When Moses and the Israelites got to the Red Sea, their problem got compounded by the Egyptian army. The Egyptian leader, Pharaoh, had used the Israelites as slave labor to build his great pyramids and monuments. He only agreed to let them go after several plagues had been been brought upon Egypt. These plagues consisted of locusts that ruined crops, frogs, snakes, and even what is referred to as the death angel that took the life of each male firstborn child. The Pharaoh had enough after his son was killed and agreed to let the Israelites go back to Israel. Almost immediately he recounted his thoughts and sent a large portion of his army, chariots and all, after the Israelites. 

So, when the Israelites arrived at the Red Sea, they saw the arriving Egyptians and panicked. Moses prayed to God for deliverance and God opened up the Red Sea, parting it so the Israelites could cross. There are two schools of thought on this. One is that it did occur exactly as stated in the story. The other that it occurred in North Egypt in the marshlands of the Northern end or mouth of the Nile river. This are of the Nile would have been very difficult for chariots to get through as they would have gotten bogged down and stuck in the mud and dense weeds. This would have been a great place for an ambush by the Israelites and there would have been mass casualties by the unprepared Egyptians. This could perhaps be the first instance of what we today refer to as Gorilla warfare. Whichever school you choose to believe it is fact that the Israelites did embark on this trek as artifacts and other archaeological proof has been found that unequivocally prove this. 

Back to the story of the parting of the Red Sea, the Israelites were scared and prayed to God for deliverance. God brought darkness, possible thunderstorms, over the Egyptians and fire over the Israelites, possible lightening. God then told Moses to raise his hands at the sea. The sea then parted and the Israelites did cross the sea. After the Israelites did cross the sea and arrive on dry land, the Egyptians started to cross. God told Moses to raise his hands again and the sea was flooded once more and the Egyptians were drowned in it. In the end of the story, the Israelites sang songs and praised God for their deliverance from the Egyptians and slavery. 

There are many ideas and schools of thought with different points of view on what actually occurred here, but archaeological proof does exist that the trek and crossing from Egypt to Israel did occur and that numerous hardships did occur. Religion and God played a large role in this trek and in these times thousands of years ago. In current research, the use of bible coding software also states that this trek occurred. It also states that Moses, the Ten Commandments, and how the bible was encoded or revealed to Moses may soon have great impact on all of us as the possibility of further expansion of the war in the Middle East continues. God did have a marked impact on the Israelites on their infamous trek thousands of years ago, and the reason for the implicit warnings in Revelations and the recent unveiling of the bible codes is that we can change. We can, as a whole, change or alter our future.

David Maillie is a weel known author, researcher, and Cornell alumni. For more great information and ideas please visit http://www.bestskinpeel.com and http://www.mdwholesale.com

The Coming of the Lord was Imminent

One of the most important issues involved in a study of the Lord’s return is that of time. The above English rendering dilutes the force of the original language.

Here, it expresses a simple future. In the original, the writer speaks more precisely regarding time. He uses the world “mellontos” which means “about to be.”

In other words, the text more literally reads, that Christ was “about to” come within their lifetime.This fits perfectly with statements made both by Christ and his apostles concerning the nearness of his return.

The Lord promised that the first century generation would yet be alive when he returned. “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things are fulfilled,”(Matt. 24:34)

Imminent Coming Consistently Taught by the Apostles

Secondly, the apostles likewise spoke of an imminent return of Christ. They used terms indicating near proximity in their day not ours.

The commonly used words of the apostles were “at hand, (Rom. 13:11-12, Phil. 4:5; 1 Peter 4:17, James 5:7-8; Rev. 1:1, 3. Other terms were “in a very little while,” (Heb. 10:37), and shortly to come to pass,(Rev. 1:1; 22:6, 10). This language of imminence has so baffled commentators and scholars that many of them claimed that Christ and his apostles were mistaken.

God does not lie. He cannot. (Tit. 1:2; Heb. 6:18) The problem demonstrates man’s failure and unwillingness to properly exegete (interpret) Bible prophecy.

The many failures of futurist predictions such as Edgar Whisenant’s ” 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Could Be in 1988,” should give considerably pause to all future date setters. According to the Lord and the apostles, the dates are pointing in the wrong direction.

Imminence Applies to All Particulars of Christ’s Return

The matter of imminence governs each aspect of end time prophecy. The statement of 2 Timothy 4:1, addresses the judgment, resurrection of the dead, the appearing or Parousia (presence) of Christ and the establishment of the everlasting kingdom.

Since these matter were “about to” occur, “at hand,” imminent and “shortly to come to pass” in the first century they demand that we look back in history rather than with speculative eyes in the future.

William Bell is the author of The Re-Examination, A Study of the Lord’s Second Coming. He also speaks regularly in Bible prophecy seminars, workshops and teleconferences. For more info visit: http://www.allthingsfulfilled.com

In Luke 6:45 it says, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”

That’s why I believe that if a person really wants to change the world for the better, the change starts in the heart.

Too often today, when many people try to change, they don’t have the type of moral grounding that the Bible offers. So, when they try to change, much of the change they make in their lives is superficial.

Another common issue is that many many feel deep down that something is wrong in their lives, but they don’t change because they are afraid something is wrong with them. This is about who we are as human beings, and we don’t want to feel like we are defective in any way.

The desire to change isn’t about who we are; it’s about what is wrong in our lives: wrong attitudes, wrong living. Many Christians fear that by allowing Christ to change them, it will change who they are. This isn’t true. Christ will unveil who you really are. Once you overcome your fear here, the life Christ unveils in you is far greater than anything you may dream or imagine.

The first step to change is to look for the sin in your life. Sin is an old fashioned concept, but for Christians, it is a reality we must accept. Revealing the sin in our lives helps us find those obstacles in our lives that may be holding us back.

Jimmy D. Brown once told the story in his Christian newsletter about what sin is really like: It’s like carrying around a sack of potatoes. When we sin, we add potatoes to the bag we carry. If we don’t get forgiveness, then those potatoes pile up, the burden gets heavy, and some of the potatoes begin to rot and stink. The burden becomes to heavy, and we crumble under the load.

By asking God for forgiveness, and then forgiving ourselves, we let go of those burdens. By forgiving others who have wronged us, we let go of the anger and hurt we feel inside. Forgiveness really is divine. When you actually do it, you feel better.

This doesn’t mean that we’re letting others off of the hook for what they have done. What we are doing is getting out of the way and allowing God to deal with those who wronged us.

Part of forgiveness is repentance. This is being genuinely sorry for what we have done. Unlike what I heard an atheist say, that Christians just need to ask for forgiveness and they they’re off the hook, this isn’t true. Repentance has to be genuine. Repentance is often painful, and God knows the difference between feigned and real repentance.

The next step is to seek to be more like Christ. Only about 11 percent of American Christians read their Bibles on a daily basis. Most Christians don’t know what the Bible really says. The secret here is to find out what Christ is really like, and we do that by reading the Bible. Then we practice what we have read. It isn’t easy, but it is necessary for our growth.

What I learned from this experience is when we seek to grow, when we seek to go beyond our sin and grow into what God wants us to be, a lot of obstacles are cleared from our path. God has created each of us to be something awesome. He has created each of us for a unique purpose, and when we fulfill that purpose, we achieve a life far better and greater than we could imagine.

The journey of allowing God to change my life has been painful. What I found on the other side is joy, peace, and happiness. I lost my need to control those around me and constantly struggle to control my environment. It became a liberating experience.

The most difficult part of this journey isn’t looking into the mirror to find out who we really are. It’s meeting God and accepting how much He really loves us. This is the ultimate revelation in the journey.

Download your free copy of the Science of Getting Rich and find out how to become what you were meant to be. http://www.101christian.com. Read my Christian blog, http://blog.101christian.com for more tips, strategies, and resources.

The name is generally understood to derive from Megiddo in the valley of Esdraelon in northern Palestine where many of Israel’s battles were fought. (Zondervan’s Pictorial Bible Encylopedia of the Bible, Vol 1, 1980, p. 311.

The Battle of Armageddon equates with Joel’s end time battle in the valley of Jehoshaphat, (Joel 3:1-2). Both involve the gathering of all nations to battle ending in judgment and destruction of the forces of evil.

Clues from Scripture lead to a path far different than that of most modern interpreters. They are concerned with the future, while textual indicators point to the past. In Revelation, the battle is associated with the fall of the great city, Mystery Babylon, (Rev. 16:19).

The great city of Revelation has three significant characteristics:

1. It is the city where the Lord was crucified, thus identifying it with first century Jerusalem.

2. It spiritually called Sodom and Eqypt, names denoting sin and bondage. Paul writes that Jerusalem was in bondage with her children and would shortly be cast out of covenant inheritance, (Gal. 4:23, 24).

3. The great city was guilty of murdering the prophets apostles and saints, 16:19; 17:18; 18:10, 18, 24.

Remember the Lord’s words. It could not be that a prophet perish outside of Jerusalem, (Lk. 13:33). See also Matt. 23:34-38.

Each of the three facts above point directly to first century Jerusalem as the Biblical setting of end time conflict. The Battle of Armageddon was a code word for the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD by the Romans. Thus, today the event belongs to past history finding its fulfillment in that event.

Time parameters in the beginning and end of Revelation support the nearness of the event to those living in the first century. John wrote that the time had drawn near for the message of Revelation to shortly come to pass, (Rev. 1:1-3). This included the message of Armageddon.

At the end of the book, he was given a warning by the angel not to seal the contents, repeating the time indicators that the time had drawn near, (Rev. 22:6-10). Finally, the Lord prophesied that when Jerusalem was destroyed all prophecy was fulfilled. (Luke 21:20-22, 32).

William Bell is the author of The Re-Examination, A Study of the Lord’s Second Coming. He also speaks regularly in Bible prophecy seminars, workshops and teleconferences. For more info visit: http://www.allthingsfulfilled.com

If you are a parent, or in a relationship, it will add to the stress because you aren’t just responsible for yourself, you are responsible for others.

As a single parent who raised three daughters to adulthood, believe me, I understand. It seems we never have enough time for ourselves. This makes our lives even more stressful.

If you want to find peace in your life, if you want to reduce your stress and live successfully, you will need to take drastic action. It doesn’t take much time, as little as 15 minutes a day. If you are consistent, these 15 minutes a day will change your life.

In the Bible, we see Jesus retreating many times to pray. It might seem odd that the Son of God felt the need to retreat, but the need to retreat from the pressures of every day life is necessary to helping us grow as Christians.

The first step to finding peace is to read your Bible. Although the Bible reveals many things, it also reveals God’s will for us, as well as the way we are to live. It gives us plenty of tools to help us in daily living. By spending a few minutes each day reading the Bible, we will find out what these tools are. We will learn what God wants us to know.

(You only need to read three chapters a day Monday through Saturday and five on Sunday to read the Bible through in a year. If you’ve never read the Bible, read two chapters per day from the New Testament, this will allow you to read through the New Testament twice in one year.)

The next step is to meditate on the Word. The Word refers to Jesus in 1 John, but it also refers to the Bible. What do we learn from what we have read? How will it help us in our daily lives?

(Keep a notebook and write down what you have learned. It will help you to remember it.)

The third step is to pray. You don’t need to know any fancy language or a certain formula to pray. In fact, the Bible warns us against formulaic prayer because this type of prayer is what “heathens” use. It’s not the type of prayer God is looking for.

When we read the Bible, God speaks to us. When we pray, we speak to Him. This puts us in relationship. This relationship grows stronger as we read the Bible and pray.

When you pray, tell God your concerns. Talk about what is bothering you. Ask Him for peace. Express your gratitude and thank Him for all of the good things in your life. Gratitude is a powerful way to change your life. When you focus on the good in your life, it makes it much harder to focus on what’s wrong. It changes your perspective.

Tell God what you need. Although the Bible says He already knows, He wants you to ask. God will not violate our free will. He won’t give unless we ask first.

Strong faith and a strong relationship with God gives us the strength to face the obstacles and struggles we face in daily life. The added benefit is that it allows us to “recharge our batteries.”

One thing I learned from reading the “Science of Getting Rich” is that we may only give to others what we have ourselves. If we don’t take the time to recharge, we don’t have anything to give. Giving when we have nothing to give adds to our stress.

Jesus told us:

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27.

Give yourself 15 minutes a day and reduce your stress. You’ll find the peace you are looking for.

Download your free copy of the Science of Getting Rich and find out how to become what you were meant to be. http://www.101christian.com. Read my Christian blog, http://blog.101christian.com for more tips, strategies, and resources.

To be a spiritual Christian means to be lead and to live by the spirit of God. It means allowing God’s spirit, that is living inside you, to guide your decisions instead of relying mostly upon your logic and intellect. Galatians 5:16 says that if we are lead by the spirit we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

It takes quieting our minds and stilling our hearts to a spiritual Christian. Too often we can’t hear God’s spirit leading us because our own thoughts and compulsive thinking gets in the way. We are constantly thinking about our past, our future, our worries and cares, and everything else in-between. Because of this, our thoughts often choke out or conflict with the Word of God.

Being a spiritual Christian requires spending time with God in solitude and silence. It was Jesus’s custom to go to a solitary place and pray or abide with God. The relationship built on abiding created a spiritual connection between God and Christ. Jesus said I and my Father are one. In fact, Jesus said, I only do and say and what the Father tells me. Their spiritual union created unity of thought and purpose.

Unfortunately, many Christians have never learned to nurture God’s spirit within them. They don’t trust what the spirit is saying, especially if it goes against natural or logical thinking. They don’t think God talks to them. They have more faith in the pastoral staff than in the Holy Spirit.

In many churches, Christians are not taught how to be spiritual. Instead we are given rules and formulas to live by. It is like going to a Christian seminar. We receive a one size fits all message. However, this does not compensate for our differences- differences in purpose, in personality, and in-style. It also does not account for our uniqueness.

Jesus told us that when it comes to God and being spiritual, that the spirit of God is already within us. He told us not to go on a mission to find God, because when we open our heart to Him, we already possess Him. Just as in the day of Pentecost, when we wait on God, He sends us the tools and the power we need to carry out His mission. In fact, 2 Peter 1:3 tells us, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

Therefore, being a spiritual Christian has more to do with building a genuine and personal relationship with God that is germinated in the soil of “being” and “abiding in Christ,” and as a result of this intimate fellowship, the direction, guidance, power, and instructions we need to fulfill God’s ongoing purpose in our lives will emerge.

Rhonda Jones, M.A., is the author of a series of the Christian meditation and affirmation CDs. It was meditation incorporated with the scriptures that helped her overcome years of depression. To learn more about Christian meditation visit the http://www.thechristianmeditator.com.

Why, because we can’t see past the physical death that we all will face one day? Maybe it’s because we take our trials of affliction too personal? I mean, how can we have so much value, and be heirs to God’s eternal kingdom and yet, be made to suffer like we do?

Now I’m about to make a statement that will cause you to laugh at what your about to read. But if you really think about what your about to read, it will make sense.

The reason why we are made to suffer is because God made us too powerful. See, I knew you would laugh. But you must understand, that statement is complete truth, and you don’t have to visit the spirit world to find out if I’m lying or not.

All you have to do is look at the work that God has left for us to be partakers of. It’s amazing how people don’t realize how powerful and valuable they really are?

If we were to take a few moments and look around this beautiful earth, you would see that this conclusion is literally staring you right in your face.

If you were to open and read your bible starting at Genesis 1: 26-31, you will find the account where God had made man in his own image and likeness. There wasn’t another creature that was given this special privilege.

Just look around, you don’t have to believe in miracles to see this for yourself. What other creature do you see, that has what you have?

What other creature do you see, that can do the things that you can do? We are the highlight of his creation. This world was made for us to be kings and queens of, and you don’t need royal blood in order to make that claim.

It’s your eternal blood that makes you an heir to the eternal kingdom. We all have this spiritual birth right, if we choose to claim it, and declare it so.

This text that you will find in the bible was written before we had planes and ships. It was written before we had earth moving machinery. God had already made it so, when he commanded that we would rule over the fish in the sea.

God made it so, when he commanded that we rule over the birds of the air, and over all the livestock and creatures that moved along the earth.

You don’t have to see angels, in order for you to see that this is so. It’s staring you right in the face. Do you see the planes flying by? Tell me, what bird can take it down? Do you see the ships in the sea?

Tell me what whale would be able to destroy it? Do you see the earth moving machines rolling by? Tell me, what terrain will be able to stop them?

Are you looking? What other creature could create these types of things? What other creature can do what you can do? What other creature value is more than yours?

We are able to do these things, because God made us in his image and likeness. No other creature can claim this honor, if you would just look around you would see that this is a fact.

I thank God for sending us Jesus, so he could point these simple things out to us. He used Jesus to let us know that we are loved.

He used Jesus to show that we are priceless and heirs to the eternal kingdom. If we would just look around, we will see that no other creature had so much love and value poured into it, like we had done for us.

Antonio L. Mitchell is a simple christian who has joined in the effort, on trying to provide online quality information that deals with Christianity.

http://www.christian-resources-today.com

There are many things in nature which God created that share many UNCOMMON similarities with the three persons of God and were made to testify that the Bible is true and for us to praise Him, as all things in nature should lead us to do. (Psalm 148) These things include the Sun, light, wind, water, & trees, which are all said in the Bible to be symbols of God.

Like the Son of God Jesus, the Sun appears to:
-descend from heaven to Earth
-disappear in a bloody death
-be “resurrected”
-ascend into heaven
-”He [the Son, like the Sun] is coming on the clouds of heaven, and every eye will see Him” (Rev. 1:7)
-cannot be escaped anywhere on Earth for long [except in the deep sea for instance, which is a symbol of Rev. 9:11’s Abyss of Hell where God cannot be sensed], as is said of God in Psalm 139
-gives life, as it says of Jesus “in Him was life & the life was the light of men” (John 1:4)
-brings the dead trees back to life, as Jesus says that when He comes all the dead will return to life (John 5:28); humans are compared to trees often in the Bible (ex. “every bad tree will be chopped down and thrown into the fire”: Matt. 12)
-have existed before man existed, as it says of Jesus “in the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1)
-never die, although it eventually will when the Son of God replaces the Sun (Rev. 21-22)
-these are just a few of the extremely numerous & uncommon similarities

Thus, the Sun is a powerful witness to people all over the world that everything said about Jesus in the Bible is true.

Biblical Evidence that the Sun is a symbol of the Son of God
1) In Psalm 84:11, it says that “the LORD God is a sun and shield.” This is obviously metaphorical, for the Psalmist is very aware that God is not a body as the Sun is. The word “LORD” is a title for the Son of God as well as for the Father. However, all the following references connect the Sun with the God the Son, not God the Father.
2) The Son of God calls himself the “light of the world” (John 8:12), and the Sun is the most prominent light of the world that we can see with our eyes.
3) in Malachi 4:2, the last chapter of the Old Testament immediately followed by Jesus’ genealogy, it is said “the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings”; this is referring to Jesus the Son of God
4) Jesus’ face is said to shine “as the noon-day Sun” both during the Transfiguration (Matt. 17:2) and in Rev. 1:16. In the New Jerusalem, there is said to be no need for the Sun because of the light from God and His Son. (Rev. 21:23)
5) As the SON of God was “absent” from sight for THREE days after His body died (Matt. 12:40), so was Jesus’s death accompanied by a THREE-hour absence of the SUN (Matt. 27:45); the SUN absent for THREE days to punish the Egyptians for sinning (Exodus 10:22-23); and the SUN’s light invisible to Paul for THREE days after the Son strikes Paul from Heaven with a blinding light. (Acts 9:3-5,9)

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he that is disobedient to the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36) “Hell, where the worm [that which feeds on a dead body] dieth not & the fire is not quenched.” (Mark 9:48)

George Pogiatzis has a Liberal Arts B.A. from St. John’s “The Great Books College” & a Master of Divinity degree. He has been researching & writing about how nature & all history prove the Bible almost daily for months. To see this valuable research, visit:
http://www.primaryproofsofchristianity.com

If God exists, why is there evil in the world? You know, this is a difficult stumbling block and question for many people. The simplest way to look at this question is to examine God’s nature and his desire for mankind. Look at the logic. God loves us and wants us to love him back. And how could we love him back unless we have the freedom to not love?

God could have made us like robots who do nothing more than say, “I love you. I love you. I love you.” But we’d be forced to do that and that wouldn’t be real love. Love is a choice. And if you have a choice you have to be able to choose not to love and that in itself is the nature of evil. Evil is choosing not to love. So when God gave us the freedom to choose, he gave us not only our greatest blessing, but he also gave us our greatest curse because we can choose to do right or choose to do wrong.

The reason there’s evil in the world is not because of God, but because God gave us the freedom to choose. Now the potential for love outweighs the existence of evil, because you see, evil is only going to exist for a short time, but love is going to go on forever. And all of the suffering and all of the death that we see in the world today are the result because man has chosen to make wrong choices.

God could have taken our freedom, but He didn’t. I hope you’ll use your freedom to choose God.

Question 2: Is Jesus really God?

Well when you think about it you only have three options as to who Jesus Christ was. You see, Jesus claimed to be God. He said things like, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” He claimed to be God many, many times. Now, that means either:

1. He is who he says He was
2. He was the biggest liar in history or
3. He was crazy, He was a lunatic on the order of the man who calls himself a fried egg.

You see, you can’t just say Jesus was a good man. I’ve had many friends who said, “Oh, I believe Jesus was a good man.” Well He couldn’t have been a good man and said those things He said. For instance, if I said to you, “I’m Rick Warren and I’m a good teacher and a good husband.” You might say, “Okay, I buy that.” But if I said to you, “I’m Rick Warren and I’m God and I’m the only way to heaven.” Well, you would have to make a decision. You couldn’t say I was a good person because a good person wouldn’t say that. You’d either say, “He is who he says he was, or he’s a liar or he’s crazy.”

Now Jesus didn’t just expect us to believe Him and take Him at His word. He said, “I’m going to prove the claim that I am God.” He said, “I’m going to let people kill me on a cross, then let them bury me. I’ll be dead for three days and then I’ll come back to life.” And, of course, that was the event that changed history. The resurrection of Jesus Christ. Every person since then refers to Jesus Christ, whether they believe in Him or not, every time you right a date, A.D. or B.C., what’s the reference point? Jesus Christ. Because it was the event that split history when Jesus proved that He was who He said He was, He is God.

Question 3: Do all religions lead to God?

Well now think about the logic of this. Can I go into a phone booth and dial any phone number and get home? No, there’s only one number that’ll get me home. I could be sincere, but I could be sincerely wrong. The truth is, all roads don’t lead to Rome and all roads and all religions don’t lead to God.

You see, it all depends on which direction you take. Jesus said this, “I am the way and the truth and the light. No one comes to the Father except through me.” I’m betting my life on the fact that He was right because I figured Jesus knows more about it than I did.

The Bible tells us that on the road to heaven, there are only two directions, toward Christ or away from Him. You can accept it or you can reject it, that’s your choice. You can make Jesus the Lord of your life, that means the manager, the ceo, the person in charge of your life, or you can call Him a liar, but that’s what the Bible declares.

You know a lot of people sincerely believe that even though they’ve broken God’s rules that they can earn God’s forgiveness by doing good works, by observing the Five Pillars of Islam or the Buddhist Eightfold Path or the Hindu Doctrine of Karma, for example. But I don’t get it. How will doing some good works that we should have done all our lives, make up for all the countless times we failed? You see, heaven is a perfect place and that means only perfect people get to go there. If not-perfect people were allowed in, it wouldn’t be perfect anymore. Well I don’t know about you, but I stopped being perfect a long time ago. So God came up with plan b. He came to earth in human form, Jesus Christ, and He lived a perfect life and now He offers to let us go to heaven on His ticket. And I pray that you will trust Jesus Christ and stop trying to bat a thousand because you ended up not doing that a long time ago and accept God’s free ticket through Jesus Christ.

Question 4: What’s going to happen to those people in the world who’ve never heard about Jesus Christ?

You may have heard this question put this way: “What about the person living in the jungle somewhere who’s never heard the good news about Jesus Christ? Are you christians saying that a person won’t go to heaven based solely on where he lives?” No, we’re not saying that. The Bible tells us that God doesn’t work that way. We understand that God is perfect in His love and perfect in His holiness and He’s perfectly just and fair. Therefore, it’s against God’s nature to be unfair. It’s against God’s nature to hide the ball on salvation or to condemn somebody who’s ignorant of his truth. In fact the scripture, the bible declares that God is loving and patient and not willing that anybody should perish. But He wants everybody to come to repentance, to come to know Him.

So if God is a perfectly loving and righteous God, then He will figure out ways to help people understand Him. He somehow reveals the simple truth of the gospel to people throughout the world. You know, I’ve talked to people who were missionaries in Africa who’ve told me that Jesus has revealed Himself through nature. When you look at nature you learn that God is organized, that God is creative, that God likes variety. But it’s when we look at Jesus Christ we realize that God is loving.

And as Christians we are called to tell the good news to other people. It’s God’s decision to decide what happens to people who haven’t heard about Him. But it is our decision to take that news to as many people as possible. And the bible says we will be held more responsible because we have heard and we have known that God is love, that God wants a relationship to us and that God will forgive us if we give our lives to Jesus Christ.

So, what do we do about those who haven’t heard? We tell them. First we accept God’s good news and then we tell them and we leave the result in the hands of a fair, loving and just God.

Question 5: What about all the wars that are caused in the name of Christianity?

Well first, let me say that a lot of things have been done in the name of Christianity that Jesus Christ would totally disavow. And just because someone claims to be a Christian doesn’t necessarily make him a follower of Christ, nor does it make him a representative of Jesus. It’s very, very important to distinguish between the bible kind of Christianity and the actions that have been taken throughout history by people who claim to be Christians but really didn’t know.

You see there’s a difference between religion and a relationship with God. Jesus is not interested in the religion of Christianity. He’s interested in you having a relationship to Him. Jesus never said, “I’ve come that you might have religion.” He said, “I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Now a lot of people have claimed to be followers of Christ but they’ve lived their lives contrary to His teaching. And we shouldn’t label that group Christian. But let me say this, have you ever seen a counterfeit dollar? Well, maybe you haven’t, but maybe you’ve heard of them. Why are there counterfeit dollars in the world? Well, I’ll tell you why. Because there are real dollars in the world. If there were no real dollars, there would be no counterfeits. And if you find counterfeit Christianity in the world, it must mean that somewhere there must be the real thing. The point is we don’t identify Jesus by claiming that all the things that were done in His name were done by Him. In fact, Jesus proffended His own disciples from defending themselves against the enemies when He said on a personal basis, He said, “I want you to turn the other cheek.”

So a lot of wars have been done in the name of Christianity that Jesus probably would have disavowed. The real issue is do you know Jesus Christ? You see, it doesn’t matter so much what has been done by hypocrites or phonies or false followers of Christ. What matters is do you know the real, true, genuine item? Have you ever turned your life over to Jesus Christ? If you haven’t, I would encourage you to investigate Him today.

Question 6: Is there any real right or wrong?

You know, you might have heard somebody say, “I don’t believe there’s such a thing as right or wrong.” Or maybe you’ve heard a professor say, “There are no absolutes.” Whenever I hear that I want to say, “Are you absolutely sure?” You have to ask yourself, “Is this statement even logical? Is there any right or wrong?” Because when people say, “There is no right or wrong, or it’s wrong for you to impose your morals on me,” think about it, by them telling you that, they are imposing their morals on you.

The fact is we all inheritantly know right from wrong and we just have this weird tendency to disregard it. To disregard morality when it conflicts with our desires for pleasure or personal gain. Now, sure, you might justify having an affair, but certainly you wouldn’t condone your spouse having one. Or you might justify taking something without permission, but if you were the one being robbed you wouldn’t think it was okay. You see the fact is, there isn’t a person alive today who’d come home from work and discover that their entire house had been robbed and say, “Oh, how wonderful that this burglar is able to enjoy all my things without my permission. And who am I to impose my view of right or wrong on this poor burglar?” You see how ridiculous that is? Of course.

Even those who claim there is no right or wrong have their own moral conscious, they’ve just set their own standards. Here’s a good way to determine right from wrong. Turn the situation around on yourself. Jesus said it best. He said, “Treat people the same way you want people to treat you.” You see we all know that murder and rape and lying and stealing and torture and injustice are absolutely wrong. Why? Because we wouldn’t want any of these things to happen to us. The person who would say, “there is no right or wrong,” would not agree that it was okay for them to be raped. No, when you turn it on yourself, you realize that even inside ourselves God has placed a moral conscious and that conscious tells us when we do right and when we do wrong. And when we violate our conscious, we need forgiveness. That’s why the bible said, “God sent Jesus to earth so that we might be forgiven of all of our wrong.”

Question 7: Why do I exist?

That’s the most fundamental question of life. What on earth am I here for?

Well, you need to understand God to answer that question. You see, the bible says, “God is love.” It doesn’t say He has love, it says He is love. It’s part of His nature, His character, it is the essence of His being. God is love. Now, love isn’t very valuable unless you bestow it on something and the bible says, “God made you to love you.” You were created as an object of God’s love. If you want to know why you’re taking breath right now, why your heart is beating, it’s because God made you to love you. It’s the sole reason. You were made to be loved by God and to bring Him pleasure.

Now God wants you to learn to love Him back and that’s the first purpose of your life, to get to know and love Him back. One day Jesus was walking down the street and a man came up and said, “What’s the most important command in the bible?” And Jesus said, “I’m going to summarize the entire bible in one sentence. Love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.” That’s called the great commandment. And God wants you to get to know and love Him back. So that means when you get up in the morning, you should sit on the side of your bed and say, “God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know you a little bit better and I want to love you a little bit more.” Because if at the end of the day you know God more and you love Him more, you have just fulfilled one of the purposes of your life.

If, on the other hand, you’ve accomplished all kinds of things and achieved many, many successes in life, but at the end of the day you don’t know God better or love Him more, you have missed the primary purpose of your life. Because God didn’t put you on this earth just to mark things off your to-do list. He put you here to know Him and love Him. That’s why you exist.

Question 8: What is my purpose in life?

Well the truth is, God created you for five purposes. You see, you were made by God and you were made for God. And until you understand that, life isn’t going to make sense. When you come to this question, what is my purpose, you only have three alternatives.

1. First is what I call the mystical approach, and that is look within. You find this in a lot of talk shows, a lot of new age books a lot of seminars. They say, “look within to discover your purpose.” The only problem is that doesn’t work. We’ve all looked within and I didn’t like what I saw. It’s quite confusing. In fact, if you could know the purpose of your life by looking within, we’d all know it by now. It doesn’t work.
2. The second way you can try to discover your purpose is called the intellectual or philosophical approach. And that’s where you go to a seminary class or university class and you sit there with a pipe and your latte and your coffee and you ask questions like, “Why am I here? Where did I come from? Where am I going?” I once read a book by professor John Morehead, the Head of the Department of Philosophy at Northeastern University in Illinois. And he wrote to 250 well-known intellectuals and asked them, “What is the meaning and purpose of life?” These were novelists, scientists, well-known intellectuals, and I read the book, it’s now out of print, it was quite depressing because most of the people said, “I have no idea what the purpose of life is.” Some of them admitted they just made up a purpose. And some of the admitted they guessed. And some of them said, “If you know the purpose, please tell me.”
3. You see, there’s a better answer to speculation and that’s revelation. If I were to hold up an invention that you have never seen before, you wouldn’t know its purpose. The only way you’d know its purpose was either talk to the inventor, the creator who made it or read the owner’s manual. The owner’s manual of life is the bible and your Creator is God. And it is only as you get to know God you will discover his five purposes for your life. I hope you’ll begin that journey today.

Question 9: Does my life really matter?

Well, it’s a good question. You know, today we teach our kids that we’re all just one big cosmic accident. We came from the goo through the zoo to you over billions of years. Well, if that is true, in a nutshell it teaches that your life really doesn’t matter, you’re just the freak accident of random chance, you’re complex slime and you were an accident. And if you get accidentally killed, well, of course, that doesn’t matter. And that creates a lot of our sociological problems and a lot of our self-esteem issues.

But the truth is you are not an accident. You were created by a loving God who loves you and designed you with intricate detail in your life and when you understand that God made you to love you and that God made you to be a part of His family and that God made you to last forever, then you’re never going to have a problem with low self-esteem again.

It was Bertram Russell the atheist who once said, “Unless you assume the existence of God, then the purpose and meaning of life is irrelevant.” The truth is, if there is no God your life doesn’t matter. But because there is a God, God had a specific purpose in mind when He created you and you do matter. You matter because God created you. You matter because he sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross. If you want to know how much you matter, think of Jesus Christ with his arms outstretched saying, “I love you this much.”

Now, if you had to chose between a loved one and a material thing, even if that thing was priceless, you’d chose your loved one in a heartbeat. And when you’re on your deathbed, you’re not going to surround yourself with material possessions, you’re not going to say, “Bring me my trophies. Bring me my credentials. Bring me my certificates so I can look one more time at my grade point average.” No, you’re going to surround yourself with loved ones and everybody’s going to be crying because they’re going to miss you. You see, that’s how much you matter.

Personal relationships to God and to other people are the most important thing in life. And God wants you to know Him and He wants you to have a relationship with Him because you’re worth so much in God’s eyes that he sent His Son to die for you. I hope you’ll get to know Him very soon.

Question 10: Is there a real hell and why would a loving God send anyone there?

Well, first I believe in hell because Jesus talked about it. In fact, Jesus talked more about hell then He did heaven. He said it is a real place and it is a place of eternal torment. And I believe Jesus knows more about it than either you or I.

But second, I believe in hell because logic and fairness demand it. Think of all the atrocities and evil that have been done throughout history by evildoers in this world. For God to allow those crimes to go unpunished would mean that God is not worthy of our worship and love.

Now why would a loving God send anyone to hell? Well in a nutshell, God doesn’t. God doesn’t send anybody to hell. We choose to go there when we reject the love of God. If I were to say to my right is a door heading to heaven, and to my left is a door heading to hell, if you walk out the door heading to hell, you don’t have anybody to blame but yourself.

In fact, the bible tells us that God does almost everything - well everything possible to keep us out of hell. He cared so much to keep us out of hell that he sent Jesus Christ to come to earth, to die on the cross, to pay for our sins so that we don’t have to pay for them. He wants to set us free. He wants to give us forgiveness. God made us in his image and He gave us the ultimate power to say yes or no.

Now if we chose to reject God here on earth, then we, at the same time, are choosing to spend eternity separated from Him. You see, there are only two people in the world - two kinds of people. Those who say, “Thy will be done here to God on earth” and those to whom God says, “Your will be done,” when we say, “I want to do it my way.” And if we say, “God I don’t want you in my life while I’m here on earth,” then God says, “I don’t want you in my heaven for eternity.”

You don’t have to go to hell. In fact, Jesus Christ has made it possible for you to go to heaven. Open your heart to Him and say, “Jesus Christ, I need you, I want you, I trust you and I ask you to forgive me.” And He’ll come in and save you.

You can begin your journey today! Learn more about how you can discover purpose in your life.

Source of this article: 10 Spiritual Questions and Their Answers

When Mary and Joseph came to Bethlehem the time had come for their child to be born, but no one would make room for them. We don’t know how long they looked, or where they attempted to find a place to have their child, but Luke tells us that there was no room for them in the inn. Mary was pregnant, she was having her child, but no one would make room for her child to be born.

Since there was no place inside to have the child, the baby Jesus was born out with the animals, placed in a manger and wrapped in cloths. The Messiah, the Lord, the Savior was born outside because there was no room inside.

After Jesus was born, an angel appeared to some shepherds in nearby fields, and the glory of the Lord was all around them as the angel said, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10-12)

After the angel spoke to the shepherds, a number of the heavenly host also appeared praising and giving glory to God. Then the shepherds went to find the child, and when they did find him lying in the manger they spread the word about what they had seen and heard. When they left they gave praise and glory to God for all the things that had happened which were just as they had been told.

Here is the epiphany of Christmas: Just as the people would not make room for the baby Jesus to be born inside, do we also fail to make room for Him in our lives? Do we also fail to make room for others?

And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ (Matthew 25:40)

May you and yours have a blessed Christmas, and may we all make room for our Lord and those around us who may be in need…

Dave Earley
Bible Study Forum
Faith Like A Mustard Seed