Month: January 2025

As a teenager and new Christian, I found Bible prophesy useful  and interesting. The fact that God’s prophets accurately predicted details of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus so many years before they happened; supported by eyewitnesses to those events in the New Testament; actually sealed my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior.

The churches I attended were not “charismatic”. So I was unaware of latter day prophets until 1988, when I was 45-years-old.   That year, every prophet with any following at all made news by predicting the rapture would take place that year. Some groups sold all they owned and moved to mountaintops to meet Jesus in the sky, just to come back down later, hungry, disappointed and disillusioned, to start their lives again from scratch. It was then that I looked up to God in prayer and said, “Surprise me, Lord! I‘ll be ready!”

You see, when Jesus told His disciples (and us) what signs to look for, He told us what every generation sees or experiences because He wants us ready for His return at all times, whenever it does happen and it will.

When I pray in Jesus’ name, I know God will answer, don’t you? He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. Experience has taught me that even if His answer to your prayer is no, hold on to your hat, because He has something much better in mind for you.

As I began my third journey through the Bible, I wondered to myself, “What do you expect to find this time that you missed the first two times?” It sure wasn’t the answer to all of my questions. In just the first three chapters of Genesis, I ran into two new questions. One  about the creation of mankind that took place on the sixth day in chapter one and how it lines up with the story in chapter two. The other question is about the source of the  definition of marriage between a man and a woman. It couldn’t have been Adam because he had no human mother and father and would not understand those relationships until he became a father later. So I assume the author (God’s Holy Spirit) prompted the writer (Moses) when and how God instituted marriage.

For the last three years of my tour of duty in the US Air Force, I had a top secret security clearance, but before I was allowed access to any classified document I had to prove I had a “need to know” what was in it. God has placed in His word everything you and I need to know to believe in and follow Jesus into God’s presence as His obedient son or daughter forever. Lord, help me to lay aside my opinion, curiosity and theology, so I can concentrate on those things that I need to know and do to draw ever closer Jesus Christ and my heavenly Father. Amen!

 

 

 

 

Now that a new year has begun, I’m signed up for a program to read and study the entire Bible by the end of this year. I’ve done it twice before on my own, first in the King James Version and then in the New Living  Translation. This time, I will be in a weekly discussion group which should keep me full of encouragement and excitement.

The Bible is actually 66 books written down by at least 40 different people over a period of several thousand years. It was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek (based on the language of the original writer and readers). So what is it that unifies it into one volume of Holy Scripture? Although there are different writers, there is only one author, God’s Holy Spirit dictated every word to those writers and put it all together into one autobiography of God. It shows us what God has done, what He is doing and what He will do. It makes it possible for us to learn as much about the infinite Creator of the universe as our finite minds can grasp.

The amazing thing to me is that as believers in, and followers of Jesus Christ, we have the author of God’s word living in our hearts to show us how to apply those words in our daily lives.

As I begin a new calendar for 2025, I’m reminded how important each day is.  I thank God I was on His wake up list this morning to face another day of life here with His help.  I’ve heard it said that today is a gift, that’s why we call it the present. As I stare at my blank calendar, I’m reminded of two of my favorite songs.

The first song reminds us of the importance of today “One day at a time, sweet Jesus, that’s all I’m asking of you. Give me the strength to do every day what I have to do. Yesterday is gone sweet Jesus and tomorrow may never be mine, so for my sake teach me to take one day at a time.”

The second song tells of the freedom that comes from living for today. “I’m free trom the fear of tomorrow. I’m free from the guilt of the past. I’ve traded my shackles for a glorious song. I’m free, praise the Lord, free at last.”

Don’t misunderstand me, I know there are times we must plan an event or trip in the future, but it should always be done with this condition, “Lord willing!”