Contemplating

Ever contemplate the sun?

 

Ever see what a marvelous wonder it is?

 

With images from the new telescope, pictures of this star are awe inspiring.

 

This is a huge ball of blazing gases floating in the vast Milky Way Galaxy that supports thousands of other stars. You can barely find it without a guide.

 

It has burned constantly and consistently for thousands (maybe eons) of years, providing heat, light, solar power and nutrients for all growing things - including us.

 

> Without it, life on earth would not exist.

> What suspends this blazing ball of flaming gas?

> Where do the gases come from to continually burn?

> What keeps them continually lit?

> What keeps the gases contained in an, almost, perfect sphere?

 

All Christians know the one answer to these questions.

Isn't He a marvelous wonder?

 

"Out of the north comes a golden glow, fearsome majesty surrounding God. Shaddai, whom we cannot find, whose power is immense . . . "

 

 

 

When God became fed up with Job's wining, He answered,

"Where were you when I founded the earth? . . . . Have you ever in your life called up the dawn and made the morning know its place . . .? Which way leads to where light has its home? and darkness, where does it dwell? . . . Can you tie up the chords of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion? Can you lead out the constellations of the zodiac in their season or guide the Great Bear and its cubs? Do you know the laws of the sky? Can you determine how they affect the earth?" 

 Job 37:22 paraphrased thru 38:33

 

Let us all bow in humble adoration of our Creator, the one and only living God.

 

 

 

Genesis 1:1

In some ways, Gen.1:1 is the most important verse in the Bible.

> The verse states there is a Creator of the universe. There is meaning to existence.

> The fact it was "created" (Heb: bara) implies nothing preexisted. Only God can create from nothing, therefore we see evidence of God.

> God exists outside of nature and time. He controls space.

> A creation story has only one Creator.

> God is not born.

> This is the only God separate from nature because He created it.

> Who created God? If God were created, He would not be God.

> Christianity, and Judaism, has come to affirm that God is, was and will be. This cannot be said about any other God. Through science and logic, this cannot be.

> Science can only prove what is within nature.

> God remains the only rational explanation of existence. Science is at a loss about life from non-life.

> It only makes sense that the Creator would care about His creation.

> To create beings who care about good and evil stands to reason the Creator of such beings would also care about good and evil.

 

 

> The name of God's chosen people, "Israel", means "Struggle With God".

> The purpose of Genesis I is to teach about God, man and nature.

> There is reality outside of nature.

> God is not a sexual being.

> There is only one God Creator (existing in 3 entities).

> God represents order versus disorder.

> God has a special role for human beings.

> God is moral and has a will for morality.

> There is a higher meaning for life.

> Genesis I tries to teach wisdom rather than science.

Revelation's Berisheet Prophecy

REVELATION

(Second in a series)

 

Starting in 1:4, we happen on our first mention of "7"; seven churches.

> Interesting: 7 days of creation, 7 thousand years of history and 7 churches addressed here. Could there be a connection?

> God worked on creation for six days and rested on the 7th. (A day is as a thousand years to God.) There are listed, in the Bible, six thousand years of man before the second coming of Jesus.

> Many of the ancient church fathers, from the first three centuries AD, taught this theory. Leaders of the church such as Barnabas, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Commodianus, Victorinus, Methodius and Lactantius wrote things like: "Therefore, children, in six days, or in six thousand years, all the prophecies will be fulfilled", "The Sabbath is a type of the future kingdom. . . For 'a day with the Lord is as a thousand years", "Resurrection of the body will be when six thousand years are completed,", and "In the seventh millennium we will be immortal and truly celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles."

 

 

> Could the first six churches listed in Revelation 2 and 3 be the ages of the church? Could the 7th church listed be the age we are presently in?

> From the Hebrew language, take the first word of Gen.1:1 (beginning) and break down the meaning of each letter and the term "In beginning" tells us, "The Son of God, Creator, is coming out of His home and will be part of an epic event that will bring a covenant for the future of mankind". The term "In beginning" (Heb: Berisheet") is all about home and new beginnings.

> The Book of Revelation is about Jesus bringing our new beginning.

 

Something From Nothing

Napoleon the First, with all his disdain for men, bowed to one power that he was pleased to regard as greater than himself.  In the heart of an atheistic age he replied to the theorists of his day, "Your arguments gentlemen, are very fine. But   "who", pointing up to the evening sky, "who made all these?" 

And even the godless science of our times, while rejecting the scriptural answer to this question, still confesses that it has no other to give. "The phenomena of matter and force," says Tyndall, "lie within our intellectual range; and as far as they reach we will push our inquiries. But behind, and above, and around all, the real mystery of the universe lies unsolved, and as far as we are concerned, is incapable of solution." 

But why incapable of solution? Why not already solved, so far as we are concerned, in this "simple, unequivocal, exhaustive, majestic" alpha of the Bible — "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"? 

What is the origin of things? Perhaps the greatest question mortal man can ask. A profoundly religious question, going down to the very roots of Truth, Science, Theology, Character and Worship. 

There are sixty or seventy elements which, so far as we know at present, that are the make up of the universe. And the point is this: not one solitary atom of these elements can be made by man. All that man can do is to operate with these elements. In short, man must have something on which, as well as with which, to operate. From where came this inconceivable amount of material? 

God creates atoms; man fashions molecules.

I'm Back

Just couldn't stay away.  My husband and I have relocated to another part of the state.  After months of packing, house hunting and moving, we are settling in.  Not "settled" but settling.  I am sure it will take a matter of years to really set up our permanent location the way we want it.

I am very excited to have finished my book.  It only took about 3 years and was a very emotional ride.  If you are a long standing reader, you will remember a few passages that were posted on this blog.  Just contacted my first publisher and waiting to hear back.  If you are up to it, a short prayer on my behalf would be appreciated. 

Writing is very enjoyable to me.  We are constantly told to use the gift(s) God has given us to serve His work in this life.  From junior high school, I have always enjoyed writing.  I am getting such a late start because I had a pushy English teacher.  Mother always said, "If you want Linda to do something, tell her not to".  When teacher pushed, I rebelled.  Some of us are so bullheaded that we spend half our lives searching for something that we already posses. 

Anyway, I have missed my blog.  Who knew?  The few readers I had were from around the world; few but scattered.  I certainly can't reach such an audience any other way.  Maybe, just maybe, someone can learn something from me or be inspired by one of my many mistakes to forge ahead without the same blunder(s).

In spite of not posting for almost a year, I have managed to continue studying and I am very anxious to share so much.

For my first post, I have a repeat of an earlier post that is updated: 


Interesting: The country of China was in existence during the time Jesus walked the earth. In the ancient history of China, there is recorded a world wide eclipse at mid day the day Jesus was crucified.  They also have the earth quake on record.

The sign on the cross over the head of Jesus read "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" in three languages: Hebrew, Greek and Latin. The common representation of the sign today; the famous "INRI" is an acronym for this title taken from the Latin translation.

In Hebrew, "Bethlehem" translates "House of bread". How interesting that; the "Bread of Life" was born in the "House of Bread".

Interesting: On the night Jesus was born, night was turned to day by the brightness of angels filling the sky with their presence. On the day Jesus died, noon was turned to dark by God.

Day 1 of creation, God called forth the light. Wait a minute, wait a minute! He didn't create the sun until day 4. What light did He call forth? Jesus! the light of the world was called forth on the first day to create everything.  

Amen