"The Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!'" - Matthew 14: 29-30
In this section of Matthew chapter 14, Jesus has just performed one of his most famous miracles: the feeding of the 5,000. After this miracle, Jesus orders his disciples to get into a boat and go to the other side while he dismisses the 5,000. After dismissing the 5,000, Jesus goes up to the mountainside to pray. At around 3 in the morning, Jesus looks down and see his disciples in their boat but are struggling with a violent storm. Jesus then proceeds to come down from the mountain and walk on the water to the disciples' boat. When the disciples first see Him, they think He is a ghost. When the disciples realize that it is Jesus, Peter asks Jesus for permission to walk on the water with Him. Peter is doing just fine until the wind blows and Peter begins to sink and immediately calls out for Jesus to save him.
This story is one that we can easily apply to our lives, minus the fact that we can walk on water. The first thing is the storm. When Jesus put the disciples into the boat, they were probably not expecting to be hit with such a violent storm. Storms can hit a persons life at any time. If you're not currently going through a storm, you will soon. They are inevitable. They can cause us to panic and act in ways that we normally wouldn't act. The second thing is that God is always willing to help. He may not always help when we want Him to but his timing is always perfect. Though the disciples were struggling with the storm for hours, Jesus did not intervene until later. God is never late, and for that matter, He is never early. He is always on time and He has a reason for His timing. The ironic thing is that when Jesus does come to help, the disciples did not recognize Him. They thought He was a ghost. Sometimes when we are going through a tough time and we ask God for help, he assists us in ways that we aren't always looking for. The final point has to do with Peter. When Peter steps out onto the water, he is actually walking on the water. But when the wind blows, Peter starts to panic and his situation gets much worse until he cries out for Jesus to save him. When we go through a storm, things may seem to be going okay but once we take our focus off of God, our situation gets worse. God knows and understands that there are going to be plenty of hardships in your life and He wants to help you get through them. But He is not going to force Himself into your life. You have to be willing to submit your life to Him and cry out for help.
God doesn't cause the storms of life but he allows them to happen. Sometimes we don't understand why God allows us to go through a tough time until after it is over and sometimes we never understand. The important thing to remember is that God is always in control of everything. Even in these times when the world seems to be in chaos, God is in control. If you want His help, all you have to do is ask for it.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Why The Bible Can Be Trusted
Here are some facts as to why the Bible can be trusted to be the word of God:
1) The "Divine Design"
The Bible consists of 66 books (originally scrolls), which was written by over 40 authors (all of different occupations and education levels) over a timespan of 1500 years. Most of the writers, especially ones of the Old Testament, did not know each other. The Bible was written in three different languages (Old Testament: Hebrew & Aramaic, New Testament: Greek) and on three different continents (Africa, Europe, and Asia).
These facts on their own may not be very impressive but when you take into consideration that all the writers were consistent with the message in their writings, it becomes almost unthinkable that it flows together perfectly. So unthinkable that maybe there was divine intervention ...
2) The Bible is Historically Accurate
Minor characters in the Bible such as Herod the Great, Pontius Pilate, and King Agrippa are all confirmed by Roman records and archeology. Even non-believing scholars agree that other people, such as King David and King Solomon, and cities, such as Ephesus and Thessalonica, are real.
3) The Bible has fulfilled Prophecies
Forgetting Jesus' deity and whether you believe it or not for one second, let me list three prophecies:
i) 2 Samuel 7: 12-16 - In these verses, God is promising King David that the messiah will come from his bloodline.
ii) Micah 5:2 - This verse predicts that the messiah will be born in the town of Bethlehem.
iii) Daniel 9: 24-27 - This verse predicts that the messiah will have had to have lived and died before the Jewish temple is destroyed.
*Remember, Daniel was the last of these prophecies that was written....900 years before the birth of Jesus!*
Jesus came from the bloodline of King David (Matthew chapter 1), was born in the town of Bethlehem, and was crucified around 32AD. The Jewish temple was destroyed in 70AD. The odds that someone would fulfill one of these prophecies is very small so the odds that someone would fulfill three of them is even smaller.
Fulfilling prophecies did not stop with Jesus. Prophecies are still being fulfilled today, including the uprisings in the Middle East and the path toward a one-world government.
4) The writers of the books suffered great persecution
Think about this: if you wrote a book that you KNEW was false, would you die in order to prove its truthfulness? If the writers of the Bible had any indication that what they were writing was false, would they have died for its cause? Here are some of the writers and the ways they were persecuted:
Matthew: Killed by sword in Ethiopia
Mark: killed by being dragged through the streets of Alexandria
Luke: hung from and olive tree
John: banished to island of Patmos after a plan to boil him in oil did not work
Peter: crucified upside down (did not feel worthy to die a death like Jesus)
Paul: beheaded in Rome
The first five of these authors were actual disciples of Jesus and were killed because of their faith in Jesus. If their writings were false and they truly did not believe what they were writing, why would they die for its cause?
1) The "Divine Design"
The Bible consists of 66 books (originally scrolls), which was written by over 40 authors (all of different occupations and education levels) over a timespan of 1500 years. Most of the writers, especially ones of the Old Testament, did not know each other. The Bible was written in three different languages (Old Testament: Hebrew & Aramaic, New Testament: Greek) and on three different continents (Africa, Europe, and Asia).
These facts on their own may not be very impressive but when you take into consideration that all the writers were consistent with the message in their writings, it becomes almost unthinkable that it flows together perfectly. So unthinkable that maybe there was divine intervention ...
2) The Bible is Historically Accurate
Minor characters in the Bible such as Herod the Great, Pontius Pilate, and King Agrippa are all confirmed by Roman records and archeology. Even non-believing scholars agree that other people, such as King David and King Solomon, and cities, such as Ephesus and Thessalonica, are real.
3) The Bible has fulfilled Prophecies
Forgetting Jesus' deity and whether you believe it or not for one second, let me list three prophecies:
i) 2 Samuel 7: 12-16 - In these verses, God is promising King David that the messiah will come from his bloodline.
ii) Micah 5:2 - This verse predicts that the messiah will be born in the town of Bethlehem.
iii) Daniel 9: 24-27 - This verse predicts that the messiah will have had to have lived and died before the Jewish temple is destroyed.
*Remember, Daniel was the last of these prophecies that was written....900 years before the birth of Jesus!*
Jesus came from the bloodline of King David (Matthew chapter 1), was born in the town of Bethlehem, and was crucified around 32AD. The Jewish temple was destroyed in 70AD. The odds that someone would fulfill one of these prophecies is very small so the odds that someone would fulfill three of them is even smaller.
Fulfilling prophecies did not stop with Jesus. Prophecies are still being fulfilled today, including the uprisings in the Middle East and the path toward a one-world government.
4) The writers of the books suffered great persecution
Think about this: if you wrote a book that you KNEW was false, would you die in order to prove its truthfulness? If the writers of the Bible had any indication that what they were writing was false, would they have died for its cause? Here are some of the writers and the ways they were persecuted:
Matthew: Killed by sword in Ethiopia
Mark: killed by being dragged through the streets of Alexandria
Luke: hung from and olive tree
John: banished to island of Patmos after a plan to boil him in oil did not work
Peter: crucified upside down (did not feel worthy to die a death like Jesus)
Paul: beheaded in Rome
The first five of these authors were actual disciples of Jesus and were killed because of their faith in Jesus. If their writings were false and they truly did not believe what they were writing, why would they die for its cause?
Thursday, February 10, 2011
It's So Easy To Become a Christian
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." -Ephesians 2: 8-9
The famous preacher Billy Graham once said, "It is so easy to receive Christ that millions stumble over its sheer simplicity." He could not have been more right. Many people see Christianity as an exclusive group of people and in order to be apart of it, you have to meet certain qualifications. It is quite the contrary. Christianity is an inclusive group of people. Anyone can become a Christian. There is only one qualification: you have to be a sinner. And because that is the only qualification, everyone qualifies. Now as easy as this sounds, many people struggle with the fact that they are sinners. Most of us would like to think that we are good people and that in the end, God will see all the good we have done and let us into heaven. However, admittance into heaven requires that a person be perfect. Have you ever made one mistake in your life? You told a little lie or you stole something small or you looked at another person lustfully. All of those are sins in God's eyes. In James 2: 10 it says, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." When we break one of God's laws, it is as if we have broke all of His laws. And because a person needs to be perfect to get into heaven, when we commit one sin, no matter how tiny it is, we are condemned for all of eternity. This is where the above scripture comes in. God loves us so much that he has provided a way for sinners to get into heaven. His name is Jesus Christ. In short, what happens is when a person puts his or her faith in Jesus Christ as their personal savior, when that person goes to meet the Lord, instead of being condemned for all the sins that person has committed, God sees that person as if he/she lived Jesus' perfect life. Imagine a courtroom where God is the judge. You're standing before Him about to be sentenced to death for all the wrongs that you've done. But just as the punishment is about to be handed to you, the defense attorney, Jesus, intervenes on your behalf and says, "Your Honor, I have already taken the punishment for this man/woman." That is why Jesus had to come to earth. God needed a perfect sacrifice to bear the sins of every man and woman that has ever lived. And because he lived a perfect life without sin, if you put your faith in him as your savior, you will know FOR CERTAIN that you will go to heaven.
It's not difficult to become a Christian. It's not hard to understand. Yet the simplicity of it will trip up so many people. I hope that as you are reading this, the reality of what Christ did for us is weighing on your heart. It's not just coincidence, its Jesus wanting you to invite him into your life. Revelation 3: 20 says, "I stand and the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. He wants you to open it and let him in so he may dwell with you forever. Let him in and experience all the love he has to give.
The famous preacher Billy Graham once said, "It is so easy to receive Christ that millions stumble over its sheer simplicity." He could not have been more right. Many people see Christianity as an exclusive group of people and in order to be apart of it, you have to meet certain qualifications. It is quite the contrary. Christianity is an inclusive group of people. Anyone can become a Christian. There is only one qualification: you have to be a sinner. And because that is the only qualification, everyone qualifies. Now as easy as this sounds, many people struggle with the fact that they are sinners. Most of us would like to think that we are good people and that in the end, God will see all the good we have done and let us into heaven. However, admittance into heaven requires that a person be perfect. Have you ever made one mistake in your life? You told a little lie or you stole something small or you looked at another person lustfully. All of those are sins in God's eyes. In James 2: 10 it says, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." When we break one of God's laws, it is as if we have broke all of His laws. And because a person needs to be perfect to get into heaven, when we commit one sin, no matter how tiny it is, we are condemned for all of eternity. This is where the above scripture comes in. God loves us so much that he has provided a way for sinners to get into heaven. His name is Jesus Christ. In short, what happens is when a person puts his or her faith in Jesus Christ as their personal savior, when that person goes to meet the Lord, instead of being condemned for all the sins that person has committed, God sees that person as if he/she lived Jesus' perfect life. Imagine a courtroom where God is the judge. You're standing before Him about to be sentenced to death for all the wrongs that you've done. But just as the punishment is about to be handed to you, the defense attorney, Jesus, intervenes on your behalf and says, "Your Honor, I have already taken the punishment for this man/woman." That is why Jesus had to come to earth. God needed a perfect sacrifice to bear the sins of every man and woman that has ever lived. And because he lived a perfect life without sin, if you put your faith in him as your savior, you will know FOR CERTAIN that you will go to heaven.
It's not difficult to become a Christian. It's not hard to understand. Yet the simplicity of it will trip up so many people. I hope that as you are reading this, the reality of what Christ did for us is weighing on your heart. It's not just coincidence, its Jesus wanting you to invite him into your life. Revelation 3: 20 says, "I stand and the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. He wants you to open it and let him in so he may dwell with you forever. Let him in and experience all the love he has to give.
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