Something "NEW"

Redesigning something as simple as an electrical wall plug is one great idea!!!  How many times have you just pulled the cord instead of the wall plug because it was easier.  That someone would continue thinking about things like this is wonderful, but then, that's what humans do, isn't it?  We have a general idea and shape it, refine it, and, if everything works out... make it become reality.  For us, this could take anywhere from a few seconds to decades.  But what about God?  How is HIS way of doing things different than ours?  People have written volumes on the subject, but lets just consider a few verses...

Acts 17:19-21 (WEB)
19) They took hold of him, and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is, which is spoken by you?
20) For you bring certain strange things to our ears. We want to know therefore what these things mean.”
21) Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

Genesis 1:1-31 (WEB)
1) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2) Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.
3) God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4) God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.
5) God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was evening and there was morning, one day.
6) God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
7) God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
8) God called the expanse “sky.” There was evening and there was morning, a second day.
9) God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so.
10) God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas.” God saw that it was good.
11) God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with its seed in it, on the earth;” and it was so.
12) The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with its seed in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.
13) There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
14) God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;
15) and let them be for lights in the expanse of sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so.
16) God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.
17) God set them in the expanse of sky to give light to the earth,
18) and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.
19) There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
20) God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of sky.”
21) God created the large sea creatures, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.
22) God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
23) There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
24) God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so.
25) God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.
26) God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27) God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.
28) God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29) God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.
30) To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.
31) God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
 

2 Corinthians 5:17 (WEB)
17) Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

Revelation 21:1-4 (WEB)
1) I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.
2) I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
3) I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
4) He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.”

Greece was a great empire and Athens was an intellectual powerhouse.  Consider how much of our culture today comes from their thoughts and it will astound you.  Yet, they were groping for truth, seeking to understand the world about them.  God, in contrast, created and created.  Everything we see comes from HIM!!!  Our creations pale in comparison to the formation of the Heavens and the Earth and all that it contains.  And it contains US!!!  When we realize that we are more than mere intellect and understand that we spiritual beings created like HIM, somehow everything around us seems unimportant.  When we find HIM spiritually and OBEY HIS COMMANDS, we become truly alive the way we were meant to be.  Someday, God will wipe away ALL imperfection and we will see everything in yet a new way.  What a day that will be, what a revelation!!!  Better than any wall plug we can imagine, or for that matter, anything at all.  I can't wait!!!!

Not in my book...

I have to ask myself the question: What sort of person would have such a license plate?  Whether Atheist, Cynic, Skeptic or Satanist, the plate is in bad taste.  Personally, I find it offensive and whoever owns it is insensitive to say to the least.  Where does this number come from?  From the most misused book of the Bible, of course... Revelation.  Here is the passage...

Revelation 13:11-18 (WEB)
11) I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon.
12) He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.
13) He performs great signs, even making fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the sight of people.
14) He deceives my own people who dwell on the earth because of the signs he was granted to do in front of the beast; saying to those who dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who had the sword wound and lived.
15) It was given to him to give breath to it, to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause as many as wouldn’t worship the image of the beast to be killed.
16) He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given marks on their right hands, or on their foreheads;
17) and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name.
18) Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six.

The Roman Empire persecuted Christians; killed them every chance it had because they dared to refuse to acknowledge the emperor as God.  The number is, in each of its digits, one less than the perfect number for God, 7.  Therefore, 666 is the unholiest number of all; an ungodly trinity of evil arrogance.  Because of persecution, code numbers were used to represent names and this one referred to the emperor Nero.  The picture above makes me a little unsettled, as it could in fact be a harbinger of the future... a time when one world government would demand allegiance to the king of planet Earth.  I hope I don't live to see such a thing, but I know from the past that it can't endure, entities like 666 have been beaten before and will be again, no matter what form they take. Its just that I know the cost that had to be paid to defeat this sort of evil and that was the sacrifice of many, many Christians lives!!!

Something Amazing!!!

I was intrigued by this today when I saw it on the net.  This is the very first time I have ever seen a waterfall even partially enclosed in rock.  Very beautiful indeed!!!  It reminded me of our country; how that even for all the rancor over politics and economics, there is still much that is very good about The United States Of America.  Many of us still believe in freedom and liberty and just as the founding fathers fought to establish our republic, so we should consider ourselves "Defending Fathers" (as Herman Cain would say).  It would seem that those who think this way are few and far between, but I think there are probably a lot more than anyone could imagine.  All this reminds me of a passage in Paul's letter to the Romans...

Romans 11:1-6 (WEB)
1) I ask then, did God reject his people? May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2) God didn’t reject his people, which he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says about Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel:
3) “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have broken down your altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.”
4) But how does God answer him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
5) Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
6) And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

In all the world, who knows how many people are the genuine "true believers"; those who have kept a pure and unadulterated conscience before the Almighty?  At times, we may ask a question like Elijah, but have faith, God is working everything out.  It may seem like our country as well as Christianity is doomed to extinction, but if we only knew what God is really doing, I believe we would be amazed!!!  Today is the first one where I saw a really unusual waterfall and I wonder what tomorrow will bring?  Can God surprise me again tomorrow?  I think we all know the answer to that one!!!!

Contrast

Yesterday it was actually cool when I left for church in the morning!  What a feeling!!!  And the news gets better; the forecast says that there will be noteven ONE day this week where the temperature will get into the 90's!!!  Wow, what a hot summer we had!!!  Then I saw this picture and I was reminded of what "cool" weather is all about.  That crisp, clean feeling when the temperature is in the 20's, the frost on the grass and view of the exhaust of a power plant in a clear, clear sky.  The contrast is undeniable and downright memorable.  Life can be like that too, because one who has turned from a life of sin to a life in pursuit of Godliness can't help but see the difference.  Look at the descriptions the apostle Paul uses in his letter to the Galatians.

Galatians 5:19-23 (WEB)
19) Now the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,
20) idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies,
21) envyings, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,
23) gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Just for a moment, compare verses 19 and 21 with 22 and 23.  Who in their right mind would want a life filled with the first list when they could have the second?  Sometimes, we just have to take a moment and consider what we really have to appreciate it.  Its like the difference between a heat wave and a cold front.  Remember and rejoice!!!

Oh, to be a butterfly!!!

I wonder what it would be like to be a butterfly?  To live such a short life, to accomplish little and then perish?  Yet, this butterfly is unusual; you can see right through it!!!  In a way, Jesus was like this butterfly; when you saw him, you saw the father and that was a beautiful sight to see.  Which reminds me of this passage from the book of John...

John 14:6-11 (WEB)
6) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
7) If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him, and have seen him.”
8) Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
9) Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’
10) Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works.
11) Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

God revealed himself through Jesus.  Want to know something about God...look to Jesus.  Jesus' words were those of the Father, his actions pleased HIS Father and his sacrifice was the will of the Father.  Which leads me also to the followers of Jesus.  Question: when someone looks at you do they see Jesus?  Are my thoughts, actions and will like his?  If not, why not?  Maybe we should all be more like the butterfly in the picture, in that when people see us they can see right through us and see God.  Maybe being a butterfly isn't such a bad idea after all...

I can't believe my eyes!!!

Frankly, when I saw this, I didn't believe my own eyes!  I know pictures can be manipulated, but if it is, whoever did it is very good!!!  Lets assume that it is real; then, what is causing it?  My only guess would be ice crystals high in the atmosphere, but remember, its only a GUESS.  Sometimes, you have to really look twice to be sure what you are seeing is reality.  And reality may surprise you...

Acts 1:1-11 (WEB)

1) The first book I wrote, Theophilus, concerned all that Jesus began both to do and to teach,
2) until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
3) To these he also showed himself alive after he suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking about God’s Kingdom.
4) Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me.
5) For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6) Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you now restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
7) He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority.
8) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
9) When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10) While they were looking steadfastly into the sky as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing,
11) who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.”

They were simple Galilean fishermen, not simpletons.  They questioned things, they reasoned and because of this, sometimes they had doubts and uncertainties.  Sound familiar?  Those of us who have been blessed with a good education (whatever form it eventually took) have been taught to think, to investigate, to challenge what we see and accept as fact.  Its a good thing to do these things because to do otherwise would waste our training.  The disciples had been trained, but still had much to learn.  Their question (verse 6) was a good one, but one they didn't need to know.  They needed to accept what Jesus told them to do and simply do it.  When Jesus ascended into heaven, they just kept looking.  I wonder, why?  That was the question the two men in white clothing (angels?) asked them as well.  Sometimes, its hard just to accept the facts as you see them; sometimes you just need to believe and everything is fine.  I don't know if the picture is real or not, but if it is... what a magnificent sight.  Humm, maybe that's what the apostles were thinking as they watched Jesus ascend into heaven... I guess we will just never know!!!

Will you heed the sign?

There is an old saying: "Nothing is certain except death and taxes".  Taxes can (and hopefully will) be changed for the better, but what about death?  Even though medical science has progressed considerably over the past 100 years, still the conquest of death remains elusive.  Perhaps, someday, human beings may live two, three or maybe even 400 years (although, its hard for me to even imagine a lifespan that long).  No matter what, sooner or later, death is inevitable.  Some may say that eventually we will conquer death, but reality says that accidents still happen; no matter what we do, some people will always die.  Then what?  Some say, that's it; we experience nothingness.  But that doesn't make any sense to me, because unless you have been there, how would you know?  But, someone has and has already made a way to overcome death and life will go on for those who will really listen to the truth and do what he commands them to do.  Consider this chapter from the New Testament.

1 Corinthians 15:1-58 (WEB)
1) Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand,
2) by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3) For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4) that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5) and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
6) Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep.
7) Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8) and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.
9) For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God.
10) But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was bestowed on me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
11) Whether then it is I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.
12) Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13) But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.
14) If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain.
15) Yes, we are found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up, if it is so that the dead are not raised.
16) For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised.
17) If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.
18) Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19) If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.
20) But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.
21) For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man.
22) For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
23) But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.
24) Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power.
25) For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
26) The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
27) For, “He put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when he says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him.
28) When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.
29) Or else what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why then are they baptized for the dead?
30) Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?
31) I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
32) If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
33) Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.”
34) Wake up righteously, and don’t sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
35) But someone will say, “How are the dead raised?” and, “With what kind of body do they come?”
36) You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies.
37) That which you sow, you don’t sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind.
38) But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.
39) All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.
40) There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial.
41) There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
42) So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.
43) It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
44) It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.
45) So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46) However that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.
47) The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.
48) As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49) As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly.
50) Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit the Kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.
51) Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54) But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55) “Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?”
56) The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57) But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58) Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Facts are facts; if only one person tells you something, it may or may not be true, if two or three people say the same thing, its probably is true.  I wonder, how many people have to testify that something is true before it is considered absolute fact; 50, 100, 200 or maybe even more?  Five hundred people or more were witness to the resurrected Jesus and that's a number that I can accept as absolute.  If life starts with a physical seed which grows, how far fetched is it to be to think that our body is but a seed for another life?  Reality is that people will believe exactly what they want to believe, regardless of truth, but I think its safe to depend on the huge testimony of the early church witnesses who saw the risen Christ.  Is there life after death?  Yes, but don't jump the fence and find out!  Death will come soon enough, so why rush things?