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My blog of getting closer to God by taking baby steps through the Bible. |
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I am involved with many Bible Studies. One of these involves getting to know God through the different books in the Bible. Since there are 66 books, this is going to take a while and I may need to use several blogs. I will be starting my first entry tomorrow and want to have one a day. However, with the time I spend at work, family and the American Legion, I might not be able to do that all the time. God does see the sacrifices I make and helps me to get the time that I sacrificed back. |
Acts 16:32 “And they spake unto him to word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house” (KJV). Bible Study is where people get together to study and understand scripture. In one sense the house is a church where the leaders use the Bible to illustrate what we may in today’s society. However, the house is not always the church. People have Bible Study groups in their homes. When there is a married couple with children, the entire family forns a house to study scripture together. Acts 17:11 :These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (KJV). We must study the Bible daily so we understand what God is telling us. If not we lose what we learn. While a majority of Christians go to church once a week, we cannot study the Bible that little; it must be an everyday thing. While Christians mostly concentrate on the New Testament, they must not ignore the Old Testament. As a matter of fact, we must be familiar with each book of the Bible; there are lessons to be learned from each. The Old Testament covers four periods of time. The first is the Age of Innocence. This is the time of creation this world and life. This is when Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden. The second time period is the Age of Consciousness. Even though some men such as Noah followed God’s will, most of the other men did what they thoughy was right. They did not follow God or call upon him for guidance. The third time period is the Age of the Patriarchs. This period covered many famous biblical men such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. The Hebrew nation began and grew with these men. The final time period is the Age of the prophets. Starting with Moses, many individuals talked about the coming savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Spanning a duration of 4,000 years, the Old Testament was written by thirty-two different writers and took many years to write. However, none of these writers are authors of the books. God is the true author. There are thirty nine books in the Old Testament. They are divided into law, Jewish history, poetry and prophecy. A. Law 1. Genesis 2. Exodus 3. Leviticus 4. Numbers 5. Deuteronomy B. Jewish History 1. Joshua 2. Judges 3. Ruth 4. First Samuel 5. Second Samuel 6. First Kings 7. Second Kings 8. First Chronicles 9. Second Chronicles 10. Ezra 11. Nehemiah 12. Ester C. Poetic 1. Job 2. Psalms 3. Proverbs 4. Ecclesiastes 5. Song of Solomon D. Major Prophets 1. Isaiah 2. Jeremiah 3. Lamentations 4. Ezekiel 5. Daniel E. Minor Prophets 1. Hosea 2. Joel 3. Amos 4. Obadiah 5. Jonah 6. Micah 7. Nahum 8. Habakkuk 9. Zephaniah 10. Haggai 11. Zechariah 12. Malachi |
| New Birth The day you are born is your birthday. However, the day you become a Christian that is considered to be your new birth. The new birth is actually thousands of years older that your old birth. Before you were born, before you were conceived, even before this world was created, God chose you. With your new birth, there will be truths that will be revealed to you that you didn't realize and only came to gradually understand. For me, I always knew about Jesus' sacrifice on the cross ever since I was a young girl. However, after my new birth, I learned to trust God in all situations in my life. It didn't all come to me because this takes time and it can be overwhelming. God's truths are all in the Bible. While a person can be a Christian with only a basic understanding of the Bible, to know what God is telling you what to do during your spiritual walk, it is important to open a Bible and read scripture on a regular basis. This does not mean that you only open the book once in a blue moon; you have to read the bible on a daily basis. Deuteronomy 29:29 "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law" (KJV). 1 Corinthians 13:9 "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part" (KJV). The Bible is not just a book of statements of facts. It could have been written as sections labeled as God, creations, man, sin and so on. However, the book is written as a story that is written as a narrative. These narratives show God created the world and how he dealt with different types of people and how they responded to his words. God chose to reveal himself in these narratives so we can learn about God, this world and ourselves. As you read Scripture, you may find yourself relating to different people of the Bible. The more you read the Bible, the more you will see yourself in this book. Another truth I learned is by reading Genesis, I realized that what begins in this book is fulfilled in Revelation. For example, God created heaven and earth in Genesis. In Revelation the new heaven and earth are created. After Adam and Eve sinned, the Tree of Life was guarded; in Revelation, we will have access to the tree of life. The first marriage is recorded in Genesis; in Revelation there will be the marriage of the Lamb, which will be the final marriage. In Genesis, Satan tempts people to sin for the first time; in Revelation, Satan will be no more. In Genesis, people will die; in Revelation, there will be no more death. Babylon was built in Genesis; in Revelation, this city will be destroyed. In Genesis, the savior is promised; in Revelation he will rule. Eternal God There are many Bible verses that show God to be eternal. Deuteronomy 33:27-"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them" (KJV). Habakkuk 1:12-"Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction" (KJV). Romans 6:16"-Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness" (KJV)? 1 Timothy 1:17-"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen" (KJV). Genesis 3:6-"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat" (KJV). For the amount of time I have been on this earth, even if I live to be 100 years old, it will be just a blink of an eye compared to how long the eternal God has been here. You might as well say it will be countless time quicker than a blink. What gets me is God's timing which is absolutely perfect. We were all put on this planet at different times of our lives for a reason. While I am not a missionary traveling the world, before I was born God knew I would develop the talent of writing. Even though I am not like Stephen King, who can put out a super long book or two a year-I am using my talent to reach out to people over the Internet. I guess that is the reason why I was born when I was and not born during a time when there were no computers. I remember a time when I transferred from a two year college to a four year university. I made a decision which made a major change in my life. At the university I decided to join the Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC). God led me in the direction to join the Army because a few years down the road, I met my future husband. If I took a different road, I would never have met him and my two daughters would never have been born. I am sure deep down in my soul that God steered me in that direction. |
| Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. E (KJV) Since to all Christians, the Bible is the truth, then we can safely say that the story of creation is not a myth, a fairy tale or a story of fantasy. The world did not come around from a Bing Bang as the scientists claim. The world was formed from the awesome potter in the sky, the Lord God. Even hundreds of years after man first inhabited the world, King David acknowledges the creation of the world to the hands of God. In Psalm 19:1-4, (KJV) he wrote: The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun. Some will argue that the Old Testament is inaccurate since many of the stories were spoken and handed down from generation to generation. The original stories may be distorted, that when men learned how to write, the stories may be totally different from the original ones. However, take a look at several verses from the New Testament. These are living proof-supporting documentation that God created the world: John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not anything that was made. (KJV) Romans 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as thou they were. (KJV) Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Of the three above verses, the first one is the only one that talks about the beginning of the earth and the universe. However, it is not the beginning of God, He is eternal. He has always been here. If God is eternal then why isn’t Heaven eternal? Heaven is eternal. The heaven that Christians will eventually go to live for eternity is actually the third heaven as stated in 2 Corinthians 12:2, “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth such a one caught up to the third heaven” (KJV). The heavens that God created is the air, sky and entire universe. This will not be eternal. |
| Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (KJV). This is the first verse of the first chapter of the first book of the Bible. God has been here from the beginning. If we believe this, then we must believe the entire Bible. If we accept God and take his word, we have faith. Genesis 1:2 “And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”(KJV). There are two different viewpoints to the first two verses of Genesis Chapter 1. Verse one obviously states that God created the world we live in. Verse two explains how the world was nothing and God’s presence was there. However, there is a theory that God created the world twice. He created it in verse one, then in verse two it is nothing. The Gap theory suggests that some cataclysmic event happened between these two verses. If this theory is correct, it can explain the existence of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. Isaiah 14:12 states “How are thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations” (KJV). If the Gap theory is true, then Satan may have been banished from heaven between verse s 1 and 2. Since anything he touches is destroyed, God’s original creation may have been thrown into chaos. Why would God create something so it would be destroyed? Maybe that was his intention to recreate the world and include man. He is all knowing and knew that man would sin. To give men salvation, he knew he would have to send Jesus down to the earth at the right time to save mankind and defeat Satan. The other viewpoint, which most Christians agree on is that verse two is describing what the world was before God used his mighty hands to create it. In other words, the world was nothing. Whatever viewpoint is correct will be a mystery to us until we meet God face-to-face. However, in order for you to have that encounter you must believe in him and believe that he is the true living God. How can we, who are not perfect will ever get a chance to be with the heavenly father and reside in heaven with him and his son Jesus Christ? We think that if we live perfect lives, which is impossible to do, that we will gain admittance to heaven. None of us will ever have a chance to reach God. However, there is hope. Ezekiel 28:12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty” (KJV). This verse is from the Old Testament. It is a prophecy of Jesus being sent to the earth. He is perfect in many ways. Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” KJV). Even if we spend out entire life doing well, if we do not have faith, God will not be happy with us. God will reward the faithful with eternal life. The more we seek God, the more he answers. When we are faithful and accept his existence, he proves his existence. References: http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig-c003.html The Holy Bible KJV |
| The Old Testament covers four periods of time. They are the Age of Innocence, the Age of Consciousness, the Age of the Patriarchs and the Age of the Prophets. The first time period, the Age of Innocence, is the shortest time period in the Bible. It ends in the third chapter of the Holy Bible, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. God took six days to create the world and one day to relax and enjoy his creation. While God created man on the sixth day, the Bible does not specify how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden before they disobeyed God. Genesis Chapter One is the story of the earth’s creation in six days. The things that were created each day were: Day One - Light Day Two - Firmament or Air Spaces Day Three - Dry Land and Plant Life Day Four - Sun, Moon, and Stars Day Five - Birds and Fish Day Six - Animal Life and Man Genesis 1:9, 11, 14, 20, 24 “And God said…” (KJV). Genesis 1:31 “And God saw that everything he had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day” (KJV). All God had to do was speak and things happened. The oceans and the dry lands appeared at God’s words. This was the same with the grass growing and trees that started to yield its fruits. The same goes with the stars and planets that formed in the universe and the animals and birds suddenly showed up in this world. Everything that God wanted appeared even as he was speaking. His creation was completed and everything was good. Since God is bound by his word; he is all honest and truthful. If he stated that his creation was good, then it is true. However, he still needed to have somebody to be in charge in this new world. Therefore, he created man. Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. During the Age of Innocence, Adam and Eve lived in a perfect place-the Garden of Eden. Since this was the age of innocence, nothing went wrong before the fall from sin. All the trees grew perfect fruit. Nothing was rotten. Therefore, Adam and Eve did not have to look for worm-eaten or decaying fruit since nothing died yet. They did not look for weeds or worry about thorns. Everyday was beautiful, it was neither too hot nor too cold. Neither Adam nor Eve did not need to much work during the Age of Innocence. All Adam had to do was, according to Genesis 2:20, was give names to all cattle, birds and wild beasts. Adam and Eve had a personal fellowship with God. They walked and talked with him on a face to face basis. It is like when you are chatting with your best friend. God was physically present in the garden with his two innocent creations. The age of innocence did not last a long time. As a matter-of-fact it ended in Chapter Three of Genesis when the Age of Consciousness began, thanks to the serpeant. Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpant was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord had made. And he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden” (KJV)? The serpant is Satan. He deceived the woman into eating the forbidden fruit and passing it on to Adam. Genesis 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” (KJV). This is where the age of consciousness began. Adam and Eve realized that they were naked and were ashamed. Almost immediately after they ate the fruit, both the man and woman blamed somebody else for why they disobeyed God. It is even true today. When somebody does something that is not right, they either blame somebody else-even if it means lying-or make up a book of excuses. When Adam and Eve sinned, they became spiritually dead to God. They would no longer live a life of luxury. However as Genesis 3:15 states “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel” (KJV), there is still hope for the world. This verse is the first of the many prophecies of Jesus to come. There will come a time when we can live in the Age of Innocence once again. Some may wonder what the big deal was when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. “Yes,” you may say, “they disobeyed God. But why the big deal? At least they did not kill somebody.” When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they sinned. While this may seem like a minor offense compared to murder, they opened the door to disaster. Sin did not exist in the Garden of Eden. Take a look at all the murder, lust, jealousy, lying, corruption, rebellion, and evil in this world today. These are all a direct result of the original sin. Adam lost this right when both Eve and he listened to the serpent and broke God's only rule not to eat the forbidden fruit. When they were deceived and sinned, both sin and death gained authority over the whole world. This sounds depressing doesn't it? However, God made it so man would once again have dominion. That is why he sent Jesus Christ to live as a human. Adam had lost that dominion. However, the perfect human gained it back where he had authority over birds, fish and animals. He had to suffer and die on the cross. He did this, not only to conquer death and sin but also so that we can reign with Jesus. When he finally returns for the thousand year rule, we will gain back that dominion that was once lost because of Adam’s sin. God gives us a choice. We can choose to follow him or not. Even though he commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil, he gave us the freedom to choose. Sin broke communion with God. We are all sinners. The only way to get this communion with God repaired is through Jesus Christ His Son. Reference: The Holy Bible. King James Version |
| Genesis 1:2 “And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (KJV). Look up at the sky during the day and what do you see? Some days you will see a blue sky and an occassional white fluffy cloud lazily drifting along. You will see a bright yellow sun; squinting your eyes you will not be able to look at it for too long. Other days a layer of clouds will blanket the sky and either rain or snow will be falling to the ground. The same question applies to the night. On a clear night what do you see as you glance upwards into the blackness? You will see a moon on most nights. Far away you will see twinkling tiny lights. These stars are always a delight to look at. The amazing thing is that there are many others that your eyes cannot see. What is even more amazing is that the sun, moon and stars have not always been here. As a matter of fact, this entire universe did not exist before God created the world. There was nothing; it was as the Bible states what it was-without form, a void and dark. The verse in the Bible suggests that, even though the earth was without form, it was in a liquid state. This can be looked at as figuritive. However, this makes sense if it is meant in a literal way. Water has no form unless if it is frozen. If the world was liquid, it was not like the oceans and beaches of today. It was a dark and dismal place, with no sun to warm or light the water, this world was in no way pleasant before God created it to the way it is today. Genesis 1:6 “And God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters” (KJV). Genesis 1:7 “And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: aand it was so” (KJV). Genesis 1:9 “And God said, let the water under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so” (KJV). He made something from nothing. He took something that was chaotic and gave it shape, structure and order. Everything around you is created from God-the trees, flowers, mountains, animals and so on. Even men’s inventions such as cell phones and computers are from God. God created humans. Therefore, since humans who created these innovations of technology are from God, these and future inventions are created from God. Isaiah 45:18 “For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens and himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else” (KJV). While some of us like to create something, whether it is a building a bookshelf, painting a portrait or sewing a dress, we do this to satisfy a personal need. Sometimes it is something to do to keep our hands busy; other times it is to make a little extra money, other times it is to give us a sense that we accomplished something. When we create something, we are not like God. We create something for our own personal gain. When God created the world, he did not do this because he was bored and embarked on a hobby to kill time. He created the world because he already knew what he planned to do. He created the world so that humans, animals and birds would inhabit it. His only desire when he created the world would be that humans would thank him, worship him and acknowledge Him. |
Genesis 1:3 “And God said, “Let there be light: and there was light: and there was light” (KJV). Genesis 1:4 “And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness” (KJV). Genesis 1:5 “And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day” (KJV). Let’s say you have to do a simple project at home and let’s say it is something as simple as hammering a nail into the wall so that you can hang a picture. So you look for your hammer, which you are sure you put it back into the toolbox after your last project. After an hour of searching you finally find it in an unusual spot, your sock drawer. You are now ready to hammer that nail. However, you realize that you used up all the nails on your last project. So you jump into the car and head to your local hardware store. Finally, two hours later you are hammering the nail. As luck would have it, your hammer misses the nail and hits your thumb. After jumping around in pain and saying several unrepeatable words, you finish hammering the nail and are ready to hang your picture. You step back and look at your creation. Then guess what happens? You say, “This picture does not look good here.” So you take down the picture, pull the nail and repeat the process several times before you are satisfied. Do you think God had a rough time when he created the world? All he had to do was speak the words and things happened as soon as he spoke. God did not need to change things after it was done. He knew what he wanted and was satisfied in what he got. Hebrews 11:3 “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things, which do appear” (KJV). Genesis 1:14 “And God said, Let the be lights if the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (KJV): Genesis 1:15 “And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so” (KJV). Genesis 1:16 “And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also” (KJV). Genesis 1:17 “And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth” (KJV). Genesis 1:18 “And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was Good” (KJV). If God created the sun, moon and stars or the fourth day, how did he create light on the first day? If in fact God created the sun on the first day, then the Bible is false. By declaring the Bible as false, then that is also calling God a liar. Neither of these is true. The Bible is not false; it is the truth. God is not a liar; He is the truth. So where did the light come from on the first day? We know that he did not call NYSEG to provide the light. Remember that God is the truth. Not only that, he is also holy and glorious. His glory provided the light until he provided the sun. In future Bible stories and references God lighted the way: Exodus 40:34 “Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (KJV). Exodus 40:35 “And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (KJV). 1 Kings 8:11 “So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord” (KJV). |
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