Peter to come, and Peter is able to walk on the water towards Jesus, but then Peter sinks. Jesus catches Peter and prevents him from drowning.
The final story is one I have told before, but will tell again. Jesus leaves Bethany and becomes hungry. He goes to a fig tree, but sees that it has no fruit. Jesus then curses the fig tree, and the next day it is dead and withered. The disciples see this miracle and are amazed at what Jesus has done. Jesus then proceeds to tell them that anyone who has faith and no doubt will be able to cast a mountain into the sea. He then tells them that anything they pray for with faith will be granted.
So what do these stories all have in common? One thing I noticed is that they all talk about looking at something. What does that mean? It means the people involved in the stories had a choice. The choice was whether to look at the snakes that are biting you or the bronze snake on the staff. The choice was whether to look at the wind and the crashing waves or to look at Jesus. The choice was whether to look at the mountain or to look at God's power.
These stories are very applicable to us even today. They challenge us to not look at the worries of this world, but to look at Jesus. In the first story, the people were being bitten by venomous snakes. Obviously their first worry were these snakes that were attacking them. However, all they had to do was stop looking at the snakes and look at the bronze snake on the staff, and they would not have to worry about the venomous snakes anymore. When Peter is walking on water, had he been focusing on Jesus rather than the raging sea, Peter would not have to worry about drowning. In the last story, Jesus is telling us that we cannot look at how big the mountain is, but how powerful our God is.
God does not want us to be concerned with the problems we have or to worry about our lives. He wants us to "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2)".
-Smart
Anyone who was bitten by one of these snakes would die. The Israelites realized their mistake and repented and asked God to forgive them. Interestingly, God did not simply remove or kill the snakes, but commanded Moses to make a bronze snake and place it on a staff. Anyone who looked at this bronze snake would not die of the snake bites, and anyone who did not look would die.
The second story comes from Matthew 14. Jesus is teaching people near a lake, and commands the disciples to leave by boat. The disciples are now far from Jesus, because the winds are strong and the waves carry them far out in the water. Then they see a man walking on the water towards them. They do not know who it is, and even think it is a ghost. Jesus assures them that He is the one coming towards them, to which Peter replies "if it is you, command me to come to You on the water". Jesus tells Peter to come, and Peter is able to walk on the water towards Jesus, but then Peter sinks. Jesus catches Peter and prevents him from drowning.
The final story is one I have told before, but will tell again. Jesus leaves Bethany and becomes hungry. He goes to a fig tree, but sees that it has no fruit. Jesus then curses the fig tree, and the next day it is dead and withered. The disciples see this miracle and are amazed at what Jesus has done. Jesus then proceeds to tell them that anyone who has faith and no doubt will be able to cast a mountain into the sea. He then tells them that anything they pray for with faith will be granted.
So what do these stories all have in common? One thing I noticed is that they all talk about looking at something. What does that mean? It means the people involved in the stories had a choice. The choice was whether to look at the snakes that are biting you or the bronze snake on the staff. The choice was whether to look at the wind and the crashing waves or to look at Jesus. The choice was whether to look at the mountain or to look at God's power.
These stories are very applicable to us even today. They challenge us to not look at the worries of this world, but to look at Jesus. In the first story, the people were being bitten by venomous snakes. Obviously their first worry were these snakes that were attacking them. However, all they had to do was stop looking at the snakes and look at the bronze snake on the staff, and they would not have to worry about the venomous snakes anymore. When Peter is walking on water, had he been focusing on Jesus rather than the raging sea, Peter would not have to worry about drowning. In the last story, Jesus is telling us that we cannot look at how big the mountain is, but how powerful our God is.
God does not want us to be concerned with the problems we have or to worry about our lives. He wants us to "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2)".
-Smart
Unchangeable
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
-Hebrews 13:8
Before the school year ended I was reading a comic called "The Walking Dead". The comic book is about a zombie apocalypse and a group of survivors. The main character's name is Rick Grimes, a cop who wakes up from a coma in the middle of the apocalypse. As the story progresses, Rick finds his family and joins a group of survivors, and they move from place to place to survive in the harsh world. Throughout the series people change drastically because they are haunted by the horrors of the apocalypse.
So what does this have to do with the title of this post? In the comic, as people in the group and changing and becoming more unstable, they all look for someone who will lead them with a steady hand. They all turn to Rick, probably because he was a cop and they expect that he will be a good leader. However, even Rick begins to change and go crazy a bit, to which his wife tells him that he needs to be strong for the group. I found this to be very interesting because it shows how people act in times of distress, and when things begin to change.
In any group, people generally will look for someone to become a leader. Whether they agree on a leader vocally or not, a person will usually step up and lead the group. Leaders usually have something that separate them from the rest of the group, whether it be age, gender, height, or charm. Today I want to talk about a characteristic that a leader (or anyone) should strive to have. This trait is consistency, or being unchangeable. I've written about this before, but today I want to focus on one example, Jesus.
In the Bible, Jesus was always the same no matter the situation. I believe this is part of why people were able to follow Him and believe in His words. People are drawn to others who are consistent and proven to be unchangeable. It's very hard to follow someone that changes from day to day and doesn't seem to be reliable. Jesus always spoke the truth, and He always loved others. Even when Satan tempted Him, others mocked Him and beat Him, and when people crucified Him, He did not waiver in His character. Even while hanging on the cross to His death, He said "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). He loved even those who tortured and killed Him, and He loves us as well.
People look for consistency in others all the time. A child looks to their parents, a worker to their boss or coworker, a church member to their pastor, or a player to their coach. People want to know that they can trust someone who will never fail. However, people always will fall short, because no one is perfect. Therefore we should look to Christ for comfort, security, and love. He is the only one who is truly unchangeable, never failing. "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)".
-Smart
-Hebrews 13:8
Before the school year ended I was reading a comic called "The Walking Dead". The comic book is about a zombie apocalypse and a group of survivors. The main character's name is Rick Grimes, a cop who wakes up from a coma in the middle of the apocalypse. As the story progresses, Rick finds his family and joins a group of survivors, and they move from place to place to survive in the harsh world. Throughout the series people change drastically because they are haunted by the horrors of the apocalypse.
So what does this have to do with the title of this post? In the comic, as people in the group and changing and becoming more unstable, they all look for someone who will lead them with a steady hand. They all turn to Rick, probably because he was a cop and they expect that he will be a good leader. However, even Rick begins to change and go crazy a bit, to which his wife tells him that he needs to be strong for the group. I found this to be very interesting because it shows how people act in times of distress, and when things begin to change.
In any group, people generally will look for someone to become a leader. Whether they agree on a leader vocally or not, a person will usually step up and lead the group. Leaders usually have something that separate them from the rest of the group, whether it be age, gender, height, or charm. Today I want to talk about a characteristic that a leader (or anyone) should strive to have. This trait is consistency, or being unchangeable. I've written about this before, but today I want to focus on one example, Jesus.
In the Bible, Jesus was always the same no matter the situation. I believe this is part of why people were able to follow Him and believe in His words. People are drawn to others who are consistent and proven to be unchangeable. It's very hard to follow someone that changes from day to day and doesn't seem to be reliable. Jesus always spoke the truth, and He always loved others. Even when Satan tempted Him, others mocked Him and beat Him, and when people crucified Him, He did not waiver in His character. Even while hanging on the cross to His death, He said "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). He loved even those who tortured and killed Him, and He loves us as well.
People look for consistency in others all the time. A child looks to their parents, a worker to their boss or coworker, a church member to their pastor, or a player to their coach. People want to know that they can trust someone who will never fail. However, people always will fall short, because no one is perfect. Therefore we should look to Christ for comfort, security, and love. He is the only one who is truly unchangeable, never failing. "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)".
-Smart
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